Audio Recording Tutorial #02 - Basic Multi-Track Recording

I just uploaded part two of my Audio Recording tutorial series (and I have some additional study notes further down in this post). This series is more related to home studio work than it is to DJ'ing, although I'm still covering the very basics of audio engineering and production work.

If you're just discovering this series and want to start back at the beginning, visit:  djbolivia.ca/audiorecording


Audio Recording Tutorial #02: Basic Multi-Track Recording

In this video, we start exploring multi-track recording in a single pass.  I talk about external soundcards, which usually connect to your computer via USB or firewire, and which give you better quality of your audio signals flowing in and out of the computer.  I talk about types of audio signals & cords, and the plugs that you'll commonly encounter (ie. XLR, 1/4", RCA/phono).  I discuss basic information about microphones, including dynamic and condenser mikes, which are the most common types.  Working with Abode Audition, I record a simple piano performance using a dynamic and a condenser microphone, and then do some basic editing to make the track sound better.  The song I played was an instrumental cover of "Wasted Time," written by Glenn Frey and Don Henley of the Eagles.





If you want to download the audio files that I was using in this video, to better hear the audio (or experiment with it) in your own home studio setup, here’s a link to a zipped folder containing the relevant files:

www.djbolivia.ca/tutorials/audiorecording02.rar




Audio Recording Tutorial #01: Basic Recording

This was the first video in the series, which you might want to watch before you watch #02. This one deals with very simple audio recording using the microphone on a HD video camera, and using a portable audio recording device.  It talks about some of the basic types of processing that a studio engineer would put on an audio track (particularly on vocals), which includes reverb, delay, chorus, and EQ’ing, although it only goes into any detail on the last of those four topics.  I predominantly use Audacity to illustrate some basic concepts, with just a bit of use of Audition and VLC to help out with some other tasks.  Essentially, I’ve recorded a song (a cover of Pearl Jam's "Elderly Woman" on acoustic guitar and singing) and then extracted the audio from the recording devices, then I did some very simple processing in order to come up with a better quality audio file.






Once you've watched the two videos above, I'd recommend that you spend some time learning a bit more about a few of the things that I covered in this video:

Microphones:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphone

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/jun95/microphones.html

http://www.dpamicrophones.com/en/Mic-University/Technology-Guide/10-Statements-on-Condenser-Microphones-vs--Dynamic-Microphones.aspx

Phantom Power:

http://www.gollihurmusic.com/faq/28-PHANTOM_POWER_BASICS_MICROPHONES_PREAMPS.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_power

http://www.tangible-technology.com/power/Phantom_Power_connect.html

Signal Cords:

http://www.techno-fandom.org/techu/Sound-101/Sound-101.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLR_connector

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio)

http://www.ovnilab.com/articles/linelevel.shtml

USB Condenser Microphones:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/149123/microphone.html

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb07/articles/usbmics.htm

Mono versus Stereo:

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Mono_vs_Stereo

http://www.mcsquared.com/mono-stereo.htm

Background Noise:

http://www.ap.com/solutions/introtoaudiotest/snr

To see the rest of the tutorials in this Audio Recording series, visit:

djbolivia.ca/audiorecording

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

Upbeat Workout Music, Mix #02

The response to the last workout mix that I posted on my blog was pretty amazing. The mix has had thousands of downloads in the past six weeks. As a result, I've decided that every six weeks, I'll devote an episode of my radio show to creating a new mainstream/top40 club dance mix.

The mix is an hour long, and anyone can download it (the link is near the bottom of this post). As implied above, I used the same mix for my "Subterranean Homesick Grooves" radio show this week, to give it a bit of a bigger audience. However, the mix that you can download in the link above doesn't have the radio station promos in it, so it will be better if it's being played in a gym.


Here are Track Listings for Workout Mix #02:

01. Freemasons & Wynter Gordon, "Believer" (Club Mix).
02. David Deejay & Ela Rose, "I Can Feel" (Le Que Remix).
03. Ke$ha, "We R Who We R" (James Rendon Club Mix).
04. David Guetta & Rihanna, "Who's That Chick" (Martin Souza Extended Edit).
05. Rihanna, "Rockstar 101" (Dave Aude Club Mix).
06. Taio Cruz, "Higher" (Radio Edit).
07. Pink, "Raise Your Glass" (Jump Smokers Extension).
08. Avicii & Sebastien Drums, "My Feelings For You" (Original Mix).
09. Pussycat Dolls, "I Hate This Part" (Dave Aude Club Mix).
10. Swedish House Mafia, "One" (Original Mix).
11. Empire Of The Sun, "Walking On A Dream" (Johan Baath Remix).
12. Black Eyed Peas, "The Time / The Dirty Bit."
13. Rihanna, "Only Girl In The World" (Liam Keegan Remix).
14. Yolanda Be Cool, "We No Speak Americano" (Jarleen Bootleg).


To download a 1.5 GB Zip file that includes all of the mixes in DJ Bolivia's workout series, right-click on this link and choose "save target" or "save link":

chma.fm/Workout_Mixes_1-12.zip

For links to the blog posts about the other mixes in this series, visit:

www.djbolivia.ca/workout

I have lots more upbeat electronica mixes available on my DJ website. Admittedly, there aren't too many mixes there [yet] that are exclusively club dance tracks, but there are a lot of house/trance mixes that I find to be pretty good to listen to when I'm going running. Or driving. Or doing any sort of mindless task where I just want some energetic beats to listen to. Most of them are about an hour long, to fit onto a standard CD. Check them out, maybe you'd enjoy some of them?

To download any of my studio mixes or recordings of lives shows, visit:

djbolivia.ca/dropbox 

Then go into the folder called "Bolivia's DJ Mixes & Live Shows"

Thanks for your support!

Follow Jonathan Clark on other sites:
        SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/djbolivia
        YouTube: youtube.com/djbolivia
        Facebook: facebook.com/djbolivia
        Main Site: www.djbolivia.ca
        Music Blog: djbolivia.blogspot.ca