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When did Edison create the phonograph?
1977
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How does Edison's phonograph work?
inscribed vibrations on tin foil
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What was material was later used on the phonograph?
wax cylinders that could be molded and duplicated
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Who make the gramophone and when?
Emile Berliner in 1887
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How did the gramophone work?
inscribed onto a round flat shellac-coated disc
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What did the gramophone eventually lead to?
vinyl LP records
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What benefit did the gramophone have over the phonograph?
longer play times
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When was electronic amplification started?
1904
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What did electronic amplification do for the industry?
improved volume and fidelity
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How did the microphone improve the industry?
to balance the performance being recorded; multiple mics could be used for more balance
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When and where was magnetic recording started?
1930's, Germany (Hitler recording speeches and then playing them on radio)
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What material was first used for magnetic recording, and then what was it replaced with?
first with a wire/metal bands; replaced by PVC recording tape
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Les Paul's contributions to recording (and dates)
- Sound on sound: 1946
- Multitrack recording: 1950s
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Who developed the first 8-track recorder?
Ampex
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What are the track counts you could have on 2" tape?
4, 8, 16, and 24
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When did stereo replace mono? When was the cassette tape developed?
1960
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Other 1960's recording developments:
- quad recording
- "Walkman" personal stereo
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When and who announced the CD in development?
1979 by Philips
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When was the CD launchd?
1983
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What developments happened in the digital revolution?
- CD launched
- digital recording
- MIDI introduced
- tape-based digital recording
- software-based recording introduced
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Internet and beyond:
- internet technology, world wide web
- revolutionized all media production (MP3, MP4)
- computer-based workstation
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Parts of a Pro Studio:
- Pro staff
- up-to-date equipment, expertly maintained
- comfortable/pro work environment
- optimized acoustics
- optimized control/mix room
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Recording signal path:
transducer -> amplification -> recording system
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What is a transducer?
any component that converts one form of energy to another corresponding form
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Recording signal path: Tranducer
- microphone
- pickup
- phonograph pickup
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Recording signal path: Amplification
- console/mixer
- interface
- preamp/live amp
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Recording signal path: Recording system
- analogue tape
- tape-based digital
- hard drive-based computer system (AKA DAW)
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What is sound?
atmospheric disruption in the air
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What is audio?
the electronic signal of sound
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Studio signal path:
tracking room -> control room -> machine room
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Studio signal path: Tracking room
- mic+stands
- amps
- artist
- panels with XLR sockets
- window that looks into the next room
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Studio signal path: Control room
- console or HUI
- engineer at console
- equipment rack (also producer's desk w/ couch behind it
- near-field monitors
- soffit (party speakers)
- patchbay
- monitor screen for edit/mix
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Studio signal path: Machine room
- rack of protools
- keyboard and mouse
- monitor screen
- maybe a rack of modulars
- analogue tape machine
- multitrack panel going to the patchbay
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What company introduced the XLR cable and what was its original purpose?
Canon; camera audio
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What are XLR cables now used for?
balanced audio connection, timecode and sync in video
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What does the AES/EBU protocol allow?
lets 2 channels of digital down 1 cable
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What is DI and what does it do?
DI= Direct Injection; takes high impedance and makes it low impedance
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What is the metal part at the end of an XLR cable called?
cladding
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What is underneath the metal part at the end of an XLR?
braided shield
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XLR pin designations:
- 1: shield
- 2: signal +
- 3: signal -
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Male and Female XLR pinouts: (read clockwise)
- Male: 2(+), 1(shield), 3(-)
- Female: 1(shield), 2(+), 3(-)
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Which phone plug is balance and which isn't?
- TRS: balanced
- TS: unbalanced
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What is "Tiny Telephone" used for in the industry?
exclusively for patch cables
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RCA: (Radio Corporation of America)
usually used for consumer audio+video; unbalanced
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SPDIF: (Sony/Philips Digital Interface)
consumer version of AES/EBU for RCA; sometimes call "coaxial" for 2 channels down one cable
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Fiber Optics:
sends modulated digital data down a fiber optic cable; multichannel digital I/O
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Elco:
multi-pin multi-channel connectors for analogue
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D-Sub:
for Elco, have different sizes and configs; digital+analogue
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USB/Firewire:
digital interface to computer connections
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5-pin DIN:
MIDI standard cable; introduced at NAMM in 1983 so that an electronic instrument could talk to each other; also European consumer audio standard
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1st law of electrostatics:
like charges repel, unlike charges attract
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What is a positive and negative ion?
- positive: lacking electrons
- negative: excess electrons
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Good conductors:
- gold
- copper
- silver
- iron
- aluminium
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Why are metals so good at conducting electricity?
their atomic structure allows the electricity to flow in exchange for electrons
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Insulators:
- rubber
- wood
- plastic
- nylon
- cloth
- glass
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What does DC mean for electricity?
electricity flows in one direction
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What does AC mean for electricity?
electricity flows in both directions
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Which is more efficient with long cables, DC or AC?
AC
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Current (I):
what is its measurement?
quantity of electrons passing a point; Ampere
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What is 1 ampere equivalent to?
6.28 x 1018 electrons in 1 second = 1 ampere
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Voltage (V):
electrical pressure/force, "potential"
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Power (P):
what is it measured in?
"work" performed by an electrical current; watts
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Resistance (R):
what is it measured in?
resist current in a conductor or circuit; ohms
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what does each part of the water tank model represent?
- water in tank= voltage (potential)
- faucet= resistance
- water coming out of faucet= current
- paddle wheel turning= work
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What is a circuit?
any arrangement of components that lets an electrical current to flow
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Series circuit:
current that must pass through one component to reach the next
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Parallel circuit:
2 or more components are connects so a current flows through one component without flowing through another
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What is a wave?
periodic fluctuation in current or voltage
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What does a positive (above line) sine wave represent?
DC
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What does a positive and negative sine wave represent:
AC
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What does a square wave sound like and what makes it square?
it's a distortion sound; it's a clipped sine wave
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What is a square wave useful for?
can be used for timecode since it's either all up or all down (1 and 0 in binary code)
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Circuit ground:
(maybe on board) point in a circuit where there is 0 voltage
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Chassis ground:
connects earth ground to interior component using 3rd prong on power cable
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Earth ground:
metal rod or pipe in the ground connected to electrical system
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Wire/cable:
usually metal like copper; stranded or solid core
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Switches - pole:
# of connections in switch
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Switches - throw:
how many connections can be made
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Relay:
electromagnetic switch; current goes through coil and magnetizes new contacts
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Microphone:
converts sound wave variations into electrical currents
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Dynamic mic:
movement of diaphragm moves coil in a magnetic field
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Condenser mic:
alters the distance between two metal plates varying the capacitance
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Speaker:
works in reverse of dynamic mic
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Resistor:
limits current; controls current to an appropriate level for the component behind it
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Capacitor:
stores electrons (a charge); smoothes and conditions current; can also split frequencies
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Ohm's law:
if you have 2 values, you may calculate the 3rd
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Ohm's law equation:
Voltage (V) = Current (I) x Resistance (R)
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Kilo =
Mega =
Milli =
- Kilo = 1000
- Mega = 1,000,000
- Milli = .001
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How does current flow?
current flows through a wire by the exchange of electrons; positive ion in conductor attracts extra electrons in the current's negative ions
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How to read resistor bands:
- first band: first digit
- second band: second digit
- third band: multiplier
- fourth band: tolerance
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What is to be assumed if there is no fourth band on a resistor?
assume ±20% tolerance
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