Master Sound Astoila-Revisited

September /October 1992 serving: recording, broadcast and sound contracting fields Touring West Africa th Ed Learned magazine r¿ Audio for rgia Dome Master Sound Astoila-Revisited www.americanradiohistory.com From Day One, digital audio has been synonymous with superb sound. Superb, yet marred by the "harshness" inherent in the normal A/D and D/A conversion process. Enter the TASCAM DA-800. A 24- channel DASH machine with a signifi- cant sonic advantage. Our excl.jsive ZD circuit, which dramatically reduces the digital distortion created by converter non -linearity, produces an extraordinarily pure, natural sound. Now, having heard all this, you may still choose to purchase a competitor's digital machine without first listening to the DA -800. Pity. To arrange for a personal demonstra- tion, please call (213) 726-0303. Or write TASCAM, 7733 Telegraph Road, Monte- bello, CA 90640. TASCAM II. C1991 TEAC America, Inc. Circle 10 on Reader Service Card www.americanradiohistory.com September/October 1992 Vol, 26, No. 5 serving: recording, broadcast and sound contracting fields magazine THE SOUND CONTRACTING ENGINEER awnwat. Asuramismimmommtniammummi 6 Cover Story: West Africa Touring 1992 II by Ed Learned Ed does sound reinforcement in Ghana and the Ivory Coast 26 Georgia Dome Gets a Top -Notch Audio System by Keith Clark Issearme A completely new sound system for this covered arena. FOR THE See page 23 AUDIO CHURCH EOM 32 Big Splash 92 by Joe Ciccarello Religious sound doings on the New Jersey Coast THE RECORDING ENGINEER 23 Master Sound Astoria- Revisited by Larry Zide Now accessing the largest studio room on the east coast 37 Tools of the Trade: Stanton -Vestex CD -22 Dual Disc Player by Shelley Herman A versatile unit with many pro -audio uses. THE ELECTRONIC COTTAGE MOM 16 Hot Tips: The Art of Editing Part II by John Barilla Continuing where he left off last issue. BROADCAST AUDIO About the Cover vorbia- 30 Broadcast Audio-Field Recording by Dan Mockensturm In West Africa Touring II sound - DEPARTMENTS man Ed Learned begins his survey of the sound -reinforcement adventures and problems he had while 2 Letters touring West African countries ear- 39 New Products lier this year. Our cover photo is of 42 Buyer's Guide: Crossovers, delays, equalizers, multi- effects the Kokovobitey Drum Troup per- processors forming at Kokovobitey Beach in Ac- 59 Tek -Text -Caring for R-DAT Machines cra, Ghana. Begin Big Ed's 60 Historical Perspectives -The State of the Art in 1967 adventures on page 6. 63 Classified 65 People, Places, Happenings www.americanradiohistory.com Letters EQ60 Checklist YES NO/ Switchable Notch Filters V. The Editor: a Parametric Controls it Digital The May /June issue had a reprint magazine Built-in Analyzer E of the first chapter of my book, Your Makes the Coffee air. MIDIRecording Studio. Reader Jeff Editor /Publisher Analogeiove, /°/4 Ig Rona was concerned about omis- Ultra low Distortion ri3! Larry Zide Ultra low Noise sions in this chapter. The missing Easy to Use l information is covered in detail in Sounds Great 113'' later chapters. The first chapter is a Associate Publisher Only 2 Flashing LEDs c1}---- simplified overview of a typical MIDI studio, and is not meant to Elaine Zide - stand on its own as a complete arti- ._miff- cle. Senior Editor I'd like to briefly fill in the missing John Barilla information based on Rona's com- When ultra low noise (- 98dB), sonic ac- ments. (Rona's book, MIDI-The curacy and ease of use are your main pre Editorial Assistant requisites in a Graphic Equalizer, you Ins, Outs and Thrus was one of the owe it to yourself to check out the EQ60, references for Your MIDI Recording Edelyn Enerio from: Studio.) _V I said that a multi -track tape re- AM NMI corder was a component of a typical Contributing Editors MIDI studio. However, it's an op- /f/ Bruce Bartlett Systems tion, not a necessity. You need it only if you want to record a live perform- PO Box 842, Silverado CA 92676 -0842 Drew Daniels Phone 714 -649 2346, Fax 714 -649 3064 ance of a non -MIDI instrument or a vocal for later mixdown. For exam- Robyn Gately ple, you might use it to record a sax Len Feldman Circle 14 on Reader Service Card solo, an electric guitar solo -any- Shelley Herman Brent Harshbarger Randy Hoffner National Advertising Sales e Ultimate DemoTape. Manager David W. Frankel 203 834 -9936 db, The Sound Engineering Magazine(ISSN 0011- RECORDABLE 7145) is published bi- monthly by db Magazine Publishing Company, Entire contents copyright 1992 by db Publish- ing Company, 203 Commack Road, Suite 1010, Com- COMPACT DISC mack, NY 11725.Telephone: (516)586 -6530. db Magazine is published for individuals and firms in professional audio recording, broadcast audio -visual, sound reinforcement - CD -W12 contracting, consultants, video recording, film sound, etc. Application for subscription should be made on the subscription form in the rear of each issue Subscriptions are $15.00 per year ($28.00 per year outside U.S. Posses- sions, $16.00 per year in Canada)and payable in U.S funds. Single copies are $3.50 each. Editorial, Publishing, and Sales offices are at 203 Commack Road, Suite 1010, Commack NY 11725. Second Class postage paid at Com- mack, NY 11725 and an additional mailing office. Post- master: Form 3579 should be sent to db Magazine, 203 Commack Road, Suite 1010, Commack, NY 11725. Now, the ultimate demo tape is a CD. An optical format that's digital in quality Trademarked names are editorially used throughout and virtually indestructible. In this competitive industry it pays to be absolutely this issue. Rather than place a trademark symbol next to sure the music you each occurance, we state that these names are used only promote will not only sound in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark great but will guarantee an audience. For owner, and that there is no intention of trademark infringe- more information, call Frank Kramer Ì: TDK® ment. at 1.800 TDKTAPE (Ext: 200). A s S eriou s A sYou Can at Circle 15 on Reader Service Card www.americanradiohistory.com You could spend more and Bet less, but let's leave that to the government If you were a congressman you might not care about cost. Since sound quality is your primary consideration we've But you're an audio professional so chances are you think made it ours also. Our equalizers are transparent, quiet and more wisely before you spend. clean. And like great political When it comes to graphic speeches, our EQs let you equalizers, AB International's hear exactly what you want. line is the wisest choice you But the best way to find can make. Our graphic EQs The Model 231. At $599 it's the next best thing to voting your own pay raise. out about our graphic EQs is offer professional features you need such as range, voltage, to try them yourself. Visit your pro audio dealer and make ground /lift and passive bypass switches, and XLR, phone the AB comparison. Wouldn't you rather spend a little extra and RCA inputs and outputs. Best of all, our prices are more time instead of a lot of extra cash? competitive than those at the pentagon. AB International Electronics, Inc. 1830 -6 Vernon St., P.O. Box 1105 Roseville,CA 95678 i (916) 783 -7800 FAX (714) 117-3067 Circle 17 onReader Servic Card www.americanradiohistory.com thing that you can't play well The article mentioned that a 2- different patches to simulate differ- enough on a keyboard. track recorder is used for mastering ent instruments playing in unison. An alternative to a multi -track during mixdown. Of course, you Or you might transpose the key of tape recorder is a multi -track digi- need an extra track for productions one duplicated track to create tal audio workstation. With this using SMPTE time code. chords when both tracks are played system, you record the audio signal I said that, after recording a part together. of the performance onto a computer into a sequencer, you should check it Also, you could have several per- hard disk or magneto -optical disk. by playing it back through your syn- formances on several tracks, all us- There's a way to omit the multi- thesizer. This means, play back ing the same patch. This can aid in track tape recorder. Pick up the live what you just performed and moni- composition. performance with a microphone, tored to see whether you're happy The Yamaha Cl Music Computer with the performance. mix the mic's signal with your se- mentioned in the chapter has been quenced tracks, and record the mix You can change the tempo of a se- quenced performance record- discontinued. (Publication delays on a mastering recorder. after ing, as long as you're not yet synced have made some information out of The article mentioned that a drum date, but it will be corrected.) machine to tape. was a part of a typical An effects unit is normally patched Figure 1 -2 should be "A simple MIDI studio. But if you have a sam- into the effects loop of a mixer. But MIDI studio." Figure 1 -8 should be pler, or don't want to use drum in some keyboard workstations, the "An effects unit." sounds, you probably don't need a effects are built in, and go between Thanks for the opportunity to com- drum machine. the synth and the monitor. ment. These changes will be put I said that a piano -style keyboard I noted that each track of a se- into the book before publication.

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