1. Production Project Assignment
2. Session Evaluation Instructions
3. Participation Agreement
4. Studio Rules
5. Studio L Booking Policy
6. Studio L Booking Procedures
7. Session Log
8. Studio L Microphone Inventory List
9. Microphone Application List
10. Microphone Input List
11. Studio L Layout Plan
12. Instrument Codes
13. Tape Log
14. Tape Log Codes and Instructions
15. Equalization Notes Form
16. End-of-Semester Playback Information Sheet

Live-to-Two-Track Studio Recording

Your individual production assignment for this course is to engineer an IN-CLASS RECORDING SESSION. You will also act as an assistant engineer on a classmate's project.

During a THREE-HOUR TIME PERIOD you will set up for and record ONE song or musical piece.

It is your responsibility to arrange for the musicians and decide with them what music will be recorded. However, you must discuss the proposed project with me beforehand. I reserve final approval rights on whether what you have in mind meets the criteria of the assignment. Obviously, since your focus during the session must be on engineering, YOU MAY NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE MUSIC ITSELF (i.e. play along in the control room).

The music you choose to record can belong to jazz, fusion, classical, or experimental. NO ROCK, POP, RAP, HIP-HOP, or other popular trends will be considered this semester. However, the music's arrangement must call for AT LEAST THREE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS (for example, piano, double bass and drums). An ensemble consisting of several of the same type of instrument (i.e., a classical guitar quartet) may also appropriate for this assignment, if the miking set-up is sufficiently complex or various miking approaches are attempted.

Your goal should be to achieve the best possible artistic and technical results. Thus, your choice of musicians, song and musical arrangement is as important to the final result of your session as is your choice of microphones, mic position, instrument balances and signal processing.

Because you will have a limited amount of studio time, thorough pre-production planning is a MUST if your session is to be a success. You should become as familiar as possible with the song you are going to record before the session takes place. It is also essential that you pre-plan both how the song is going to be performed and how you are going to engineer the recording of it. There will be minimal time for experimentation once the session begins. Thus, AT LEAST ONE WEEK before your session you must deliver to me and be prepared to discuss the following:

(a) A cassette containing a rough demo of the selection to be recorded

(b) Completed LMU Recording Project Participation Agreement

(c) Preliminary Mic Input List

(d) Preliminary Studio Layout Plan

Materials you will need to acquire before your session include:

(a) one or more reels of new Scotch 996 quarter-inch tape

(b) one spare quarter-inch reel (for your master take)

(c) one DAT tape

At the beginning of the session reference tones must be recorded at the head of the first reel of quarter-inch tape as follows:

(a) one minute of 1 kHz @ 0 VU

(b) one minute of 10 kHz @ 0 VU

(c) one minute of 100 Hz @ 0 VU

IMMEDIATELY AFTER THESE TONES ARE RECORDED, the tones section of the tape must be head-and-tail leadered .

During the session, you will establish a stereo mix and record this directly onto quarter-inch and DAT tape simultaneously. In other words, this will be a "live-to-two-track" recording session. You should budget your time so that you can record several takes of your musicians' performances.

After the session, if necessary, edit together the best pieces from the various takes you recorded. At the very least, YOU MUST HEAD-AND-TAIL-LEADER YOUR BEST TAKE AND PULL IT TO A MASTER REEL.

Finally, you will turn in your QUARTER-INCH MASTER to me for grading purposes. It must be presented to me on a properly labeled master reel in a properly labeled box.

Evaluation of this project will be based on:

(a) Your pre-production planning

(b) Your performance as an engineer

(c) The teamwork between you and your assistant engineer

(d) The artistic and technical quality of final production

Your project will be played back in a public forum at the end of the semester. Attendance at these end-of-semester playbacks is REQUIRED and you are expected to participate in a question-and-answer period after your project is played.

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REQUIREMENTS

Length: two pages

Format: typed, double spaced

Due : beginning of class the Tuesday after the observed session

At the top of the first page of each evaluation include:

(a) Your name

(b) Date of the session

(c) Name of the engineer of the session

(d) Name of the assistant engineer

GRADING

You are required to write five session evaluations over the course of the semester based on what you observe during the in-class sessions you attend (excluding the two in which you directly participate). Each evaluation submitted will be assigned a "Credit" (ˆ) or No Credit (NC). Credit is given for each satisfactorily completed assignment. The letter grade you receive for this part of the course will be based on the following formula:

5 ˆ = A

4 ˆ = B

3 ˆ = C

2 ˆ = D

METHODOLOGY

The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to learn through observation and reflection. Although there is no substitute for direct, hands-on experience, one can learn a great deal about the recording process through simply being present at a session and keeping your eyes, ears and mind open.

Thus, the first part of this assignment involves just that: watching and listening critically to what is going on while a recording session is in progress. During the session, it is important to make brief notes about what is going on around you, but you must also be sure that you remain focused on the session itself while it is in progress.

Later that same day or evening, if possible, write out your thoughts in a more complete form. In any event, unless you have infallible total recall or a photographic memory, do not let too much time go by before you put preliminary observations down on paper. Before completing your final draft of your paper, give yourself some time to think about what you saw and heard.

CONSIDERATIONS AND GUIDELINES

Consider the following questions and suggestions when observing a session. In one or two pages, you cannot touch upon all of these points, but use them as guidelines for considering what is going on in a session. Write about what you thought was most noteworthy about a particular session. Always be constructive and thoughtful in your remarks.

• What microphones were selected, how were they positioned and how effectively did they serve their purpose?
• Observe and comment upon the placement of the musicians and their equipment/instruments in the performance areas (studio and vocal booth). What effect did this have on their ability to communicate and on their sounds?
• Think about how the logistics of isolation were handled. Did the strategy seem to work? How was the sound of the instruments affected?
• Was the console set up in a logical and efficient configuration?
• What outboard gear was used? Was it used judiciously and at the appropriate stage in the proceedings?
• What equalization was applied and how effective was it in improving the sound?
• In general, did the order in which things were done make sense to you?
• Did an inordinate amount of time or attention get paid to any part of the process?
• Think about the rhythm of the session. Did things move smoothly? If so, what contributed to that? If not, why not?
• Did each member of the production team seem to know what their respective roles were and feel comfortable doing what was expected of them?
• How well did the members of the production team communicate with each other and with the musicians?
• How did the musicians seem to feel about the session? ...the way they sounded? ...their performance? ...the results of the session?
• Did the production team seem sensitive to the musicians' needs? Were the musicians kept adequately informed about what was going on during all stages of the session? Did they seem comfortable? ...confused? ...frustrated?
• Was the headphone mix given adequate consideration? Did the musicians seem to be satisfied with what they were hearing?
• Did the production team seem to understand the type of music they were recording and adjust their approach accordingly?
• Was anything overlooked by the production team, technically or otherwise, that had an adverse effect on the final outcome of the session?
• In general, could you follow the reasoning behind what was being done during the session and why?
• Did any questions occur to you during or after the session with respect to the methods or procedures employed? Could you eventually answer them yourself or are you still unsure about certain points?
• Was anything unique?

Student/Producer: ______________________________________________________

Semester: ______________________________________________________

Course #: ______________________________________________________

Participating Artist: ______________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Telephone #: ______________________________________________________

Title of musical selection to be recorded:______________________________________________

I have read all the above statements and the LMU CA Department Studio Rules and agree to all the conditions specified:

Student/Producer's Signature: ___________________________ Date: __________

Participating Artist's Signature: ___________________________ Date: __________

No one is authorized to use a Loyola Marymount Communication Arts Department ("LMU CA Department") recording studio without express written permission in the form of a sound studio booking form, which must be posted outside the door of the studio during the session. Unauthorized or undocumented use of a studio will result in loss of access to the studio and/or a fine. The LMU CA Department reserves the right to stop or cancel any session at any time it deems necessary.

FOOD, DRINKS AND SMOKING ARE NOT PERMITTED ANYWHERE WITHIN THE CONFINES OF A LMU CA DEPARTMENT RECORDING FACILITY. This includes the control room, main performance area and isolation booth.

No one other than authorized LMU students, staff or faculty may operate LMU CA Department recording equipment.

No one other than authorized LMU employees may repair or perform maintenance procedures on LMU CA Department recording equipment. Under no circumstances should anyone else attempt any repairs, calibrations, rewiring or reconfigurations of such equipment.

All LMU CA Department monitoring amplifiers and monitoring equalization units must remain at their fixed settings. Students may not adjust either a monitoring system or a cue system to suit their personal tastes.

Students who know of LMU CA Department audio equipment that is in need of maintenance or repair are required to inform the Sound Services office in writing, as soon as possible.

Excessive monitoring levels for extended periods of time pose a very serious health hazard. The student who booked a session is required to insure that the studio's monitoring systems are operated at safe listening levels during that session.

The student who book a facility has full responsibility for the safety and proper use of its equipment and for the conduct of his/her guests. When a session is completed, it is also his/her responsibility to leave the studio in a clean, secure and normalized condition.

• All reservations for studio time must be cleared with Mladen Milicevic, then registered with the Sound Services office. Unauthorized or undocumented use of the studio will result in loss of access to the studio and/or a fine.

• Booking takes place on a priority basis between 1:15 PM & 1:30 PM each Tuesday (RECA 356) or Wednesday (RECA 450) in Studio L. If a student is not present when his/her turn comes up, he/she looses his/her priority position for that week.

• Each week, students are able to book one session, up to four weeks in advance.

• No one may schedule more than one session for any given week, unless there are still open slots after everyone has had an opportunity to book time during that week.

• No one may book more than the total number of sessions allocated to each student enrolled in a given course during a given semester. If available studio time goes unused during the course of the semester, there is no guarantee that everyone in the class will have the opportunity to book all the sessions they would otherwise be entitled to.

• Once a student has booked a session, that time-slot becomes that student's responsibility and is counted against his/her total number of sessions, regardless of whether the student uses the scheduled time or not.

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 4

STEP 5

Thank you for your cooperation. Have a good session!

Producer/Engineer _____________________________________________________

Assistant Engineer _____________________________________________________

Date _____________________________________________________

Time _____________________________________________________

Others Present * 1.___________________________________________________

2.___________________________________________________

3.___________________________________________________

4.___________________________________________________

5.___________________________________________________

6.___________________________________________________

7.___________________________________________________

Actual Start Time: __________________ Actual End Time: __________________

Producer/Engineer's Signature _____________________________________________

ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS (guitar, strings, etc)
AKG D-12 (low FQ), AKG-414, AKG C-452, B&K 4006, Crown PZM-30, Electro-Voice RE-20, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

AMBIENT SOUND
AKG-414, B&K 4006, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87, Neumann TLM 170,

AMPLIFIRES
AKG D-12 (low FQ), B&K 4006 (low SPL), Electro-Voice RE-20, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

BRASS/HORNS
AKG D-12 (low FQ), AKG-414, AKG C-452, Crown PZM-30, Electro-Voice RE-20, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

CYMBALS/OVERHEADS
AKG-414, AKG C-452, B&K 4006, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87,

DRUMS (basic set: snare, toms)
AKG C-452 (pads), Electro-Voice RE-20, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

KICK DRUM
AKG D-12 (low FQ), Electro-Voice RE-20, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

PIANO
AKG D-12 (low FQ), AKG-414, AKG C-452, AKG C-460, Crown PZM-30, Electro-Voice RE-20, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87, Neumann TLM 170,

VOCALS
AKG-414, B&K 4006, Electro-Voice RE-20, Neumann U-87, Neumann TLM 170, Sure SM-57

VOICE/SPEECH
AKG-414, AKG C-452, AKG C-460, Electro-Voice RE-20, Neumann U-87, Neumann TLM 170, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

FLUTE
AKG-414, AKG C-452, B&K 4006, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87

WOODWINDS
AKG-414, Neumann U-87, Sennheiser MD-421

ENSEMBLES
AKG-414, B&K 4006, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87, Neumann TLM 170

Artist:____________________________ Producer: ______________________

Session Date: ______________________ Engineer: ______________________

Session Time: ______________________ Asst.Engineer: __________________

Producer/Engineer ______________________________________________

Assistant Engineer ______________________________________________

Artist ______________________________________________

Session Date ______________________________________________

Session Time ______________________________________________

LMU Recording Arts tape log sheets should be attached to the outside of every tape recorded here.

NEVER record anything without making the appropriate notations on the log sheet. Essential elements to take note of include...

Written in ink:

• artist's name
• producer's name
• engineer's name
• assistant engineer's name
• session date
• sampling frequency

Written in pencil:

• program title (name of song)
• take #
• take duration
• tape location
• slate information
• "complete" or "incomplete" status
• engineer's and/or producer's comments ("good take", etc.)
• any technical problems (known or suspected)

The following abbreviations are widely used and understood and must be used by all LMU Recording Arts students on their projects.

• HS head slate
• TS tail slate
• NS no slate
• FS false start
• LFS long false start
• C complete take
• INC incomplete take
• PB playback (take has been played back and reviewed)
• G good take
• NG "no good"
• M master take
• OTM "out-to-master" (removed to master reel)
• OD overdub (additional tracks have been added to this take)
• EOT "end of tape" (no recording done past this point )
• TBE "to be erased"

Producer/Engineer ___________________________________________

Assistant Engineer ___________________________________________

Artist ___________________________________________

Session Date ___________________________________________

Session Time ___________________________________________

Class:

Producer/Engineer:

Artist:

Song Title:

Running Time:

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STEADI SYSTEMS

1014 N. Highland Ave.

Hollywood, CA 90038

Tel. (213) 461-6868

Mon.- Fri. 7 AM &emdash; Midnight

Sat. 8:30 AM 5:00 PM

SONY ADAT S-VHS (SO-DASV-40) $ 11.¹⁴ or $ 10.²⁷ with student ID + TAX

GUITAR CENTER

7425 Sunset Bd.

Hollywood, CA 90046

Tel. (323) 874-1060

Mon. Fri. 10-9

Sat. 10-6, Sun 11-6

QUATEGY ADAT S-VHS (42 min.) $ 10.⁹⁹ + TAX

STUDIO FILM AND TAPE

1215 N. Highland Ave.

Hollywood, CA 90038

Tel. (213) 466-8181

Open 24 hours

BASF (40 min.) $ 11.¹⁵ or $ 10.⁰⁶ with student ID + TAX