Sunday, 11 November 2012

Eight Week @ BMP Audio (5.11 - 11.11)

(A rack of compressors in a recording studio)
This week I have been learning about compression and compression techniques. Dynamic range compression reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies quiet sounds by narrowing or "compressing" an audio signal's dynamic range. Compression is commonly used in sound recording and reproduction and broadcasting. A compressor reduces the level of an audio signal if its amplitude exceeds a certain threshold. 

 When producing a program at BMP Audio, they use a Pro Tools template for 2 hour programs which normally have four tracks in the Pro Tool sessions. One track is for the presenter’s (Elwood Blues) audio, another track for the artist/interviewees and the other two are tracks for music. The two music tracks do not need to compressed in any way as they have been ripped from CDs or downloaded from iTunes and therefor have already been mastered. 
The two tracks that need the most compression are the two vocal tracks, Compression is often used in music production to make performances more consistent in dynamic range so that they "sit" in the mix of other instruments better and maintain consistent attention from the listener. Vocal performances in rock music or pop music are usually compressed in order to make them stand out from the surrounding instruments and to add to the clarity of the vocal performance.

Serial compression is what I use the most on live audio, it is a technique used in sound recording and mixing. Serial compression is achieved by using two fairly different compressors in a signal chain. One compressor will generally stabilize the dynamic range while the other will more aggressively compress stronger peaks. Done properly, even heavy serial compression can sound very natural in a way not possible with a single compressor. It is most often used to even out erratic vocals and guitars.

I worked on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, adding up to 13 hours


Total: 93 hours

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1 comment:

  1. Professor Moore27 November 2012 at 17:02

    Joe,

    It sounds as if they are teaching you a lot on this internship. If you could read your classmates' blogs, you would see how unusual this is. Most of them are learning a lot on their internships, but no one is training them. They are given assignments and set loose to muddle through. But it seems as if you are receiving some instruction and supervision. That's makes the internship function as it should: for the greater benefit of the intern than the organization. Good for you.

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