BELMONT UNIVERSITY
MIKE CURB COLLEGE OF ENTERTAINMENT AND MUSIC BUSINESS
COURSE SYLLABUS
Class Location: Ocean Way Studios Meeting Time(s): Sat. 10am to1:30pm OceanWay
Final Exam: Project to be turned in
Instructor: Mr. Bil VornDick
Contacts: Cell Phone: 948-6251 Email: bilinstudio@comcast.net
COURSE DESCRIPTION: To provide students with advanced knowledge of classic and modern recording techniques through 1) lecture and reading assignments, 2) studio observations, 3) group participation, and 4) an in-depth research project. An emphasis on understanding and problem solving is designed to optimize students' awareness of the real life demands of professional studio recording.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: To provide students with advanced knowledge of classic and modern recording techniques through 1) lecture and reading assignments, 2) studio observations, 3) group participation, and 4) an in-depth research project. An emphasis on understanding and problem solving is designed to optimize students' awareness of the real life demands of professional studio recording.
GOALS OF THE MIKE CURB COLLEGE OF ENTERTAINMENT AND MUSIC BUSINESS:
The following objectives will be applied toward course completion:
· To provide a personalized, career-oriented and practical education that emphasizes leadership, innovation, private enterprise, and entrepreneurship.
· To equip students with the tools to think critically, communicate effectively, accept responsibility, make successful decisions, and prosper in diverse work environments.
· To emphasize quality classroom instruction within the parameters of ethical Christian principles.
As members of the Belmont community, students, faculty, staff, and administrators are all responsible for ensuring that their experiences will be free of behaviors, which compromise value. In order to uphold academic integrity, the University has adopted an Honor System. Students and faculty will work together to establish the optimal conditions for honorable academic work. Following is the Student Honor Pledge that guides academic behavior:
“I will not give or receive aid during examinations; I will not give or receive false or impermissible aid in course work, in the preparation of reports, or in any other type of work that is to be used by the instructor as the basis of my grade; I will not engage in any form of academic fraud. Furthermore, I will uphold my responsibility to see to it that others abide by the spirit and letter of this Honor Pledge.”
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Attendance: Since there are only 7 classes, each class has a high bearing on final grade.
2. Materials: Various handouts supplied by instructor. You will be responsible for all information contained in the handouts. Multi-track master tape, DAT(s), computer disk(s), paper, etc. as needed.
3. Participation and Prepared assignments: All students are expected to contribute to class discussions, research projects, and any assignments. All students will attend class.
4. Testing: All test dates are noted in the daily class schedule. No make-up tests will be given. Final exam will be comprehensive.
5. Basis of grade evaluation: Grading scale as per the current Undergraduate Bulletin. Participation credits are listed below:
ITEM CREDIT (or %)
A. Attendance 60 %
B. Group Project 20%
C. Individual Project 20%
Total Points (%) = 100%
Outline of Possible Class Activities
If you snooze you loose, note taking is a must !!!!!!!!!
Hard Disc Management
Aliasing Feedback
Microphone design and history.
A review of microphone types and basic specifications (i.e. ribbon vs. condenser vs. dynamic design, patterns, frequency response characteristics, filters, pads, etc.).
An in-depth look at applications for various microphone types.
A discussion of transient and impulse response and their effect on microphone performance
Tube and Ribbon microphone introduction:
microphone design and specifications.
How to handle tube and ribbon mics.
Set-up and usage.
Do's & especially Don'ts.
Understand a New Environment : Recording in a new studio for the first time
Advanced stereo microphone techniques:
Mid-side
Spaced pair (omni-, bi-, cardioid)
Blumlein
ORTF
Coincident pair
PZM & boundary microphones
Binaural emulation
Room Micing
Drum recording: Past and present:
Tuning, hardware and heads — getting it right before the session.
Phase considerations & problems. Degrees to keep in mind
Multiple vs. minimal microphone techniques.
Capturing and using room reflections & reverberation.
Piano recording: Past and present:
Phase considerations & problems.
Multiple vs. minimal microphone techniques.
Capturing and using the piano's soundboard (as well as room reflections & reverberation).
Acoustic / Electric guitar recording: past and present:
Phase considerations & problems.
Multiple vs. minimal microphone techniques.
Capturing and using the guitar's & neck body (as well as room reflections & reverberation).
Vocalist and spoken word recording:
Microphone placement for single and multiple performers.
Pop filter setup and techniques for eliminating ambient noise.
Session psychology, headphone mixes and getting a consistent performance.
The use of compression, tuning and effects in production.
Soloist & Ensemble Techniques: "Live" studio recording (e.g. small jazz ensemble, classical duet, rock, pop, & ??) and other instruments or situations of interest.
Tricks of the trade
Research Project Protocol:
1. Four (4) three (3) member research teams.
2. Projects should be based around research of technical and/or perceptual themes and are NOT “demo” projects.
3. For perceptual tasks, members of the class will serve as "subjects" or “listeners.”
4. Tasks will be designed that can be completed within two studio days (two (2) 12hr days, 24 hrs total per project).
5. Project background and proposal will be completed by 3rd Saturday in April.
6. All testing will be completed by 1st Saturday in May.
7. Results and observations will be written in research-style paper comprising at least 4 sections (Background, Methods, Results, & Conclusion) and will be presented to the class in some type of “multimedia” presentation.
Articles / Papers of Interest:
*Alan Sides “ The Mic Cabinet” you must hear
Bosun,
Xie (2001). Signal Mixing for a 5.1-Channel Surround System – Analysis
and
Experiment.
J. Audio Eng. Soc., 49(4),
263-274.
Olson, Harry. F. (1986). A history of high-quality studio microphones. Stereophonic Techniques: An anthology of reprinted articles on stereophonic techniques. AES Publications, NY, 219-228. (Originally presented Nov. 1, 1976 at the 55th Convention, Audio Engineering Society).
Bartlett, Bruce. (1987). Choosing the right microphone by understanding design tradeoffs. J. Audio Eng. Soc., 35(11), 924-944.
Willett, John. (1998). The symmetrical microphones capsule and the quest for the perfect "acoustic window." Microphones and Loudspeakers: the Ins & Outs. AES Publications, NY, 3-8. (Originally presented March 1998 at the UK Conference 1998).
Schneider, Martin. (1998). Transients in microphones: Pop and impulse. Microphones and Loudspeakers: the Ins & Outs. AES Publications, NY, 25-33. (Originally presented March 1998 at the UK Conference 1998).
Snow, William, B. (1953). Basic principles of stereophonic sound. J. SMPTE, 65, 567-589.
Ceoen, Carl. (1972). Comparative listening tests. J. Audio Eng. Soc., 20(1), 247-254.
Borja, S. Erik. (1977). How to fool the ear and make bad recordings. J. Audio Eng. Soc., 25(7/8), 260-268.
Olson, Lynn T. (1979). The Stereo-180 microphone system. J. Audio Eng. Soc., 27(73), 269-274.
Dooley, Wesley L. & Streicher, Ronald D. (1982). M-S stereo: A powerful technique for working in stereo. J. Audio Eng. Soc., 30(10), 707-718.
Dooley, Wesley L. & Streicher, Ronald D. (1985). Basic stereo microphone perspectives--A review. J. Audio Eng. Soc., 33(7/8), 548-556.
Torio, Guy. (1998). Understanding the transfer functions of directional condenser microphones in response to different sound sources. Microphones and Loudspeakers: the Ins & Outs. AES Publications, NY, 9-24. (Originally presented March 1998 at the UK Conference 1998).
Wuttke, Joerg. (1998). Technologies for recording unobtrusively with high quality microphones.