|
Replicating the Word with Dynamics and Clarity
Does this sound familiar? We get our hands on a cassette copy of last
week’s sermon (the word was so right for our situation). We pop that
tape in, but all we hear is the hiss, then the warbly voice, then the
back-up singer louder than anyone else and the guitar turned all the way
up. Wait, maybe that portion of the tape was just bad in the beginning.
As we forward it expectantly to the message…here it comes…oh
no! You can barely hear it with the volume turned full up. What a waste.
Who’s in charge of this ministry? Didn’t we just invest in a
new sound system? What’s wrong here?
This article is intended to help remedy that situation. So let’s
go through some techniques in recording for CD and cassette mastering
and then discuss a bit about tape and CD duplication.
Mixing the Master
“Mastering” comes from the days when “master” lacquers
for vinyl records were cut (or melted) on recording lathes from taped
performances. This process was carefully monitored to optimize equalization,
dynamic range and tonal balance. While vinyl is a thing of the past, we
still have to optimize our masters in order to produce the best possible
copy of the recorded event.
First, consider the actual record mix. It’s bad enough that a typical
live sound engineer has to worry about the monitor mix and the house mix,
but most of the time he/she is are also the doing the record mix. And
the later is often the most neglected item. The best solution is to have
a totally sperate mixer in a different space with monitor speakers for
a dedicated mix for recording. A simpler solution would be to have a separate
engineer create a mix from the sub-groups for recording. But if you feel
that your under-worked audio engineer needs more details to attend to,
then have him or her create the separate recording mix as well.
Master Format
Since we have taken care of the mixing process, what do we put the mix
onto? Cassettes are still used by most churches. If you are mastering
to cassette, use high-quality metal cassette tape. Dolby SR or B are also
effective. Master tape quality is of utmost concern here. How many churches
use poor quality “normal” master stock to save a few pennies
here? Consider mastering on MD’s (Minidiscs). They are very versatile
and provide a very transparent sound, especially the latest ATRAC version
MD recorders. CD Recorders are also very accurate with very low-cost media.
DAT has been an industry standard for years, and the latest 24-bit converters
make wonderful masters. Of course, the latest hard disc recorders provide
multi-track versatility with mastering quality. What ever your master
format, remember to prevent overload, especially with digital recorders.
Keep it (a)Live!
So now, we have the choir now is evenly blended with the organ, the acoustic
guitar is now in line with the piano and the lead vocal is properly balanced
with the back-up singers. But it’s all too soft, except for that
really loud part at the end. And the spoken word…it’s way too
soft! How do they get Billy Graham to sound so consistent while keeping
the music so nicely balanced?
The simplest way is to use a good compressor. Recomended ones include
the dbx 1066 and 166XL, the Drawmer DL241 and Symetrix 565E. Some popular
low-cost units have undesireable audible artifacts to be avoided. Keep
in mind though, that a compressor does not “level” or boost
a weak signal. Compressors keep signals from exceeding a threshold level
(which you preset) and generally should be used on wideband material with
only moderate compression ratios (up to 3) to prevent really audible side-effects.
The preferred method is to use processors that have multi-band compressors
with limiting and “leveling”. FM stations have been using similar
devices for decades to achieve their high signal levels. These processors
can boost the low levels, compress the high levels while keeping the spectral
balance and timbre very lifelike and accurate. However, they are not low
cost, but well worth the price if quality counts. Such units include the
Aphex Dominator II, dbx Quantum and the TC Electronics Finalizer 96k.
If time and money are not critical, then DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations)
such as Digidesign ProTools and Ensoniq Paris Pro along with many other
digital audio editing products do an excellent job given skilled engineers
to equalize, level and edit.
CD or Cassette
Less than 5% of music sales are now on cassette except for Gospel, which
runs about 20%. However, with the spoken word such as audiobooks, cassettes
account for 90% of sales. As for automobiles, 75% of cars sold come with
cassette radios. With these facts in mind, lets look at cassette duplication
first.
When the first commercial cassette duplicators came on the market in 1966,
they were large, industrial units. Telex started a trend for churches
when they produced affordable duplicators in 1979. Today, even lower-cost
units from Telex provide 16x duplication. Sony and Otari also produce
units that run at 16x speed. For very large installations, companies such
as Otari and Gauss supply cassette duplicators that can duplicate at 128x
and 160x speed on raw tape which is then loaded into cassette shells.
Typically, masters for cassettes are also on cassette, thereby limiting
the ultimate quality and lifespan of the master. But some companies have
hard disc recorders for masters, thus keeping fidelity at an optimum.
CD duplicators however, are at the point of being as affordable as cassette
duplicators and continue to drop in price. Some are basically banks of
16x CD-R drives with a controller and CD reader. Others include autoloaders
with easy interface to label printers. Advantages include mastering from
hard disc or CD and forthcoming increases in speed with continual drop
in prices.
In when duplicating cassettes and/or CD’s, the quality of the blank
stock or media is a major item that should not be overlooked. Low-cost
cassettes can have severe drop-outs or the infamous cyclical “tape
squeal”caused by improper case molding. But regular cleaning of both
the cassette duplicator’s master and duplication heads, as well as
pinch-roller, as well as degaussing the master playback head, can improve
consistency.
CD duplicators can occasionally have software “issues” in reading,
control or writing. CD media is also an important area to watch for. Consistancy
from lot to lot and manufacturer to manufacturer is still very critical
to monitor.
Distribute the Good News
It seems new and creative ways to spread the joy through duplication grow
every day. Starting with the Word, then music, then special events such
as weddings and baptisms and special music, more uses can be found to
distribute programs to more people. But remember it is important to present
a quality product. You want visitors and friends to come away knowing
that your church cares about quality in all areas, including their lives.
As technology marches on, we should be thinking next about video and recordable
DVD’s…but that’s another story.
Arthur Yeap consults with Novo Group in San Francisco.
He has a love of helping churches with decades of audio and video and
engineering experience and can be reached by email: artky@pacbell.net
|
