Re: [LAU] digital voodoo: master fader should be set at 0db

On Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 04:41:10PM -0500, micromoog wrote: There's not 'one way' - production techniques vary depending on the type of music (string trio...opera) circumstances (live, studio), and other considerations such as budget. Budgets for classical recordings are low these days, and if a large number of musicians is involved they tend to be concert recordings (because otherwise it's too expensive). Equipment used is an order of magnitude simpler than for most 'pop', but that doesn't mean direct stereo only, 8...16 tracks for complex orchestral + choirs + solos are not unusual, if video is involved (e.g. for opera recordings) even more tracks can be used. Equipment doesn't have to be old. Some people use tube mics from the 60s and an analog mixer, some use the latest digital microphones and quite sophisticated digital mixers, and all of this can be seen together. Quality of the equipment is usually the best, but of the no-nonsense kind, you won't see oxygen-free cables, gold-plated optical connectors, or any of the voodoo found on the high-end 'audiophile' market. Monitoring is always on speakers. 'Effects' are out, EQ is used but will be moderate, compression will be 'manual'. Things like live opera recording and orchestral studio recording can involve a lot of editing, in the first case to combine the best parts of different performances, in the latter because there's usually no time to repeat a complete symphony movement each time someone misses a note. Audio engineers doing this type of work are expected to know the music, understand the artistic requirements, and be able to read an orchestral score and correlate it to what they hear. The latter can be quite hard sometimes, e.g. for contemporary classical music. Ciao, -- FA O tu, che porte, correndo si ? E guerra e morte !