Monday, June 30, 2008

The Things You Should Know About Speaker Accessories

Speakers are perhaps one of the most integral parts of any electronic sound system. They make it possible to convert the electronic signals created by the electronic musical instruments into sound signals. Hence nothing would be audible without the help of speakers. There are many types of speakers available. However along with the speakers it is also important to have proper speaker accessories in order to make them work or function properly.

There are several types of speaker accessories available in the market. These are required in order to ensure improved performance of speakers and also to add a touch of elegance and style to the overall image of loudspeakers. Among the general accessories of a speaker, mention may be made of speaker grills, subwoofer filters, 3 way crossovers, speaker poles, cabinet case for speakers, tweeter, speaker stands,etc.

The first accessory that comes to mind as far as speakers are concerned is the speaker stand or speaker cabinet. The stands come in different shapes to suit different types of speakers as well as the different performing situations. 35 mm sockets are very popular options with musicians and other users. Not only that, the stands have other functions based on the positioning of the speakers. You can choose from wall mounted support bracket for your speakers or else you can go for a stand angle socket.

The next speaker part or accessory can be termed the speaker grill. It is available in several types, such as metal grills or fiber ones. Some prefer even typical wooden or plastic grills.

Crossovers are also considered to be useful speaker accessories. The speaker system needs crossovers to dedicate each speaker driver to a particular frequency range by breaking the audio signal into categories like low frequency, high frequency, and sometimes mid range frequencies. Generally there are three sub categories for a crossover: the 1 way crossover, the 2 way crossover and the 3 way crossover.

The speaker poles are very helpful in putting the speakers to a desired height. It enables the sound to reach to each and everyone in the audience. It enhances the sound quality. Adjustable mounting pole, subwoofer attachment shaft, double ended extension tube, etc., are some of the market varieties that you can find for your speaker. Again it should be mentioned that the need for all such accessories depends upon the type and purpose of the speakers used.

Woofers and tweeters form yet another class of speaker accessories. Woofer is the term commonly used for a loudspeaker driver designed to produce low frequency sounds, typically from around 40 hertz up to about a kilohertz or higher. In contrast, a tweeter is the equipment used to reproduce high frequency sounds.

There are several varieties of speaker accessories in the market. Manufacturers of speakers also come up with innovative accessories to add to the style as well as to enhance the speaker performance. There are also many websites that offer used music gear thereby bringing the accessories at a cheaper rate for those who cannot afford brand new ones.

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Sunday, June 29, 2008

Microphone Techniques For Acoustic Guitars

Guitar is a very old musical instrument. It is normally played in an unplugged way. But when played in a show, a microphone is also used. Otherwise the sound will not reach every listener. Acoustic guitars have a unique sound.

Microphones sometimes cause different kinds of problems. And for that reason, the use of a proper microphone is ensured for acoustic guitars. Here we will talk about different microphone techniques for acoustic guitars.

The acoustic guitar delivers a varied range of frequencies. The range is from under 100hz to the extent which is not audible to human beings. The resonance of the largest string delivers low frequencies and the plucking system delivers the high frequencies. In most types of acoustic guitars, the sound hole generates the bass sound.

This instrument has always been so popular that people have thought of making some microphone which will not harm the sound of this instrument. And for this reason, a lot of experiments were made on microphones.

After a lot of experiments, dynamic and condenser microphones were made. These two microphones are suitable for acoustic guitars. But among these two, the condenser microphone delivers the most detailed and the brightest sound.

There are small and large diaphragm microphones available. Both of them are perfect for acoustic guitars. But while playing the lead portion of the acoustic guitar, if you stroke the string hard, then a sharp transient will be produced. It is louder than the sustain portion of the waveform. This will not sound well at the time of recording. So it will be better if you use the dynamic microphones for playing the lead portion.

To get a good sound out of the microphone, it is necessary to know where you should keep the microphone. If you keep the mike just in front of the sound hole, then the guitar will create a very dark, boomy sound. Just like that if you put it in front of the neck then it will produce a thin sound. Even the surrounded portion of the bridge will not be able to produce a proper sound, if you put the mike there.

Actually the proper microphone technique for acoustic guitars depends on the instrument itself and the playing pattern. That means it depends also on whether the instrument will be strummed or plucked, and on the music style and the recording place. The perfect place for a microphone is one to two feet away from the acoustic guitar. The mike must be pointing at a place somewhere between the sound hole and the very place where the neck of the guitar meets its body.

If you use a directional mike, then you have to adjust the distance, to make a balance between the proximity effect and the room ambiance. If you use an omni microphone for acoustic guitars, then you will be able to put it closer to the instrument and also will get a sound which is pretty much well balanced.

The most common microphone technique for acoustic guitars is the use of two microphones. One will be closer to the guitar and the other will be a bit far away.

But the interesting thing about microphone techniques is that you do not always have to use all these existing styles. You can try some technique of your own. And perhaps one day you will be able to make a microphone technique that will help many acoustic guitar players.

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How to Create a Sound Effect Library: Step One, Recording Sound Effects


In order to record sound effects for a personal or professional sound effect library one needs two things: sound itself and an object with which to record sound.  The former should not be a problem finding as sound permeates existence.  The later is easily available in a variety of formats and forms, though a basic handheld digital unit with a T shaped stereo microphone is the simplest and most efficient.  Personally I’ve tried all sorts of pricey gear and mics throughout my sonic adventures only to discover that a solid $150 to $400 handheld digital recorder no larger than an old-school cassette tape box suffices to create sounds good enough for placement in any film, tv, and media project.  In addition, these units run on battery power and the recorded files can generally be dragged onto your desktop via USB.

Be aware, however, that any device you use must record up to at least a 48k sample rate.  Always record at the highest bit and sample rate possible because video uses audio with a 48k sample rate, not 44.1k.  Any 44.1k samples you have will have to be upconverted to be used in a video production and this process always runs the risk of audio damage.   Because of these potential problems with lower quality files, 48k sound effects are generally valued more by video editors and thus command a higher sale price should you choose to sell your sounds online.

There are two basic types of sound effects that you will be recording:  “hits” and  “ambiences.”   Hits are single short sonic events such as a slap, gun-shot, or dog bark.  Ambiences are longer background elements such as ocean waves, restaurant environments, or playground noises.  In creating a library it is most valuable to have many of both types as they are both used in sound design.  You will find that ambiences are the easiest to obtain as you merely have to go to a new location such as a supermarket or post office and just stand there and record.  Hits need a little more forethought and preparation such as collecting the items you’d like to record or stalking the neighbor’s dog for that perfect dog bark.

The basics of recording a sound effect is literally as simple as hitting the record button.  However, there are several tips to keep in mind in order to get the best recordings possible.  First, make sure that you record as “hot” as possible, meaning with the loudest signal that does not clip or overload the microphone.  If you notice a red LED light blinking when recording it means that your incoming signal is too hot and you will want to pull back your mic a bit from the source.  You want the loudest signal without distortion.  Related to this, it would also be wise to purchase a 10dB pad that fits between your mic and digital recorder will enable you to record sounds with high decibel levels, such as jet engines or weapons.  The pad lowers the incoming signal by 10dB and can be found online for $20.

Second, try to keep background noises at a minimum.  However, don’t be too obsessive over a “pure” recording because these background sounds can often afford surprising results such as an unexpected car honk, bird call or human noise.  Also, much of the background noise can be filtered out when editing your recordings to create the sound effect product.  The point here is to keep unwanted noise to a minimum but not so much that you might lose the opportunity for some unique recordings and slow yourself down being overly strict about the “perfect” recording environment.

Third, wind will ruin any recording so protect the mic with a windscreen or simply keep your recorder out of the wind by using physical barriers such as trees, walls, or even your jacket.  Sometimes wind noise can be cut out during editing with a high pass filter and cutting frequencies below 200-500 khz but for the most part wind will destroy your recording efforts. Finally, your efforts can also be compromised if you have inadvertently recorded music in the background, such as the music played in a restaurant.  This music is copyrighted and if it appears in your ambience recordings you will be violating copyright law and such recordings are essentially unusable.

These tips are simple and meant to point an aspiring sound effect artist in the right direction toward the creation of a sound effect library for use or for sale online.  Future articles will discuss the process of editing, categorizing, and marketing these raw recordings.    

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Saturday, June 28, 2008

What You Should Know About Surround Sound Speaker

Are you a music lover? Do you want a change in the conventional sound? Do you want to experience the sound coming from every corner of your room? Then you should know about surround sound. Surround sound normally gives you such an effect that you will feel that the sound is coming from every corner of the room, though it is played in front of you.

Surround sound is becoming more and more popular every day. This particular kind of sound is being used mainly in the cinema halls. It gives you a more realistic effect of the film. But apart from cinema halls, it is available for your music system too. How? It's simple. You can have this effect with the help of a surround sound speakers.

To know more about surround sound, we first need to understand how a surround sound speaker works. The speakers are located in various positions of the room. They receive multiple audio channels. The whole program is located in one source. When the source starts playing, the sound tracks being decoded simultaneously.

Surround sounds have different formats. They are, Dolby Digital, Dolby Surround, Dolby Pro Logic II X, Dolby Digital EX, DTS, Dolby True HD, True Surround XT, and DTS-ES etc. There are a variety of Surround sound speakers.

Front right and front left speakers

These two speakers are most important in the surround sound system. All the major sounds come from these two speakers. For such importance most of the manufacturing companies keep an eye on these two speakers especially. They always try to make it powerful and high quality. These speakers are very much used in CD players, home theatres etc.

Center channel speaker

It is a small size speaker. It is normally placed below or above the TV set. It delivers the dialogues of the TV or cinema. It makes the dialogues clear. This speaker is shielded magnetically. So they are not able to harm the TV set. Normally the mid range frequencies are being handled by this speaker.

Rear channel speaker

This speaker is placed according to the seating arrangement of the listener. The speaker models also define the placement arrangement of this speaker. For instance, in a 5.1 surround sound set up, there are two such speakers and they are placed right behind the listeners. Four speakers are allotted for the 6.1 version. Here, two speakers are placed behind the head of the listener and two on either side of the listener.

Subwoofer

Subwoofer is a very important part of surround sound speaker. The subwoofer produces extremely low frequencies. It will be a great help for you, when you are watching an action movie or listening to a music that consists a lot of percussion. It also produces deep bass. Subwoofer is omni directional and so it can be kept anywhere in the room. It is very essential for a home theatre.

Surround sound speaker have lots of benefits. Listening to music or viewing a cinema becomes very delicious because of this kind of speaker. It makes the movie and music more realistic. In short, this speaker is actually giving a new dimension to the new age sound.

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