| WEEK 1 | |
| Mon Jan 3 | Syllabus; Class Logistics; Introductions; Brief History of Recording; Enrollment Survey Readings: A Brief History of Recording | Brian Eno: The Studio as a Compositional Tool |
| Wed Jan 5 | Brief Intro to DAWs Tutorials: Logic Pro / Reaper / Sonobus + Loopback HW1 (due Wed Jan 12 @11am): Set up a DAW multitrack session on your computer, and use the Audiomovers Listento plug-in to remotely record the stems of a song played back in the CCRMA Recording Studio. Export the song and submit it along with a screenshot of your DAW project. Readings: Ear and Hearing | Physics of Sound |
| WEEK 2 | |
| Mon Jan 10 | About Sound; Digital Audio Sound in the time and frequency domains, waveform, sampling rate, bit depth, aliasing, spectrograms, etc. |
| Wed Jan 12 | Microphones Gain staging, dynamic mics, condenser mics, ribbon mics, polar patterns, headroom, signal-noise ratio, phase, mic placement, CCRMA mics HW 2 (due Wed Jan 26 @11am): Record three sound files (10-30 seconds each) with three different types of microphone in the Recording Studio. Do not use acoustic instruments or voice as sound sources, but rather any non-musical objects (though the sounds may be musical, or noise-based). Write and submit a short description of your recording techniques and the sonic results. |
| WEEK 3 | |
| Mon Jan 17 | NO CLASS (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) |
| Wed Jan 19 | CCRMA Recording Studio I + Intro to Foley Tour of the studio, studio design and acoustics, studio practices, cable coiling, mic stand usage, CCRMA accounts |
| WEEK 4 | |
| Mon Jan 24 | CCRMA Recording Studio II Analog vs digital mixer, DAW control, signal flow, preamps, patchbay, speakers, connectors, live room, personal monitor mixers, etc. |
| Wed Jan 26 | Recording techniques Tracking session, recording types (mono, stereo, binaural, Ambisonics), headphone mix, overdubbing, etc. Project 1 (due Sun Feb 6 @11:59pm): Record a voice (speech, singing, beatboxing, etc.) with three different microphones, an acoustic instrument (piano, guitar, drums, etc.) with three different stereo techniques, and three impulse responses. Mix one vocal recording and one instrumental recording, then add convolution reverb with one of your impulse reponses. Write and submit a short report on your recording techniques. |
| WEEK 5 | |
| Mon Jan 31 | Recording Vocals and Instruments | Guest: Hassan Estakhrian |
| Wed Feb 2 | Mixing + Audio processing I Panning, Automation, Filters, EQ, Compression, Limiting, Noise Gate, Noise Reduction |
| WEEK 6 | |
| Mon Feb 7 | Project 1 – Playback & Feedback Project 2 (due Tue Feb 15 @11:59pm): Mix a song in two audibly different ways. Choose stems from the this library: https://cambridge-mt.com/ms/mtk/ (Links to an external site.). Write and submit a short report on your mixing techniques. |
| Wed Feb 9 | Mixing + Audio processing II Reverb, Delay, Echo, Virtual Acoustics Demo with Hassan Estakhrian |
| WEEK 7 | |
| Mon Feb 14 | Listening Room; Studio Recording Details; CAVIAR Demo; Drum Set Miking | Guest: Hassan Estakhrian |
| Wed Feb 16 | Project 2 – Playback & Feedback Final Project Proposal (due Wed Feb 23 @11am) |
| WEEK 8 | |
| Mon Feb 21 | NO CLASS (President’s Day) |
| Wed Feb 23 | Guest Lecture: Elena Georgieva |
| WEEK 9 | |
| Mon Feb 28 | Individual Check-ins for Final Project |
| Wed Mar 2 | Visit to the Archive of Recorded Sound |
| WEEK 10 | |
| Mon Mar 7 | Final Project – Playback & Feedback |
| Wed Mar 9 | Final Project – Playback & Feedback |