RTV1240C

1
RTV1240C

• Chapter 1

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The Production Studio

• Room full of audio equipment
• Prod 1 2
• PDX
• Digital audio workstation DAW
• Computer
• Pro Tools
• Audition

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Production studio

• Most radio stations have at least two studios
• On-air studio
• Production studios
• Material to be broadcast later
• Commercials
• PSAs
• Station promos
• Interviews
• The production studio can be a back up to the
  on-air studio

4
Performance Studio

• Also called announcer booth
• Voice overs
• interviews

5
Studio considerations

• Acoustics
• How sound behaves in the room
• Ergonomics
• Design consideration to increase comfortable use
  and reduce fatigue
• To make the studio easy to use

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The Audio Chain

• The route audio takes to be ultimately broadcast
  or recorded
• Audio Sources
• Voice, CD, audio recorder
• Audio processing
• Equalizer, reverb, compression
• Monitoring
• Headphones
• speakers

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Audio chain
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Sound Sources

• Microphone
• CD player
• Computer
• Reel-to-reel or cassette
• Minidisc
• DAW digital audio workstation

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Audio Console

• All audio sources feed into the audio console
• This allows mixing, processing, and monitoring

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Studio layout

• U-shaped layout
• Allows the operator to reach all of the equipment
• Working in Combo
• The announcer is also the equipment operator
• Working with Engineer assist
• Announcer works with an engineer, separated by a
  window
• Studios can be confiured as sit down or Stand
  up

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Production Studio Furniture

• Provides the foundation for the production studio
• Supports all the equipment
• Custom built
• Modular design
• Designed for computers
• Monitor should not be more than 2 feet from
  viewer
• Top screen line should be slightly below eye
  level
• Keyboard should align with monitor

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Production Studio Furniture

• Most studio furniture is plywood or particleboard
  with laminate counter tops
• Equipment racks use passive air flow to cool
  equipment

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Studio sound considerations

• The physical room will impact the sound made in
  it
• Things to consider
• Sound isolation
• Noise an vibration control
• Room acoustics
• How sound behaves in the room

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acoustics

• When sound strikes a surface (such as a studio
  wall), some sound is
• Reflected back
• Absorbed
• Passed through penetration
• Reflected sound from irregular surfaces is
  diffusion (irregular reflection).
• Direct sound moves from the source directly
  into the microphone

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acoustics

• Indirect or reflected sound reaches the
  microphone slightly later than direct sound
• Echo sound reflected from one surface
• Reverberation sound reflected from two or more
  surfaces, includes decay (hello oo oo - oo)
• Sound life cycle combination of direct and
  indirect sound

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acoustics

• Reverb ring the time it takes for a sound to
  die out, or go from full volume to silence
• Reverb route the path sound takes from the
  source to reflective surfaces and back to the
  original source.
• Excessive reflection emphasizes high and mid
  frequencies, resulting in a harsh sound, blurs
  the stereo image to cause a muddy sound.

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acoustics

• Absorption and diffusion are used to control
  reflected sound
• This can be done with curtains, carpet and
  specialized studio walls.
• Absorption creates a dead studio with a very
  short reverb ring
• This is considered dry and unlike most any
  common sound environment
• A live studio has a long reverb ring and
  produces a harder more brilliant sound

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acoustics

• Diffusion uses irregular room surfaces to break
  up sound reflection
• This decreases the intensity of the reflection,
  making them less noticeable
• Most studios use a combination of absorption and
  diffusion techniques
• One common approach is a live end / dead end
  studio
• The dead end absorbs sound and excess reflection
• The live end adds desirable sharpness so the
  sound isnt totally dry
• Other approaches are
• Sound scattering using a great deal of
  diffusion
• Reflection free zone using a great deal of
  absorption

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Studio construction materials

• Materials should minimize sound escaping
• Penetration
• Soundproofing
• Features
• Sealed doors
• Double glass
• Acoustically treated walls
• Carpeting
• Egg crate foam
• Special flooring
• Sound absorption coefficient
• How much sound is absorped
• Coefficient of 1.00 all sound absorped
• Coefficient of 0.00 no sound absorped

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Studio size and shape

• The production studio should not be overly
  reflective
• Standard room construction tends to be more
  reflective
• Parallel, box-shaped walls can produce standing
  waves
• Standing wave is combination of a sound wave
  going in one direction and its reflective wave
  going in the opposite direction
• More ideal is spayed walls at more than
  90-degrees
• Cubic construction should be avoided when possible

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Studio aesthetics

• Avoid fluorescent lighting
• Fatigue, hum
• Lights on dimmers
• Comfortable chairs and stools
• Decorations
• Anti-static
• Static touch pad
• Connected to electric ground

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On-air recording lights

• On-air light is connected to when microphone is
  turned on and active, the on-air or recording
  light is on
• Ettique is to never enter a studio when the light
  is on
• Be quiet when near or in an on-air studio
• A stand by que alerts everyone to be silent,
  the recording is about to begin

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Radio hand signals

• Stand by
• Que
• Two minutes
• Cut
• Give more level
• Stretch it, sow down
• Speed up
• Wrap it up

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Noise and distortion

• Noise any unwanted sound, or any sound not in
  the original recording
• Signal to noise ratio
• Most audio equipment is designed to provide at
  least a 60-1 signal to noise ratio (S/N)
• A 60db S/N or better is considered ok
• Distortion unwanted change in the sound due to
  inaccurate reproduction of the sound
• Sound recorded too loud for the equipment to
  handle
• Overdriven muddy
• Analog equip is especially prone to distortion

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Production studio set up

• Keep working spaces tidy
• Set audio console to neutral
• Use a tone generator is possible
• Good practice to keep notes o sound setting such
  as levels and signal processes applied to make it
  easier to reproduce those settings later, if
  needed.
• Note music tracks and sound effects used
• Use a track sheet to make notations

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assignments

• Quiz on chapter one next week
• 10 Questions from the end of each chapter
• All Answers are provided in the book
• Project 2 chap. 1
• Suggest a redesign of the production studio using
  room 2140 as an example
• Project 3 chap. 1
• Draw an audio chain flowchart for your production
  studio
• Review figure 1.2 in the book