Audio Engineering & Music Production
Course 7: Music Tracking

The instruments are in place, the mics are placed, and all cables, wires, and connectors are secure–now it’s time to start recording! You’ve been learning about the physics of sound, how your ear interacts with sound waves, and different techniques for capturing sound. In this course, you’ll take that information and apply it to recording those sounds.

The first thing you’ll cover is how to plan for a session, including research on a new band, their sound, and what they’ll be recording. Any information or notes you can get beforehand will make the entire experience that much easier–from how the guitarist likes to sound to the beats per minute for each song.

You learned in course 6 how to choose and place a mic and in this course, you’ll learn how to set everything else up. You’ll learn how a plot map will help you visualize larger sessions, improve the line of sight for the performers, perfect angles, and ensure proper spacing. Setting up the room itself before your clients arrive is all part of the planning process, too.

You’ll also learn one of the most important aspects of an audio engineer or music producer: how to deal with the talent. Your personality will go a long way to developing a relationship with your clients. Learning how to troubleshoot problems quickly and calmly will also go a long way to proving your professionalism–but a lot of this comes with experience.

Objectives:

• Planning
• Mic Selection
• Setting Up
• Getting Tones
• Professional Behavior
• Troubleshooting
• Chapter Quiz
• Blog Entry