HANDBOOK OF RECORDING ENGINEERING FOURTH EDITION

HANDBOOK OF RECORDING ENGINEERING FOURTH EDITION

HANDBOOK OF RECORDING ENGINEERING FOURTH EDITION by John Eargle JME Consulting Corporation Springe]

John Eargle JME Consulting Corporation Los Angeles, CA, USA Eargle, John. Handbook of recording engineering / by John Eargle.~4th ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-4020-7230-9 (alk. paper) 1. Sound Recording and reproducing. I. Title. TK7881.4.E16 2002 621.389'3-dc21 2002032065 ISBN 0-387-28470-2 (SC) e-isbn 0-387-28471-0 Printed on acid-free paper. ISBN 978-0387-28470-5 ISBN 1-4020-7230-9 (HC) First softcover printing 2006 2003 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. (hardcover edition) All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the pubhsher (Springer Science+Business Media, Inc., 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now know or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks and similar terms, even if the are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed in the United States of America. 987654321 SPIN 11545002 springeronline.com

CONTENTS Preface vii SECTION 1. FOUNDATIONS IN ACOUSTICS Chapter 1. Acoustics in the Modem Studio 1 Chapter 2. Psychoacoustics: How We Hear 28 SECTION 2. MICROPHONES Chapter 3. Microphones: Basic Principles 46 Chapter 4. Microphones: The Basic Pickup Patterns 53 Chapter 5. Environmental Effects and Departures from Ideal Performance 65 Chapter 6. Microphones: Electronic Performance and the Electrical Interface 74 Chapter 7. Microphone Accessories 84 SECTION 3. RECORDING SYSTEMS: ANALYSIS, ARCHITECTURE, AND MONITORING Chapter 8. Basic Audio Signal Analysis 94 Chapter 9. Recording Consoles, Metering, and Audio Transmission Systems 107 Chapter 10. Monitor Loudspeakers 139 SECTION 4, RECORDING TECHNOLOGY Chapter 11. Analog Magnetic Recording and Time Code 154 Chapter 12. Digital Recording 184 Chapter 13. The Digital Postproduction Environment 201

vi Contents SECTION 5. SIGNAL PROCESSING Chapter 14. Equalizers and Equalization 213 Chapter 15. Dynamics Control 222 Chapter 16. Reverberation and Signal Delay 232 Chapter 17. Special Techniques in Signal Processing 242 SECTION 6. RECORDING OPERATIONS Chapter 18. Fundamentals of Stereo Recording 254 Chapter 19. Studio Recording and Production Techniques 267 Chapter 20. Classical Recording and Production Techniques 290 Chapter 21. Surround Sound Recording Techniques 311 SECTION 7. PRODUCTION SUPPORT FUNCTIONS Chapter 22. Mixing and Mastering Procedures 326 Chapter 23. Music Editing and Assembly 338 SECTION 8.CONSUMER MEDIA Chapter 24. Recorded Tape Products for the Consumer 352 Chapter 25. Optical Media for the Consumer 359 Chapter 26. The Stereo Long-Playing (LP) Record 371 SECTION 9. STUDIO DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS Chapter 27. Recording Studio Design Fundamentals 394 Bibliography 409 Index 424

PREFACE The fourth edition of the Handbook of Recording Engineering follows the same broad subject outline as the third edition and includes new data on the many developments that have taken place in digital technology and surround sound recording techniques during the last six years. The emphasis of the book has shifted slightly toward needs voiced by teachers of recording technology, and students will find this edition easier to read and study than the earlier editions. Sidebars have been introduced in many of the chapters for detailed technical follow-up, leaving the body of the text free for general commentary. The book is divided broadly into nine sections, described below: 1. Foundations in Acoustics. The studio itself becomes the laboratory for our discussion of both acoustics and psychoacoustics. 2. Microphones. The microphone is indeed the central creative tool of our industry and the subject is given five chapters of its own. 3. Recording Systems: Analysis, Architecture, and Monitoring. A new chapter on audio signal analysis pulls together into a single chapter many concepts previously covered in multiple chapters. The modem in-line console is explained in greater depth than in previous editions. 4. Recording Technology. While analog recording retains its pre-eminence in basic tracking activities, the disc-based digital workstation has become the primary digital tool for both multichannel recording and postproduction work. 5. Signal Processing. Major developments in this area include plug-in "modules" for digital workstations that literally duplicate the highly esteemed equalizers and compressors of the past, and new sampling-type reverberation systems that duplicate the acoustics of famous performance venues around the world. 6. Recording Operations. In the last six or so years, surround sound has attained maturity and is now given parity with stereo techniques. 7. Production Support Functions. The techniques of mixing, music editing, and assembly remain much as before and are essential activities in the real world of audio.

viii Preface 8. Consumer Media, Along with high-performance media such as the DVD audio and the SACD, the half-century-old stereo LP retains its position as the medium of choice for DJ-driven dance music, and as such it deserves its own chapter. 9. Studio Design Fundamentals, While greater numbers of pop and classical music releases are postproduced in the home project environment, the professional studio remains the center of tracking activities for music of all kinds. John Eargle Los Angeles, 2002