Sound recording engineers face many problems when creating master recordings in various formats. Acoustics, instruments, voices, and many technical factors must blend seamlessly to produce the desired end-product. The following are ten common problems faced by recording engineers.
Poor Acoustics
The studio, stage, or hall is the most important element of the recording process, and in many cases the part that offers the least amount of control.
Outdoor recordings offer the greatest challenge for then one has to account for everything; even the movement of air has a sound quality.
Distant sounds can seep in; background noises can extend vibrations into the static background and diminish sound waves from the voices and instruments. The initial intake of sound is the minimum from which everything else must grow.
Acoustics goes to the very heart of the recording process. Venues also have unique sound qualities, and they can vary with time, temperature, and the amount of people in attendance.
Walls and ceilings produce tones in the form of echoes, and some area surfaces absorb far more sound than one might prefer. All of these acoustic qualities must be considered and controlled in the immediate recording or in mastering.
Mastering The End Product
The combination of all of the techniques, amplification, blending, and filters are in the Master. This final result is the culmination of a combination of efforts from artists, technicians, and others.
It is important that the recording engineer successfully interpret the information in the sound recordings to render a true meaning in the end product.
Missing The Quality Of Vocals
Every human voice is unique, and many are quite different when heard live than when recorded. Qualities such as tonality, volume, clarity, and vibrato make a significant difference in the recording formats. Capturing the best and most reflective mix of tone and volume is part art and part science.
It is a difficult task but one that defines excellence in sound recording.
Capturing The Stringed Instruments
Stringed instruments resemble the human voice more than most others.
They can carry a great deal of expression. Capturing this quality along with a unique vibration tones of internal wood and other sound chambers is a difficult task for the recording engineer. Sensitivity to sound and its qualities may be the best asset for this task.
Emphasizing The Acoustic Guitar And Piano
It is sometimes difficult to emphasize acoustic instruments because they are used in various ways. No longer does a single instrument carry a melody line or blend the harmonics. Modern music is a free-for-all for talented musicians who shift roles frequently throughout a performance.
Similar to the classic jazz setting where musicians take turns leading and following, in Pop music guitars and pianos alternate providing melody, harmony, background rhythms, and beats. In many ways, the recording engineers sense of the music is a factor in the outcome.
Studio Bass Response
In modern music, particularly Pop music, the bass line is the essential driving force of the rhythm. Some styles of popular music have been driven by a consistent pattern of bass sounds.
Modern dance music and popular club styles emphasize bass lines and design equipment to make the room vibrate to the bottom tones.
Compressors And Limiters Challenge Skills
Compression controls are a challenge for sound recording engineers.
They can dominate the recording and give the voices and instruments a hybrid sound, somewhere between the original and the machine reinvention of the tones.
Most engineers prefer light amounts of compression but for a given effect or quality of sound presentation, ratios can vary from 2 to 1 to 16 to 1. However, in modern Pop music, high degrees of compression are the rule.
Appealing to young audiences many of whom are essentially unfamiliar with natural tones, there is an expectation of a filtered quality. In the mastering process, additional layers of compression can be applied to finish the sound quality and make the music sound loud as if one were in the front row proximity to amplified sounds from the source.
This situation is in stark contrast to jazz and classical recording where there is much greater reverence for the human voice and the natural sounds and tones of instruments. Harmonics are distorted by compression and must be reinvented in the mastering process.
Cymbals And Percussion Evolve
Percussive sounds are difficult and for the odd set of reasons.
The technology has improved to the point that it sounds far different than it used to sound with old technology and inadequate equipment.
Cymbal manufacturers have made changes in their product with heavier metals and more volume and resonance. To make modern cymbals and percussion sound familiar to listeners, recording engineers must adjust microphone pickups and tone controls.
Pre-Amps Are Critical
Sound levels are the foundation of recording and the recording system. Microphone signals are low-level waves and must be raised to line levels.
The pre-amp performs the function of adjusting the sound to working levels. One must choose inboard console designs versus outboard models. Outboard equipment gives the engineer more flexibility and control over the characteristics of the equipment, and greater customization to the functions the equipment must perform.
Finding the perfect pre-amp may not be possible, but finding one that meets or exceeds expected needs can be done.
Using Microphones Effectively
Microphones are a test of engineering skill, and it is often an acquired ability based upon years of trials and attempts. While the basic variables are common, sensitivity, buffering, distance, placements, each factor makes a difference in the quality of the outcome.
Recording engineers know that the beginning is a critical phase; sound must be brought into the system in an optimal form for the best results.
Placements are a challenge that requires more than an understanding of microphone technology, and one must accurately assess the recording environment. Some materials diminish sound quality while others remarkably can enhance them. Some surfaces produce harsh echoes while others reveal hidden overtones.