Recording brass instruments in studio is certainly is no easy task, especially if you want to record live and two of the brass players also sing backing vocals. In short, a demanding challenge for George Massenburg who explains to us what he did to avoid problems in this particular situation.

In house-of-worship sound system installations, one of the biggest challenges is miking the choir. We want to achieve a good balance, a natural sound, and high gain before feedback. Another goal is to make sure that the microphones are invisible! It’s a tough assignment. READ MORE

The Triton features an integrated 16 track linear and pattern sequencer system and a 16 part multi-timbral synth engine that draws on sampled waveforms stored on ROM chips. It excels at lush pads and does a good job with acoustic instruments as well. Check out this video demoing some of the great things you can do with the Triton. The CRAS Digital Lab is open to all students during project hours at both locations.

Getting all the parts of a mix to fit nicely together, and a few simple compression and EQ techniques can help. READ MORE

Evenly spaced overheads? Close-miked drums? HOGWASH!! This video features George Massenburg and some interesting and great sounding techniques for recording drums.

Stereo simply means the mix has two channels (left and right). A mono mix is simply one channel. You combine (or sum) the left and right channels into a single channel. Listening to mixes in mono can be very helpful. I’ll explain why. READ MORE

The QS 6.2 is nuts and bolts keyboard which generates its from samples stored on ROM chips. Its 4 parameter faders are assignable to transmit any continuous control number. The 61 note keyboard also features polyphonic aftertouch, a rare feature that allows pressure information to be tracked an transmitted individually for each key.

• 16 part multi-timbral
• 64 voice polyphonic
• 4 parameter faders assignable to any CC#
• polyphonic aftertouch
• General MIDI compliant

Check out this video demoing some of the great sounds you can get out of the QS 6.2. The CRAS Digital Lab is open to all students during project hours at both locations.

Studio managers from three of the most successful studios in audio recently came to the CRAS to talk to students about the realities of a career in audio. Paula Salvatore (Capitol Studios, LA); CRAS graduate Crystal Olsen (GrooveMaster Studios, Chicago) and Candace Stewart (East/West Studios, LA) talked to a large group of students, then later met with them individually to answer more specific questions about working in a major studio.

“We’re happy to have managers of this level visit the CRAS,” says Administrator Kirt Hamm. “It gives our students a look at what goes on in the major recording centers and reinforces what we tell them each day about the value of hard work and the importance of basic audio and people skills.”