Here is the video that lets you have a rough idea on valve processing I've done.
Unfortunately, the audio quality through YouTube is terrible. I will keep looking for a better way to present audio files on this blog.
UPDATE:
Apparently, Vimeo offers much better image and sound quality. I think it should be OK to use it here:
Valve processors from Karol Pilch on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label Fitzwilliam Auditorium 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fitzwilliam Auditorium 1. Show all posts
Fitz Choir - finall Logic session
Yesterday I finished working on the choral material from Fitzwilliam Chapel Choir.
In General
My work was just to cut the whole material into separate tracks, make them fade in and out nicely and set the levels so that the full range of bit space is used.
Gate
As I noticed in few pieces, there is a space between the song and the applause. I tried removing this silence and putting clapping right after the song is finished, but that sounds very unnatural. Instead I used a noise gate set to decrease levels by 16dB when nothing is going on. The noise from EQ and the record itself gets then decreased, but it is still possible to hear people coughing and making noises before they start clapping. This sounds much better.
To be sure that it doesn't cut anything during the songs, I used automation to keep it off except for the end of the song.
EQ and gate used in final bounce-down.
Automation on gate's reduction. For when I need it, it goes down to -16dB, otherwise it stays at 0 - no change.
EQ
Additionally, I used EQ once more (but this time I relied on Logic's own EQ) to reduce wide band around 750Hz by -6dB in the deepest place. After a while of rest after the previous session, I found those frequencies still a bit too loud.
Levels
I found that even during the loudest parts of songs, I can still rise the levels by 2.1dB. I couldn't keep this loudness though, as this would make applause heavily clipped. To have both songs and clapping with proper level, I used automation again - just to reduce loudness from 2.1dB to -3.1 during applause.
Automation on Output Volume during applause.
Wider view of automation on the output.
This is how the finished track looked like.
After all that, I only had to bounce the material down, track by track. I set the output sampling rate to 44100Hz as this is the rate that is going to be used when burning a CD.
Now I only have to burn a CD and it's all done!
In General
My work was just to cut the whole material into separate tracks, make them fade in and out nicely and set the levels so that the full range of bit space is used.
Gate
As I noticed in few pieces, there is a space between the song and the applause. I tried removing this silence and putting clapping right after the song is finished, but that sounds very unnatural. Instead I used a noise gate set to decrease levels by 16dB when nothing is going on. The noise from EQ and the record itself gets then decreased, but it is still possible to hear people coughing and making noises before they start clapping. This sounds much better.
To be sure that it doesn't cut anything during the songs, I used automation to keep it off except for the end of the song.
EQ and gate used in final bounce-down.
Automation on gate's reduction. For when I need it, it goes down to -16dB, otherwise it stays at 0 - no change.
EQ
Additionally, I used EQ once more (but this time I relied on Logic's own EQ) to reduce wide band around 750Hz by -6dB in the deepest place. After a while of rest after the previous session, I found those frequencies still a bit too loud.
Levels
I found that even during the loudest parts of songs, I can still rise the levels by 2.1dB. I couldn't keep this loudness though, as this would make applause heavily clipped. To have both songs and clapping with proper level, I used automation again - just to reduce loudness from 2.1dB to -3.1 during applause.
Automation on Output Volume during applause.
Wider view of automation on the output.
This is how the finished track looked like.
After all that, I only had to bounce the material down, track by track. I set the output sampling rate to 44100Hz as this is the rate that is going to be used when burning a CD.
Now I only have to burn a CD and it's all done!
Valve kit pics - Fitz Choir
Here we go:
Compression settings for channel A. There is a MASSSIVE input gain, because I was a bit scared to bring the levels up while recording. The threshold is set so that it enables the compression only on really loud sounds - so it pretty much works like a limitter (ratio of 1:30). Very fast attack - not to let any loud sounds through.
Compression channel B + meters. Settings are the exact mirror of channel A (somehow I couldn't get the Stereo button to work). Gain makeup a little tweaked to keep the balance between left and right even.
EQ: Gain, Low-cut, High-cut, Low freq band and Low-medium freq band. The shelf/band switch was at 'shelf' position (LF).
EQ: High medium freq band, High freq band and master gain. Note that only Channel A (bottom one, apparently) controls the EQ as it is the master when they are linked using Stereo button.
Screenshot of Logic session while bouncing down from valves. On the right: Logic EQs. top one cuts down bottom of the signal that went to valves, to reduce humming noise I wrote about earlier. It was much easier to filter it out using Logic EQ than valves. The bottom EQ shows the reduction I done to the bounced down signal to eliminate hiss made by valve EQ.
Screenshot comparing original and bounced down tracks - note rather dramatic inrease of levels!
Compression settings for channel A. There is a MASSSIVE input gain, because I was a bit scared to bring the levels up while recording. The threshold is set so that it enables the compression only on really loud sounds - so it pretty much works like a limitter (ratio of 1:30). Very fast attack - not to let any loud sounds through.
Compression channel B + meters. Settings are the exact mirror of channel A (somehow I couldn't get the Stereo button to work). Gain makeup a little tweaked to keep the balance between left and right even.
EQ: Gain, Low-cut, High-cut, Low freq band and Low-medium freq band. The shelf/band switch was at 'shelf' position (LF).
EQ: High medium freq band, High freq band and master gain. Note that only Channel A (bottom one, apparently) controls the EQ as it is the master when they are linked using Stereo button.
Screenshot of Logic session while bouncing down from valves. On the right: Logic EQs. top one cuts down bottom of the signal that went to valves, to reduce humming noise I wrote about earlier. It was much easier to filter it out using Logic EQ than valves. The bottom EQ shows the reduction I done to the bounced down signal to eliminate hiss made by valve EQ.
Screenshot comparing original and bounced down tracks - note rather dramatic inrease of levels!
Fitz Choir - post-production
OK, I finally opened the Fitz Choir recording in Logic, in ARU Mastering Studio. After a couple of minutes of figuring out how the signal goes around the studio (congratulations to Nick for clear and easy to use layout!), I started listening.
First listen
As I suspected just from listening how the concert sounded live, I discovered quite high frequency content in middle range, between 500Hz and 1.5kHz. I don't quite like records that have too much in there, so I put the recording through TLAudio valve kit.
Compression
I used the compressor just for increasing the levels to drive the EQ. I left the compression ratio at 1:30 and set the threshold so it would work as a limiter for the loudest sounds only. Attack was set to minimum, and release not much longer.
EQ
In the EQ unit, I did some basic adjustments - I took down 600Hz + surroundings, took up what was below 400Hz using shelf EQ, cut off what was below 250Hz using low-cut. Also, I decreased 1kHz with surroundings because I didn't like what was in there.
That all, combined with incredibly warm sound of valves, created beautiful sounding effect. EQ leaves quite a lot of hiss though, which I will have to remove in Logic later.
I am not quite happy with the stereo spread - but as I said before, I didn't want to set the microphones too wide apart in case the audience wasn't quiet enough.
At this very moment, the whole thing is bouncing down to new tracks. I now plan to tweak the result in Logic (possibly use the unprocessed recording with added reverb for applause), split the songs and the whole processing should be over!
First listen
As I suspected just from listening how the concert sounded live, I discovered quite high frequency content in middle range, between 500Hz and 1.5kHz. I don't quite like records that have too much in there, so I put the recording through TLAudio valve kit.
Compression
I used the compressor just for increasing the levels to drive the EQ. I left the compression ratio at 1:30 and set the threshold so it would work as a limiter for the loudest sounds only. Attack was set to minimum, and release not much longer.
EQ
In the EQ unit, I did some basic adjustments - I took down 600Hz + surroundings, took up what was below 400Hz using shelf EQ, cut off what was below 250Hz using low-cut. Also, I decreased 1kHz with surroundings because I didn't like what was in there.
That all, combined with incredibly warm sound of valves, created beautiful sounding effect. EQ leaves quite a lot of hiss though, which I will have to remove in Logic later.
I am not quite happy with the stereo spread - but as I said before, I didn't want to set the microphones too wide apart in case the audience wasn't quiet enough.
At this very moment, the whole thing is bouncing down to new tracks. I now plan to tweak the result in Logic (possibly use the unprocessed recording with added reverb for applause), split the songs and the whole processing should be over!
Fitz instrumental pics
OK, next part, this time from Sunday:
C414s with some instruments on the stage
...and even some players!
Another view.
C414s with some instruments on the stage
...and even some players!
Another view.
Fitz Choir recordings pics
Here we go. Pictures are made with my phone, so sorry for the quality...
C414s looking at the stage
About 90 degrees...
Side view of mics and stage
... and a top view. Mics are just a shadow next to the director.
This is how this looked like from the stage.
C414s looking at the stage
About 90 degrees...
Side view of mics and stage
... and a top view. Mics are just a shadow next to the director.
This is how this looked like from the stage.
Fitz Instrumental
I'm writing that on Tuesday after the recording
The choral concert described below took place last Friday. On Sunday, there was another concert, this time instrumental, which I recorded as well.
The recording went quite well, for what I heard when I had a quick listen to the material while still on site.
Band
There were a couple of pieces played by different instrument sets: A string quartet, solo piano, harpsichord + violin + cello etc. They never played all instruments together.
They chosen the program quite bravely (to come soon), considering their skills and I must say that a few glitches were possible to hear. This is none of my concern anyway :)
Mic set-up
Again, I used the same equipment as on Friday night. This time, 2 additional rows were put on the bottom of the audience (actually, I was helping to put them up), which allowed me to come closer to the stage - I settled in the 2nd row again. I carefully adjusted the microphones, so that the angle between them would be a bit more than 90 deg. - I didn't want the cardioids to cover too much of the audience.
The recording
I didn't have time (remember, I was at work) to sit by the recorder all time, so I only slightly adjusted the levels during the first piece, leaving the head at about -3dB on loudest moments, and then just switched the limiter on and went back to work. While doing that, I noticed that the weird noise I noticed on Friday is only present in the mic looking to the left - the right one was apparently OK.
This is it so far. To avoid projects and works piling up, I spent today entirely on processing speeches and now they are almost ready and I can think of other things to do.
The choral concert described below took place last Friday. On Sunday, there was another concert, this time instrumental, which I recorded as well.
The recording went quite well, for what I heard when I had a quick listen to the material while still on site.
Band
There were a couple of pieces played by different instrument sets: A string quartet, solo piano, harpsichord + violin + cello etc. They never played all instruments together.
They chosen the program quite bravely (to come soon), considering their skills and I must say that a few glitches were possible to hear. This is none of my concern anyway :)
Mic set-up
Again, I used the same equipment as on Friday night. This time, 2 additional rows were put on the bottom of the audience (actually, I was helping to put them up), which allowed me to come closer to the stage - I settled in the 2nd row again. I carefully adjusted the microphones, so that the angle between them would be a bit more than 90 deg. - I didn't want the cardioids to cover too much of the audience.
The recording
I didn't have time (remember, I was at work) to sit by the recorder all time, so I only slightly adjusted the levels during the first piece, leaving the head at about -3dB on loudest moments, and then just switched the limiter on and went back to work. While doing that, I noticed that the weird noise I noticed on Friday is only present in the mic looking to the left - the right one was apparently OK.
This is it so far. To avoid projects and works piling up, I spent today entirely on processing speeches and now they are almost ready and I can think of other things to do.
Notes taken during Fitz Choir recording
OK, I am now in the Auditorium in Fitzwilliam College. As an AV technician in here, I know the place and I have access to all the rooms, so I chosen to sit in the Control Room for the duration of the concert.
The Choir I am recording has 9 members, but as I noticed during their rehearsal, only 8 sings at a time.
Down on the audience, in the second row on the middle, I've got 2 C414s set up as coincident pair of cardioids hooked up to the Marantz. I'm recording in 48kHz sample rate, but for some reason I couldn't change the bit resolution. As far as I know, it should be either 16 bit (good) or 24 bit (very good).
As the audience is rather high class, I covered all the cables and a big reel of extension cable with a cloth, so the only thing sticking out is a piece of stand with 2 mics on it. I also put ropes around the 1 seat I used for equipment, so no-one hopefully will ruin my recording.
I am however afraid that it will be ruined anyway, as the mics pick up some very weird noise down around 100-150 Hz. I hope that it hasn't any higher frequency content. If not, it will be easy to eliminate. I'll try to switch the house fans off - up here I can hear them very well, they might cause the problem. But anyway, signal-to-noise ratio was OK as I was listening on the headphones. Well, I'll see on Monday.
I have done some pictures (and I plan to make some more) to be posted tomorrow.
For now I just sit and pray that they won't take longer than until 22:50, when the recorder will run out of space.
Fitz Choir - Recording confirmed
I've just got an e-mail confirming the recording of Fitzwilliam Choir.
I will record their rehearsal in Fitzwilliam Chapel this Saturday. Hopefully, one of their pieces will be suitable for my portfolio. As far as I know the acoustics of the place, the array of 2 coincident cardioids angled 180 degrees should do the work.
I already booked Marantz digital recorder and a pair of AMG C414s to borrow for a week-end, so everything seems to be ready to go.
I will record their rehearsal in Fitzwilliam Chapel this Saturday. Hopefully, one of their pieces will be suitable for my portfolio. As far as I know the acoustics of the place, the array of 2 coincident cardioids angled 180 degrees should do the work.
I already booked Marantz digital recorder and a pair of AMG C414s to borrow for a week-end, so everything seems to be ready to go.
Fitzwilliam Choir - arrangements
I'm in the middle of arranging the first event to record for my portfolio. Apparently, there is a choir singing in the Fitzwilliam College, my place of work, and most propably they will allow me to record their performance in College Chapel - looks like a good opportunity to use some nice stereo array. I am thinking of using a Marantz portable digital recorder and a pair of C414s.
Before the event, I'll have to check the notes on stereo arrays from previous year. For now, I am still waiting for confirmations.
Before the event, I'll have to check the notes on stereo arrays from previous year. For now, I am still waiting for confirmations.
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