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)NSTANT 3URROUND 3OUND *EFFREY 0 &ISHER
3AN &RANCISCO #!
0UBLISHED BY #-0 "OOKS AN IMPRINT OF #-0 -EDIA ,,# (ARRISON 3TREET TH &LOOR 3AN &RANCISCO #! 53! 4EL &AX WWWCMPBOOKSCOM EMAIL BOOKS CMPCOM $ESIGNATIONS USED BY COMPANIES TO DISTINGUISH THEIR PRODUCTS ARE OFTEN CLAIMED AS TRADEMARKS )N ALL INSTANCES WHERE #-0 IS AWARE OF A TRADEMARK CLAIM THE PRODUCT NAME APPEARS IN INITIAL CAPITAL LETTERS IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS OR IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VENDORS CAPITALIZATION PREFERENCE 2EADERS SHOULD CONTACT THE APPROPRIATE COMPANIES FOR MORE COMPLETE INFORMATION ON TRADEMARKS AND TRADEMARK REGISTRATIONS !LL TRADEMARKS AND REGISTERED TRADEMARKS IN THIS BOOK ARE THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE HOLDERS #OPYRIGHT #-0 -EDIA ,,# 0UBLISHED BY #-0 "OOKS #-0 -EDIA ,,# !LL RIGHTS RESERVED 0RINTED IN THE 5NITED 3TATES OF !MERICA .O PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED OR DISTRIBUTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS OR STORED IN A DATABASE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER WITH THE EXCEPTION THAT THE PROGRAM LISTINGS MAY BE ENTERED STORED AND EXECUTED IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM BUT THEY MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED FOR PUBLICATION 4HE PROGRAMS IN THIS BOOK ARE PRESENTED FOR INSTRUCTIONAL VALUE 4HE PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN CAREFULLY TESTED BUT ARE NOT GUARANTEED FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE 4HE PUBLISHER DOES NOT O«ER ANY WARRANTIES AND DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY INFORMATION HEREIN AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS 4HE PUBLISHER ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK OR FOR ANY INFRINGEMENT OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES THAT WOULD RESULT FROM THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION $ISTRIBUTED IN THE 53 BY 0UBLISHERS 'ROUP 7EST &OURTH 3TREET "ERKELEY #!
$ISTRIBUTED IN #ANADA BY *AGUAR "OOK 'ROUP !RMSTRONG !VENUE 'EORGETOWN /NTARIO -+ % #ANADA
&OR INDIVIDUAL ORDERS AND FOR INFORMATION ON SPECIAL DISCOUNTS FOR QUANTITY ORDERS PLEASE CONTACT #-0 "OOKS $ISTRIBUTION #ENTER 3ILACCI 7AY 'ILROY #! EMAIL CMP RUSHORDERCOM 7EB WWWCMPBOOKSCOM
)3".
$EDICATION )T MIGHT SEEM UNUSUAL FOR AN AUTHOR TO DEDICATE A BOOK TO THREE PEOPLE HES NEVER MET .EVERTHELESS THESE THREE LEGENDS HAVE HAD AND CONTINUE TO HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON MY MUSIC AND SOUND CAREER 3IR 'EORGE -ARTIN "EN "URTT AND 'ARY 2YDSTROM 4HANK YOU ALL FOR OPENING UP MY EARS TO THE POSSIBILITIES *E«REY 0 &ISHER
!CKNOWLEDGMENTS /NCE AGAIN )D LIKE TO THANK $OUGLAS AND -ANNIE AT 6!334 FOR THEIR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF MY WORK +UDOS ALSO TO THE WHOLE #-0 TEAM WHO MAKE THESE BOOKS A REALITY !LSO VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO 4ONY 3ANTONA FOR HIS ILLUSTRATIONS USED THROUGHOUT THE BOOK *E«REY 0 &ISHER
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Contents Foreword .. .. .... ......... .. .. .. .... ......... .... .. .... ......... . ix Introduction.................................................... xi Surround History 101 ..................................... Numeric Roots 8 Matrix or Discrete 1 1 The AC-3 Thang 13 DTS Coherent Acoustics Audio 1 5 Delivering Surround 16
1
Recording Surround ........................................ Recording Chain 18 A Little About Mics 18 Pick-Up Patterns 20 Boosting and Recording the Signal 2 4
17
Mono and Stereo Microphone Techniques 25 Localization vs. Space 28 Surround Micing Techniques 2 9 Up and Running .............................................. Computer Hardware and Software 3 4 Control Devices 3 6 Soundcard Options 37 Audio Monitors 38 Basic Audio Studio Setup 40 Precise Speaker Placement 43 Calibration Cear 46 Calibrating Speakers 49 TV and Film Calibration Notes 5 1
33
M
Contents
Software Tools ................................................... Multitracking 54 Soundcard Properties 56 Project Properties 5 7 Generic Functions 58 Automation 65 Bass Management, Center Channel, and Downmix .................................................... LFE and Subwoofer 70 Bass Management 71 LFE and Content 73 Center Caveats 75 Phantom Ghosts 78 Exit Sign Effect 81 Downmix Nixes 82 Surround Downmix Issues 8 4 Separate 5.1 and Stereo Is Best 85 Music Surround Mixing Tips ............................... The Rules 88 The Case Against Surround Upmixing 89 Correlated vs. Decorrelated 90 Using Surround Recordings 92 Before You Mix 92
53
69
87
Bass 100 Rhythm Instruments 100 Lead Instruments 101 Ear Candy 102 Dynamic Panning 102 Multitrack Music Mixing in Action 104 Audio Post Surround Mixing Techniques ......... Crafting the Killer Soundtrack 1 1 6 Soundtrack Elements Include: 11 7 Sound Resources 11 7 Sound Effects Libraries: 1 1 7 Production Music Libraries: 1 1 7 Voice Rules! 118 Sound Effects and Foley 120 Backgrounds 122 World-izing 12 5 Music 126 DMBE 130 Final Sweetening 130 Audio Post Mixing 13 1 Making 5.1 Music with ACID 148
115
Export and Encode Options ............................. Export to Multiple Files 154
153
Surround-izing 94 In Their Face 96 Vocals 97
DMBE Considerations 156 Dolby Digital AC-3 Metadata 157 AC-3 Audio Service Configuration 158
Drums 98
Bitstream Information 160
Contents
Extended Bitstream 162 Preprocessing 163 Dialog Normalization 167 Dynamic Range Compression 169 DTS 175 Windows Media 9 177 Testing the Encode 178 Conclusion .... ......... .. .. .... .. ......... .. .. .... .. ........... .. . 179 Glossary .. .... .. ... ... ... .. .. . ... .. ... ... ... .. .. .... .. ... ... .... . .. . 181
P
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IX
&OREWORD 7ELCOME TO THE HUGE WORLD OF SURROUND SOUND 3URROUND SOUND HAS BEEN AVAILABLE TO PROFESSIONALS FOR MANY YEARS BUT IS JUST NOW COMING OF AGE IN THE DESKTOP AUTHORING WORLD AS A COMMON CHOICE FOR MULTIMEDIA AND MUSIC AUTHORS 3URROUND SOUND ISNT A SIMPLE MATTER OF JUST TAKING A STEREO OR MONO AUDIO TRACK AND PORTING IT TO DI«ERENT LOCATIONS ITS ABOUT UNDERSTANDING BALANCE RELATIVE POWER PHASING REALISTIC PLACEMENT TECHNIQUES DOWNMIXING RESAMPLING ENCODING COMPRESSION EQUALIZATION AND SO MUCH MUCH MORE 4HIS BOOK FROM *E«REY 0 &ISHER IS ABOUT THE DISCOVERY PROCESS THAT MAKES ALL THESE SEEMINGLY COM PLEX SUBJECTS BECOME CLEAR AND CONCISE 7HAT FEW BOOKS ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON SURROUND SOUND ARE ESSENTIALLY WHITE PAPERS WITH PRETTY COLORED COVERS 4HE )NSTANT 3ERIES BOOKS ARENT DESIGNED TO TALK DOWN TO READERS THEYRE DESIGNED AS A BOOK YOU CAN SETTLE COMFORTABLY BACK IN YOUR COMPUTER CHAIR OR OTHER FAVORITE READING PLACE READ THIS BOOK AND NOT lND YOURSELF PUZZLING OVER NUMBERS TABLES OR OTHER CHALLENGES 4HE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK IS TO IMMERSE YOU IN THE WORLD OF SURROUND SOUND AND GET YOU MOVING DOWN THE PATH OF MAKING A GREAT SOUNDING BLOCKBUSTER HIT
X
)NTRODUCTION
*E«REY 0 &ISHER HAS A KNACK FOR MAKING THE COMPREHENSIVE APPEAR SECOND NATURE AND DOING SO IN A MANNER THAT IS SMOOTH SENSIBLE AND MOST IMPORTANTLY WORKmOW ORIENTED 4HIS IS *E«REYS THIRD PROJECT IN THE 6!334 )NSTANT 3ERIES AND WERE CONlDENT YOULL lND THIS A GREAT READ JUST LIKE HIS PREVIOUS E«ORTS &ROM US HERE AT 6!334 WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF OUR TRAINING MATERIALS AND INVITE YOU TO VIEW OUR OTHER TRAINING PRODUCTS BOTH FOR PURCHASE AND FOR FREE AT WWWVASSTCOM
$OUGLAS 3POTTED %AGLE -ANAGING 0RODUCER -ANNIE &RANCES -ANAGING $IRECTOR
XI
)NTRODUCTION 0ERCEPTION #ONCEPTION 4HE PRIMARY REASON TO USE MULTICHANNEL SOUND IS TO ENHANCE THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE 3URROUND SOUND HELPS BOTH MUSIC AND VISUAL PRODUCERS
PRESENTED ON #$$6$ BY PLACING THE LISTENER IN THE AUDITORIUM KEEPING THE PERFORMANCE ON STAGE AND THE ORIGINAL AUDIENCE AND ROOM SOUNDS IN THE SURROUNDS
DEEPEN THE REALISM AND INVOLVE THE AUDIENCE
3URROUND SOUND WORKS BECAUSE OF THE FOUR WAYS
FURTHER &OR EXAMPLE THE APPROACH OF A RESCUE
WE HUMANS PERCEIVE SOUND
HELICOPTER SENT TO SAVE THE MOVIE HERO HAS GREAT ER IMPACT WHEN IT lRST APPEARS IN THE DISTANCE BEHIND THE AUDIENCE mIES ITS WAY TO THE FRONT OF THE VIEWING ROOM AND THEN ACROSS THE SCREEN 3IMILARLY MUSIC RECORDINGS HAVE MORE INTIMACY WHEN THE SINGERS VOICE MOVES ABOUT THE ROOM IN THE SAME MANNER SHE MIGHT ON A LIVE STAGE 3UR ROUND SOUND ALSO ENHANCES LIVE PERFORMANCES
s !UDIBLE PERIPHERYEACH EAR FUNCTIONING AS AN INDEPENDENT RECEIVER s "INAURAL PERCEPTIONHEARING THE SAME SOUND WITH BOTH EARS s 3PATIAL PERCEPTIONPERCEIVING BOTH WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE OTHER SOUND ELEMENTS ARE IN SPACE
XII
)NTRODUCTION
s #OGNITIVE PERCEPTIONHOW WELL WE PERCEIVE AND LOCALIZE SOUNDS 4HE EAR WORKS BY COLLECTING SOUND VIA THE OUTSIDE OF THE EAR CALLED THE PINNA AND SENDING
POINT SOURCES TO DELIVER UNIQUE SOUNDS FOR THE EAR TO PERCEIVE 4HIS CAN BE USED TO THE ADVAN TAGE OF BOTH MUSIC MIXES AND AUDIO FOR VIDEO MIXES
IT DOWN THE EAR CANAL 4HE EAR DRUM A PIECE OF
7HEN PREPARING TO MIX KEEP THESE PERCEPTUAL
TIGHTLY STRETCHED SKIN SITS AT THE END OF THE CA
CONTRIBUTORS IN MIND #OMPARED WITH TWO SPEAK
NAL AND VIBRATES WHEN STRUCK WITH SOUND ENERGY
ER CONVENTIONAL STEREO SURROUND SOUND O«ERS
4HE THREE BONES OF THE OSSICLESTHE HAMMER ANVIL AND STIRRUPTRANSFER THIS VIBRATION INTO THE COCHLEA OR INNER EAR 3OUND ENERGY FROM THE OSSICLES CREATES AN ANALOGOUS WAVE PATTERN IN THE COCHLEA 4INY HAIRS IN THE COCHLEA ARE SENSI TIVE TO THE MOVEMENT AND SEND AN ELECTROCHEMI
s "ETTER PERCEPTION OF OBJECT AND SOUND LOCA TION ,ISTENERS MORE READILY IDENTIFY THE GENERAL DIRECTION FROM WHICH SOUNDS ARE INITIATED s ! DI«ERENT LOUDNESS BALANCE OVER STEREO
CAL RESPONSE TO THE BRAIN WHICH PERCEIVES THE
PLAYBACK ALONE 4HE VOLUME CAN BE LOWER YET
SOUND
PROVIDE MORE ENJOYMENT DUE TO PERCEPTION OF
/UR HEAD HELPS US TO LOCALIZE SOUND SOURCES BECAUSE SOUNDS ARRIVE AT OUR EARS AT DI«ERENT
PLACEMENT s -ORE ACCURATE PERCEPTION OF TONE DUE TO
TIMES "ECAUSE OF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE EARS
THE ADDITIONAL PLACEMENT OPTIONS OF SOUND
SOUNDS CAN ARRIVE APPROXIMATELY MILLISEC
SOURCES
ONDS APART /UR BRAIN ASSUMES THAT lRST ARRIVING SOUNDS ARE THE LOUDEST SOUNDS ALTHOUGH THIS MAY NOT BE THE CASE 7E PERCEIVE ONLY LOUDNESS AND PITCH FOR ALL THE SOUNDS THAT WE HEAR (OWEVER THIS PERCEPTION ISNT THAT PRECISE )NSTEAD WE TEND TO RECOGNIZE SOUNDS AS OBJECTS OR SOURCES AND NOT FOCUS ON SPECIlCS OF LOUDNESS AND PITCH "ECAUSE OF THIS A SURROUND SOUND MIX OFTEN ALLOWS FOR MORE IN TIMATE QUIETER OVERALL SOUND AS THERE ARE MORE
s 3IGNIlCANTLY GREATER PERCEPTION OF AMBIENCE 4HE AUDIENCE CAN BE MORE IMMERSED IN THE LISTENING lELD s -ORE INVOLVED LISTENER PERCEPTION OF SOUND POINTS +EEP IN MIND THAT MORE SPEAKERS EQUALS GREATER PERCEPTIVE INVOLVEMENT s ! GREATER AWARENESS OF THE QUALITY OF THE MIX BOTH INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS AND AS A WHOLE
)NTRODUCTION
1UALITY #ONTROL !LTHOUGH THIS BOOK DEALS DIRECTLY WITH THE QUALITY OF THE MIX AND HOW TO RECORD PROCESS AND DELIVER THE AUDIO TO THE LISTENER ITS IMPOR TANT TO ADDRESS THE QUALITY OF YOUR RECORDINGS TOO 7HEN DELIVERING YOUR MIX IN SURROUND LOW QUALITY COMPONENTS SUCH AS INEXPENSIVE MICROPHONES PREAMPS AND OTHER EQUIPMENT USED IN AUDIO PROCESSING BECOME MORE APPAR ENT 4HE LISTENER IS MORE AWARE OF INDIVIDUAL SOUNDS SPREAD OUT OVER THE LISTENING SPACE &OR EXAMPLE A MIX CONTAINING LOW FREQUENCY NOISE
ALSO HAVE A FEW CRICKETS OR OTHER SOUNDS ON THE PRODUCTION TRACK 2ATHER THAN ATTEMPTING TO CLEAN IT UP AUGMENT THE AMBIENCE INSTEAD ,AY THESE TONES INTO YOUR MIX AND CRAFT A BETTER EX PERIENCE )F YOU ANCHOR THE DIALOG TO THE CENTER CHANNEL AND PLACE THE AMBIENT ELEMENT AROUND THE SURROUND lELD THE AUDIENCE ACCEPTS THAT THEY ARE IN A FOREST SETTING WITH SOUND ALL AROUND THEM -OST IMPORTANTLY THEIR ATTENTION FOCUSES ON THE DIALOG WHICH SHOULD HELP MASK ANY OTHER SOUNDS THAT MAY CREEP INTO THAT TRACK SUCH AS THE CRICKET NOISES
DUE TO RUMBLE MIGHT BE EASILY MASKED BY OTHER
3URROUND CAN ALSO WORK IN OUR FAVOR WHEN THE
SOUND ELEMENTS IN A TWO SPEAKER STEREO MIX )N A
MIX HAS PROBLEMS &OR EXAMPLE IF A CAR DRIVES
MIX HOWEVER THERE ARE NOW FOUR ADDITIONAL
BY DURING A CRITICAL POINT IN A SCENE AND IT CAN
LOCATIONS FOR THAT NOISE TO BE HEARD IT MAY BE
NOT BE TOTALLY MIXED OUT OF THE DIALOG TRACK lND
EXPOSED AND MORE PREVALENT IN THE MULTICHANNEL
OR CREATE A RECORDING OF A SIMILAR CAR BY 0LACE
ENVIRONMENT
THIS DRIVE BY IN THE REAR SPEAKERS !T THE CRITICAL
!DDITIONALLY CONSIDER USING MORE ELEMENTAL AMBIENCES TO COVER UP OR MASK WEAK RECORDINGS &OR EXAMPLE A POORER QUALITY SOUND CAN MASK PROBLEMS IN THE MIX SUCH AS ADDING WIND NOISE TO CREATE A CONSTANT hROOM TONEv IN AN OUTDOOR SCENE 4HE WIND HELPS MASK OTHER NOISES IN THE MIX
SEGMENT MODIFY THE DIALOG %1 TO CUT THE CAR ELE MENT FROM THE MAIN DIALOG TRACK WHILE ENHANC ING THOSE SAME FREQUENCIES IN THE REAR CHANNELS CAR BY -IXED PROPERLY WITH GOOD BALANCE THE AUDIENCE WILL NOT BE AWARE THAT YOUVE GOT TWO DI«ERENT CAR DRIVE BYS TAKING PLACE 4HEYLL KNOW ONLY THAT ONE IS IN THE REAR SPEAKERS AND THAT SHADES OF IT ARE HEARD IN THE CENTER OR DIALOG
$ONT BE AFRAID TO SUPPLANT EXISTING AMBIENCE
LOCATION $YNAMIC PANNING OF THE ELEMENTS CAN
OR ENVIRONMENTAL SOUNDS WITH YOUR OWN &OR
HELP ENHANCE THE E«ECT TOO
INSTANCE A FOREST SCENE WITH GREAT DIALOG MAY
XIII
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#HAPTER
3URROUND (ISTORY &IRST THERE WAS MONAURAL RECORDING MONO FOR SHORT WITH ITS SINGLE SPEAKER PLAYING THE SOUNDS OF OUR WORLD "Y %DISONS CRUDE CYLINDER BASED PHONOGRAPH WAS A HUGE LEAP FORWARD FOR BOTH RECORD ING AND REPRODUCING SOUND ! DECADE LATER THE 'RAMOPHONE INTRODUCED SHELLAC DISKS THAT COULD BE MASS DUPLICATED AND DISTRIBUTED )T WASNT UNTIL THAT S AND ,0S EMERGED ON VINYL
#HAPTER
"ELL ,ABS EXPERIMENTED WITH STEREO RECORDING AND PLAYBACK IN THE S 4HESE EARLY ATTEMPTS ROUTED TWO MI CROPHONES TO TWO SEPARATE SPEAKERS )NITIAL STEREO RADIO BROADCASTS OC CURRED SPORADICALLY DURING THE S (OWEVER IT TOOK UNTIL THE S FOR STEREO RECORDINGS TO BE RELEASED ON VINYL ,0S 3TEREO 46 ARRIVED IN THE LATE S 4HAT SAME DECADE THE MUSIC INDUSTRY mIRTED WITH QUADRAPHONIC SOUNDFOUR SPEAKERS PLACED IN THE CORNERS OF A ROOM 5NFORTUNATELY ITS HIGH COST AND LACK OF A STANDARDIZED FORMAT PRECLUDED IT FROM CATCHING ON
3URROUND (ISTORY
-ANY ATTEMPTS TO SYNCHRONIZE MOV ING PICTURES AND SOUND FAILED UNTIL THE 6ITAPHONE PLAYED !L *OLSONS MUSIC PERFORMANCES FOR THE EARS OF AMAZED MOVIEGOERS 4HE 6ITAPHONE WAS ES SENTIALLY A 'RAMOPHONE HOOKED UP TO THE lLM PROJECTOR 3OON AFTER THE MARRIAGE OF THE SOUNDTRACK TO THE lLM ITSELF BECOME POSSIBLE 3OUND PICKED UP BY A MICROPHONE MODULATED A LIGHT SOURCE THAT EXPOSED lLM 4HIS OPTICAL SOUND BECAME THE lLM STANDARD AND IS STILL PRESENT ON ALL lLMS RELEASED TODAY -ONO DOMINATED FOR YEARS UNTIL &ANTASIA BROUGHT A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE TO THE MOVIES PLAYING STEREO USING THREE FRONT SPEAKERS AND A MONO EF FECTS TRACK USING TWO REAR SPEAKERS TO ENVELOP THE AUDIENCE
#HAPTER
-AGNETIC TAPE AS A RECORDING MEDIUM STARTED BEING USED IN AND CONTIN UED TO DOMINATE lLM 46 AND MUSIC SOUND RECORDING UNTIL DIGITAL RECORDING BECAME VIABLE 4APE IS STILL THE CHOICE FOR MANY ESPECIALLY FOR MUSIC RECORD ING BUT DIGITAL IS OBVIOUSLY HEAVILY ENTRENCHED 4HE COMPACT DISC #$ INTRODUCED IN SPELLED THE DEMISE OF BOTH VINYL AND CASSETTE AS A CONSUMER FORMAT 4ODAY -0 AND OTHER )NTERNET FRIENDLY FORMATS COMPETE FOR DOMINANCE IN THE MUSIC DELIVERY ARENA
3URROUND (ISTORY
46S UNFOUNDED THREAT TO DRIVE PATRONS AWAY FROM MOVIE THEATERS FORCED THE lLM INDUSTRY INTO MULTICHANNEL SOUND DURING THE S ,ARGER SCREENS BUILT TO ACCOMMODATE WIDESCREEN #INERAMA AND #INEMASCOPE MOVIES NEEDED EQUALLY LARGER SOUNDTRACKS (OLLY WOODS SOLUTION WAS TO ADD A THIRD DED ICATED CENTER CHANNEL TO THE TWO STEREO SPEAKERS AND A SPECIAL E«ECTS CHANNEL AT THE REAR OF THE THEATER TO HELP hSUR ROUNDv THE AUDIENCE 4HE DEVELOPMENT OF MM lLM CRE ATED SPACE ON THE lLM FOR SIX DISCRETE ANALOG SOUNDTRACKS LEFT LEFT CEN TER CENTER RIGHT CENTER RIGHT AND A SINGLE REAR CHANNEL FOR E«ECTS $OLBY ,ABORATORIES EMBRACED WHAT WOULD EVOLVE INTO THE FORMAT !DDITION ALLY $OLBY IMPROVED STANDARD MM lLM SOUND WITH $OLBY 3TEREO $OLBY 3URROUND AND THEN $OLBY 0RO ,OGIC 4HESE LAST TWO FORMATS USED SPECIALLY MATRIXED AND ENCODED TRACKS TO REPRE SENT THE ,EFT #ENTER 2IGHT AND A SINGLE MONO SURROUND CHANNEL ,#23 -ANY MOVIES RELEASED ON 6(3 HAD THESE SOUNDTRACKS WHICH lRST BROUGHT THE ATER SOUND TO THE HOME
#HAPTER
,ATER $OLBYS DIGITALLY ENCODED RE CORDINGS SQUEEZED ONTO STANDARD MM lLM IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE "ATMAN 2ETURNS CARRIED THE lRST $OLBY $IGITAL SOUNDTRACK
SPROCKET HOLES "Y $OLBY $IGITAL WAS BORN FOR THE MOVIES USING THEIR !# COMPRESSION WHICH SOON AFTER BECAME STANDARDIZED AS THE $6$
4HE lRST MOVIE TO USE A $43 SOUNDTRACK WAS *URASSIC 0ARK
SPECIlCATION !LL $6$ PLAYERS MUST BE ABLE TO DECODE $OLBY $IGITAL 4HEY MUST ALSO BE ABLE TO DELIVER $OLBY 3URROUND STEREO AND MONO FROM THAT SINGLE SOUNDTRACK $OLBY $IGITAL IS ALSO PART OF THE ($46 SPECIlCA TION #OMPETITION AT THE MOVIES CAME FROM $IGITAL 4HEATER 3OUND $43 IN WITH SEPARATE #$S THAT PLAY IN SYNC WITH THE PICTURE SHADES OF 6ITAPHONES PAST $43 PLAYBACK BY $6$ PLAY ERS IS OPTIONAL !NOTHER FORMAT 3ONY $YNAMIC $IGITAL 3OUND 3$$3 IS A SYSTEM WITH lVE SPEAKERS IN THE FRONT $43 %3 AND $OLBY 3URROUND %8 BOTH ADD A CENTER SURROUND CHANNEL TO THE MIX
3URROUND (ISTORY
/N THE MUSIC SIDE TWO COMPETING FORMATS $6$ !UDIO AND 3UPER !UDIO #OMPACT $ISC 3!#$ BOTH DELIVER HIGH QUALITY 5NFORTUNATELY NOT ALL $6$ PLAYERS ARE CAPABLE OF REPRO DUCING THE FORMATS A SITUATION THAT HINTS AT THE INCOMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS OF YESTERDAYS 1UAD FORMAT 3OME $6$ PLAYER MANUFACTURERS ARE START ING TO SUPPORT BOTH FORMATS THOUGH (OWEVER GETTING SURROUND SOUND INTO AUTOMOBILES MAY BE THE KEY TO THESE FORMATS LONGEVITY 4ODAY THE $OLBY $IGITAL FORMAT HAS EMERGED AS THE STANDARD FOR THE HOME THEATER AND HOME LISTENING ENVIRON MENT THE SUCCESS OF THE $6$ FORMAT WITH ITS VASTLY IMPROVED PICTURE AND SOUND QUALITY BEING THE PRIMARY MOTI VATING FACTOR 4HE SALE OF HOME THEATER SPEAKER SYSTEMS AND LARGER TELEVI SION SCREENS CONTINUES TO RISE TOO 7HILE MOVIE THEATERS MAY CONTINUE TO IMPROVE ON THE AURAL EXPERIENCE THE MAJORITY OF HOMEOWNERS WILL MOST LIKELY BE RELUCTANT TO ADD ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS TO ALREADY CROWDED FAMILY ROOMS AND HOME THEATERS 7ITH THAT IN MIND IS LIKELY TO PERVADE THE MU SIC AND SOUND INDUSTRY FOR MANY YEARS TO COME
#HAPTER
.UMERIC 2OOTS -ONAURAL USES A SINGLE SPEAKER TO DELIVER SOUND 4HERE ISNT A SENSE OF SPACIOUSNESS BECAUSE ALL SOUND COMES FROM A SINGLE POINT IN SPACE 3TEREO OR ,2 USES TWO SPEAKERS SPACED APART WHICH CREATES A VIRTUAL SOUND lELD BETWEEN THEM 4HE STEREO EXPERIENCE HAS A SENSE OF DEPTH AND SPACE TO IT WITH MANY SOUNDS SEEM INGLY EMANATING FROM THE CENTER EVEN THOUGH NO SPEAKER IS ACTUALLY THERE 4HIS PHENOMENON IS CALLED THE PHAN TOM CENTER
3URROUND (ISTORY
5NFORTUNATELY THE STEREO E«ECT WORKS ONLY WHEN YOU ARE POSITIONED IN THE SWEET SPOT BETWEEN THE SPEAKERS /UTSIDE THIS AREA THE STEREO E«ECT IS GREATLY DIMINISHED PUSHING TOWARD A MONAURAL SOUND 4HOUGH THE SPACIOUS NESS OF THE STEREO E«ECT IS OFTEN MORE PLEASING THAN MONO THE E«ECT ORIGI NATES FROM A SINGLE DIRECTION USUALLY IN FRONT OF YOU 4HERE IS NO SENSE OF BEING IN THE RECORDING !DDING A CENTER CHANNEL OR # TO THE STEREO PAIR WAS A (OLLYWOOD INVEN TION TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF BEING OUTSIDE THE STEREO SWEET SPOT 5SING ITS OWN DISCRETE SPEAKER ANCHORED THE lLM DIALOG TO THE CENTER OF THE MOVIE SCREEN NO MATTER WHERE THE AUDIENCE SAT IN THE THEATER 2EINFORCING THE PHANTOM CENTER GIVES BETTER DIRECTION AL CUES FOR PEOPLE SITTING OUTSIDE THE STEREO SWEET SPOT TOO
#HAPTER
4WO ADDITIONAL CHANNELS PO SITIONED TO THE REAR IMMERSES THE AUDIENCE INTO THE SOUND lELD 4HESE h"OOM CHANNELv OR hBABY BOOMv IS SLANG FOR THE ,&%
DISCRETE LEFT AND RIGHT SURROUNDS ,S2S EXPAND THE DEPTH AND SPACIOUSNESS OF THE STEREO E«ECT INTO A FULL DEGREE CIRCLE THAT ENVELOPES THE AUDIENCE !S A CONSEQUENCE THE SURROUND E«ECT GREATLY EXPANDS THE SWEET SPOT SO THAT MORE OF THE AUDIENCE CAN HEAR THE RESULT 4HE lNAL PART OF THE SURROUND EQUA TION IS THE DEDICATED ,OW &REQUENCY %NHANCEMENT ,&% CHANNEL PO SITIONED IN THE FRONT NEAR THE CENTER CHANNEL 4HE POINT ONE DESIGNATION IS BECAUSE IT HAS TH THE BANDWIDTH OF THE OTHER FULL RANGE SPEAKERS 4HE PURPOSE OF THE ,&% IS TO PROVIDE AD DITIONAL BASS CONTENT 'OOD ,&% EF FECTS ARE MORE FELT THAN HEARD SUCH AS EXPLOSIONS FROM THE LATEST (OLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER
3URROUND (ISTORY
4HE &LETCHER -UNSON EQUAL LOUDNESS CONTOURS PLOT THE EARS FREQUENCY RE SPONSE AT GIVEN LISTENING LEVELS 4HEY REVEAL THAT THE EAR IS LESS SENSITIVE TO LOW FREQUENCIES 4HE ,&% PROVIDES ADDITIONAL BASS TO THE EXPERIENCE TO COMPENSATE AND IS SET UP TO PLAY BACK D" LOUDER THAN THE OTHER lVE SPEAK ERS
-ATRIX OR $ISCRETE 4HERE ARE TWO mAVORS OF SURROUND SOUND 4HE MATRIX APPROACH USES SPECIAL ENCODING TRICKS THAT ADD THE MULTICHANNEL INFORMATION TO THE STEREO MIX $ECODERS IN THE LISTENING ENVIRON MENT RECREATE THE EXPERIENCE (OWEVER THE FORMAT IS NOT WITHOUT ITS SHARE OF PROBLEMS 3OME MATERIAL MAY BE ROUTED TO THE WRONG SPEAKERS 4HE UNPREDICTABLE RESULTS EVEN VARY BY PROGRAM MATERIAL #OMMON MATRIX FOR MATS INCLUDE $OLBY 3URROUND 0RO ,OGIC AND 323 ,ABS #IRCLE 3URROUND $OLBY 0RO ,OGIC IS A FOUR CHANNEL SYSTEM WITH A MONAURAL SURROUND ESSENTIALLY ,#23
#HAPTER
4HE SECOND mAVOR IS DISCRETE SURROUND WHICH KEEPS THE INDIVIDUAL CHANNELS SEPARATE THROUGHOUT THE ENCODING AND DECODING PHASE 4HE INDIVIDUAL OUTPUTS ARE THEN ROUTED TO THEIR RESPECTIVE SPEAKERS RECREATING THE ORIGINAL MIX EXACTLY "OTH $43 #OHER ENT !COUSTICS !UDIO AND $OLBY $IGITAL !# ARE DISCRETE SURROUND FORMATS AS ARE $6$ !UDIO AND 3!#$ "ECAUSE OF ITS PREDICTABLE PLAYBACK DISCRETE SURROUND IS THE MOST COMMON AND RECOMMENDED FORMAT FOR DELIVER ING SURROUND )N FACT THE 0RODUCERS AND %NGINEERS WING OF THE 2ECORDING !CADEMY WWWGRAMMYCOM RECOM MEND ONLY DISCRETE SURROUND SOUND IN THEIR WHITE PAPER h2ECOMMENDATIONS FOR 3URROUND 3OUND 0RODUCTIONv
3URROUND (ISTORY
4HE !# 4HANG )T IS PRIMARILY THE $OLBY !# CODEC THAT BRINGS SURROUND SOUND TO THE MASSES $EVELOPED IN TO CARRY MULTICHANNEL SOUNDTRACKS ON MM lLM IT HAS SINCE BEEN ADAPTED TO $46 ($46 AND $6$ 4HE FORMAT SUPPORTS BOTH STEREO AND DISCRETE MULTI CHANNEL AUDIO STREAMS !# STANDS FOR AUDIO COMPRESSION GENERATION THREE 4HE FORMAT USES ENCODING TECHNIQUES TO COMPRESS AUDIO lLES SIGNIlCANTLY WITH MINIMAL IMPACT ON THE RESULTING SOUNDS QUALITY $OLBY $IGITAL !# IS A HIGH RESOLUTION SPECTRAL ENVELOPE CODING TECHNIQUE AND HYBRID FORWARDBACKWARD ADAPTIVE BIT ALLOCATION TECHNIQUE %SSENTIALLY THAT MEANS IT USES mEXIBLE PERCEPTUAL ENCODING TO COMPRESS AUDIO DATA 0ER CEPTUAL ENCODING RELIES ON THE CONCEPT OF PSYCHOACOUSTIC MASKING MEANING THAT SOME SOUNDS COVER UP OR MASK OTHERS 4HE ENCODER THEN ONLY HAS TO ALLOCATE BITS TO THE FOREGROUND SOUND
#HAPTER
4HE PROCESS WORKS BY lLTERING THE AUDIO STREAM INTO DISCREET BANDS 4HE ENCODER THEN LOOKS AT THE DOMINANT FREQUENCIES AT ANY GIVEN POINT IN TIME PER FREQUENCY BAND 4HE ENCODER ALLO CATES BITS ONLY TO WHATS MOST PROMI NENT 3OMETIMES NO BITS ARE ALLOCATED FOR A SPECIlC BAND 5LTIMATELY THIS SELECTIVE ENCODING PROCESS REDUCES lLE SIZE CONSIDERABLY !# ALSO SUPPORTS SPECIlC METADATA THAT ACCOMPANIES THE DATA STREAM 4HESE METADATA TELL THE !# DECODER HOW TO HANDLE THE SURROUND SOUND #ONlGURING THE METADATA BECOMES IMPORTANT DURING THE ENCODING STEP WHICH IS DISCUSSED IN #HAPTER %IGHT 4HE $OLBY ENCODER TECHNOLOGY WAS lRST A HARDWARE DEVICE BUT HAS SINCE BEEN MOSTLY REPLACED BY SOFTWARE EQUIVALENTS $OLBY NOW LICENSES ITS !# ENCODER TO A VARIETY OF SOFTWARE VENDORS FOR PEOPLE TO USE TO ENCODE THEIR OWN SURROUND SOUND PROJECTS 4HESE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS TYPICALLY INCLUDE THE NECESSARY TOOLS FOR AUTHOR ING IN SURROUND SOUND TOO
3URROUND (ISTORY
$43 #OHERENT !COUSTICS !UDIO !NOTHER ENCODER AVAILABLE FOR BOTH 0# AND -AC IS THE $43 0RO 3ERIES 3URROUND %NCODER 4HIS STANDALONE PACKAGE HAN DLES THE ENCODING PROCESS OF IMPORTED lLES 9OU STILL NEED AN AUDIO OR VIDEO APPLICATION THAT EXPORTS THE NECESSARY lLES
#HAPTER
$ELIVERING 3URROUND 4HERE ARE SEVERAL DELIVERY FORMATS FOR SURROUND SOUND v $6$THE $6$ SPECIlCATION DE MANDS SUPPORT FOR $OLBY ON ALL PLAYERS v $6$ !THIS SPECIAL AUDIO ONLY VERSION OF THE $6$ SPECIlCATION SUPPORTS HIGH QUALITY MULTICHANNEL SOUND v 3!#$4HIS IS ANOTHER AUDIO ONLY DISC FORMAT THAT O«ERS HIGH QUALITY MULTICHANNEL SOUND v $46$IGITAL 4ELEVISION SUPPORTS DI«ERENT VIDEO FORMATS RANGING FROM STANDARD DElNITION 3$ UP TO VARIOUS HIGH DElNITION ($ ITERA TIONS 4HE $46 AUDIO FORMAT SPECI lCATION IS JUST ONE $OLBY !# IN BOTH STEREO AND v 7INDOWS -EDIA AND ABOVE SUP PORTS DELIVERING HIGH QUALITY MATERIAL 7-6 ALSO SUPPORTS DELIVERING HIGH DElNITION ($ VIDEO ALONG WITH THE SURROUND SOUNDTRACK
#HAPTER
2ECORDING 3URROUND 3URROUND SOUND PROJECTS ARE TYPICALLY BUILT THROUGH A CAREFUL BLENDING OF MONO AND STEREO RECORD INGS 4HROUGH VOLUME AND PLACEMENT YOU IMMERSE YOUR LISTENING AUDIENCE INTO A UNIQUE AURAL ENVIRONMENT AND EXPERIENCE )NCREASINGLY PROJECTS ARE BEING RECORDED DIRECTLY TO THE DISCRETE FORMAT AT THE SOURCE #APTURING A LIVE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE FOR EXAMPLE DIRECTLY TO THE FORMAT RESULTS IN A RECORDING THAT CAPTURES THE ORIGINAL SOUND OF THE ROOM 3UPPLEMENTING THE RECORDING WITH DEDICATED SPOT MICS PROVIDES ADDITIONAL CONTROL OVER THE lNAL BLEND
#HAPTER
2ECORDING #HAIN 2ECORDING ACOUSTIC SOUNDS REQUIRES A SIMPLE CHAIN OF COMPONENTS MI 4HE HIGHER THE QUALITY OF THE COMPONENT PARTS THE BETTER THE RESULTING SOUND RECORDINGS WILL BE
CROPHONE MICROPHONE PREAMP AND RECORDER -ULTICHANNEL RECORDINGS REQUIRE AN EQUIVALENT NUMBER OF MICS PREAMPS AND DISCRETE RECORDING TRACKS
! ,ITTLE !BOUT -ICS )NSIDE EVERY MICROPHONE IS A SMALL THIN SHEET OF METAL CALLED THE DIA PHRAGM WHICH VIBRATES ANALOGOUSLY TO THE SOUND WAVES THAT STRIKE IT 4HE MICROPHONE CONVERTS THIS VIBRATING PATTERN INTO AN ELECTRICAL SIGNAL THAT CAN BE RECORDED 4HERE ARE THREE MAIN TYPES OF MICROPHONES DYNAMIC CON DENSER AND RIBBON $YNAMIC MICS ARE TINY ELECTRICAL GEN ERATORS 4HEY WORK BY CONNECTING THE VIBRATING DIAPHRAGM TO A COIL OF WIRE 4HIS WIRE SURROUNDS A lXED MAGNET !S THE DIAPHRAGM VIBRATES IT MOVES THE COIL THROUGH THE MAGNETIC lELD GEN ERATING LOW POWER ALTERNATING CURRENT !#
2ECORDING 3URROUND
2IBBON MICROPHONES SUSPEND A THIN CORRUGATED PIECE OF METAL BETWEEN A 5 SHAPED MAGNET !S SOUND STRIKES THE RIBBON IT VIBRATES PRODUCING ALTERNAT ING CURRENT JUST AS THE DYNAMIC MICRO PHONE DOES 2IBBON MICS ARE FRAGILE AND PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TO WIND DAMAGE #ONDENSER MICS HAVE TWO METAL DIA PHRAGMS SPACED CLOSELY TOGETHER WITH AN INSULATING AIR SPACE BETWEEN THEM /NE PLATE IS lXED THE OTHER IS ABLE TO MOVE FREELY 0OSITIVE VOLTAGE FROM AN ELECTRICAL SUPPLY IS SENT TO ONE PLATE AND NEGATIVE VOLTAGE TO THE OTHER !S SOUND STRIKES THE DIAPHRAGM THE MOVEABLE PLATE IT VIBRATES MOVING CLOSER AND FARTHER AWAY FROM THE lXED PLATE 4HIS CHANGES THE VOLTAGE CREAT ING A VARIABLE ALTERNATING CURRENT ANALO GOUS TO THE SOUND WAVES STRIKING IT
#HAPTER
#ONDENSER MICROPHONES NEED A POWER SOURCE TO FUNCTION PROPERLY 4HIS POWER MAY COME FROM A BATTERY A SEPARATE POWER SUPPLY OR AS PHANTOM POWER PROVIDED BY AN AUDIO MIXERS #ONDENSER MICROPHONES ARE FAR MORE SENSITIVE TO SUBTLE SOUND CHANGES AND EXCEL AT CAPTURING THE lNER NUANCES OF SOUND
0ICK 5P 0ATTERNS /UR EARS ARE RATHER ADEPT AT TUNING OUT UNWANTED NOISE -ICS HOWEVER CANT DISCRIMINATE SOUNDS LIKE OUR EARS THEY HEAR EVERYTHING (OWEVER SOME MICS ARE MORE SENSITIVE IN CERTAIN DIREC TIONS THAN OTHERS AND THIS PATTERN OF SENSITIVITY IS CALLED ITS PICK UP OR POLAR PATTERN /MNI DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONES PICK UP SOUND EQUALLY WELL IN ALL DIRECTIONS
2ECORDING 3URROUND
5NI DIRECTIONAL OR CARDIOID MICRO PHONES ARE MORE SENSITIVE IN ONE DI RECTION HAVING A HEART SHAPED PATTERN EXTENDING OUT FROM THE MICS FRONT (YPER CARDIOID MICS NARROW AND ELONGATE THIS PICK UP PATTERN FURTHER REJECTING EVEN MORE O« AXIS SOUND
#ARDIOIDS REJECT OFF AXIS SOUND WHICH CAN HELP REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE IN CERTAIN SETTINGS
#HAPTER
3UPER CARDIOIDS HAVE A TIGHT PATTERN AND ARE MORE COMMONLY CALLED SHOT GUN MICROPHONES "I DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONES HAVE A lGURE EIGHT PATTERN
2ECORDING 3URROUND
0RESSURE ZONE MICROPHONES 0:- HAVE A HEMISPHERICAL PICK UP PATTERN -ICS COME IN A VARIETY OF DESIGNS (ANDHELD MICS ARE SUITABLE FOR SINGERS AND SPEAKERS STUDIO MICS SHOULD BE MOUNTED ON A STAND WHILE LAVALIERES CLIP ON TO CLOTHING 3HOTGUNS ARE USU ALLY SUSPENDED FROM A lSH POLE BOOM
#HAPTER
"OOSTING AND 2ECORDING THE 3IGNAL -ICROPHONES PUT OUT A TINY AMOUNT OF ELECTRICITY SO THE SIGNAL MUST BE BOOSTED BEFORE IT CAN BE USED BY OTHER AUDIO COMPONENTS 4HIS MICROPHONE PREAMPLIlER OR PREAMP FOR SHORT CAN BE A STANDALONE PRODUCT OR PART OF A MORE COMPLETE AUDIO MIXER #LEARLY SURROUND RECORDING REQUIRES lVE OR SIX PREAMPS ONE FOR EACH MIC 2ECORDING IN SURROUND REQUIRES A RE CORDER CAPABLE OF HANDLING THE SIX DIS CRETE TRACKS 4HIS RECORDER COULD BE A DEDICATED HARDWARE UNIT OR A SOFTWARE BASED SYSTEM THAT SUPPORTS MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS CHANNELS
2ECORDING 3URROUND
-ONO AND 3TEREO -ICROPHONE 4ECHNIQUES #REATING A MONO RECORDING OF A SOUND EVENT IS THE EASIEST OF ALL RECORDINGS TO MAKE #HOOSE A HIGH QUALITY MIC PRE AMP AND RECORDER !IM THE MIC AT THE SOURCE SET THE LEVEL PRESS RECORD AND GO 5NFORTUNATELY THE PLAYBACK WHILE FAITHFUL TO THE SOUND SOURCE WILL LACK THE SENSE OF DEPTH AND SPACIOUSNESS THAT OUR EARS ORIGINALLY HEARD "ECAUSE WE HUMANS HAVE TWO EARS THE NEXT CHALLENGE IS TO CAPTURE THE STE REOPHONIC QUALITY THAT WE EXPERIENCE DAILY 4HAT MEANS TWO SEPARATE MICS AND TWO SEPARATE RECORDING TRACKS 4HERE ARE THREE COMMON STEREO MICING TECHNIQUES /THER STEREO MICROPHONE TECHNIQUES ARE TYPICALLY VARIATIONS OF THESE THREE PRIMARY METHODS 4HE SPACED OMNI METHOD USES TWO MATCHED OMNI DIRECTIONAL MICS SPACED APART AT LEAST THREE TIMES THE DISTANCE TO THE SOURCE BEING RECORDED
#HAPTER
89 POSITIONS A MATCHED PAIR OF CAR DIOIDS CLOSE TOGETHER BUT POINTED IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS DEGREES AWAY FROM CENTER /24& POSITIONS TWO MATCHED CARDI OIDS POINTED IN A 6 PATTERN CM AND DEGREES APART
2ECORDING 3URROUND
4HERE ARE ALSO DEDICATED STEREO MICRO PHONES SUCH AS THE !UDIO 4ECHNICA !4 AND THE 2ODE .4 "INAURAL RECORDING IS AN INTERESTING STEREO TECHNIQUE THAT USES MICRO PHONES POSITIONED IN THE hEARSv OF A DUMMY HEAD 4HE RESULTING RECORDINGS ARE SURPRISINGLY OPEN AND REALISTIC ESPECIALLY WHEN LISTENING TO PLAYBACK ON HEADPHONES
#HAPTER
4HE $ECCA 4REE IS YET ANOTHER STEREO MICROPHONE TECHNIQUE THAT USES THREE OMNI DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONES LEFT RIGHT AND CENTER !LL THREE MICS FACE FORWARD AND FORM AN EQUILATERAL TRI ANGLE WITH THE CENTER MIC AT THE APEX !LTERNATELY CARDIOIDS CAN BE SUBSTI TUTED
,OCALIZATION VS 3PACE 3TEREO RECORDING IS A TRADE O« BE TWEEN HAVING A DEEP AND WIDE STEREO IMAGE AND THE PRECISE LOCATION OF A SOUND SOURCE BETWEEN THE TWO SPEAK ERS 3OME TECHNIQUES ACCENTUATE THE SENSE OF SPACE BUT MAKE IT HARD TO DISCERN THE SPECIlC POSITION OF ELE MENTS WITHIN THAT SPACE 4HE SOUND IS OPEN AND FULL BUT LACKS DElNITION /THER MICROPHONE TECHNIQUES PROVIDE A PRECISE PICTURE OF THE SOUND SOURCES BUT SACRIlCE THE STEREO E«ECT SOME WHAT &OR EXAMPLE 89 MICING IS STRONG ON LOCALIZATION BUT LOSES THE SPATIAL IMPRESSION /24& IS WEAK ON LOCALIZA TION BUT STRONG IN HOW IT PRESENTS A SENSE OF STEREO SPACE
2ECORDING 3URROUND
3ELECT ONLY ONE v $EEP WIDE LUSCIOUS STEREO OR v 'OOD LOCALIZATION OF SOUND SOURCES 7ITH SURROUND COMES THE ADDED SPATIAL IMPRESSION CALLED ENVELOPMENTLIT ERALLY IMMERSING THE AUDIENCE WITH SOUND !GAIN STRIKING A BALANCE BE TWEEN LOCALIZATION A SOUNDS SPECIlC POSITION AND THE DEPTH AND SPACE OF ENVELOPMENT IS THE KEY WHEN RECORD ING SURROUND AND ULTIMATELY WHEN MIXING IT TOO
3URROUND -ICING 4ECHNIQUES #URRENTLY SURROUND MICING IS AN O« SHOOT OF THE STEREO MICROPHONE TECH NIQUES JUST DISCUSSED &OR EXAMPLE YOU CAN USE TWO /24& SETUPS ONE POINTED TOWARD THE SOUND SOURCE THE OTHER POINTED AWAY 4HEN ROUTE THE RE CORDING OF THE FRONT FACING PAIR TO THE LEFT AND RIGHT SPEAKERS AND THE REAR FACING PAIR TO THE LEFT AND RIGHT SUR ROUND SPEAKERS ,S2S TO RECREATE THE SPACE ! DEDICATED CENTER MIC COULD ALSO BE ADDED TO THIS APPROACH
#HAPTER
!LTERNATELY STARTING WITH A $ECCA TREE USING ALL CARDIOIDS AND THEN ADDING TWO REAR FACING MICROPHONES PROVIDES lVE DISCRETE CHANNELS ! VARIATION WOULD BE TO ANGLE THE FRONT LEFT AND RIGHT MICS AND THE REAR SUR ROUND MICS TO CLOSELY APPROXIMATE THE RECOMMENDED SURROUND PLAYBACK CONlGURATION DISCUSSED LATER IN THIS BOOK 4HE FRONT AND REARS COULD ALSO BE SEPARATED IN SPACE
2ECORDING 3URROUND
4HERE ARE ALSO DEDICATED SURROUND MICROPHONES SUCH AS THE (OLOPHONE (0RO WWWHOLOPHONECOM THAT ALLOW FOR EASIER POSITIONING AND USE WHILE MAINTAINING THE UNIQUE AMBI ENCE OF MULTICHANNEL RECORDING 4HIS MIC IS PRACTICALLY A SURROUND VARIATION ON THE BINAURAL PRINCIPAL 4HESE APPROACHES ALL NEGLECT THE ,&% CHANNEL THOUGH A SIXTH MICROPHONE SPECIlCALLY AN OMNI COULD BE EM PLOYED TO CAPTURE THIS CHANNEL 3OME (OLLYWOOD SOUNDTRACKS USE THESE TECHNIQUES TO CAPTURE ORCHES TRAL SCORES )NCREASINGLY LIVE RECORD INGS OF MUSICAL ACTS ARE USING TO CAPTURE THE AUDIENCE PERSPECTIVE (OWEVER MOST ENGINEERS SUPPLEMENT THESE hAMBIENCEv RECORDINGS WITH SPOT MICS DEDICATED TO INDIVIDUAL PERFOR MANCES &OR EXAMPLE THERE MAY BE DEDICATED MICS ON EACH MAIN INSTRU MENT AND SINGER ROUTED TO SEPARATE RECORDING TRACKS 4HESE JOIN THE RECORDING PROVIDING MORE MIXING CON TROL DURING POST PRODUCTION
(OLOPHONE OFFERS A DEMO $6$ THAT FEATURES SEVERAL DIFFERENT ( RECORDINGS
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
#HAPTER
5P AND 2UNNING 7HETHER YOUR SURROUND SOUND PROJECTS ORIGINATE AS DISCRETE RECORDINGS OR COME TOGETHER USING A VARIETY OF MONO AND STEREO RECORDINGS THE POST PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS ARE ESSENTIALLY IDENTICAL ! COMBINATION OF COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE COUPLED TO AUDIO SPEAKERS IS WHATS NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT SURROUND IN A DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT
#HAPTER
#OMPUTER (ARDWARE AND 3OFTWARE
(ERES A SHORT LIST OF SOFTWARE TOOLS THAT CURRENTLY SUPPORT SURROUND SOUND
4HE CHOICE OF -AC OR 0# DEPENDS
v !DOBE !UDITION
v !DOBE 0REMIERE 0RO
v !VID
v $IGIDESIGN 0RO 4OOLS
v ")!3 $ECK
v #AKEWALK 3/.!2
v -ARK OF THE 5NICORN $IGI
v 3ONY !#)$ 0RO
ENTIRELY ON THE SOFTWARE YOU SELECT TO MIX AND MASTER YOUR SURROUND SOUND PROJECTS )F YOU ARE JUST STARTING OUT MY RECOMMENDATION IS TO lND THE SOFTWARE YOU WANT TO USE AND THEN BUY THE PLATFORM IT RUNS ON )F YOU ARE ALREADY ESTABLISHED YOU EITHER HAVE TO lND SURROUND AUTHORING SOFTWARE OR IT IS ALREADY INCLUDED WITH OTHER SOFTWARE YOU CURRENTLY USE ,OOK FOR SOFTWARE THAT THINKS THE WAY YOU DO $ONT BE SWAYED BY WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SAY YOU SHOULD USE $OWNLOAD THE DEMOS GIVE THEM A TEST DRIVE AND THEN MAKE YOUR DECISION 4HIS METHOD MAY TAKE A LITTLE MORE TIME BUT YOULL SAVE FUTURE HEADACHES FROM lGHTING WITH SOFTWARE THAT DOESNT MIRROR AND COMPLEMENT YOUR WORKING STYLE
TAL 0ERFORMER v !PPLE &INAL #UT 0RO
v !PPLE FORMERLY % MAGIC ,OGIC !UDIO
v 3ONY 6EGAS
v 3TEINBERG .UENDO
DENOTES NON LINEAR VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE .,%
5P AND 2UNNING
!LL OF THESE PROGRAMS REQUIRE A RO BUST COMPUTER SYSTEM 2EFER TO YOUR SOFTWARES SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR SPECIlC MINIMUM HARDWARE CONlGU RATIONS (OWEVER THESE MINIMUMS USUALLY RESULT IN POOR PERFORMANCE ) HIGHLY SUGGEST CHOOSING FASTER PRO CESSORS AND ADDITIONAL 2!- FAR ABOVE THESE MINIMUM SPECIlCATIONS +EEP YOUR /3 AND PROGRAMS ON A DEDICATED HARD DRIVE AND THEN ADD ADDITIONAL DEDICATED DRIVES FOR STORING YOUR AUDIO VIDEO AND OTHER MEDIA 4HESE HARD DRIVES CAN BE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL 53" OR &IRE7IRE )F YOUR VIDEO WORK IS DESTINED TO PLAY ON A 46 CHECKING IT ON AN EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR IS CRITICAL 7ITH SUR ROUND AUDIO MONITORS PROPERLY SET UP WATCHING ON A EXTERNAL MONITOR WHILE MIXING SURROUND IS AN IDEAL WORKING ARRANGEMENT
#HAPTER
#ONTROL $EVICES -ANY PEOPLE PREFER WORKING WITH HARD WARE INSTEAD OF THE POINT AND CLICK OF THE MOUSE 3OME SURROUND AUTHOR ING SOFTWARE SUPPORTS USING EXTERNAL HARDWARE TOO 4HE POPULAR -ACKIE 5NIVERSAL #ONTROL ADDS MOTORIZED FAD ERS KNOBS BUTTONS AND SWITCHES THAT CAN BE CONlGURED TO OPERATE A MYRIAD OF SOFTWARE BASED CONTROLS ! HARDWARE JOYSTICK CAN MAKE SUR ROUND POSITIONING EASIER 3OME ARE BUILT INTO EXTERNAL HARDWARE DEVICES OR YOU MAY BE ABLE TO USE A STANDARD GAMING JOYSTICK
5P AND 2UNNING
3OUNDCARD /PTIONS 7ORKING WITH SURROUND REQUIRES A SOUNDCARD WITH SIX DISCRETE OUTPUT CHANNELS -AKE SURE THOSE SIX OUTPUTS ARE AVAILABLE SIMULTANEOUSLY AND IN A FORMAT YOU CAN USE 9OU WANT LINE LEVEL OUTPUT ON 8,2 OR JACKS 4HE CONNECTOR CHOICE DEPENDS ON YOUR MONITOR SPEAKER CONlGURATION DIS CUSSED BELOW 9OU CAN CHOOSE INTERNAL 0#) SOUNDCARDS OR EXTERNAL COMPO NENTS EITHER 53" OR &IRE7IRE 3PECIlCATIONS ALSO VARY BY MANUFAC TURER 3OME SOUNDCARDS SUPPORT ONLY BIT SOUND THE #$ STANDARD WHILE OTHERS PROVIDE HIGHER QUALITY BIT )F YOU WORK WITH BIT lLES OR NEED TO MAKE HIGHER QUALITY RECORDINGS CON SIDER A BIT SOUNDCARD
#HAPTER
!UDIO -ONITORS -IXING AND MONITORING SURROUND SOUND REQUIRES SIX DEDICATED SPEAKERS ONE OF THEM A SUBWOOFER CAPABLE OF REPRODUCING EXTREME LOW FREQUENCIES 4HERE ARE TWO CHOICES 0ASSIVE SPEAKERS GET THEIR POWER FROM A SEPARATE AMPLIlER !S SUCH YOU WOULD NEED MULTIPLE AMPLIlERS OR AN AMPLIlER SPECIlCALLY DESIGNED TO WORK WITH DISCRETE SURROUND 4HIS AMPLIlER MUST HAVE THE NECESSARY SIX INPUTS AND SIX SPEAKER CONNECTIONS !LTERNATELY POWERED SPEAKERS OFTEN CALLED ACTIVE MONITORS HAVE BUILT IN AMPLIlERS 4HEY CONNECT DIRECTLY TO THE SOUNDCARD OUTPUTS 4HERE ARE ALSO HYBRID SYSTEMS SUCH AS THE - !UDIO ,8 WHICH HOUSES ITS SIX AMPLIlERS IN THE SUBWOOFER SENDING DISCRETE SIGNALS TO THE REMAINING lVE PASSIVE SPEAKERS
5P AND 2UNNING
3ELECT HIGH QUALITY SPEAKERS DESIGNED FOR CRITICAL MUSIC MONITORING 4HEY SHOULD ALL BE EXACTLY THE SAME BRAND AND MODEL -AKE SURE THE SPEAKERS ARE DIRECT RADIATOR TYPES THESE ARE THE MOST COMMON AND NOT A DIPOLE DE SIGN -AKE SURE THE SPEAKERS ARE MAGNETICAL LY SHIELDED TO AVOID INTERFERENCE WITH NEARBY COMPUTERS OR TELEVISION MONITORS "OTH THE $OLBY AND 2ECORDING !CADEMY REC OMMENDATIONS STATE THAT THE lVE MAIN SPEAK ERSSTEREO ,2 SURROUND ,2 AND DEDI CATED CENTERSHOULD BE FULL RANGE MATCHED SPEAKERS 4HIS MEANS EACH SPEAKER SHOULD BE CAPABLE OF REPRODUCING THE ENTIRE FREQUENCY RANGE FROM TO (ERTZ (Z 4HE SIXTH ,&% SPEAKER ONLY NEEDS TO E«ECTIVELY REPRODUCE FREQUENCIES BELOW (Z &OR PROPER SURROUND MIXING THE ,&% IS DISCRETE AND DEDICATED ONLY TO ADDITIONAL BASS E«ECTS 4HE OTHER lVE SPEAKERS REPRODUCE FULL RANGE SOUNDS INCLUDING THE BASS !VOID THE INEXPENSIVE COMPUTER SPEAK ERS 4HESE ARE DESIGNED FOR GAMERS NOT SERI OUS SURROUND PROJECTS (OWEVER THEY MAY BE USEFUL AS A SECOND SET OF SPEAKERS TO CHECK COMPATIBILITY ) ALSO RECOMMEND HAVING A CONSUMER SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM PREFER ABLY A BASS MANAGED ONE INSTALLED IN A TYPI CAL HOME LISTENING ENVIRONMENT FOR FURTHER TESTING AND CHECKING OF YOUR MIXES
'ET lVE IDENTICAL SELF POWERED MID lELD MONITORS ALONG WITH A MATCHING SELF POWERED SUBWOOFER
#HAPTER
-OST CONSUMER SYSTEMS USE SMALLER LIMITED BANDWIDTH SATELLITE SPEAK ERS AND ROUTE ALL THE BASS CONTENT TO A SUBWOOFER 4HIS APPROACH IS CALLED BASS MANAGEMENT !ND WHILE IT IS SUF lCIENT FOR HOME THEATER PLAYBACK IT IS NOT THE PREFERRED METHOD FOR E«ECTIVE SURROUND SOUND AUTHORING 4HIS IS ALSO A POINT OF SO MUCH CONFUSION )N CON SUMER SYSTEMS THE SUBWOOFER DOES DOUBLE DUTY PROVIDING BOTH THE DEEP BASS CONTENT MISSING FROM THE SATEL LITES AND THE ,&% SOUNDS "ASS MANAGE MENT WILL BE EXPLORED IN GREATER DETAIL LATER
"ASIC !UDIO 3TUDIO 3ETUP 4HOUGH SPECIlC PLACEMENT IS DETAILED BELOW KEEP THESE GENERAL RESTRICTIONS IN MIND "E SURE THE SPEAKERS ARE WIRED CORRECTLY AND IN PHASE +EEP THE CONNECTING CABLES AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE AND MATCH THE LENGTHS TO ALL SPEAKERS #HOOSE HIGH QUALITY WIRE 'ENERALLY HEAVIER THICKER CABLE EQUALS BETTER CABLE
5P AND 2UNNING
0LACE EACH OF THE lVE MAIN SPEAKERS ON ROCK SOLID MATCHING STANDS -AKE SURE THE TWEETERS ARE AT EAR LEVEL AND THAT THERE ARE NO OBSTRUCTIONS BETWEEN THE SPEAKERS AND THE LISTENING POSITION 4HE SUBWOOFER CAN SIT ON THE mOOR )SOLATE EACH SPEAKER FROM THE SURFACE UPON WHICH IT RESTS USING RIGID FOAM SUCH AS !URALEX -O0ADS 0LACE THE SPEAKERS IN THE FREE lELD SUF lCIENTLY AWAY FROM NEARBY WALLS 4HREE TO lVE FEET AWAY FROM BOUNDARIES IS AN ACCEPTABLE RANGE 3PEAKER PLACEMENT IS SYMMETRICAL WHICH IS SOMEWHAT CONTRARY TO CONVENTIONAL WISDOM RE GARDING CONTROL ROOM DESIGN WHICH IS MOSTLY ASYMMETRICAL
#HAPTER
!LSO UNLIKE MOST STEREO MIXING ENVIRONMENTS SURROUND MONITOR ING IS BEST CARRIED OUT IN A ROOM THAT IS MORE hDEADv OR NEUTRAL SOUNDING 4REAT THE ROOM ACOUSTICS TO REDUCE REVERBERATION TIME AND DAMPEN THE EARLY REmECTIONS E«ECTIVELY &IRST REmECTIONS ARE PARTICULARLY TROUBLE SOME !S SOUND LEAVES THE SPEAKERS IT STRIKES THE MANY SURFACES OF THE ROOM 4HESE SURFACES REmECT SOUND BACK TO THE MIXING POSITION 3OMETIMES THESE SOUNDS ARE IN OR OUT OF PHASE WITH THE ORIGINAL SOUND CAUSING CONSTRUCTIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE )N SHORT THE lRST REmECTIONS CAN A«ECT WHAT YOU HEAR IN ADVERSE WAYS #AREFUL PLACEMENT OF BROADBAND SOUND ABSORBING MATERIAL AROUND AND BEHIND THE SPEAKERS COUPLED TO SUF lCIENT DI«USION OUTSIDE THE SURROUND SWEET SPOT RESULTS IN A MORE ACCURATE MIX 0RODUCTS SUCH AS ACOUSTIC FOAM BASS TRAPS AND DI«USERS PROVIDE SOLU TIONS TO COMMON CONTROL ROOM ACOUSTI CAL PROBLEMS
5P AND 2UNNING
(ERES A NEAT TRICK FOR DEALING WITH THOSE PESKY lRST REmECTIONS 9OU NEED A GOOD SIZED HAND MIRROR AND AN AS SISTANT 3IT AT THE MIXING POSITION (AVE YOUR ASSISTANT HOLD THE MIRROR AND MOVE IT ALONG THE ROOMS MAIN BOUND ARIES AND SURFACES WALLS CEILING mOOR LARGE FURNITURE )F YOU CAN SEE THE FRONT OF A SPEAKER IN THE MIRROR THAT IS A lRST REmECTION POINT FOR THE SOUND COMING FROM THAT SPEAKER 4HIS IS AN OPTIMAL LOCATION FOR BROADBAND SOUND ABSORBING MATERIAL 4AKE YOUR TIME AND METHODICALLY CHECK EVERY SURFACE FOR REmECTIONS AND THEN TREAT THE ROOM AC CORDINGLY BASED ON WHAT YOU DISCOVER
0RECISE 3PEAKER 0LACEMENT 3PEAKER POSITIONING IS CRITICAL TO HAV ING YOUR SURROUND MIXES TRANSLATE WELL TO OTHER LISTENING SYSTEMS AND ENVIRON MENTS 0ROPERLY PLACING THE SPEAKERS REQUIRES A REFERENCE POINTTHE LISTEN ING OR MIXING POSITION 2OOM LAYOUT EQUIPMENT AND OTHER FACTORS DICTATE WHERE YOU WILL SIT FOR MIXING AND MONITORING SURROUND +EEP THE PREVI OUS TIPS IN MIND WHEN SELECTING THIS POSITION
#ONTROL ROOM ACOUSTICS ARE BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS BOOK #HECK OUT THE FREE RESOURCES AVAILABLE FROM !URALEX !COUSTICS WWWAURALEX COM OR WWW ACOUSTICS COM
#HAPTER
4HE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SURROUND SOUND SPEAKER PLACEMENT COME FROM THE )NTERNATIONAL 4ELECOMMUNICATIONS 5NION )45 AND THEIR )45 2EC 4HE lVE MAIN SPEAKERS FORM A CIRCLE WITH THE MIXING POSITION AT ITS CENTER 4HIS MEANS THE SPEAKERS WILL BE THE SAME DISTANCE FROM THE LISTENING POSITION OPTIMALLY BETWEEN SIX AND EIGHT FEET 4HE CENTER SPEAKER FACES THE LISTENING POSITION 4HE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE FRONT LEFT AND RIGHT STEREO SPEAKERS SHOULD EQUAL THE DISTANCE TO THE LISTEN ING POSITION !LL THREE POINTSTHE ,2 SPEAKERS AND THE MIXING POSITION FORM AN EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE !NGLE THE FRONT LEFT AND RIGHT SPEAKERS IN DEGREES 0LACE THE SURROUND SPEAKERS DE GREES TO DEGREES FROM THE CENTER ALSO ANGLED IN 3TEEPER ANGLES UP TO DEGREES ARE ACCEPTABLE FOR MUSIC MIXING 3HALLOWER ANGLES ARE MORE SUITABLE FOR lLM AND 46 SURROUND MIX ING )DEALLY THE SURROUNDS SHOULD BE THE SAME HEIGHT AS THE FRONT THREE BUT IT IS ACCEPTABLE FOR THEM TO BE SLIGHTLY HIGHER AND AIMED DOWN TOWARD THE MIXING POSITION
5P AND 2UNNING
0LACE THE SUBWOOFER ON THE mOOR IN THE FRONT SLIGHTLY TO ONE SIDE OF THE CENTER SPEAKER 9OU MAY NEED TO EXPERIMENT TO lND THE BEST PLACEMENT FOR IT )F AP PLICABLE SET THE SUBWOOFERS LOW PASS lLTER TO (Z ! SIMPLE WAY TO POSITION SPEAKERS IS TO USE A MIC STAND A LENGTH OF STRING AND A PROTRACTOR 0OSITION THE MIC STAND IN THE CENTER OF THE LISTENING POSITION 4IE THE STRING TO THE STAND AT EAR HEIGHT #UT THE STRING TO THE DESIRED LENGTH FOR THE SPEAKER DISTANCE 0OSITION THE CENTER SPEAKER AT THE END OF THE STRING 5SE THE PROTRACTOR FOR THE ANGLES AND THE STRING FOR THE DISTANCE WHEN PLAC ING THE REMAINING FOUR SPEAKERS
#HAPTER
#ALIBRATION 'EAR !FTER PLACEMENT PROPERLY CALIBRATING THE SPEAKERS ALSO ENSURES THAT YOUR SURROUND MIXES WILL SOUND AS INTENDED OUTSIDE THE MIXING ENVIRONMENT #ALI BRATION REQUIRES AN (Z SINE WAVE TEST TONE AND PINK NOISE 7HILE SINE WAVES ARE USEFUL FOR CALIBRATING ELEC TRONIC EQUIPMENT ACOUSTIC CALIBRATION USES PINK NOISE WHICH SOUNDS LIKE AN EMPTY 46 CHANNEL 9OU ALSO NEED EITHER A 2EAL 4IME !NA LYZER 24! OR A 3OUND 0RESSURE ,EVEL 30, METER 0INK NOISE IS AVAILABLE FROM TONE GENERATORS CALIBRATION #$S AND EVEN MANY (OLLYWOOD $6$ RE LEASES 24!S ARE SOMEWHAT EXPENSIVE SO FOR MOST PEOPLE AN 30, METER FROM 2ADIO 3HACK SU£CES !LTERNATELY CREATE THE TEST TONE AND PINK NOISE NEEDED USING 3ONY 3OUND &ORGE &OR THE SINE WAVE TEST TONE CRE ATE A NEW MONO lLE &ILE .EW #LICK 4OOLS 3YNTHESIS 3IMPLE AND CHOOSE AN (Z SINE WAVE TONE FOR SECONDS OR MORE
5P AND 2UNNING
&OR PINK NOISE CREATE AN EMPTY lLE CLICK 4OOLS 3YNTHESIS 3IMPLE AND CHOOSE 0INK .OISE AS THE 7AVEFORM SHAPE !DJUST THE LENGTH TO SEC ONDS OR SO !LSO ADJUST THE !MPLITUDE TO READ nD" 4HIS CREATES AT LEAST THREE MINUTES OF PINK NOISE AT nD" 2-3 TO USE FOR CALIBRATING YOUR MONI TORS )T IS IMPORTANT FOR THE PINK NOISE TO BE AT 65 6OLUME 5NIT WHICH EQUALS nD" 2-3 ON DIGITAL FULL SCALE METERS :ERO 65 IS NOT THE SAME AS ON DIGITAL PEAK METERS !LSO n ON A DIGITAL PEAK METER DOES NOT EQUAL 65 EITHER 65 IS MORE AN AVERAGE OR 2-3 ROOT MEAN SQUARED VALUE WHILE DIGITAL ME TERS TYPICALLY READ ONLY PEAKS 4HERE FORE PEAK METERS WILL READ CONSIDER ABLY HIGHER THAN nD"&3 WHEN PLAYING BACK 65 PINK NOISE
#HAPTER
4HERE IS ALSO SOME MERIT TO BAND LIMIT ING THE PINK NOISE INSTEAD OF USING IT AT FULL BANDWIDTH BECAUSE BAND LIMIT ED PINK NOISE HELPS REDUCE THE E«ECTS OF ROOM ACOUSTICS ON THE CALIBRATION PROCEDURES )N THIS CASE USE EQUALIZA TION CONTROLS TO LIMIT THE PINK NOISE TO (Z TO K(Z FOR THE lVE MAIN SPEAKERS AND IN A DI«ERENT lLE %1 THE PINK NOISE TO (Z TO (Z FOR THE SUBWOOFER
5P AND 2UNNING
)F YOU USE AN 30, METER SET IT TO # WEIGHTING AND SLOW RESPONSE 0OSITION IT AT EAR LEVEL AT THE LISTENING POSITION WITH ITS MICROPHONE FACING THE CENTER SPEAKER 4HE 2ADIO3HACK MODEL EVEN CONNECTS TO A TRIPOD FOR EASY POSITION ING
#ALIBRATING 3PEAKERS 5SE THE TEST TONE TO CALIBRATE THE SUBWOOFERS ACOUSTIC PHASE ALIGNMENT 3END THE SAME (Z TONE TO BOTH THE LEFT AND RIGHT FRONT SPEAKERS AND THE SUBWOOFER AT A MODERATELY HIGH LEVEL SUCH AS D" .OTE THE LEVEL ON THE 30, METER 5SE THE SUBS PHASE CONTROLS UNTIL YOU REACH THE LOUDEST LEVEL )F THE SUB DOESNT HAVE PHASE CONTROLS PHYSICALLY ROTATE IT IN DEGREE INCRE MENTS UNTIL THE LEVEL READS THE LOUDEST ON THE 30, METER
#HAPTER
.OW SET A REFERENCE SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL FOR ALL SIX SPEAKERS 'ENERALLY 46 USES D" lLM D" AND MUSIC D" 0ERIODICALLY CHECK SPEAKER PLACEMENT AND RECALIBRATE TO ENSURE THAT YOUR SURROUND MIXING EQUIPMENT RUNS AT OPTIMUM LEVELS
AS THE REFERENCE 30, 4URN O« ALL BUT ONE OF THE SPEAKERS 2OUTE THE 65 nD"&3 2-3 BAND LIMITED PINK NOISE TO THAT SPEAKER !DJUST ITS VOLUME TO READ D" OR D" OR D" ON THE 30, METER # WEIGHTED SLOW RESPONSE AT THE LISTENING POSITION 2EPEAT THIS PROCEDURE FOR THE REMAINING FOUR SPEAKERS &OR THE ,&% USE THE (Z TO (Z BAND LIMITED PINK NOISE AND ADJUST ITS VOLUME TO READ D" HIGHER THAN THE OTHER SPEAKERS D" OR D" OR D" 4HIS TECHNIQUE DELIVERS AN ,&% THAT IS E«ECTIVELY D" LOUDER THAN THE OTHER SPEAKERS TO COMPENSATE FOR THE EARS REDUCED SENSITIVITY OF LOW BASS SOUNDS (OW CAN D" EQUAL D" 4HE ,&% IS A LIMITED BANDWIDTH CHANNEL SO THE LEVEL WORKS OUT WHEN COMPARED TO THE FULL SPEAKERS )N SOME CASES THE SPEAKERS EMPLOYED MAY NOT HAVE INDEPENDENT VOLUME CONTROLS 5SE THE LEVEL CONTROLS AVAIL ABLE THOUGH THE SOUNDCARD CONTROL PANEL WHEN CALIBRATING SPEAKERS .OTE AND SAVE THE SETTINGS
5P AND 2UNNING
46 AND &ILM #ALIBRATION .OTES !S WAS MENTIONED ABOVE TELEVISION
2ECOMMENDED CALIBRATION SETTINGS
MIXERS PREFER TO WORK AT THE D" REFERENCE 30, C WEIGHTED SLOW USING nD"&3 2-3 PINK NOISE 4HIS LOWER
s 46
D" s &ILM
D" s -USIC
D"
LEVEL MAKES BALANCING DIALOG EASIER 46 COMPETES WITH FAR NOISIER HOME LISTENING ROOMS $IALOG THAT SOUNDS PERFECTLY lNE IN A QUIET STUDIO REFER ENCED TO D" MAY BE TOO LOW IN LEVEL AND UNINTELLIGIBLE WHEN PLAYED BACK IN MOST HOMES 5SING THE D" REFER ENCE LEVEL FORCES THE MIXER TO RAISE THE DIALOG VOLUME FOR BETTER INTELLIGIBILITY MORE SUITED TO HOME ENVIRONMENTS )F THIS IS WHERE MOST OF YOUR PROJECTS ARE DESTINED THEN CONSIDER RECALIBRATING YOUR MONITORS !LSO 53 THEATERS PLAY BACK SURROUND CHANNELS CALIBRATED TO D" THE FRONTS STAY AT D" 3OME lLM MIXERS MATCH THIS BY CALIBRATING THE CONTROL ROOM SURROUNDS TO D" TOO 4HIS MEANS THE SURROUNDS WILL BE D" LOUDER THAN IN TENDED WHEN PLAYED BACK ON A SYSTEM THAT REFERENCES ALL lVE SPEAKERS TO THE SAME D" LEVEL "OTH $43 #OHERENT !COUSTICS !UDIO AND $OLBY $IGITAL !# ALLOW COMPENSATING FOR THIS FACT DURING THE ENCODING STEP THOUGH
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#HAPTER
3OFTWARE 4OOLS 7ITH HARDWARE IN PLACE TURN YOUR ATTENTION TO UNDERSTANDING THE SOFTWARE TOOLS AVAILABLE FOR SUR ROUND SOUND MIXING 7HILE EACH SOFTWARE PRODUCT HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE FEATURES THEY ALL SHARE COM MON TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS SPECIlC TO SURROUND SOUND WORK
#HAPTER
-ULTITRACKING #RITICAL TO SURROUND MIXING IS SUP PORT FOR MULTIPLE AUDIO TRACKS (AVING ACCESS TO A NUMBER OF TRACKS GIVES GREATER CONTROL OVER THE lNISHED MIX %VEN IF A lELD RECORDING WAS MADE IN THERE IS STILL A NEED FOR AT LEAST SIX TRACKS WITH THE SURROUND AUTHORING PROGRAM MONO STEREO OR IN SOME CASES SUR ROUND 4HESE PARTS ARE SPREAD OVER A NUMBER OF TRACKS AND MUST BE BAL ANCED OR MIXED FOR THE BEST PRE SENTATION 9OU MAY TAKE ON THE ROLES OF SOUND DESIGNER RECORDING ENGI NEER AND SURROUND MIXER )T WILL BE
&OR AUDIO POST PROJECTS
&OR MUSIC PROJECTS lNISHED
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BUILD THE BEST
SOUNDTRACK ELEMENTS
MIXES COMPRISE
COMPRISE
SOUNDTRACK OR MUSIC MIX USING THE TOOLS AT YOUR DISPOSAL
v $IALOG
v 6OCALS
v 6OICE OVER
v $RUMS AND PERCUSSION
v 'ROUP WALLA
v 2HYTHM INSTRUMENTS
v 3OUND E«ECTS v &OLEY v "ACKGROUNDS v -USIC
GUITARS BASS ETC v 3OLO OR LEAD INSTRUMENTS v %AR CANDY 4HESE ELEMENTS MAY BE
3OFTWARE 4OOLS
&IRST YOU NEED TO lND RECORD OR CHOOSE THE BEST SOUND ELEMENTS .EXT YOU MUST lX ANY PROBLEMS AND CLEAN UP THE ELEMENTS FOR THE BEST POSSIBLE lDELITY 4HEN YOU CAN TURN YOUR ATTEN TION TO BALANCING THE INDIVIDUAL PARTS INTO A COHESIVE WHOLE 4HIS WILL INCLUDE MANAGING VOLUME LEVELS OF ALL THE TRACKS AND OFTEN INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS WITHIN A TRACK 9OULL ALSO NEED TO PLACE ALL THESE SOUNDS IN THE SURROUND lELD 4HE SPECIlC CONTENT WILL DRIVE MANY CREATIVE DECISIONS &OR INSTANCE YOU MAY NEED TO USE CERTAIN AUDIO E«ECTS SUCH AS COMPRESSION EQUALIZATION AND SO FORTH TO FURTHER RElNE THE MIX 4HERE MAY BE A NEED FOR OTHER SPE CIAL AUDIO E«ECTS TO MAKE THE TRACK MORE REALISTIC AND ENJOYABLE &INALLY YOULL NEED TO MASTER THE lNAL MIX AND ENCODE IT TO THE SURROUND FORMAT YOUR DISTRIBUTION MEDIA PREFERS SUCH AS !# FOR $6$ 9OUR SURROUND SOUND AUTHORING PRO GRAM SHOULD GIVE YOU THE CONTROL YOU NEED OVER VOLUME PANNING AND EF FECTS 4HE SURROUND ENCODER PROVIDES SETTINGS FOR GETTING THE BEST ENCODE
#HAPTER
3OUNDCARD 0ROPERTIES $EPENDING ON YOUR CHOSEN SOUND CARD THERE MAY BE SOME SETUP ISSUES REQUIRED SUCH AS ASSIGNING OUTPUTS TO SPECIlC CHANNELS !DDITIONALLY YOU MAY NEED TO SET UP HOW YOUR SURROUND AUTHORING SOFTWARE COMMUNICATES WITH THE SOUNDCARD 4HIS MAY BE A FUNCTION OF YOUR AUTHOR ING APPLICATION THE SOUNDCARD OR BOTH &OR EXAMPLE CHOOSE THE SOUND CARD AND ASSIGN WHICH OF ITS OUTPUTS CARRY THE SIX CHANNELS )F YOUR SOUNDCARD HAS BASS MANAGE MENT DISABLE IT AT THIS POINT 4HIS IS USEFUL ONLY TO CHECK YOUR MIX ON AN AL TERNATE AND OPTIONAL CONSUMER SYSTEM THAT YOU MAY USE IN ADDITION TO YOUR PROFESSIONAL SURROUND MIXING ENVIRON MENT "ASS MANAGEMENT IS NOT USED WHEN AUTHORING SURROUND
3OFTWARE 4OOLS
0ROJECT 0ROPERTIES !GAIN YOUR SURROUND AUTHORING PRO GRAM WILL HAVE SPECIlC PROCEDURES FOR SETTING UP A SURROUND PROJECT !CCESS THESE PROPERTIES AND CONlGURE THEM ACCORDINGLY &OR EXAMPLE THE AUDIO PROPERTIES IN 3ONY 6EGAS ALLOW CHOOS ING EITHER A STEREO OR MIXING ENVI RONMENT 4HERE MAY BE ADDITIONAL SETTINGS FOR OPTIMIZING THE SURROUND PROJECT 9OU SHOULD ENABLE THE LOW PASS lLTER ON THE ,&% AND CHOOSE THE CUTO« FREQUEN CY BASED ON YOUR SPECIlC SURROUND SOUND NEEDS 4YPICALLY USE (Z FOR $6$ AND (Z FOR lLM !S YOU ASSIGN SOUNDS TO THE ,&% THIS LOW PASS lLTER KEEPS OUT HIGHER FRE QUENCIES ABOVE THE CUTO« POINT AND ENSURES THAT ONLY DEEP BASS CONTENT IS SENT TO THE ,&% SPEAKER
$O NOT CONFUSE THE ,&% LOW PASS WITH BASS MANAGEMENT THESE ARE SEPARATE ISSUES
#HAPTER
'ENERIC &UNCTIONS %ACH TRACK IN YOUR AUTHORING PROGRAM SHOULD HAVE ITS OWN VOLUME LEVEL CON TROL 5SE THIS TO BALANCE THE LOUDNESS OF SOUNDS ASSIGNED TO THAT TRACK WITH THE REST OF YOUR MIX %ACH TRACK ALSO HAS A SURROUND SOUND PANNING CONTROL 4HIS ALLOWS POSITION ING THE SOUND IN THE SURROUND lELD 4HE PANNER SHOWS THE SPEAKERS WITH AN ICON REPRESENTING THE SOURCE TRACK #LICK AND DRAG THE SOURCE ICON TO POSI TION THE TRACK AS NEEDED
3OFTWARE 4OOLS
.OTICE THE SPEAKERS LEVEL CHANGES AS YOU MOVE THE TRACK AROUND 3OME SURROUND PANNERS O«ER GREATER CONTROL BEYOND SIMPLE POSITIONING 5SE CONTROLS TO TURN ON AND O« SPEAK ERS FOR A TRACK
#HAPTER
!DJUST THE LEVEL OF THE CENTER CHANNEL IN RELATION TO THE OTHER SPEAKERS 4O KEEP A STEREO SOURCE IN ITS ORIGINAL STEREO FORMAT INCLUDING ITS PHANTOM CENTER POSITION IT AT THE FRONT AND EITHER TURN O« THE CENTER OR REDUCE ITS VOLUME
3OFTWARE 4OOLS
3ELECT FROM A VARIETY OF PANNING MODES THAT APPLY WHEN PANNING STEREO AND MONO SOURCES v !DD CHANNELSCOMBINES CHANNELS AS YOU PAN 7ATCH FOR CLIPPING LEV ELS ABOVE D" v "ALANCE n n #ENTER DI«ERENT SETTINGS DETERMINE HOW THE CENTER CHANNEL HANDLES SOUNDS AS THEY PAN TOWARD AND AWAY FROM OTHER SPEAKERS 3ETTING A MAXIMUM LEVEL MINIMIZES CLIPPING v #ONSTANT POWERSOUNDS KEEP THEIR LEVEL AS THEY PAN ! GOOD MODE FOR MONO SOUNDS 4HIS MODE OR &ILM IS USUALLY THE BEST CHOICE v &ILMEMULATES THE THEATRICAL MIX ING ENVIRONMENT AND USES CONSTANT POWER #ONSTRAIN MOVEMENTS TO FREE UP DOWN LEFT AND RIGHT
#HAPTER
!SSIGN A TRACK TO THE ,&% ONLY 4HE 3URROUND -ASTER "US PROVIDES INDEPENDENT LEVEL CONTROLS FOR ALL SIX CHANNELS -ETERS SHOW THE LEVELS TOO !DD A lLE TO A TRACK AND USE THAT TRACKS SURROUND PANNER TO MOVE THE lLE AROUND AS IT PLAYS 7ATCH THE MAS TER BUS TO SEE HOW THE LEVEL CHANGES AS THE SOUND MOVES FROM SPEAKER TO SPEAKER
3OFTWARE 4OOLS
4HE 3URROUND -ASTER MAY ALSO HAVE A DOWNMIX BUTTON THAT LETS YOU CHECK THE STEREO COMPATIBILITY OF YOUR PROJ ECT WITH THE CLICK OF THE MOUSE )F YOU ADD ADDITIONAL BUSES INCLUDING ASSIGNABLE E«ECTS BUSES THEY SHOULD HAVE THEIR OWN LEVEL CONTROLS AND SUR ROUND SOUND PANNERS
#HAPTER
"USES ARE A MIXER WITHIN THE MAIN MIXER THAT ENABLE COMBINING MULTIPLE TRACKS TO ONE LEVEL AND PAN CONTROL &OR EXAMPLE YOU MAY HAVE SEVERAL DRUM TRACKS KICK SNARE TOMS CYMBALS AND OVERHEADS GIVING YOU COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THEIR SOUND (OWEVER YOU COULD ASSIGN ALL THOSE INDIVIDUAL TRACKS TO ONE BUS FOR lNAL LEVEL CONTROL AND PAN POSITIONING !SSIGNABLE E«ECTS ALLOW SENDING MULTIPLE TRACKS TO THE SAME E«ECT &OR EXAMPLE YOU COULD ADD REVERB TO JUST THE SNARE TOM AND OVERHEAD TRACKS FROM THE DRUM EXAMPLE ABOVE LEAVING THE KICK DRY 0LUS YOU COULD CONTROL HOW MUCH OF EACH TRACK GETS REVERB THE OVERALL AMOUNT OF REVERB ON THE TRACK AND ITS POSITIONING
3OFTWARE 4OOLS
9OU MAY ALSO BE ABLE TO ADD E«ECTS AT THE TRACK LEVEL %«ECTS ADDED HERE APPLY TO EVERY SOUND ELEMENT ON THE TRACK 4HESE E«ECTS ARE OFTEN NON DE STRUCTIVE MEANING THE ORIGINAL AUDIO lLES ARE UNA«ECTED BY ANY CHANGES 9OUR AUDIO SOFTWARE APPLIES THESE EF FECTS IN REAL TIME
!UTOMATION )F YOUR SURROUND AUTHORING PROGRAM O«ERS AUTOMATION OF LEVELS AND PAN NING YOUR RESULTING MIXES CAN BE MORE DYNAMIC AND INTERESTING 3OFTWARE AUTOMATION RELIES ON BREAK POINT ENVE LOPES FOR CONTROLLING PARAMETERS (OW THE ENVELOPES WORK VARIES BY SOFTWARE v -ANUALLYUSE THE MOUSE TO ADD NODES AND DRAG ENVELOPE POINTS TO THE DESIRED LEVELS AND POSITIONS
#HAPTER
v 2ECORDING MODEUSE THE MOUSE TO MANIPULATE FADERS SLIDERS KNOBS AND BUTTONS IN REAL TIME AS THE lLE PLAYS 4HE SOFTWARE RECORDS THE MOVES AND PLAYS THEM BACK 4HE RECORDED ENVELOPES CAN USUALLY BE EDITED TOO v %XTERNAL HARDWAREUSES A DEVICE THAT EMULATES A HARDWARE MIXER IN BOTH MANUAL AND RECORDING MODES
3OFTWARE 4OOLS
!LTERNATELY THE SOFTWARE MAY USE KEY FRAMES FOR ITS AUTOMATION +EYFRAMES ARE A REFERENCE TO A SPECIlC POINT IN TIME 4HE SOFTWARE THEN GRADUALLY CHANGES SETTINGS BASED ON THESE KEY FRAMES 4HERE ARE SMOOTHNESS SETTINGS FOR DETERMINING HOW THE PROGRAM MOVES BETWEEN KEYFRAMES SUCH AS LINEAR FAST SLOW SMOOTH AND SHARP
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#HAPTER
"ASS -ANAGEMENT #ENTER #HANNEL AND $OWNMIX 4HERE ARE SOME CRUCIAL SURROUND CAVEATS THAT YOU MUST BOTH UNDERSTAND AND HANDLE 4HIS CHAPTER AD DRESSES THE DETAILS CONCERNING THE ,&% AND CENTER CHANNELS ALONG WITH THE UPSHOT ON DOWNMIXING
#HAPTER
,&% AND 3UBWOOFER !S HAS BEEN MENTIONED ITS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THE DI«ERENCE BETWEEN THE ,&% CHANNEL AND THE SUBWOOFER 4HE SUB IS AN ACTUAL PHYSICAL COMPONENTA SPEAKER DESIGNED TO REPRODUCE LOW FRE QUENCIES 4HE ,&% IS A SURROUND E«ECTS CHANNEL FOR CARRYING SPECIAL LOW FRE QUENCY E«ECTS 4HE CONFUSION COMES FROM THE FACT THAT THE ,&% E«ECTS ARE ACTUALLY REPRODUCED BY A SUBWOOFER 5NFORTUNATELY MANY PEOPLE MISTAK ENLY BELIEVE THAT THE ,&% IS FOR ALL THE BASS IN THE PROJECT 4HIS IS UNTRUE 4HE ,&% IS A DEDICATED LOW FREQUENCY ENHANCEMENT CHANNEL RESERVED FOR CERTAIN SONIC E«ECTS 4HE ,&% DOES NOT EXTEND THE BASS OF THE PROGRAM MATE RIAL /N THE CONTRARY THE lVE MAIN SPEAKERS ARE FULL RANGE 4HE ,&% SIMPLY PROVIDES MORE BASS VOLUME TO COMPENSATE FOR OUR EARS REDUCED SENSITIVITY OF BASS FREQUEN CIES 4HESE LOW FREQUENCY E«ECTSEX PLOSIONS RUMBLES ET ALARE MORE FELT THAN HEARD )N SHORT THE ,&% IS BEST USED TO SWEETEN THE BASS AND NOT FUNCTION AS THE SOLE SUPPLIER OF BASS CONTENT
"ASS -ANAGEMENT #ENTER #HANNEL AND $OWNMIX
"ECAUSE OF THE ,&%S ROLE KEEP ALL THE BASS CONTENT IN THE lVE MAIN SPEAKERS ,ET YOUR ,&% ASSIGNMENTS BE ICING ON THE CAKE )F YOU USE THE ,&% FOR MORE THAN E«ECTS MANY LISTENERS WILL NOT HEAR THEM AS SOME DO NOT HAVE SPEAK ERS CAPABLE OF E«ECTIVELY REPRODUCING THE ,&% SOUNDS !DDITIONALLY THE ,&% IS LEFT OUT OF THE DOWNMIX EQUATION DISCUSSED BELOW
"ASS -ANAGEMENT (ERES THE REAL RUB )N MANY CONSUMER SURROUND SOUND PLAYBACK SYSTEMS THE SUBWOOFER HAS TWO FUNCTIONS )T OF COURSE CARRIES THE ,&% CHANNEL INFOR MATION )T ALSO CARRIES THE BASS FROM THE lVE MAIN SPEAKERS TOO 4HIS IS BE CAUSE MANY CONSUMER SURROUND SOUND SYSTEMS USE LIMITED BANDWIDTH SATEL LITE SPEAKERS FOR THE lVE MAIN CHAN NELS 4HESE SPEAKERS DO NOT EXTEND FAR ENOUGH DOWN INTO THE LOW FREQUENCY RANGE THEY LACK BASS 4O COMPENSATE FOR THE SATELLITES INABILITY TO REPRO DUCE LOW FREQUENCIES BASS SOUNDS ARE ROUTED TO THE SYSTEMS SUBWOOFER 4HIS SUB NOW PROVIDES ALL THE BASS INCLUD ING THE ,&% 4HIS PROCESS IS CALLED BASS MANAGEMENT
4HERES NO WAY THIS TINY SATELLITE SPEAKER IS GOING TO REPRODUCE ANY SIGNIlCANT BASS CONTENT
#HAPTER
)F YOU ARE FOLLOWING THE ADVICE IN THIS BOOK YOUR ,#2,S2S MONITORS ARE FULL RANGE AND THERE IS NO BASS MAN AGEMENT INVOLVED 4HIS IS THE PROPER WAY TO MIX (OWEVER YOU STILL NEED TO BE AWARE OF HOW BASS MANAGEMENT A«ECTS YOUR SURROUND SOUND MIXES )F YOU SUPPLY TOO MUCH BASS IN THE MAINS PLUS ,&% CONTENT THE lNISHED MIX COULD OVERTAX THE SUBWOOFER IN A BASS MANAGED SYSTEM 4HERE ARE NO HARD AND FAST RULES (OW EVER KEEPING AN EYE ON THE ,&% LEV ELS AND FACTORING THE AMOUNT OF BASS CONTENT IN YOUR PROJECT ARE IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS 4HIS FACT IS WHY ) RECOMMEND TESTING YOUR MIXES ON A CONSUMER BASS MANAGED SYSTEM %XPE RIENCE WILL DICTATE THE RIGHT APPROACH AND HOW FAR YOU CAN PUSH THE BASS 5NTIL YOU GET THAT EXPERIENCE TEST
"ASS -ANAGEMENT #ENTER #HANNEL AND $OWNMIX
,&% AND #ONTENT 4HE ,&% IS DESIGNED ONLY FOR LOW FRE QUENCY SOUNDS THEREFORE IT IS BEST TO LIMIT THE BANDWIDTH OF THE SOUNDS YOU ASSIGN TO THE ,&% 3OME AUTHORING PROGRAMS GIVE YOU CONTROL OVER WHAT GETS SENT TO THE ,&% 4HE PROJECT PROP ERTIES PAGE IN 3ONY 6EGAS FOR EXAMPLE LETS YOU CHOOSE THE ,&% LOW PASS lLTER CUTO« )F YOUR SOFTWARE DOES NOT O«ER THIS APPLY A LOW PASS lLTER TO EACH TRACK SENT TO THE ,&% 4HIS LOW PASS lLTER CAN RANGE BETWEEN (Z AND (Z 5SE A STEEP lLTER D" PER OCTAVE
#HAPTER
4HE $OLBY !# ENCODER CAN ADDITION ALLY APPLY THE ,&% LOW PASS lLTER TO FURTHER ENSURE THAT HIGH FREQUENCIES $OWNMIXING THE PROJECT TO STEREO OR MONO IGNORES THE ,&% CONTENT
ARE NOT PRESENT IN THAT CHANNEL &OR MUSIC ONLY PROJECTS USE OF THE ,&% IS UP FOR DEBATE "ECAUSE THE BASS CONTENT SHOULD BE IN THE MAIN lVE SPEAKERS THERE IS MERIT TO IGNORING THE ,&% ENTIRELY #ONTRARILY MUSIC MIXERS ARE STARTING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE ,&%S EXTRA hUMPHv 4HIS GIVES A LITTLE EXTRA EAR CANDY FOR LISTENERS WITH BET TER PLAYBACK SYSTEMS 0ROCEED WITH CAUTION THOUGH 4HIS APPROACH IS BEST USED TO ENHANCE THE MUSIC ABOVE AND BEYOND A SOLID OVERALL BALANCE IN THE lVE MAINS 2EMEMBER THIS AS YOU PLAN WHAT GOES TO THE ,&% &OR AUDIO POST PROJECTS THE ,&% IS USED TO SUPPORT THE CONTENT WHEN AP PLICABLE &OR DRAMATIC PRESENTATIONS THESE LOW FREQUENCY E«ECTS CAN CON TRIBUTE TO THE AUDIENCES ENJOYMENT )F YOU ARE lLM MIXING JUDICIOUS USE OF THE ,&% CAN ADD TO THE SONIC ILLUSION OF THE PRESENTATION 4HE USE OF THE ,&% VARIES BY CONTENT THOUGH &OR A CORPO RATE DOCUMENTARY OR WEDDING EVENT THE NEED FOR THE ,&% IS SIGNIlCANTLY DIMINISHED IF NECESSARY AT ALL
"ASS -ANAGEMENT #ENTER #HANNEL AND $OWNMIX
#ENTER #AVEATS 4HE DEDICATED CENTER CHANNEL ALSO HAS SOME ISSUES WORTH EXPLORING )TS PURPOSE WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO AN CHOR DIALOG TO THE CENTER OF THE MOVIE THEATER SCREEN .O MATTER WHERE THE AUDIENCE SAT IN THE THEATER THE DIALOG CAME FROM THE SCREEN 4HIS CONVENTION HAS EXTENDED TO 46 AS WELL #OUPLED TO THE CENTER CHANNEL IS THE PHANTOM CENTER CREATED BY THE STEREO FRONT LEFT AND RIGHT CHANNELS 4HEREFORE THERE ARE TECHNICALLY TWO CENTERS THAT YOU MUST BALANCE 4HE BEST TACTIC IS TO AVOID THE EITHEROR MENTALITY &OR ANY SOUND ASSIGNED TO THE CENTER CHANNEL MIX SOME OF IT TO THE STEREO PHANTOM CENTER TOO 4HIS IS IMPORTANT FOR THE DOWNMIX TOO AS WILL BE DISCUSSED BELOW
#HAPTER
&OR MUSIC ONLY MIXES THE CENTER CHANNEL CAN BE
+EEP IN MIND THAT WITH MUSIC MIXES THE CENTER
USED FOR CENTERED SOUND ELEMENTS SUCH AS LEAD
CHANNEL FUNCTIONS AS AN ENHANCEMENT CHANNEL 4O
VOCALS BASS KICK DRUM AND OTHER LEAD INSTRU
REITERATE ANY SOUND ELEMENT ASSIGNED TO THE CEN
MENTS (OWEVER MANY SURROUND MIXERS AVOID
TER SHOULD ALSO BE IN THE STEREO PHANTOM CENTER
THE CENTER CHANNEL COMPLETELY AND THE ,&% FOR
)D SUGGEST PUTTING MOST IN THE STEREO CENTER AND
THAT MATTER AND INSTEAD RELY ON THE FRONT ,2 AND
JUST A LITTLE IN THE DEDICATED CENTER CHANNEL !LSO
SURROUND SPEAKERS ONLY 4HIS E«ECTIVELY TURNS
DONT FALL PREY TO PUTTING JUST DRY WITHOUT EF
MIXES INTO MIXES 4HIS DECISION TO AVOID THE
FECTS SOUNDS IN THE CENTER 4REAT THE CENTER AS YOU
CENTER CHANNEL WAS OFTEN BASED ON A MISUNDER
WOULD ANY OF THE OTHER SPEAKERS
STANDING OF ITS PURPOSE
&OR AUDIO POST PROJECTS THE CENTER CHANNEL REVERTS
3OME EARLY SURROUND MIXERS PLACED THE LEAD VOCAL
TO ITS FUNDAMENTAL ROLE THE PLACE FOR THE DIALOG
IN THE CENTER CHANNEL IN ITS MOST NAKED FORM USU
)T IS lLM AND 46 CONVENTION TO CENTER THE DIALOG
ALLY WITHOUT E«ECTS !NY E«ECTS SUCH AS REVERB
EVEN IF THE ON SCREEN CHARACTERS ARE POSITIONED TO
AND DELAY WERE THEN ADDED TO THE STEREO ,2 FRONT
ONE SIDE OF THE SCREEN !ND ALTHOUGH AN O« CAMERA
SPEAKERS ,ISTENERS DISCOVERED THIS AND STARTED UN
VOICE CAN BE PANNED TO ONE SIDE OR EVEN TO THE
PLUGGING SPEAKERS AND LISTENING TO THE A CAPPELLA
SURROUNDS ON CAMERA DIALOG AND VOICE OVER ARE
VOCAL ALONE !NY IMPERFECTIONS ON THE VOCAL TRACK
BEST PLACED IN THE CENTER CHANNEL !GAIN SENDING
BECAME GLARINGLY OBVIOUS IN THIS CONlGURATION
A LITTLE CENTER CHANNEL TO THE FRONT STEREO ,2 CHAN
3UBSEQUENTLY NEWS OF THIS TACTIC SCARED MANY SUR
NELS IS GOOD PRACTICE TOO
ROUND SOUND MUSIC MIXERS AWAY FROM THE CENTER CHANNEL
"ASS -ANAGEMENT #ENTER #HANNEL AND $OWNMIX
(ERES WHY 0ICTURE TWO ACTORS SITTING ACROSS FROM ONE ANOTHER IN A TWO SHOT 9OU COULD PAN THE ACTORS ACCORDING TO THEIR POSITION LEFT ACTOR IN LEFT SPEAKER RIGHT ACTOR IN THE RIGHT SPEAKER .EXT THE EDITING CUTS TO A CLOSE UP OF THE LEFT ACTOR 9OUD HAVE TO PAN THE SOUND TO THE CENTER TO MATCH THE SHOT 4HE EDITING CUTS BACK TO THE TWO SHOT AND THE VOICE WOULD PAN AWAY FROM CENTER 4HE AUDIENCE WILL BE DISTRACTED BY THIS APPROACH AS DIALOG APPEARS TO JUMP AROUND THE ROOM !VOID THIS SITUATION OR USE IT SPARINGLY FOR A DISORIENTING OR OTHERWISE CREATIVE E«ECT !LSO NOTE THAT MANY CONSUMER SUR ROUND SYSTEMS USE AN INFERIOR CENTER CHANNEL SPEAKER OFTEN WITH REDUCED BANDWIDTH 4HE CENTER MAY BE OPTI MIZED FOR DIALOG ONLY WHICH COULD HAVE ADVERSE E«ECTS ON OTHER CONTENT PLACED IN THE CENTER CHANNEL .OT TO HARP ON THIS POINT TOO MUCH BUT x YOU NEED TO TEST YOUR MIXES ON A VA RIETY OF CONSUMER SYSTEMS WHENEVER YOU CAN
#HAPTER
$ONT TELL ANYBODY ) TOLD YOU THIS BUT TRY TAKING A MIX TO YOUR LOCAL ELECTRON ICS SUPERSTORE AND TEST IT ON ALL THE SYSTEMS THEY HAVE ON DISPLAY +EEP ON TESTING UNTIL THEY ASK YOU TO LEAVE
0HANTOM 'HOSTS 4HOUGH THERE IS A STRONG PHANTOM CENTER BETWEEN THE STEREO FRONT SPEAK ERS THAT IS REINFORCED VIA THE CENTER CHANNELS CONTRIBUTION THE SAME IS NOT TRUE OF THE OTHER STEREO hPAIRSv 4HE PHANTOM IMAGES FORMED BETWEEN THE ,,S AND 22S ARE NOT SO PRONOUNCED OR DISTINCT .EITHER IS THE PHANTOM CENTER FORMED BETWEEN THE ,S2S SPEAKERS AS EASY TO PERCEIVE
"ASS -ANAGEMENT #ENTER #HANNEL AND $OWNMIX
4HE PRIMARY REASON FOR THIS DISCREP ANCY IS DUE TO OUR SPECIlC PHYSICAL MAKE UP /UR EARS ARE SEPARATED BY A LARGE OBJECTOUR HEADAND THAT MEANS SOUNDS ARRIVING FROM THE SIDE AND BACK ARRIVE IN OUR EARS AT DI«ERENT TIMES 4HE RESULTING PHASE SHIFT MAKES THEM SOUND DI«ERENT /UR BRAIN USES THIS INFORMATION TO PINPOINT DIRECTION 4HERE ARE EVEN MATHEMATICAL FORMULAS CALLED HEAD RELATED TRANSFER FUNCTIONS (24& THAT CAN PREDICT THESE CHANGES 3U£CE TO SAY THAT IT IS HARDER FOR US TO LOCALIZE SOUNDS PLACED IN THESE AREAS AND EACH MOVEMENT OF OUR HEAD SEEMS TO A«ECT WHERE THEY APPEAR TO BE TOO 3O WHILE SURROUND SOUND PROVIDES ENVELOPMENT IT DOES LACK DISTINCT LOCALIZATION ON THE SIDES AND BACK %VEN IF YOU PLACE A SOUND TO THE RIGHT OF YOUR AUDIENCE HALFWAY BETWEEN THE FRONT AND BACK THEY WILL BE UNABLE TO PINPOINT THAT DIRECTION ACCURATELY 4HEYLL JUST KNOW ITS NOT COMING FROM DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THEM AND FEEL ITS MOSTLY BEHIND OR AROUND THEM
#HAPTER
"ECAUSE OF (24& THERE IS TALK OF EXPANDING THE SURROUND FORMAT WITH MORE SPEAKERS IN FRONT TO THE SIDE AND REAR AND EVEN OVERHEAD TO BAL ANCE ENVELOPMENT WITH DISTINCT SOUND LOCALIZATION &OR EXAMPLE THE $OLBY %8 FORMAT ADDS A CENTER CHANNEL TO THE SURROUNDS TO OVERCOME THIS LIMITA TION SOMEWHAT !NOTHER PROPOSAL IS FOR A STAN DARD WITH lVE FRONT SPEAKERS , ,# # 2# 2 THREE SURROUNDS ,S#S2S TWO SIDE lLLS ,2 AND STEREO ,&% CHANNELS )M NOT SURE TELEVISION VIEWING ROOMS ACROSS THE WORLD ARE READY FOR SPEAKERS THOUGH !NOTHER ASPECT OF (24& IS THAT THE FRE QUENCY RESPONSE OF OUR EARS TO SOUNDS COMING FROM THE REAR IS DI«ERENT !NY SOUND ELEMENT ASSIGNED EXCLUSIVELY TO THE REAR WILL SOUND DI«ERENT THAN THE SAME SOUND ASSIGNED SOLELY TO THE FRONT 4HERES NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR HEARING OR YOUR SPEAKERS ITS JUST YOUR HEAD GETTING IN THE WAY
"ASS -ANAGEMENT #ENTER #HANNEL AND $OWNMIX
"E AWARE OF THIS IF YOU DYNAMICALLY PAN SOUNDS FROM FRONT TO BACK AND VICE VERSA 4HE QUALITY OF THE SOUND MAY CHANGE NOTICEABLY 4O A CERTAIN EXTENT SUCH AS A SPACESHIP mYOVER IN A MOVIE THE SHIFT CONTRIBUTES TO THE E«ECT 7E ARE CONDITIONED TO HEAR THE CHANGE FROM BEHIND TO IN FRONT OF US &OR A MUSIC hmYOVERv THE E«ECT MAY BE MORE PRONOUNCED NECESSITATING SOME COM PENSATION WITH TONAL %1 TREATMENT
%XIT 3IGN %ECT !NOTHER ISSUE TO BE CONCERNED WITH IS THE SO CALLED EXIT SIGN E«ECT %SSENTIAL LY THIS ENTAILS MOVING A SOUND ELEMENT IN SUCH A WAY THAT PEOPLE LOOK AWAY FROM THE SCREEN AT THE THEATER EXIT SIGN PRESUMABLY TO FOLLOW THE SOUND &OR MUSIC A SOUND EVENT MAY ALSO PULL ATTENTION AWAY FROM THE OVERALL MIX TO A DISTINCT SOUND IN A CHANNEL 4HESE RESULTS MAY OR MAY NOT BE DESIRABLE
#HAPTER
$OWNMIX .IXES )F THE PLAYBACK SYSTEM IS NOT COM PATIBLE THE SURROUND SOUND DECODER COLLAPSES OR DOWNMIXES THE SIX CHAN NELS TO TWO STEREO CHANNELS OR EVEN MONO 7HAT HAPPENS TO THE DEDICATED CENTER SURROUND AND ,&% INFORMATION $URING THE ENCODE YOU CAN SPECIFY HOW THE DECODER HANDLES THESE CHAN NELS 4YPICALLY BOTH THE CENTER AND SUR ROUND CHANNELS ARE TURNED DOWN OR ATTENUATED BY D" 4HIS ENSURES AN ACCEPTABLE BALANCE WHEN ADDED TO THE CONVENTIONAL ,2 STEREO (OWEVER THE ,&% CONTENT IS COMPLETELY IGNORED 4HIS MEANS THAT ANYBODY WHO LISTENS TO YOUR MIX USING ONLY A STEREO PLAYBACK ARRANGEMENT WILL NOT HEAR ANY OF SOUNDS THAT WERE ROUTED TO THE ,&% 4HIS IS YET ANOTHER REASON TO USE THE ,&% WITH CAUTION
"ASS -ANAGEMENT #ENTER #HANNEL AND $OWNMIX
4HERE ARE ACTUALLY TWO DOWNMIX OPTIONS
7HEN ENCODING TO !# YOU CAN SET METADATA PARAMETERS TO DIRECT HOW THE DECODER DOWNMIXES YOUR CONTENT 4HESE
v ,O2O4HE CENTER CHANNEL GETS ADDED TO THE FRONT ,2 AND THE SURROUNDS ARE ADDED TO THEIR RESPECTIVE FRONT CHANNELS ,S TO , AND 2S TO 2 4HIS IS THE MOST COMMON ARRANGEMENT v ,T2T4HE CENTER CHANNEL IS ADDED TO THE FRONT ,2
OPTIONS WILL BE DISCUSSED FURTHER IN THE ENCODING CHAPTER -AINTAINING COMPATIBILITY WITH $OLBY 0RO ,OGIC IS ANOTHER DOWNMIX ISSUE "ECAUSE THE 0RO ,OGIC ENCODER USES A
CHANNELS 4HE DECODER THEN SUMS THE SURROUND CHAN
PHASE BASED MATRIX SOME MATERIAL
NELS TO MONO AND ADDS THEM TO BOTH THE LEFT AND RIGHT
MAY hCONFUSEv THE ENCODER OR DECODER
CHANNELS WITH THE RIGHT DEGREES OUT OF PHASE 4HIS
RESULTING IN INCORRECT STEERING ISSUES
FORMAT ALLOWS A $OLBY 0RO ,OGIC DECODER TO REPRODUCE
&OR EXAMPLE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS WITH A
ITS ,#23 SIGNAL FOR THOSE USING SUCH A SYSTEM
PHASING E«ECT A SORT OF SWIRLING SOUND CAN CREATE UNPREDICTABLE RESULTS WHEN PLAYED BACK IN THE ,#23 ENVIRONMENT 4HE SOUND MAY JUMP AROUND THE ROOM !LSO SOME STEREO MICING TECHNIQUES SUCH AS 89 CAN FOOL THE 0RO ,OGIC SYS TEM TOO 7ITH DISCRETE $OLBY $IGITAL THESE ISSUES CAN BE IGNORED (OWEVER THERE IS A LARGE BASE OF 0RO ,OGIC GEAR IN LIVING ROOMS SO THESE PROBLEMS WILL NOT GO AWAY SOON
#HAPTER
3URROUND $OWNMIX )SSUES !S WAS MENTIONED EARLIER lLM SUR ROUND SOUND MIXERS OFTEN CALIBRATE THEIR SURROUND SPEAKERS D" LOWER TO EMULATE TYPICAL THEATER ARRANGE MENTS 2EAR SURROUND CHANNELS IN 53 THEATERS ARE CALIBRATED TO D" WHILE THE FRONT REFERENCE IS D" (OWEVER CONSUMERS REFERENCE THE SAME LEVEL FOR ALL lVE SPEAKERS 4HIS MEANS THE SURROUNDS WILL BE D" LOUDER WHEN A THEATRICAL MIX IS PLAYED IN THE HOME 4O COMPENSATE THE ENCODER SUPPORTS ATTENUATING THE SURROUNDS BY D" 46 MIXERS ALSO OFTEN ATTENUATE THE SUR ROUNDS BY D" AT THE ENCODING STEP 4HIS IS TO COMPENSATE FOR THE FACT THAT LISTENERS FREQUENTLY SIT CLOSER TO THE SURROUND SPEAKERS IN MANY HOMES
"ASS -ANAGEMENT #ENTER #HANNEL AND $OWNMIX
3EPARATE AND 3TEREO )S "EST 7HAT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS IS THAT DOWN MIXING AND TO A CERTAIN EXTENT BASS MANAGEMENT A«ECTS HOW YOUR MIX SOUNDS IN DI«ERENT PLAYBACK ENVIRON MENTS !LTHOUGH YOU CAN DIRECT WHAT THE DECODER DOES IN CERTAIN INSTANCES YOU CANT BE COMPLETELY SURE &OR THE BEST RESULTS ) RECOMMEND YOU DO A SEPARATE STEREO MIX OF ALL YOUR PROJECTS AND INCLUDE THAT FOR LISTEN ERS TO CHOOSE IF THEY LACK A SURROUND SOUND PLAYBACK SYSTEM (AVING TWO SEPARATE MIXES IS THE ONLY SURE lRE WAY TO BE SURE THAT LISTENERS HEAR WHAT YOU INTEND
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
#HAPTER
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS )F YOUVE STRUGGLED MAKING YOUR MONO AND STEREO MUSIC MIXES SOUND THEIR BEST YOU MAY lND SUR ROUND SOUND SURPRISINGLY EASIER TO WORK WITH 3OUND ENGINEERS ALWAYS COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW HARD IT IS TO BALANCE DISPARATE ELEMENTS INTO A COHERENT MIX 3URROUND LETS YOU LITERALLY MOVE PROBLEM SOUNDS OUT OF THE WAY -ANY MIXERS COMMENT ON HOW THERE IS A REDUCED NEED FOR COMPRESSION AND HOW RADICAL %1 IS SO IMPORTANT TO STEREO MIXING 4HE DEGREE SOUND lELD GIVES A WIDER AND DEEPER STAGE FOR PLACING SOUND ELEMENTS 4HE RESULT IS A MORE OPEN AND NATURAL MIX FREE FROM THE OVER PROCESSING REQUIRED BY STEREO MIXING
#HAPTER
4HE 2ULES %ARLY SURROUND MUSIC MIXES USED THE ,S2S PRIMARILY FOR AMBIENCE AND E«ECTS 4ODAY THE TREND IS TOWARD IMMERSING THE LISTENER IN THE MUSIC 'ONE ARE GIMMICKS OF PANNING SOUNDS AROUND THE ROOM GIMMICKS WHICH HAVE THANKFULLY BEEN REPLACED WITH JUDICIOUS USE OF ALL SIX SPEAKERS !LL OF THIS ADDS UP TO ONE SIMPLE POINT 4HERE ARE NO RULES WHEN MIXING MUSIC IN SURROUND 9OU ARE FREE TO EXPERIMENT WITH WHAT YOU FEEL BEST PRESENTS THE MUSIC 4HIS DOESNT MEAN YOU SHOULD IGNORE THE POINTS PRESENTED EARLIER /N THE CONTRARY YOU MUST FULLY UNDERSTAND ALL THE CAVEATS SO THAT YOUR MIXES TRANSLATE WELL TO A VARIETY OF PLAYBACK SYSTEMS
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
4HE #ASE !GAINST 3URROUND 5PMIXING 4HERE IS AN EMERGING TREND OF REISSUING POPULAR ALBUMS IN )N MOST CASES THERE IS ACCESS TO THE ORIGINAL MULTITRACK MASTERS 4HIS MEANS ALL THE ORIGINAL PARTS CAN BE REBALANCED INTO AN ORIGINAL MIX DESIGNED EXCLUSIVELY FOR SURROUND PLAYBACK 5NFORTUNATELY THERE ARE A FEW RECORD INGS THAT NO LONGER EXIST AS MULTI TRACKS #REATING A FAUX SURROUND MIX FROM A MONO OR STEREO SOURCE CALLED UPMIXING IS QUITE SIMPLE 4HAT DOESNT MEAN IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO )N FACT THE 2ECORDING !CADEMY EXPRESSLY PRO HIBITS SURROUND UPMIXING )F YOU ARE WORKING WITH YOUR OWN MU SIC COMPOSITIONS OR OTHER MULTITRACK MASTERS UPMIXING WILL NOT BE AN ISSUE )F YOU ARE ASKED TO CREATE AN UPMIX FROM A STEREO RECORDING YOU MAY WANT TO ATTACH A DISCLAIMER TO THE lNISHED RECORDING
#HAPTER
#ORRELATED VS $ECORRELATED )F YOU USE THE SAME SOUNDS AND E«ECTS IN MANY CHANNELS SUCH AS ,2 AND ,S2S THE PARTS SUM TOGETHER WITH A MORE MONAURAL RESULT )N SHORT THE MORE THE CHANNELS ARE ALIKE THE MORE MONAURAL AND LESS PRONOUNCED THE SURROUND E«ECT )N THIS EXAMPLE THE SOUNDS AND E«ECTS ARE SAID TO BE COR RELATED &OR A BIGGER AND BETTER SURROUND EXPERIENCE USE SOUNDS AND E«ECTS THAT ARE DECORRELATED OR DI«ERENT &OR EXAMPLE WHEN YOU ASSIGN THE SAME SOUND TO DI«ERENT CHANNELS ADJUST THE %1 PITCH DELAY AND REVERB SETTINGS SO THE SOUND IS DISTINCT IN EACH CHANNEL 3IMILARLY USE TWO MONO REVERBS WITH DI«ERENT SETTINGS INSTEAD OF ONE STEREO REVERB 4HESE SUBTLE CHANGES GREATLY ENHANCE THE SURROUND E«ECT
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
!NOTHER WAY TO DECORRELATE SOUNDS IS TO SPLIT THEIR FREQUENCY SPECTRUM TO DI«ERENT CHANNELS &OR EXAMPLE THE BASS DRUM HAS BOTH HIGH AND LOW FRE QUENCY COMPONENTS 4HE MALLET STRIK ING THE HEAD IS HIGHER IN PITCH THAN THE RESONANT TONE OF THE DRUM ITSELF 9OU COULD FOR INSTANCE ROUTE THE PERCUS SIVE ATTACK TO THE SURROUNDS AND THE BOOM TO THE FRONT FOR A UNIQUE E«ECT 3HORT TIME DELAYS ALSO DECORRELATE AND OPEN UP THE SOUND &OR EXAMPLE DUPLI CATE AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR PART AND O«SET THE DUPLICATED TRACK SLIGHTLY IN TIME 0AN THE TWO PARTS TO OPPOSITE CHAN NELS SAY FRONT , AND 2 RESPECTIVELY 4HE GUITAR PART SPREADS OUT ACROSS THE ENTIRE FRONT LEAVING A NICE HOLE IN THE CENTER FOR A VOCAL PART TO SIT "OOSTING THE BASS %1 A LITTLE ON ONE SIDE AND THE HIGHS MODERATELY ON THE DUPLICATE CAN ENHANCE THE E«ECT AS CAN ADDING A SLIGHT CHORUS TO ONE PART ONLY
#HAPTER
5SING 3URROUND 2ECORDINGS )F YOU ARE FORTUNATE TO HAVE SOME DISCRETE SURROUND RECORDINGS BRINGING THEM INTO YOUR PROJECT IS STRAIGHTFOR WARD !DD THE INDIVIDUAL PARTS TO THE 4IMELINE AND USE THE SURROUND PANNER TO POSITION THEM !SSIGN THE CHANNELS TO MATCH THEIR ORIGINAL RECORDING POSI TION AND TURN O« ALL OTHER SPEAKERS FOR THAT TRACK
"EFORE 9OU -IX 7ITH RARE EXCEPTIONS MOST MUSIC TODAY IS RECORDED USING MULTITRACKING %ACH PART IS CAREFULLY RECORDED AND ISO LATED FROM THE OTHER SOUNDS %NGINEERS STRIVE TO RECORD A CLEAN LOUD AND DRY SOUND 4HIS APPROACH GIVES THE EN GINEER AND LATER THE MIXER COMPLETE CONTROL OVER HOW EACH ELEMENT SOUNDS 3OMETIMES MULTIPLE PARTS ARE RECORDED AT ONCE BUT MORE OFTEN PARTS ARE RECORDED SEPARATELY AND INDIVIDUALLY EVEN DAYS MONTHS OR YEARS APART 4HE MAJORITY OF PARTS ARE RECORDED MON AURAL WITH LITTLE OR NO ROOM AMBIENCE TOO
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
/NCE EVERYTHING IS RECORDED THE TASK IS TO COMBINE ALL THESE PARTS INTO A lNISHED WHOLE -IXING ADDS E«ECTS AND ARTIlCIAL AMBIENCE TO THE MULTITRACK PARTS %NGINEERS WORK HARD TO BALANCE VOLUME FREQUENCIES AND POSITION )RONICALLY THE POINT IS TO MAKE THE MU SICIANS SOUND AS IF THEY ALL PLAYED THE MUSIC TOGETHER IN A ROOM 3URROUND SOUND MIXING OPENS UP AD DITIONAL POSSIBILITIES %VEN WITH MOST SOUNDS ORIGINATING IN MONO THERE ARE UNIQUE TECHNIQUES FOR CREATING AN INTERESTING SURROUND EXPERIENCE &IRST YOU MUST ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS v $O YOU WANT YOUR LISTENER IN THE ROOM WITH THE MUSICIANS v /R DO YOU WANT YOUR MUSICIANS PLAYING IN FRONT OF THE LISTENER 4HE FORMER ENTAILS IMMERSING YOUR LIS TENERS IN THE RECORDING WHILE THE LATTER IS A MORE TRADITIONAL AUDIENCE PERSPEC TIVETHE MUSICIANS ARE ON STAGE AND THE LISTENER IS IN THE AUDIENCE
#HAPTER
)NCREASINGLY SURROUND MUSIC PROJECTS ARE TAKING THE IN THE BAND PERSPECTIVE 4HE AUDIENCE PERSPECTIVE HAS BEEN REL EGATED TO LIVE RECORDINGS WHERE ROOM AMBIENCE AND AUDIENCE NOISE CAN BE PRESENTED IN THE SURROUNDS
3URROUND IZING "UILDING REALISTIC AMBIENCES AROUND MONO AND STEREO MUSIC PARTS CALLS FOR BOTH SURROUND POSITIONING AND TIME BASED E«ECTS DELAY REVERB 4HERE ARE TWO METHODS FOR CREATING SURROUND FROM THESE SOURCES v 3URROUND POSITIONING v %«ECTS IN OPPOSITE CHANNELS 3IMPLY MOVING A MONO OR STEREO SOURCE USING THE SURROUND SOUND PAN NER TO A DI«ERENT LOCATION CAN OPEN UP THE SOUND MAKING IT APPEAR MORE IN OR AROUND THE ROOM
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
5SING E«ECTS IS ANOTHER METHOD %«ECTS CAN BE DIVIDED INTO SEVERAL CATEGORIES v 4ONAL BASED E«ECTS SUCH AS %1 WORK ON THE FREQUENCY CONTENT OF THE AUDIO v 4IME BASED E«ECTS SUCH AS REVERB AND DELAY GIVE A SENSE OF SPACE SUCH AS THE SOUND OF A ROOM OR ADD DISCREET REPEATS OR ECHOES TO THE SOUND v -ODULATION BASED E«ECTS SUCH AS mANGE CHORUS AND PHASE ARE TIME BASED E«ECTS THAT INCLUDE MODU LATION OR RESONANCE SETTINGS THAT CHANGE THE E«ECT OVER TIME v $YNAMICS BASED E«ECTS ESSENTIALLY COMPRESSION REDUCE THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF AN AUDIO lLE v 0ITCH BASED E«ECTS ALTER THE ORIGINAL FREQUENCY OF A lLE %«ECTS MAKE IT EASIER TO DECORRELATE SOUNDS &OR EXAMPLE DUPLICATE A MONO SOUND %1 ONE DI«ERENTLY AND THEN PAN THEM TO DI«ERENT LOCATIONS 3LIGHT PITCH DI«ERENCES JUST A FEW CENTS BETWEEN CHANNELS CAN MAKE A SOUND APPEAR BIGGER TOO
#HAPTER
"Y FAR THE EASIEST WAY TO SURROUND IZE A SOUND IS TO USE DELAY OR REVERB OR BOTH 0OSITION A SOUND IN THE FRONT 0LACE A STEREO MULTITAP DELAY IN THE REARS 3ET IT UP TO PING PONG BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE TWO SPEAKERS WITH EACH DELAY &EED A LITTLE OF A VOCAL OR INSTRUMENT SOLO TO IT 4HE PART WILL MOSTLY BE IN THE FRONT WITH THE REPEAT ECHOES BOUNCING AROUND IN THE REAR
SPEAKERS 5SE AN E«ECTS SEND TO TAP O« SOME OF THE SIGNAL AND ROUTE THE OUTPUT OF THAT TO THE SURROUNDS 4WO SEPARATE MONO REVERBS OR DELAYS WITH UNIQUE SETTINGS CAN ENHANCE THE E«ECT
)N 4HEIR &ACE (ERES HOW TO PLACE A SOUND RIGHT IN THE LISTENERS FACE "ALANCE THE SOUND SAY A LEAD GUITAR SOLO IN THE CENTER CHANNEL WITH THE TWO REAR SURROUNDS 4URN O« THE OTHER SPEAKERS 5SE THE SURROUND PANNER UNTIL THE SOLO IS RIGHT IN YOUR FACE WHILE MIXING &OR THE REARS ADD A SLIGHT PITCH DELAY OR PHASE SHIFT 0LAY WITH THE BALANCE AND DISCOVER HOW TO PLACE SOUNDS OVER A SHOULDER AND OTHER AREAS BEHIND AND TO THE SIDE
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
6OCALS -AKE SURE YOUR VOCALS CAN BE HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD CLEARLY 0LACE LEAD VOCALS TYPICALLY IN THE CENTER OF A TRA DITIONAL MUSIC MIX 6OCALS BENElT FROM BOTH CENTER CHANNEL AND STEREO PHAN TOM PLACEMENT PUT A LITTLE OF THE VOCAL IN BOTH $O BE AWARE THAT A VOCAL IN THE PHANTOM CENTER CAN hMOVEv IN RELATION TO THE SAME VOCAL ANCHORED IN THE CEN TER CHANNEL DEPENDING ON WHERE THE LISTENER IS !VOID THE DEAD DRY VOCAL ROUTED EXCLUSIVELY TO THE CENTER CHAN NEL SPEAKER PUT SOME LIGHT E«ECTS IN THE CENTER CHANNEL ALONG WITH IT 0LACE HARMONY AND OTHER BACKGROUND VOCALS hAROUNDv THE LEAD VOCAL &OR EXAMPLE THE LEAD VOCAL COULD MOVE TO WARD THE LISTENER WHILE THE BACKGROUND PARTS lLL IN BEHIND AND AROUND THE LEAD ! CHOIR MIGHT WORK EXCLUSIVELY IN THE SURROUNDS WITH SOME REVERB IN THE FRONT ,2
0LACE THE SINGERS BREATH ONLY IN THE REARS THE WORDS IN THE FRONT CENTER 4HIS WAY THE VOICE SLIDES FORWARD GENTLY ON EVERY BREATH
#HAPTER
$OUBLE TRACK A VOCAL 0LACE ONE IN THE CENTER AND THE OTHER IN THE PHANTOM CENTER !LTERNATELY PLACE THE lRST VOCAL AS YOU LIKE 2OUTE THE SECOND VOCAL TAKE TO REVERB ONLY AND HAVE THE RE VERB PLAY IN THE SURROUNDS ONLY
$RUMS )F YOURE FORTUNATE TO HAVE INDIVIDUAL DRUMS ISOLATED ON THEIR OWN CHANNELS YOU HAVE A LITTLE MORE CONTROL OVER YOUR SURROUND MIX )F YOU ONLY HAVE A STEREO DRUM PART YOUR CHOICES ARE LIMITED 4YPICALLY THE RULE IS TO CENTER THE BASS DRUM OR KICK DRUM AND THE SNARE 0LACE TOMS AND CYMBALS DE PENDING ON THE PERSPECTIVE YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE 9OU COULD FOR INSTANCE PLACE THE LISTENER IN THE DRUMMERS PERSPECTIVE BEHIND THE KIT OR THE AUDIENCES PERSPECTIVE IN FRONT OF THE DRUM KIT
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
!GAIN AVOID THE CENTER CHANNEL ONLY WITH CENTERED DRUMS SUCH AS THE KICK OR SNARE 0LACE THEM IN BOTH THE PHAN TOM AND DEDICATED CENTER CHANNELS !LSO DONT BE TEMPTED TO ROUTE THE KICK EXCLUSIVELY TO THE ,&% FOR REASONS MENTIONED EARLIER IN THIS BOOK 9OU MIGHT HOWEVER DUPLICATE THE KICK PART OR USE AN ALTERNATE DEEP BASS SOUND AND ROUTE THAT TO THE ,&% FOR EXTRA PUNCH 0ERCUSSIVE ELEMENTS MAY WORK WELL WITH MORE DRAMATIC SURROUND POSI TIONING TOO 4HESE CHOICES DEPEND ON THE SONG AND THE GOALS YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH YOUR MIX $ONT BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT BUT DO LEARN TO BALANCE E«ECTS WITH TRICKS THAT MAY DISTRACT YOUR LISTENERS
2EMEMBER (24& THE SURROUNDS SOUND DIFFERENT THAN THE FRONT
#HAPTER
"ASS 4HE BASS IS THE LOW END ANCHOR FOR MOST MUSIC PROJECTS 4YPICALLY PLACE IT IN THE CENTER LEANING MORE TOWARD THE ,2 PHANTOM CENTER THAN THE DEDICATED CENTER CHANNEL /UR EARS DO NOT LOCALIZE BASS FREQUENCIES WELL SO PRECISE POSITIONING IS UNNECESSARY $UPLICATING THE BASS PART OR USING ANOTHER RECORDING AND ROUTING IT TO THE ,&% CAN BE ACCEPTABLE
2HYTHM )NSTRUMENTS 2HYTHM INSTRUMENTS TYPICALLY SUPPORT THE LEAD VOCALS AND PROVIDE THE MELOD IC CONTENT MISSING FROM THE UNPITCHED PERCUSSION +EEPING THESE PARTS OUT OF THE PHANTOM AND DEDICATED CENTERS IS A GOOD IDEA /FTEN HARD PANNING RHYTHM PARTS CRE ATES A BIGGER SOUND THAT IS MORE OPEN &OR EXAMPLE PLACE THE RHYTHM GUITAR TO THE LEFT AND THE RHYTHM PIANO TO THE RIGHT
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
,EAD )NSTRUMENTS -UCH LIKE LEAD VOCALS LEAD INSTRU MENTS DESERVE SPECIAL ATTENTION )T IS COMMON PRACTICE FOR A LEAD PART SUCH AS A GUITAR SOLO TO TAKE THE PLACE OF THE LEAD VOCAL DURING ITS SECTION OF THE SONG 4HAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE THE BEST APPROACH 4HE LEAD SECTION MIGHT CALL FOR AGGRESSIVE USE OF SURROUND &OR EXAMPLE IT MIGHT START BEHIND THE LISTENER AND THEN TAKE CENTER STAGE OR VICE VERSA !LTERNATELY PLACING A DELAY IN THE ,S2S CAN APPEAR TO HAVE THE NOTES SAIL OVER THE LISTENER OR EVEN BOUNCE AROUND THE ROOM
0LACE THE INITIAL ATTACK OF A GUITAR PART IN THE REARS AND THEN THE FULL QUALITY GUITAR SOLO IN STEREO IN THE FRONT
#HAPTER
%AR #ANDY 9OU HAVE SIX SPEAKERS AT YOUR DISPOSAL TO PLACE THE BIG AND SUBTLE ELEMENTS 'OING INTO OR COMING FROM A SONG CHORUS IS A GOOD PLACE FOR SOME SURROUND EAR CANDY
THAT MAKE A SONG INTERESTING TO HEAR 'ET CREATIVE
$YNAMIC 0ANNING -USIC BALANCES REPETITION WITH CHANGE 9OUR MIX SHOULD DO THE SAME
4HE CHOICE TO INCLUDE SURROUND SOUND PANNING IN YOUR MUSIC MIX IS UP TO YOU 7HILE HAVING THE DEGREE SOUND lELD MAKES PLACING INDIVIDUAL MUSICAL PARTS AROUND THE LISTENER EASIER MOVING THOSE PARTS AROUND DUR ING THE MIX MAY NOT WORK )N GENERAL SUBTLE PANNING IS PROBABLY BETTER THAN CONSTANT MOVEMENT 4HAT SAID ONE BIG mOURISH WHERE EVERYTHING SEEMS TO CHANGE POSITIONS AT ONCE MIGHT BE AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE FOR THE LISTENER
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
4HAT SAID ) FEEL THAT MOVEMENT IS THE KEY TO A GREAT SOUNDING MIX WHETHER MONO STEREO OR )M CONSTANTLY TWEAKING VOLUME AND PAN POSITION ON MY MIXES IN AN ATTEMPT TO CREATE A MORE VIBRANT MIX )M TALKING SUBTLE CHANGES HERE NOT HAVING THE DRUMS PANNING AROUND THE ROOM LIKE )N ! 'ADDA $A 6IDA ) ALSO RECOMMEND CHANGING E«ECTS TOO FOR EXAMPLE ADDING A LITTLE MORE REVERB HERE A LITTLE LESS THERE )F YOUR MIXING SOFTWARE LETS YOU AUTOMATE THESE PARAMETERS THE MIX CAN BE FAR STRONGER -ASTERING SURROUND MAY SEEM DI£CULT AT lRST ULTIMATELY ITS A MORE mEXIBLE POWERFUL AND SOMETIMES EASIER WAY TO MIX YOUR PROJECTS
#HAPTER
-ULTITRACK -USIC -IXING IN !CTION
4HE lNAL TRACK LAYOUT s +ICK DRUM OR BASS DRUM
s "ASS GUITAR
s 3NARE DRUM
s #LEAN GUITAR
s (I HAT
s 2HYTHM GUITAR
s 4OM TOM DRUMS LEFT
s 2HYTHM GUITAR
s 4OM TOM DRUMS RIGHT
s ,EAD GUITAR SOLO
WORK THROUGH A MIX STEP BY STEP
s $RUM OVERHEADS LEFT
s ,EAD GUITAR SOLO
4HERE IS ONE CAVEAT THOUGH 4HE
s $RUM OVERHEADS RIGHT
s ,EAD VOCALS
CHOICES YOU MAKE DEPEND ENTIRELY ON
s $RUM ROOM LEFT
s (ARMONY VOCALS
s $RUM ROOM RIGHT
s (ARMONY VOCALS
#RAFTING A COHESIVE SURROUND SOUND MUSIC MIX FROM DISPARATE MUSICAL ELEMENTS IS A CHALLENGE )T IS ALSO A LOT OF FUN TWEAKING PARAMETERS UNTIL THE lNISHED MIX EMERGES ,ETS BRING THE IDEAS DISCUSSED IN THIS CHAPTER AND THROUGHOUT THE BOOK TOGETHER AND
THE GOALS OF YOUR PROJECT 4HEY ALSO DEPEND ON THE MUSIC ITSELF AND THE DEMANDS OF THAT MATERIAL 4HIS SECTION O«ERS IDEAS AND POSSIBILITIES )TS UP TO YOU TO APPLY THEM TO YOUR PROJECTS 4HIS ROCK SONG WAS RECORDED USING TRADITIONAL MULTITRACK METHODS 3EV ERAL MICS WERE USED TO PICK UP THE INDIVIDUAL DRUMS AND EITHER ROUTED TO INDIVIDUAL TRACKS OR MIXED INTO COMPOSITES 4HE BASS AND CLEAN GUITAR WERE RECORDED DRY USING A DIRECT BOX 4HE DISTORTED GUITARS AND SOLOS USED VARIOUS AMP AND MIC COMBINATIONS 6OCALS LEAD AND HARMONY WERE RE CORDED LAST
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
4HE DRUMS ARE A CRUCIAL ELEMENT OF ANY POP OR ROCK MUSIC MIX AND THIS PROJ ECT IS NO EXCEPTION &OCUS ON THE KICK DRUM lRST 4HERE IS SOME LEAKAGE OF THE OTHER DRUMS INTO THIS MIC !PPLY ING A NOISE GATE AND CAREFULLY SETTING THE THRESHOLD E«ECTIVELY ISOLATES THE KICK AND ELIMINATES THE OTHER SOUNDS THAT THE MIC PICKED UP !PPLY SOME COMPRESSION SLOW ATTACK FAST RELEASE TO MAKE THE KICK PUNCHY %1 TO BRING OUT THE THUMP DB TO D" AT (Z ACCENTUATE THE SNAP DB TO D" AT (Z AND THIN THE MUD nDB TO D" BETWEEN n(Z
#HAPTER
)SOLATE THE SNARE BY USING ANOTHER NOISE GATE ON ITS TRACK 5SE SLIGHTLY MORE AGGRESSIVE COMPRESSION TO VERY SLOW ATTACK SLOW RELEASE AND %1 TO TASTE CRACK AT (Z CRISPNESS AT (Z #HECK IT WITH THE KICK TO MAKE SURE THEY SOUND RIGHT TOGETHER )SOLATING THE HI HAT IS SOMEWHAT MORE DI£CULT BECAUSE IF ITS A BUSY PATTERN GATING IT SOUNDS CHOPPY 4O SOLVE THIS PROBLEM USE %1 TO THIN OUT THE DRUMS THAT BLEED 4RY A SHELVING %1 AND ROLL O« ALL FREQUENCIES BELOW (ZHIGH ER IF THE CYMBAL STILL SOUNDS SATISFAC TORY !DD SOME AIR TO THE CYMBAL WITH AN %1 BOOST BETWEEN n (Z
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
'ATE THE TOMS ADD SOME COMPRESSION AND TWEAK THE %1 UNTIL THEY SIT IN THE MIX AND DONT lGHT FOR ATTENTION WITH THE COMBINATION OF KICK AND SNARE $E PENDING ON WHAT THE DRUMMER PLAYS YOU MAY NEED TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH %1 HERE "E CAREFUL NOT TO TWEAK INDIVIDUAL PARTS TOO MUCH 9OU MAY lND THAT YOU GET A KILLER SOUND WHEN A SINGLE INSTRU MENT OR TRACK IS SOLOED 5NFORTUNATELY THE OVERALL MIX MAY NOT WORK $ONT WORRY ABOUT HOW SOMETHING SOUNDS COMPLETELY ON ITS OWN &OCUS ON THE BIG PICTURE )F IT SOUNDS RIGHT IN THE MIX ITS RIGHT 4RUST YOUR EARS /VERHEADS USUALLY GRAB THE CYMBALS AND THE SOUND OF THE KIT AS A WHOLE %1 AND COMPRESSION CAN LET YOU ACCENTU ATE ONE OR THE OTHER TYPICALLY NOT BOTH THOUGH
7HATS REALLY IMPORTANT IS THE OVERALL MIX NOT HOW EACH INSTRUMENT SOUNDS
#HAPTER
3URROUND POSITIONS FOR THESE TRACKS IS FAIRLY STRAIGHTFORWARD 0UT THE KICK TO THE CENTER SNARE SLIGHTLY TO ONE SIDE AND HI HAT FURTHER TO THAT SAME SIDE 0UT THE TOMS AND OVERHEADS IN THEIR ORIGINAL STEREO ARRANGEMENT "ALANCE THE VOLUME LEVELS FOR A GOOD BLEND "ALANCE THE DRUM ROOM MICS ACCORD INGLY ) OFTEN ROLL O« THE EXTREME LOWS AND HIGHS TO THIN THEIR SOUND SOME WHAT BUT THAT DEPENDS ON THE hSOUNDv OF THE ROOM 0OSITION THESE MORE TOWARD THEIR RESPECTIVE REAR SURROUNDS FOR A BIGGER DRUM SOUND
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
4HE BASS GUITAR GOES CENTER OF THE STEREO IMAGE KEEPING MOST OF IT OUT OF THE DEDICATED CENTER SPEAKER $UPLI CATE THE BASS PART %1 OUT EVERYTHING ABOVE (Z LIMIT IT HARD AND ASSIGN THIS COPY TO THE ,&% 3NEAK THIS PART IN WHEN IT MAKES SENSE SUCH AS DURING THE CHORUS OR GUITAR SOLO BY USING VOLUME AUTOMATION 4HE CLEAN GUITAR PART CARRIES THE CHORDS OF THE SONG $UPLICATE THIS TRACK AND O«SET THE COPY SLIGHTLY IN TIME (ARD PAN THEM LEFT AND RIGHT RESPECTIVELY AND A LITTLE BACK INTO THE ROOM !DJUST VOLUME SO THAT IT DOES NOT lGHT WITH THE VOCALS
#HAPTER
'UITAR AND PLAY IN UNISON BUT SOUND DISTINCTLY DI«ERENT @COS OF DIF FERENT GUITAR AMP AND MIC COMBINA TIONS 0UT THESE TWO IN THE IDENTICAL SURROUND SOUND POSITIONS AS THE TWO CLEAN GUITAR PARTS !DD A LITTLE CHORUS OR SLIGHT PITCH SHIFT TO ONE PART FOR A BIGGER MORE OPEN SOUND 4HEY OFTEN BENElT FROM SOME BITE WITH %1 BOOSTS IN THE (Z AREA AND MUD RELIEF BY CUTTING THE n(Z RANGE 0LACE THE GUITAR SOLOS IN THE LISTENERS FACE "ALANCE THEM USING THE CENTER AND ,2 SURROUNDS TURN O« THE FRONT ,2 SPEAKERS
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
!DD AN INSERT E«ECT WITH DELAY AND AS SIGN IT TO THE REAR SURROUNDS ONLY 4HIS WAY THE GUITAR NOTE ECHOES SUPPLIED BY THE DELAY SAIL OVER THE AUDIENCE TO THE REAR 4WEAK TO REALLY BRING THIS E«ECT OUT AT CRITICAL MUSICAL SECTIONS SUCH AS AT THE END OF A PHRASE 4HE QUALITY OF THE VOCAL IS OFTEN WHAT PEOPLE REMEMBER ABOUT A SONG 4AKE EXTREME CARE TO PRESENT THIS PERFOR MANCE IN ITS BEST LIGHT !LWAYS REMEM BER THAT PEOPLE WANT TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE WORDS !FTER HEARING A SONG SO MANY TIMES YOU GET TOO FAMILIAR WITH IT 4HE RESULT IS A TENDENCY TO PUSH THE VOCALS BACK INTO THE MIX TOO FAR &IGHT THAT TEMPTATION
-AKE SURE LISTENERS CAN UNDERSTAND ALL THE WORDS BEING SUNG
#HAPTER
6OCAL %1 SETTINGS DEPEND ON TOO MANY FACTORS 'ENERALLY ADD SOME WARMTH WITH BOOSTS IN THE (Z AREA FOR MALES AND (Z FOR FEMALES 4AKE THE MUD OUT WITH CUTS IN THE n(Z RANGE $ICTION IMPROVES AS DOES SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY IN WITH BOOSTS AT (Z OR (Z 7ATCH OUT FOR EX CESSIVE 3 SOUNDS OR SIBILANCE THOUGH !IR IS IN THE (Z RANGE #OM PRESSION ON THE VOCAL CAN HELP IT CUT THROUGH A BUSY MIX TOO 4RY BETWEEN TO WITH A FAST ATTACK AND SLOW RELEASE 0LACE THE VOCAL IN THE FRONT STEREO ,2 AND THE CENTER !NY E«ECTS SHOULD BE THERE TOO ! NICE LUSH REVERB OR A SLAP DELAY ARE GOOD CHOICES ) OFTEN USE A DELAYED REVERB BY EITHER TWEAKING ITS PRE DELAY SETTING OR PLACING A DELAY E«ECT BEFORE THE REVERB 4HIS KEEPS THE VOCAL MOSTLY DRY AND UP FRONT IN THE MIX WITH JUST THE HINT OF REVERB LATERGREAT FOR BALLADS
-USIC 3URROUND -IXING 4IPS
7HEN USING DELAYS WITH MUSIC IT IS DESIRABLE TO MATCH THE REPEATS AND ECHOES TO THE SONG TEMPO ! HANDY TOOL FOR lGURING OUT THE CORRECT DELAY TIMES BASED ON TEMPO AND NOTE VAL UES IS THE FREE $ELAY 4IME #ALCULATOR SOFTWARE AVAILABLE FROM !NALOGX WWW ANALOGXCOM 4HEY ALSO O«ER OTHER NIFTY AND FREE SOFTWARE AND $IRECT 8 PLUG INS 0ANNING ONE HARMONY VOCAL TO THE LEFT AND THE OTHER TO THE RIGHT COMPLEMENTS THE LEAD VOCAL NICELY $UPLICATING THE TRACKS TREATING THEM WITH DI«ERENT %1 E«ECTS AND EVEN A SLIGHT PITCH SHIFT AND THEN POSITIONING THEM ALL AROUND THE SURROUND lELD CAN WORK TO CREATE A CHOIR E«ECT TOO
#HAPTER
!S lNAL SWEETENERS USE SOME DYNAMIC PANNING TO ADD SOME MOVEMENT TO THE MIX $ONT GO OVERBOARD *UST MOVE SOME THINGS AROUND WITH THE RHYTHM OF THE SONG ) OFTEN PUT MY HANDS ON THE AUTOMATION CONTROLS AND hPLAYv THE SONG BY MOVING VOLUME PAN AND E«ECTS SETTINGS AS THE SONG PLAYS 7ITH THE COMPUTER YOU CAN DO MUL TIPLE PASSES AND EVEN GO BACK AND lX MISTAKES
#HAPTER
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES 4HE SOUNDTRACK TO ANY VISUAL PRESENTATION IS WELL OVER HALF THE EXPERIENCE $ONT BELIEVE ME 0UT IN YOUR FAVORITE (OLLYWOOD MOVIE AND WATCH IT WITHOUT THE SOUND 7HILE THE VISUAL ASPECTS MAY STILL BE STUNNING IT IS THE SOUNDTRACK THAT MAKES IT ALL COME ALIVE "UILDING A SURROUND SOUND MIX TO ACCOM PANY YOUR VIDEOS OPENS UP A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF CREATIVE EXPRESSION "Y FAR THE EASIEST AND CHEAP EST WAY TO MAKE YOUR VIDEOS LOOK BETTER IS TO MAKE THEM SOUND BETTER
#HAPTER
#RAFTING THE +ILLER 3OUNDTRACK -OST PEOPLE MISTAKENLY BELIEVE THAT THE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF A SOUNDTRACK IS TO SUPPORT THE VISUAL !UDIENCES PUT UP WITH hBADv VIDEO BUT NEVER POOR SOUND
(OLD A hSPOTTINGv SESSION WITH THE DIRECTOR PICTURE EDITOR AND PRODUCER TO GO THROUGH THE VIDEO AND DISCUSS SOUND ISSUES
7HETHER YOU ARE WORKING IN VIDEO 46 lLM OR GAMES THE WORKmOW FOR PULLING TOGETHER THE SOUNDTRACK IS DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE
PORTION 3OUNDTRACKS CREATE REALITY WHERE NONE
-AKE DECISIONS ABOUT ALL THE SOUNDS NEEDED FOR
MAY EXIST 7HILE THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT ITS NOT
THE PROJECT 7HAT DO YOU HAVE ALREADY AND WHAT
ALWAYS WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON 'OOD SOUNDTRACKS
DO YOU NEED
PLAY TO THE SUBTEXT OF THE PIECE AND WORK THEIR MAGIC BY DIRECTING AUDIENCE ATTENTION AND INmU ENCING EMOTION
'ATHER ALL THE SOUNDS 4HIS ENTAILS RECORDING CREATING THEM FROM SCRATCH LAYERING AND DRAW ING ON PRE EXISTING ELEMENTS SUCH AS SOUND E«ECTS LIBRARIES 4WEAK THESE SOUND ELEMENTS TO lT THE PROJECT 3YNCHRONIZE THE SOUNDS TO MATCH ON SCREEN AC TION -IX THE ELEMENTS APPROPRIATELY 'OOD SOUNDTRACKS USE CONTRAST VOLUME DYNAMICS SURROUND PLACEMENT AND E«ECTS APPROPRIATELY lLLING THE SOUND FREQUENCY SPECTRUM WITH DEEP LOWS SOLID MIDRANGE AND CRISP HIGHS 9OU MUST JUGGLE ALL THE DISPARATE SOUND ELEMENTS MAKING SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY YOUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY $ELIVER THE COMPLETED SOUNDTRACK
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
3OUNDTRACK %LEMENTS )NCLUDE
3OUND 2ESOURCES
$IALOG
4HERE ARE MANY COMPANIES THAT O«ER BUY OUT
v 0RODUCTION DIALOGINCLUDES INTERVIEWS STAND
SOUND E«ECTS AND MUSIC ON #$
UPS ETC v !$2 LOOPED DIALOGlXED IN POST PRODUCTION v 'ROUP WALLAPOST RECORDED CROWD SOUNDS SUCH AS ALL THE EXTRAS IN A RESTAURANT SCENE
3OUND %ECTS ,IBRARIES v (OLLYWOOD %DGE WWWHOLLYWOODEDGECOM v 3ONOMIC WWWSONOMICCOM
v 6OICE OVER
v 3OUND$OGSCOM WWWSOUNDDOGSCOM
3OUND %ECTS AND 3OUND $ESIGN
v 3OUND %«ECTS ,IBRARYCOM WWWSOUND E«ECTS
v 0RODUCTION E«ECTSlELD RECORDED SOUNDS v (ARD E«ECTSTYPICALLY POST SYNCED SOUND EF FECTS SUCH AS A DOOR CLOSING v "ACKGROUNDSGENERAL SOUNDS OF PLACES AND SETTINGS SUCH AS A FACTORY
LIBRARYCOM
0RODUCTION -USIC ,IBRARIES v $IGITAL *UICE WWWDIGITALJUICECOM v &RESH -USIC WWWFRESHMUSICCOM
&OLEY
v -USIC "AKERY WWWMUSICBAKERYCOM
v &OOTSTEPSRECORDED IN POST WHILE WATCHING THE
v 6IDEO(ELPER WWWVIDEOHELPERCOM
VISUALS AND MIMICKING THE ACTION v #LOTHING v 0ROPS -USIC v 3OURCEMUSIC SEEN AND HEARD ON SCREEN SUCH AS A RADIO PLAYING v 5NDERSCOREDRAMATIC MUSIC
+EEP COMPLEX PROJECTS ORGANIZED BY GROUPING SOUND FAMILIES ON ADJACENT TRACKS $ONT PLACE DISSIMILAR ELEMENTS SUCH AS DIALOG AND SOUND EFFECTS ON THE SAME TRACK
$ONT INFRINGE ON COPYRIGHTS LICENSE ALL SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC FOR YOUR PRODUCTIONS
#HAPTER
6OICE 2ULES 4HE DIALOG TRACK IS THE MOST IMPOR TANT PART TO VIRTUALLY EVERY VISUAL !LWAYS CAPTURE ROOM TONE AND PRESENCE AT EVERY LOCATION 2OOM TONE AND PRESENCE SMOOTHES AND HIDES EDITS MAKING THE lNISHED TRACK SOUND BETTER
PRESENTATION ) USE THE WORD DIALOG AS AN UMBRELLA TERM FOR ALL VOICE BASED TRACKS INCLUDING INTERVIEWS VOICE OVER REPORTER STAND UPS AND OF COURSE DIALOG &OCUS ON CAPTURING TOP QUALITY VOICE IN THE lELD BECAUSE MOST OTHER SOUNDS CAN BE ADDED IN POST PRODUC
!DDING A DB TO D" %1 BUMP CENTERED AT K(Z CAN HELP SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY
TION 7ITH FEW EXCEPTIONS ANCHOR ALL YOUR DIALOG TO THE CENTER CHANNEL 0LACE A LITTLE IN THE PHANTOM CENTER BETWEEN THE STEREO ,2 TOO /CCASIONALLY AN O« SCREEN VOICE CAN BE INTERESTING WHEN PLACED IN THE SUR ROUNDS FOR EXAMPLE WHEN A CHARACTER ENTERS A ROOM
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
6/S CAN SOUND GOOD RIGHT IN THE AUDI ENCES FACE "ALANCE THE CENTER CHANNEL WITH THE ,S2S AS MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER 5SE THE DIALNORM SETTING AS YOUR DIALOG REFERENCE LEVEL &OR EXAMPLE MAKE nD" THE AVERAGE LEVEL OF THE DIALOG IN YOUR MIX !LL OTHER ELEMENTS IN THE MIX SHOULD BE SUBSERVIENT TO THAT LEVEL 4HIS ENSURES THAT THE AUDIENCE WILL UN DERSTAND THE DIALOG AND THAT NO OTHER SOUNDS WILL OVERPOWER IT 4HAT DOESNT MEAN THAT SOUNDS CANT BE LOUDER 4HEY CAN JUST NOT WHEN DIALOG IS PRESENT
"OTH -ONSTERS )NC AND &INDING .EMO ARE TWO TEXTBOOK EXAMPLES OF CREATIVE USES OF SURROUND SOUND MIXING -ONSTERS )NC EVEN LETS YOU TURN OFF BOTH THE DIALOG AND MUSIC AND LISTEN TO JUST THE SOUND EFFECTS TRACKS IN 5NDERSTAND THAT IN AN ANIMATED MOVIE EVERY SOUND ELEMENT MUST BE CREATED FROM SCRATCH SO THESE $6$S ARE WORTH YOUR CRITICAL STUDY
#HAPTER
$EPENDING ON WHAT YOU WANT TO CON VEY GROUP WALLA CAN WORK IN STEREO THE SURROUNDS OR BOTH ,EAVING THEM -ANY OF THE IDEAS DISCUSSED IN THE MUSIC SURROUND MIXING CHAPTER APPLY TO AUDIO POST PROJECTS TOO
OUT OF THE CENTER CREATES A NICE HOLE FOR THE MAIN DIALOG WHILE STILL ENHANC ING THE SCENE
3OUND %ECTS AND &OLEY 0OSITION HARD SOUND E«ECTS WITH THEIR ON SCREEN VISUAL COUNTERPARTS &OR INSTANCE IF A DOOR CLOSES SCREEN LEFT THE SOUND SHOULD EMANATE FROM THAT LOCATION &OLEY SOUNDS ALSO BENElT FROM MATCHING THE ACTION FOR WHICH THEY WERE CREATED
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
$YNAMICALLY PAN SOUND E«ECTS AS NEEDED )F A CAR TRAVELS FROM RIGHT TO LEFT THE CAR SOUND E«ECT SHOULD TRACK THE SAME WAY 9OU CAN DO THIS WITH A MONO SOUND PANNED TO MATCH THE ACTION )F YOU HAVE A STEREO E«ECT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO LEAVE IT IN PLACE IN THE STEREO ,2
! FEW WELL PLACED USES OF SURROUND ALWAYS STICK OUT IN LISTENERS MINDS MORE THAN A CONSTANT BOMBARDMENT OF AUDIO TRICKERY
!DDING REVERB AND OTHER E«ECTS TO A FRONT SOUND E«ECT AND PLACING THE A«ECTED SOUND ONLY IN THE ,S2S CAN MAKE A SOUND E«ECT BIGGER
3TACKING SIMILAR SOUNDS ON TOP OF EACH OTHER CAN CREATE RICHER AND MORE COMPLEX SOUNDS
#HAPTER
(ERES MY EXPLOSION RECIPE 3TACK MUL TIPLE RECORDINGS OF EXPLOSIONS TO CREATE ONE UNIQUE SOUND 3TART THIS IN THE FRONT TO MATCH THE ACTION THEN DYNAM ICALLY PAN IT OVER THE AUDIENCE TO THE REARS 5SE SOME REVERB ON THE EXPLO SION WITH A LONG PRE DELAY ROUTED TO THE REAR AND BRING THAT IN TO SUSTAIN THE SOUND !DD DEBRIS SOUNDS THAT mY OUT TO THE LEFT RIGHT STEREO THEN BACK TO THE REAR !LSO mY PIECES FROM FRONT CENTER TO REAR CENTER TO MAKE IT mY OVER THE AUDIENCE THIS WORKS BETTER WITH $OLBY %8 THOUGH !LSO ADD SOME EX TRA THUMP ROUTED TO THE ,&% FOR MORE BOOM -AKE THAT LOW FREQUENCY RUMBLE THE LAST PART TO DIE AWAY
"ACKGROUNDS 0ART OF CREATING REALISTIC AND BELIEVABLE SOUNDTRACKS IS PAYING CAREFUL ATTENTION TO THE ENVIRONMENTS %VERY PLACE HAS A SOUND THAT IS INDICATIVE OF ITS FUNCTION A FACTORY SOUNDS DI«ERENT FROM A SUB URBAN PARK 7HILE SOME ENVIRONMENTAL SOUNDS KNOWN AS BACKGROUNDS MAY COME FROM YOUR lELD RECORDINGS SPE CIlCALLY ROOM TONE AND PRESENCE THE REST YOU MAY CONSTRUCT IN POST PRODUC TION
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
,AYERING IS THE SECRET TO GOOD BACK GROUNDS 4HINK CLOSE MIDDLE AND DISTANT SOUNDS AND CONSTRUCT AN ENVIRONMENT WITH DEPTH 4O ILLUSTRATE THIS POINT THINK OF A RAINSTORM )N THE DISTANCE WOULD BE THUNDER THE SWISH OF RAIN OCCUPIES THE MIDDLE AND CLOSE UP FEATURES RAIN STRIKING AN OBJECT SUCH AS A SIDEWALK !DD OTHER ELEMENTS TO SWEETEN THE BACKGROUND AS NEEDED "OTH STEREO AND MONO BACKGROUNDS WORK WELL WITH SURROUND -ONO SOUNDS CAN BE ROUTED TO SPEAKERS WITH COR RESPONDING REVERB SENT TO OPPOSITES 3TEREO SOURCES CAN BE ROUTED TO PAIRS
)MMERSE YOUR AUDIENCE IN THE ENVIRONMENT
#HAPTER
#REATE LARGER THAN LIFE BACKGROUNDS BY ADDING A MONO OR STEREO BACKGROUND RECORDING INTO THE SOFTWARE $UPLICATE 3OUNDS THAT OCCUR BEFORE A VISUAL OR CONTINUE FROM A PREVIOUS SCENE OFTEN WORK WELL STARTING OR lNISHING IN THE SURROUNDS RESPECTIVELY
THE TRACK !SSIGN THE ORIGINAL TO ONE POSITION IN THE SURROUND lELD !SSIGN THE DUPLICATE TO THE OPPOSITE POSITION #UT THE DUPLICATE SOUND IN HALF AND REPOSITION IT SO IT STARTS AT A DI«ERENT PLACE THAN ITS COUNTERPART 4HE TWO TRACKS ARE COMPLETELY DECORRE LATED CREATING A BETTER MORE ELABORATE BACKGROUND THAN BEFORE
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
)F YOUR BACKGROUND IS MOSTLY STATIC AND ASSIGNED TO A lXED AREA IN THE SUR ROUND SOUND lELD CONSIDER ADDING AN OCCASIONAL DYNAMICALLY PANNED SOUND ELEMENT 4O A STATIC NEIGHBORHOOD RECORDING ADD A PLANE mYING IN THE SURROUNDS ONLY FOR A SUBTLE E«ECT
7ORLD IZING 4HOUGH YOUR SURROUND MIXING SOFT WARE MAY HAVE A VARIETY OF CREATIVE E«ECTS SOMETIMES THE ONLY WAY TO GET A PARTICULAR E«ECT TO SOUND RIGHT IS TO RECORD IT IN A PLACE THAT MATCHES THE ON SCREEN LOCATION 4HAT ISNT ALWAYS POSSIBLE THOUGH (OWEVER IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO RE RECORD THE SOUND IN A SIMILAR LOCATION KNOWN AS hWORLD IZ ING 4HE TECHNIQUE INVOLVES PLAYING SOUND E«ECTS MUSIC AND SOMETIMES DIALOG IN A REAL LOCATION RECORDING THE RESULT AND THEN USING THE hWORLD IZEDv SOUND IN THE lNISHED MIX 2ECORDING IN TRUE SURROUND OPENS UP MORE CREATIVE POSSIBILITIES
7ALTER -URCH AND 'EORGE ,UCAS WORLD IZED MUCH OF THE MUSIC IN !MERICAN 'RAFlTI
#HAPTER
3ONYS !COUSTIC -IRROR PLUG IN WHICH SHIPS WITH 3OUND &ORGE IS ANOTHER WAY TO ADD REALISTIC AMBIENCES TO YOUR TRACKS 4HE PROGRAM USES SPECIALLY PREPARED lLES THAT ESSENTIALLY CAPTURE ONLY THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A SPACE 4HESE CHARACTERISTICS CAN THEN BE AP PLIED TO lLES MAKING THEM SOUND AS IF THEY WERE RECORDED IN THAT SPACE
-USIC 3OURCE MUSIC SHOULD CORRESPOND TO ITS ON SCREEN ORIGIN )F THE MUSIC COMES FROM A RADIO PLACE IT TO MATCH THE RADIOS POSITION 9OU MAY NEED TO ALTER THIS SOMEWHAT AS THE SCENE CHANGES 5SE lNESSE SO YOU DONT DISTRACT THE AUDIENCE
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
0LACING UNDERSCORE DEPENDS ON MANY FACTORS )F THE MUSIC WAS RECORDED IN TRUE SURROUND PLACING THE SIX TRACKS AS DESIGNATED MAKES SENSE #HANCES ARE THE MUSIC RECORDING IS STEREO ONLY /BVIOUSLY PLACING IT IN THE FRONT ,2 STEREO RECREATES THE ORIGINAL RECORDING &OR A NICE BALANCE KEEP DIALOG IN THE CENTER SPEAKER AND THE MUSIC IN STEREO
#HAPTER
0ULLING THE MUSIC BACK INTO THE ROOM ENVELOPES THE AUDIENCE MORE !DDING REVERB TO PLAY ONLY IN THE SUR ROUNDS LEAVING THE MUSIC IN FRONT ,2 MAKES THE MUSIC SOUND BIG AND BOLD 2EVERSING THAT CREATES A UNIQUE E«ECT TOO
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
$IGITAL *UICES 3TACK4RAXX MUSIC LIBRARY WWWDIGITALJUICECOM INCLUDES MULTI TRACK LAYERS OF EACH SONG 7ITH UP TO SEVEN INDIVIDUAL LAYERS PER TUNE THERE ARE A MYRIAD OF SURROUND SOUND MIXING OPTIONS AVAILABLE
#HAPTER
$-% +EEPING THE MAIN THREE ELEMENTS $IA LOG -USIC AND %«ECTS SEPARATE FACILI TATES ALTERNATE LANGUAGE SOUNDTRACKS 4HESE THREE PARTS ARE CALLED STEMS AND CONSIST OF THREE SEPARATE SURROUND MIXES TOTAL TRACKS 4HE MUSIC AND E«ECTS SURROUND MIX STEMS JOIN THE NEW LANGUAGE DIALOG TRACK IN A REMIX SESSION 4HIS APPROACH MAINTAINS THE ORIGINAL BALANCE OF THE MIX WHILE O«ERING SOME LEEWAY TO THE ALTERNATE LANGUAGE MIXERS TO IMPROVE SPEECH UNDERSTANDING
&INAL 3WEETENING !FTER BALANCING THE ELEMENTS THAT COM PRISE THE SOUNDTRACK CONSIDER APPLY ING SOME GENTLE COMPRESSION TO EVEN OUT THE LEVELS 4HE 3ONY 7AVE (AMMER PLUG IN COMES IN A CONlGURATION THAT IS IDEAL FOR THIS PURPOSE 4HE SAME TOOL ALLOWS MAXIMIZING THE VOLUME TO LEVELS YOU INDICATE
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
!UDIO 0OST -IXING 7ORKING YOUR WAY THROUGH AN AUDIO POST PROJECT CAN BE A DEMANDING YET FASCINATING EXPERIENCE 7ITH ALL THE DI«ERENT SOUND ELEMENTS TO BALANCE THERE IS MUCH WORK TO BE DONE !S WITH THE PREVIOUS MUSIC CHAPTER IT SHOULD BE HELPFUL TO WORK THROUGH A PROJECT !UDIO POST PRODUCTION BEGINS AFTER THE PICTURE EDIT IS COMPLETE &OCUS ON THE VOICE TRACKS lRST AND MAKE THEM SOUND THEIR BEST $IALOG DOMINATES NEARLY EVERY VISUAL PROJECT 7HETHER THERE ARE ACTORS INTERVIEWS OR VOICE OVER NARRATIONS 6/ IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOUR AUDIENCE UNDERSTAND WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING 3TUDIO RECORDINGS ALONG WITH AUDIO RECORDED UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS USUALLY REQUIRE VERY LITTLE EXTRA WORK TO SOUND GOOD )TS THE lELD RECORDINGS THAT DEMAND THE EXTRA CARE !LWAYS WORK HARD TO RECORD GOOD CLEAN AUDIO ON LOCATION AS IT SAVES MANY HEADACHES IN POST
$IALOG RULES 9OUR AUDIENCE MUST UNDERSTAND WHAT PEOPLE SAY
#HAPTER
$ONT FORGET ABOUT ROOM TONE AND PRES ENCE -AKE SURE YOU ALWAYS RECORD THE hSOUNDv OF EVERY LOCATION WHERE YOU RECORD VOICE 9OU CAN USE THIS hNOISEv TO HELP MASK EDITS (OW DOES THIS WORK /UR EAR BRAIN COMBINATION IS QUITE ADEPT AT LISTENING TO WHATS IM PORTANT AND IGNORING THE BACKGROUND NOISE 5NFORTUNATELY WHEN BACK GROUND SOUNDS COME AND GO SUCH AS DURING SOUND EDITS WE ARE DISTRACTED BY THEM )F THE NOISE IS CONSTANT HOW EVER WE TEND TO TUNE IT OUT -OST PICTURE EDITORS MAKE THE COMMON MISTAKE OF CUTTING THE DIALOG IN THE SAME PLACE AS THE PICTURE EDIT 4HIS IS RARELY THE BEST PLACE TO MAKE A SOUND EDIT BECAUSE THE SHIFTING VISUAL AC CENTUATES ANY SOUND CHANGE )NSTEAD CUT THE AUDIO JUST BEFORE OR AFTER THE PICTURE CUT OR USE CROSSFADES OR BOTH 4HE * CUT EDITS THE DIALOG WHEN A PER SON lNISHES SPEAKING AND BEFORE THE VISUAL EDIT
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
!N , CUT EXTENDS THE PREVIOUS CLIPS SOUND UNTIL THE NEXT PERSON STARTS TALK ING WHICH HELPS MASK THE EDIT #ROSSFADING THE AUDIO MAKES SMOOTH ING THESE EDITS EVEN EASIER
#HAPTER
)F YOUR DIALOG TRACKS ARE NOISY YOU MAY NEED TO RESORT TO SOME SOPHISTI CATED TRICKS TO MAKE THEM BETTER FOR YOUR AUDIENCE ) HEARTILY RECOMMEND THE 3ONY .OISE 2EDUCTION PLUG IN WHICH WORKS WITH ANY AUDIO PROGRAM THAT SUPPORTS $IRECT 8 PLUG INS SUCH AS 3ONY 3OUND &ORGE $ETAILS ABOUT USING THESE AND OTHER AUDIO RESTORA TION TOOLS CAN BE FOUND IN ANOTHER BOOK FROM THIS SERIES )NSTANT 3OUND &ORGE
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
%1 AND COMPRESSION CAN MAKE THE DIA LOG TRACKS SHINE 4RY THESE SETTINGS s (Z LOW SHELF AND (Z HIGH SHELF s DB TO D" BUMP AT (Z FOR MALE OR (Z FOR FEMALES FOR WARMTH s -ID RANGE DIP DB TO D" BETWEEN n(Z TO MINIMIZE MUD s ! LITTLE SPARKLE DB TO D" IN THE n (Z AREA LISTEN FOR SIBI LANCE THOUGH s 'ENTLE COMPRESSION POST %1 4RY COMPRESSION STARTING AT nD"
#HAPTER
9OU ALREADY KNOW THAT THE CENTER CHAN NEL ANCHORS YOUR DIALOG TO THE SCREEN SO PLACING THE DIALOG IS FAIRLY STRAIGHT FORWARD ,EAVE A LITTLE IN THE FRONT ,2 TOO )F YOU HAVE MULTIPLE TRACKS OF DIALOG CONSIDER INSERTING A MIXER BUS AND HAVE THIS ONE FADER CONTROL THE LEVEL OF ALL DIALOG 2OUTE EACH DIALOG TRACK TO THIS BUS "ALANCE AS NEEDED
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
0LACING DIALOG TO ONE SIDE IN THE SURROUNDS OR BOTH WORKS FOR A BRIEF O« CAMERA O« SCREEN VOICE 9OU CAN GET MORE CREATIVE WHEN PLACING CROWD NOISES CALLED WALLA AS YOU CAN E«EC TIVELY PUT YOUR AUDIENCE IN THE MIDDLE OF A CROWD 4URN YOUR ATTENTION TO SOUND E«ECTS -ANY SOUNDS AVAILABLE FROM LIBRARIES ARE OFTEN RECORDED DRY AND IN YOUR FACE 4HEREFORE THEY DONT OFTEN SIT WELL IN A MIX WITHOUT SOME EXTRA TWEAKING 4HE ON SCREEN ENVIRONMENT FROM WHICH THESE E«ECTS ORIGINATE HELPS COMPLETE THE ILLUSION )N OTHER WORDS THE BACKGROUND ENVIRONMENTAL SOUNDS HELP MAKE THE MORE UP FRONT SOUND E«ECTS WORK RIGHT FOR THE SCENE "ECAUSE OF THIS CONCENTRATE ON THE BACKGROUNDS BEFORE THE HARD E«ECTS
#HAPTER
'OOD BACKGROUNDS MUST WORK WELL WITH THE DIALOG AUGMENTING OR SUP PLANTING THE ROOM TONE AND PRESENCE 4HE EASIEST AND CHEAPEST WAY TO MAKE YOUR VISUAL PROJECTS LOOK BETTER IS TO IMPROVE THEIR SOUND
USED TO SMOOTH DIALOG EDITS ! WELL RECORDED AND WELL PLACED BACKGROUND CAN WORK WITH DIALOG TO CREATE A VERY CONVINCING SOUNDTRACK (ARD E«ECTS AND MUSIC SERVE ONLY TO SWEETEN AN ALREADY SOLID PRESENTATION "E AWARE OF TOO MANY SOUNDS BUILD ING UP IN THE CENTER CHANNEL 3URROUND SOLVES THIS ISSUE BY GIVING YOU ALTERNA TIVE PLACEMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND SOUNDS +EEPING BACKGROUNDS OUT OF THE CENTER AND USING THE FRONT ,2 AND SURROUND ,2 SPEAKERS INSTEAD LEAVES A NICE HOLE FOR THE DIALOG TO SIT "ACKGROUNDS RECORDED IN TRUE STEREO OR TRUE SUR ROUND FOR THAT MATTER MAKE FOR A NICE EXPERIENCE FOR THE AUDIENCE
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
)N THE ABSENCE OF TRUE STEREO TRY THIS TRICK $UPLICATE A BACKGROUND TRACK /«SET THE COPY BY ABOUT HALF ITS TOTAL LENGTH (ARD PAN THE TWO TRACKS TO OPPOSITE POSITIONS EITHER FRONT ,2 OR REAR ,2 4HIS CREATES A PLEASING PSEUDO STEREO E«ECT AND A MORE OPEN BACKGROUND $ONT FORGET ABOUT LAYERS TOO 4HINK FOREGROUND MIDDLE GROUND AND FAR THER AWAY SOUNDS AND BUILD A MORE REALISTIC OVERALL ENVIRONMENT 5SE THE FREQUENCY SPECTRUM TOO WITH SOLID LOWS CRISP HIGHS AND IN BETWEEN
#HAPTER
5SE CARE TO KEEP SOUNDS THAT INTERFERE WITH THE VOICE OUT OF THE BACKGROUND MIX THOUGH $IPPING THE %1 BETWEEN n (Z ON BACKGROUND TRACKS CAN OPEN UP FREQUENCY ROOM FOR CONSONANTS WHICH IS WHAT MAKES OUR SPEECH MORE INTELLIGIBLE !FTER BACKGROUNDS TURN TO HARD E«ECTS AND USE %1 VOLUME AND SURROUND PLACEMENT TO lT THESE ELEMENTS INTO THE ENVIRONMENT $YNAMIC PANNING CAN WORK FOR CERTAIN SOUNDS SUCH AS A HELICOPTER mY OVER OR FOR CERTAIN CAR BYS
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
5SING DELAYS REVERB OR BOTH IN THE SURROUNDS CAN MAKE FOREGROUND SOUND E«ECTS APPEAR LARGER THAN LIFE 4HE DELAY OR REVERB TAIL SEEMS TO SAIL RIGHT OVER THE AUDIENCE PUTTING THEM IN THE SOUND ITSELF 4HIS IS A TERRIlC E«ECT FOR HORROR lLM LIKE hJUMPSvSUDDEN SOUNDS THAT MAKE THE AUDIENCE JUMP IN THEIR SEATS 7ITH A WELL BUILT SOUNDTRACK MUSIC BECOMES ANOTHER LAYERTHE EMOTIONAL ICING ON THE CAKE SO TO SPEAK 7ITH STEREO MUSIC TRACKS SURROUND SOUND POSITIONING CAN GIVE THEM MORE DEPTH
#HAPTER
!LTERNATELY ADD A LARGE REVERB THAT PLAYS SOLELY IN THE SURROUNDS 2OUTE SOME OF THE MUSIC TO THIS REVERB KEEP ING THE ORIGINAL MUSIC IN CONVENTIONAL STEREO 4HE MUSIC NOW ENVELOPES THE AUDIENCE NICELY 7ITH ONLY A STEREO MUSIC TRACK THE SUR ROUND OPTIONS ARE SOMEWHAT LIMITED 'RANTED YOU CAN ENHANCE THE AMBI ENCE OF THE MUSIC BUT YOU CANT TRULY A«ECT THE ORIGINAL BALANCE OR FEATURE INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS EASILY )F YOU HAD ACCESS TO THE ORIGINAL COMPONENTS THAT COMPRISE THE COMPLETED MUSICAL PIECE YOUD HAVE MORE OPTIONS &OR EXAMPLE SURROUND IZING THE LAY ERS OR STACKS FROM $IGITAL *UICES 3TACK4RAXX MUSIC LIBRARY O«ERS MANY CREATIVE ALTERNATIVES )NSTEAD OF JUST A STEREO MUSIC TRACK 3TACK4RAXX O«ERS UP TO SEVEN INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS FOR EXAMPLE DRUMS GUITAR BASS KEY BOARDS AND MORE AS SEPARATE TRACKS
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
!FTER USING THEIR *UICER TO EXPORT THE INDIVIDUAL LAYERS TO AN EMPTY FOLDER ADD THEM TO INDIVIDUAL TRACKS IN YOUR AUTHORING APPLICATION (ERE h3PRING )N 0ARISv HAS SEVEN STACKS ONE PER TRACK !FTER BALANCING THE BASIC VOLUME OF THE LAYERS TURN TO SURROUND POSITIONING 0OSITION THE DRUMS IN THE FRONT STEREO ,2 4URN THE CENTER CHANNEL AND THE SURROUNDS O« 4HIS CONlGURATION MAIN TAINS THE ORIGINAL STEREO BALANCE OF THE DRUM PART
#HAPTER
4HE BASS PART LAYER COMES AS A STEREO lLE 3ELECT JUST THE LEFT CHANNEL OF THE BASS PART AND POSITION IT SIMILARLY TO THE DRUMS FRONT STEREO ,2 AND WITH ITS CENTER AND SURROUNDS O« TOO -AKE A COPY OF THE BASS TRACK 4HIS TIME CHOOSE ONLY THE RIGHT CHANNEL !DD AG GRESSIVE %1 TO REMOVE ALL THE FREQUEN CIES ABOVE (Z !SSIGN THIS TO THE ,&% TO ADD SOME EXTRA LOW END THUMP TO THE MUSIC TRACK 4HIS TRACK FEATURES AN INTERESTING PERCUSSION TRACK 4O EMPHASIZE IT A LITTLE MORE AND TO AVOID MASKING THE MAIN DRUM PART TURN O« THE STEREO ,2 SPEAKERS AND INSTEAD BALANCE THE PART MIDWAY BETWEEN THE CENTER SPEAKER AND SURROUND ,2 "ALANCE THE LEVELS TO PLACE THIS TRACK RIGHT IN YOUR LISTENERS FACE
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
4HE LEAD GUITAR PART AND PIANO ALTER NATE AS FOREGROUND TRACKS 0OSITION THE GUITAR ABOUT HALFWAY BETWEEN THE FRONT AND REAR SPEAKERS WITH ABOUT TO PERCENT PRIMARILY TO THE LEFT 4URN THE CENTER O« 0LACE THE PIANO IN THE COMPLEMENTARY SPACE HALFWAY BETWEEN FRONT AND REAR AND TO PERCENT TO THE RIGHT 0LACE THE RHYTHM GUITAR TRACK DEAD CENTER USING THE FRONT AND REAR ,2 BUT TURN THE CENTER CHANNEL O« 4HIS SUPPLEMENTS THE PERCUSSION TRACK WELL ONCE YOU BALANCE THEIR RESPECTIVE VOL UME LEVELS
#HAPTER
4HE SYNTH PAD PART IS JUST A SWEETENER SO DIRECT IT ONLY TO THE ,2 SURROUNDS .EXT ADD AN INSERT &8 WITH REVERB #HOOSE A REVERB SETTING WITH A LONG PRE DELAY 4HIS IS THE AMOUNT OF TIME BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL DRY SOUND AND THE START OF THE REVERB TAIL ,ONG PRE DELAYS USUALLY INDICATE LARGER ROOMS 5SE THE SURROUND PANNER TO POSITION THE REVERB OUTPUT TO THE REAR ,2 SURROUNDS ONLY !LSO MAKE THE RE VERB PERCENT WET NO DRY SOUND "ALANCE THE WET DRY MIX USING THE &8 SENDS AVAILABLE ON YOUR TRACKS OR CHAN NELS 3END SOME OF THE DRUM PART TO THIS REVERB !DJUST TO TASTE 4HIS E«ECTIVELY MAKES THE DRUMS SOUND BIGGER BE CAUSE THEIR REVERB TAIL PLAYS BEHIND THE AUDIENCE 4HE PRE DELAY KEEPS EVERY THING FROM GETTING MUDDY AND ALSO ADDS SOME MOVEMENT TO THE DRUMS WHICH APPEAR TO GENTLY mY OVER THE AUDIENCE !DJUST FOR SUBTLETY HERE AS YOU DONT WANT PEOPLE TURNING AROUND AS THEY LISTEN
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
!DD ANOTHER )NSERT &8 THIS TIME USING A SHORT DELAY !SSIGN THIS OUTPUT TO THE 2 SURROUND ONLY 3END A LITTLE OF THE LEAD GUITAR PART TO THIS DELAY TO MAKE IT CUT THROUGH THE MIX A LITTLE BETTER &INALLY CONSIDER ADDING SOME DYNAMIC PANNING TO THE PARTS ESPECIALLY THE PIANO AND LEAD GUITAR $ONT GO OVER BOARD &EATURE THE PART WHEN IT MAKES MUSICAL SENSE BY MOVING THEM MORE TOWARD THE FRONT AND CENTER
#HAPTER
-AKING -USIC WITH !#)$ 3ONYS !#)$ 0RO IS ANOTHER WAY TO COMPOSE AND DELIVER ORIGINAL MUSIC FOR YOUR VIDEO PRODUCTIONS !#)$ USES PRE RECORDED LOOPS OF MUSICAL PARTS THAT YOU ARRANGE ON A TIMELINE TO CRAFT MUSIC SCORES ,OOPS ARE SIMPLY SNIP PETS OF PERFORMANCES THAT PLAY SEAM LESSLY 7HAT MAKES THIS WORK IS THAT !#)$ AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTS THE MUSI CAL KEY AND TEMPO OF LOOPS TO A SINGLE PROJECT TEMPO AND KEY REGARDLESS OF THE LOOPS ORIGINAL SETTINGS 4O USE THE PROGRAM YOU PREVIEW LOOPS PICK THE ONES YOU WANT PAINT THEM IN THE 4IMELINE AND PLAY 4HE SOFTWARE SHIPS WITH HUNDREDS OF LOOPS TO GET YOU STARTED AND THERE IS MAS SIVE SUPPORT FOR ADDITIONAL LOOPS FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES -OST IMPORTANTLY LOOPS COME IN MANY MUSICAL GENRES FROM ORCHESTRAL TO ROCK AND VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN #HECK OUT )NSTANT !#)$ FOR MORE INFORMATION ON USING THIS AMAZING SOFTWARE
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
"EST OF ALL !#)$ 0RO SUPPORTS MIXING IN SURROUND /NCE YOUVE PUT YOUR COMPOSITION TOGETHER YOU CAN USE ITS SURROUND PANNERS TO PLACE AND BALANCE YOUR MUSICAL PARTS 2EFER TO #HAPTER FOR IDEAS ON BRINGING OUT THE BEST SUR ROUND MIX FOR YOUR PROJECT !#)$ 0RO ALSO MAKES IT EASY TO IMPORT YOUR SURROUND MUSIC MIX BACK TO YOUR VIDEO .,% TOO 4O EXPORT THE INDI VIDUAL BUSES THAT COMPRISE YOUR MIX CHOOSE &ILE 2ENDER !S
#HAPTER
3ELECT THE 7AVE -ICROSOFT WAV FOR MAT FROM THE h3AVE AS TYPEv MENU LIST #HOOSE THE (Z BIT -ONO 0#- TEMPLATE FROM THE 4EMPLATE LIST .OTICE THE CHECKBOX h3AVE EACH CHANNEL AS A SEPARATE lLEv IS SELECTED BUT GRAYED OUT 4HIS EXPORTS THE SIX CHANNELS OF YOUR SURROUND MIX INTO SIX SEPARATE MONO lLES .AME THE lLE AND CHOOSE A SAVE LOCA TION !#)$ 0RO USES THIS ROOT NAME WHEN RENDERING AND EXPORTING THE INDIVIDUAL CHANNELS 4HE SOFTWARE AP PENDS THE APPROPRIATE SURROUND CHAN NEL NAME TO THIS ROOT NAME #LICK /+
!UDIO 0OST 3URROUND -IXING 4ECHNIQUES
4HERE ARE NOW SIX CHANNELS APPROPRI ATELY NAMED CARRYING YOUR SURROUND MIX 3WITCH TO YOUR VIDEO .,% AND ADD THESE SIX TRACKS TO SEPARATE CHANNELS 5SE EACH TRACKS SURROUND PANNER TO POSITION EACH TRACK AND RECREATE THE !#)$ 0RO MUSIC MIX IN YOUR .,% !LTERNATELY YOU COULD EXPORT EACH INDIVIDUAL !#)$ 0RO TRACK IMPORT THEM TO THE .,% AND THEN USE ITS SURROUND TOOLS TO MIX THE MUSIC INSTEAD 4HE CHOICE DEPENDS ON YOUR TASTES AND THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PROJECT
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
#HAPTER
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS /NCE YOUVE lNISHED YOUR SURROUND SOUND MIX TURN YOUR ATTENTION TO DELIVERING YOUR SONIC MASTER PIECE TO THE WORLD 4HIS CHAPTER EXAMINES EXPORTING THE lLES FOR ENCODING WITH SEPARATE STANDALONE SOFTWARE AND ENCODE OPTIONS THAT MAY BE BUILT IN TO YOUR AUTHORING SOFTWARE
#HAPTER
%XPORT TO -ULTIPLE &ILES %NCODING SOFTWARE USUALLY ACCEPTS THE INDIVIDUAL SIX CHANNELS THAT COMPRISE YOUR SURROUND SOUND MIX )N THIS SITU ATION YOU NEED TO EXPORT EACH CHANNEL AS A STANDALONE MONAURAL lLE 9OUR EN CODER WILL INDICATE THE DESIRED FORMAT USUALLY EITHER WAV OR AI« !LSO CHECK YOUR ENCODERS INSTRUC TIONS FOR DETAILS ABOUT HANDLING THE ,&% 3PECIlCALLY LOOK FOR WHETHER TO APPLY THE LOW PASS lLTER OR NOT AND FOR SPECIlC CUTO« FREQUENCY AND ROLL O« SETTINGS 4HE USUAL WORKmOW IS TO EXPORT THE INDIVIDUAL BUSES OF THE SURROUND MIX RENDERING THEM TO THE APPROPRIATE lLE FORMAT AND SAVING THEM IN A FOLDER 9OU MAY NEED TO NAME EACH lLE USING SPECIlC CONVENTIONS OR THE SOFTWARE MAY DO THIS AUTOMATICALLY )N 3ONY 6EGAS FOR EXAMPLE CHOOSE &ILE 2ENDER !S TO DISPLAY THE DIALOG BOX 3ELECT A STORAGE LOCATION FOR THE lNAL RENDER NAME THE lLE CHOOSE THE WAV lLE FORMAT AND CHANGE THE 4EM PLATE TO EITHER (Z OR (Z BIT -ONO 0#-
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
6EGAS SAVES ALL SIX lLES USING THE BASE NAME WITH THE SPECIlC CHANNEL NAME APPENDED TO IT 3WITCH TO YOUR ENCODER OF CHOICE IMPORT THE SIX CHANNELS AND CREATE THE lNAL ENCODE SUITABLE FOR $6$ $6$ ! 3!#$ AND EVEN WEB DELIVERY
#HAPTER
$-% #ONSIDERATIONS %XPORTING A $-% MIX TO ITS SEPA RATE STEMS REQUIRES THREE SEPARATE RENDERS &OR EXAMPLE TO RENDER THE DIALOG STEM MUTE ALL MUSIC AND E«ECTS TRACKS AND BUSES 2ENDER THE SIX CHAN NELS OF THE DIALOG USING h0ROJECT .AME $IALOGv AS THE BASE lLE NAME -UTE THE DIALOG TRACKS AND BUSES UNMUTE THE MUSIC AND RENDER THE MUSIC AS h0ROJ ECT .AME -USICv $O THE SAME FOR THE E«ECTS MUTING DIALOG AND MUSIC FOR THE RENDER 7HEN lNISHED THERE WILL BE SEPARATE MONO lLES READY FOR THE NEXT STEP &OR EXAMPLE AN ALTERNATE LANGUAGE DIALOG TRACK COULD BE RECORD ED AND JOIN THE -% TRACKS FOR A NEW MIX SUITABLE FOR INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY +EEPING THE STEMS GIVES THE MIXER CON TROL OVER THE lNAL BALANCE OF THE NEW DIALOG AGAINST THE MUSIC AND E«ECTS
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
$OLBY $IGITAL !# -ETADATA 7HETHER YOU ARE USING A STANDALONE ENCODER OR AN ENCODER THAT IS BUILT IN TO YOUR SURROUND AUTHORING SOFTWARE YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE $OLBY !# OPTIONS 4HE METADATA THAT CAN BE INCLUDED WITH THE !# DATA STREAM IS WHAT ENSURES THAT YOUR ENCODE SOUNDS ITS BEST 4HE $OLBY !# FORMAT SUPPORTS BOTH STEREO AND MIXES 7HEN CHOOSING THE STEREO ONLY OPTION THERE ARE FEWER SETTINGS AVAILABLE BECAUSE MOST OF THE METADATA SETTINGS RELATE TO DOWNMIX OPTIONS 4HERE ARE SOME SETTINGS THAT APPLY THOUGH 3ET THESE ACCORDINGLY 4HE REMAINING METADATA SETTINGS ARE USED BY THE DECODER WHEN IT CONVERTS A SURROUND MIX TO STEREO )VE ALREADY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU CREATE YOUR OWN STEREO MIX FROM YOUR ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL 4HIS WAY YOU ARE NOT AT THE MERCY OF THE DECODER FOR YOUR STEREO DOWNMIX 4HAT SAID BECAUSE YOU CANT ALWAYS CONTROL WHAT A LISTENER OR VIEWER DOES YOU SHOULD USE THE !# METADATA SETTINGS TO CRAFT THE BEST ENCODE AND THE MOST FAITHFUL DOWNMIX OF YOUR SURROUND MIX
#HAPTER
!# !UDIO 3ERVICE #ONlGURATION 4HERE ARE SEVERAL SETTINGS THAT A«ECT THE QUALITY AND LOUDNESS OF THE lNAL ENCODE "ITSTREAM MODEINDICATES THE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF THE ENCODE #HOOSE FROM AVAILABLE OPTIONS !UDIO CODING MODESELECTS THE ENCODE FORMAT 4HE DESIGNATION IS THE OF THE STANDARD SURROUND SOUND OPTION %NABLE ,&%THE ,&% CAN BE TURNED ON OR O« WITH THIS SETTING
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
3AMPLE RATESETS THE SAMPLE RATE FOR THE ENCODE 4HERE ARE ONLY THREE CHOICES K(Z K(Z AND K(Z 'ENERALLY THE HIGHER THE SETTING THE BETTER THE ENCODE (OWEVER HIGHER SET TINGS GENERATE LARGER lLE SIZES TOO $ATA RATEINDICATES THE AVERAGE DATA RATE OF THE ENCODED lLE ,OWER RATES WILL REDUCE QUALITY SIGNIlCANTLY BUT CAN SAVE SPACE 4HE MINIMUM FOR SHOULD BE KBPS BUT KBPS IS A BETTER CHOICE (IGHER RATES CAN IMPROVE QUALITY BUT THERE IS RISK &OR EXAMPLE A $6$ PLAYER MAY NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH THE DATA STREAM AND GLITCHING MAY RESULT $IALOG NORMALIZATIONSETS THE AVER AGE LEVEL FOR DIALOG 4HIS SETTING IS SO IMPORTANT THAT ITS DISCUSSED IN GREATER DETAIL BELOW 4HIS IS SOMETIMES ABBRE VIATED DIALNORM TOO
#HAPTER
"ITSTREAM )NFORMATION 4HE MOST SIGNIlCANT PART OF THESE SET TINGS HAVE TO DO WITH DOWNMIX INFOR MATION #ENTER MIX LEVELSETS THE LEVEL REDUC TION THE DECODER SHOULD APPLY WHEN DOWNMIXING TO STEREO 4HE STANDARD IS nD" $URING THE DOWNMIX THE CENTER CHANNEL GETS ADDED TO BOTH THE ,2 FRONT 2EDUCING THE VOLUME RECREATES THE ORIGINAL BALANCE 3URROUND MIX LEVELSETS THE LEVEL FOR THE SURROUND CHANNELS WHEN ADDED TO THE ,2 FRONT DURING A STEREO DOWNMIX !GAIN nD" IS STANDARD BUT YOU MAY PREFER HIGHER SETTINGS DEPENDING ON WHAT SOUND INFORMATION YOUR SURROUND CHANNELS ARE CARRYING 9OU CAN EVEN SELECT NONE IF THE BALANCE IS ACCEPT ABLE 3ET COPYRIGHT BITSELECT THIS TO ADD COPYRIGHT PROTECTION AND DISCOURAGE UNAUTHORIZED COPYING -ARK AS ORIGINAL BITSTREAMCHECK THIS ONLY IF THIS IS THE ORIGINAL ENCODE
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
)NCLUDE AUDIO PRODUCTION INFORMA TIONTHESE OPTIONAL lELDS LET YOU INCLUDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ROOM TYPE SPEAKERS USED AND MIXING LEVEL .OTE THAT THE MIX LEVEL USES THE MONI TORING VOLUME IN 30, AND THE REFERENCE LEVEL USED &OR EXAMPLE IF THE MONITOR CALIBRATION WAS nD"&3 PINK NOISE TO SET D" 30, THE VALUE IS D" D" 30,
#HAPTER
%XTENDED "ITSTREAM 4HIS OPTIONAL METADATA CAN BE INCLUD ED IN THE !# ENCODE 4HIS INFORMA TION ALLOWS lNE TUNING OF THE DOWNMIX OPTIONS $OLBY 3URROUND %8 MODEINDICATES WHETHER YOUR MIX IS %8 OR NOT $OLBY 3URROUND %8 ADDS A NON DISCRETE CEN TER SURROUND CHANNEL IT IS MATRIXED WITH THE ,S2S CHANNELS !$ CONVERTER TYPESCHOOSES THE ANA LOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER USED 3TANDARD IS lNE 3TEREO DOWNMIX PREFERENCEDIRECTS THE WAY AN ENCODER HANDLES THE DOWN MIX v ,O2O!DDS THE CENTER CHANNEL TO THE FRONT ,2 AND THE SURROUNDS TO THEIR RESPECTIVE FRONT CHANNELS v ,T2T!DDS THE CENTER CHANNEL TO THE FRONT ,2 3UMS THE SURROUND CHANNELS TO MONO ADDS THEM TO BOTH FRONT ,2 CHANNELS THE RIGHT DEGREES OUT OF PHASE v ,O2O AND ,T2T CENTERSURROUND MIX LEVELADJUSTS THE PLAYBACK VOLUME OF THESE CHANNELS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE DOWNMIX SCENARIOS
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
0REPROCESSING $IGITAL DE EMPHASISAPPLIES A lLTER WHEN AN EMPHASIS lLTER WAS USED ON THE AUDIO BEFORE THE ENCODE $# HIGH PASS lLTERREMOVES ANY $# O«SET THAT MAY BE PRESENT IN THE AUDIO lLES 4HE DIGITIZING PROCESS SOMETIMES ADDS DIRECT CURRENT $# TO THE RECORD INGS 4HIS CAN MISALIGN OR O«SET THE ZERO CROSSING WHERE A SOUND WAVE CROSSES THE CENTER LINE
#HAPTER
"ANDWIDTH LOW PASS lLTERPREVENTS FREQUENCIES ABOVE THE CHOSEN !UDIO "ANDWIDTH FROM REACHING THE ENCODER 4HIS IS ESSENTIALLY AN ANTI ALIASING lLTER ,&% LOW PASS lLTERENABLES THE ,&% lLTER TO KEEP FREQUENCIES ABOVE THE CUTO« POINT OUT OF THE ,&% CHANNEL
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
DEGREE PHASE SHIFTAPPLIES THE DEGREE PHASE SHIFT TO THE RIGHT CHAN NEL THAT IS USED BY THE DECODER WHEN DOWNMIXING FROM A MIX TO A STEREO ,T2T DOWNMIX D" ATTENUATIONREDUCES THE LEVEL OF THE SURROUNDS BEFORE ENCODING 4HIS IS NOT A DOWNMIX OPTION 4HIS SETTING COMPENSATES FOR lLM SURROUNDS THAT ARE OFTEN D" LOUDER 4ELEVISION MIXES OFTEN EMPLOY THIS LEVEL DROP BECAUSE VIEWERS OFTEN SIT CLOSER TO THE SUR ROUNDS THAN THEY SHOULD
#HAPTER
$YNAMIC RANGE COMPRESSION $2# CONTROLS THE DI«ERENCE BETWEEN THE LOUDEST AND THE SOFTEST PARTS OF THE MIX )T WORKS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE DIALOG NORMALIZATION SETTING 4HIS SUB JECT IS DISCUSSED IN DETAIL BELOW ,INE MODE PROlLESETS THE COMPRES SION TYPE USED BY THE DECODER FOR LINE LEVEL SIGNALS 2& MODE PROlLEINDICATES THE COM PRESSION TYPE USED BY THE DECODER FOR ANTENNA 2& SIGNALS 2& OVERMODULA TION PROTECTION CAN ALSO BE APPLIED
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
$IALOG .ORMALIZATION 4HE DIALOG NORMALIZATION OR DIALNORM SETTING INDICATES THE DIALOG LEVEL BASED ON THE ! WEIGHTED AVERAGE LEVEL OVER TIME 4HE !# DECODER USES THE SET TING TO ADJUST OR NORMALIZE THE AUDIO OUTPUT TO A SPECIlC LEVEL 4HE POINT OF DIALOG NORMALIZATION IS TO MAINTAIN CONSISTENT VOLUME LEV ELS AMONG DI«ERENT SOURCES SUCH AS 46 AND $6$ 0ROPER SETTINGS OF THE DIALNORM PARAMETERS MEANS A LISTENER DOESNT NEED TO ADJUST THE VOLUME WHEN CHANGING 46 CHANNELS OR FROM 46 TO A $6$ 4HE CHOSEN LISTENING LEVEL THEREFORE STAYS CONSTANT FOR THE LISTENER %VEN MIXES WITHOUT DIALOG SUCH AS INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC STILL NEED PROPERLY SET PARAMETERS 4HE DIALOG NORMALIZATION SETTINGS RANGE FROM n TO nD" IN D" INCRE MENTS 4HE n SETTING INDICATES NO LEVEL SHIFT TO THE ENCODER 7HEN THE DECODER SEES AN !# STREAM WITH THE n DIALNORM SETTING NO LEVEL SHIFT IS APPLIED TO THE MATERIAL 4HE nD"&3 INDICATES THE AVERAGE ! WEIGHTED LEVEL OF THE DIALOG OVER TIME 4HAT IS D" BELOW D" DIGITAL FULL SCALE
#HAPTER
5SING THE n SETTING MEANS YOUR MATE RIAL WILL PLAY AT ITS PRE ENCODED LEVEL
'ENERAL GUIDELINES FOR DIALOG NORMALIZATION
(OWEVER THERE IS ANOTHER STEP CALLED DYNAMIC RANGE COMPRESSION $2# THAT CAN A«ECT THE VOLUME OF THE MIX #ONVERSELY A n SETTING TELLS THE DE CODER TO APPLY THE MAXIMUM LEVEL SHIFT
v ,IGHT JAZZ OR .EW !GE n v -OTION PICTURES n v .EWS OR DOCUMENTARY n
OF D" 4HE FORMULA IS AS FOLLOWS
v 0OP n TO n
v DIALNORM SETTING LEVEL SHIFT
v 2OCK @N ROLL n TO n
v n D" LEVEL SHIFT
v 3PORTS n
4HE POINT OF THE DIALNORM IS TO MAIN
v 4ELEVISION SHOWS n TO n
TAIN CONSISTENT VOLUME LEVELS AND TO FEED THE $2# PROlLES 4HIS HELPS THE LISTENER HAVE A MORE ENJOYABLE EXPERI ENCE 9OU MAY BE TEMPTED TO SET A HIGH DIALNORM SETTING IN AN E«ORT TO RAISE THE OVERALL VOLUME OF YOUR MIX $ECOD ERS HAVE BUILT IN OVERLOAD PROTECTION TO PREVENT HIGH VOLUME LEVEL DISTOR TION 5NFORTUNATELY THIS CIRCUITRY MAY ADVERSELY A«ECT YOUR MIX BY OVERLY COMPRESSING IT 4HEREFORE THE TWO PROCESSES ARE COUNTER PRODUCTIVE 9OU TURN UP THE DIALNORM SETTING AND THE DECODER THEN TURNS THE VOLUME DOWN BECAUSE YOUR MIX IS OVERLOADING THE SYSTEM
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
$YNAMIC 2ANGE #OMPRESSION 4HE $OLBY !# ENCODER ALLOWS SPECIlC SETTINGS TO CONTROL THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE MATERIAL $YNAMIC RANGE IS THE DI«ERENCE BETWEEN THE LOUDEST AND THE SOFTEST PARTS OF THE MIX 4HERE ARE TIMES WHEN A VIEWER OR LISTENER PREFERS THE LARGEST DYNAMIC RANGE SUCH AS WHEN WATCHING A (OLLYWOOD BLOCKBUST ER IN A HOME THEATER (OWEVER THERE ARE TIMES WHEN A REDUCED DYNAMIC RANGE IS DESIRED SUCH AS LATE NIGHT VIEWING 0ROPERLY SETTING THE DYNAMIC RANGE COMPRESSION OR $2# METADATA TELLS THE DECODER TO REDUCE THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF MATERIAL BASED UPON PRESET CHOICES INDICATED WHEN ENCODING 4HE LISTENER CAN THEN DECIDE WHETHER TO APPLY THE $2# OR NOT DURING PLAYBACK (OWEVER NOT ALL $6$ DECODERS ALLOW SELECT ING THE $2# 3TEREO LINE LEVEL AND 2& SET TOP $6$ PLAYERS OFTEN RARELY HAVE SELECTABLE $2# OPTIONS "ECAUSE THESE DEVICES DELIVER ONLY A STEREO DOWNMIX THE $2# PROlLE INDICATED BY THE META DATA IS NEARLY ALWAYS APPLIED
#HAPTER
$6$ PLAYERS WITH DISCRETE OUTPUTS TYPICALLY GIVE THE LISTENERS THE CHOICE TO ACTIVATE THE $2# OR NOT )T MAY NOT BE CALLED $2# )T MAY BE CALLED hMID NIGHT MODEv OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT &OR INSTANCE ONE OF MY CONSUMER SUR ROUND SYSTEMS CALLS IT hNIGHT MODEv 4HERE ARE TWO MODES OF $2# ,INE MODE PROlLE IS USED BY TWO CHANNEL SET TOP PLAYERS AND BOTH STEREO AND DIGITAL TELEVISION 4HIS COMPRES SION PROlLE CAN BOOST LOW LEVEL AND CUT HIGH LEVEL SIGNALS 4HIS E«ECTIVELY SQUEEZES OR COMPRESSES THE DYNAMIC RANGE 4HE COMPRESSION IS SCALEABLE DEPENDING ON THE MODE PROlLE CHOSEN AND THE DIALNORM SETTING
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
2& MODE PROlLE IS USED BY SET TOP PLAYERS THAT CONNECT THROUGH AN 2& OR ANTENNA CONNECTION 4HERE IS NO SCAL ING OF THE COMPRESSION 2& MODE RAISES THE OVERALL LEVEL OF THE MIX D" AND LIMITS THE PEAKS TO PREVENT OVERMODU LATION DISTORTION 4HE $2# PROlLES DETERMINE HOW MUCH LOW LEVEL SIGNALS ARE BOOSTED AND HIGH LEVEL SIGNALS ARE CUT 4HERE ARE SIX PRO lLES AVAILABLE FROM WHICH TO CHOOSE v &ILM ,IGHT v &ILM 3TANDARD v -USIC ,IGHT v -USIC 3TANDARD v 3PEECH v .ONE 4HOUGH YOU CAN INDICATE A $2# PROlLE IT APPLIES ONLY IF THE CONSUMER CHOOSES $2# MODE DURING PLAYBACK /THERWISE ONLY THE DIALNORM SETTING APPLIES (OWEVER MANY STEREO ONLY DEVICES AUTOMATICALLY ENGAGE $2# WHEN DOWN MIXING
#HAPTER
%ACH $2# PROlLE HAS DI«ERENT PRESET PROPERTIES THAT CANNOT BE ADJUSTED v -AX "OOSTINDICATES THE AMOUNT OF LOW LEVEL SIGNAL BOOST v "OOST 2ANGESHOWS THE RANGE IN D" OF LOW LEVEL SIGNALS BOOSTED AND THE AMOUNT EXPRESSED AS A RATIO SEE BELOW v .ULL "AND 7IDTHTHIS IS THE RANGE WHERE NO COMPRESSION IS APPLIED 4HIS RANGE IS CENTERED AT THE DIALOG NORMALIZATION SETTING 4HE $2# PROlLE THEN ADJUSTS THE OTHER SET TINGS IN RELATION TO THE DIALNORM LEVEL SETTING )MPROPERLY SETTING DIALNORM DEFEATS THE WHOLE PUR POSE OF THE $2# METADATA )F YOU SET THE DIALNORM TOO HIGH THE $2# OVERLOAD PROTECTION CIRCUITY MAY ADVERSELY A«ECT PLAYBACK QUALITY v %ARLY #UT 2ANGESETS THE INITIAL RANGE WHERE HIGH LEVELS ARE TURNED DOWN OR COMPRESSED AND THE AMOUNT EXPRESSED AS A RATIO SEE BELOW v #UT 2ANGESHOWS THE HIGHER LEVEL SIGNALS THAT ARE TURNED DOWN ALSO EXPRESSED BY A RATIO SEE BELOW
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
&ILM ,IGHT v -AX "OOST D" BELOW nD"
&ILM 3TANDARD v -AX "OOST D" BELOW nD"
v "OOST 2ANGE n TO
v "OOST 2ANGE n TO
nD" RATIO
nD" RATIO
v .ULL "AND 7IDTH D" n TO nD" v %ARLY #UT 2ANGE n TO nD" RATIO v #UT 2ANGE n TO D" RATIO
v .ULL "AND 7IDTH D" n TO nD" v %ARLY #UT 2ANGE n TO D" RATIO v #UT 2ANGE n TO D" RATIO
-USIC ,IGHT
-USIC 3TANDARD
v -AX "OOST D" BELOW
v -AX "OOST D" BELOW
nD"
nD"
v "OOST 2ANGE n TO
v "OOST 2ANGE n TO
nD" RATIO
nD" RATIO
v .ULL "AND 7IDTH D" n TO nD" v %ARLY #UT 2ANGE NONE v #UT 2ANGE n TO D" RATIO
v .ULL "AND 7IDTH D" n TO nD" v %ARLY #UT 2ANGE n TO nD" RATIO v #UT 2ANGE n TO D" RATIO
4HE AMOUNT OF COMPRESSION IS INDICAT ED AS A RATIO SUCH AS ! RATIO MEANS THERE IS NO COMPRESSION A D" SIGNAL LEVEL CHANGE RESULTS IN A D" OUTPUT NO OR UNITY GAIN !T OTHER RA TIOS THE OUTPUT IS REDUCED BY RELATIVE AMOUNTS !T A D" INCREASE IN INPUT LEVEL RESULTS IN ONLY A D" OUTPUT LEVEL GAIN 4HESE ARE THE PRESET SETTINGS FOR THE $2# PROlLES
#HAPTER
/NCE AGAIN THE RIGHT SETTINGS ARE
3PEECH
PROJECT DRIVEN 4HEREFORE ) SUGGEST THAT YOU EXPERIMENT WITH THE MODES AND THE DIALNORM SETTINGS $O SOME TEST ENCODES AND EVALUATE THEM 4HEN CHOOSE THE BEST SETTING FOR YOUR SUR ROUND SOUND MIX BASED ON THESE TESTS
v -AX "OOST D" BELOW nD" v "OOST 2ANGE n TO nD" RATIO v .ULL "AND 7IDTH D" n TO nD" v %ARLY #UT 2ANGE n TO nD" RATIO v #UT 2ANGE n TO D" RATIO
.ONE v 4HE DIALOGUE NORMALIZA TION STILL APPLIES )F YOU SET DIALNORM TO n D" IN CONJUNCTION WITH THIS SETTING YOUR MIX WILL PLAY BACK AT ITS ORIGINAL VOLUME AND DYNAMIC RANGE 9OU E«ECTIVELY DEFEAT THE $2# AND THE n DIALNORM REmECTS NO SIGNAL NORMALIZATION OR BOOST
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
$43 $43 #OHERENT !COUSTICS !UDIO O«ERS AN ADDITIONAL OR ALTERNATIVE FORMAT FOR DELIVERING YOUR SURROUND MIXES ON $6$ 4HERE ARE BOTH HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE BASED ENCODERS AVAILABLE /F UTMOST IMPORTANCE WHEN USING $43 IS PROPER SYNCHRONIZATION BETWEEN THE PICTURE AND THE SOUNDTRACK $43 EMBEDS TIMECODE TO MAINTAIN SYNC (OWEVER SOME $43 ENCODERS RELY ONLY ON THE AUDIO AND VIDEO STARTING ON THE SAME FRAME #HECK WITH YOUR ENCODER FOR SPECIlCS $43 PREFERS YOUR SOURCE AUDIO TRACKS PRIOR TO ENCODING TO HAVE THE K(Z SAMPLE RATE
#HAPTER
3ETTINGS AVAILABLE FOR $43 ENCODES INCLUDE v "ITRATE SELECTIONCHOOSE EITHER KBPS OR KBPS $43 RECOMMENDS THE HIGHER RATE UNLESS SPACE IS AT A PREMIUM IN THE DISC v ,&%SELECT WHETHER TO INCLUDE OR EXCLUDE THE ,&% FROM THE lNAL EN CODE v 3URROUND #HANNEL !TTENUATIONAP PLIES A nD" VOLUME ADJUSTMENT TO THE SURROUNDS v 2ESOLUTIONSELECT THE BIT DEPTH FROM EITHER OR BITS $43 DOES NOT SUPPORT METADATA SO THERE ARE NO SETTINGS FOR DIALOG NOR MALIZATION OR $2# PROlLES AS WITH $OLBY $IGITAL !#
%XPORT AND %NCODE /PTIONS
7INDOWS -EDIA 4O DELIVER VIA THE WEB AND ON #$ 2/- 7INDOWS -EDIA AND ABOVE O«ERS SUPPORT FOR SURROUND SOUND 9OU CAN SELECT EITHER CONSTANT BIT RATE #"2 OR QUALITY VARIABLE BIT RATE 6"2 #HOOSE THE BITRATE OF THE ENCODED lLE AND INDICATE ITS BIT DEPTH OR BIT 4HERE ARE NO OTHER SETTINGS IN THE ENCODER
#HAPTER
4ESTING THE %NCODE 7HEN USING SOFTWARE ENCODERS IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO AUDITION THE RESULTS DURING THE ENCODE ITSELF &EW IF ANY PRODUCTS PLAY ENCODED lLES )NSTEAD YOU MAY NEED TO AUTHOR A $6$ WITH YOUR lNISHED !# OR $43 ENCODED AUDIO /NCE COMPLETED PLAY BACK THE DISC AND EVALUATE THE MIX AND THE ENCODE 3INCE $6$S SUPPORT MULTIPLE SOUNDTRACKS UP TO EIGHT YOU COULD INCLUDE SEVERAL DI«ERENT MIXES OR ENCODES ON ONE DISC 7ITH YOUR $6$ REMOTE SWITCH BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE TRACKS AND DECIDE WHATS BEST FOR THE PROJECT ) HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU EVALUATE THESE TESTS ON A VARIETY OF DI«ERENT SYSTEMS TOO 4AKE NOTES AND USE WHAT YOU LEARN FOR THE ENCODE DESTINED FOR THE lNAL DISC
#ONCLUSION
#ONCLUSION &INAL THOUGHTS 4HIS BOOK PROVIDED THE BASIC FOUNDATION ON WHICH
!LSO TO AUGMENT YOUR EDUCATION ) HIGHLY RECOM MEND THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
TO BUILD YOUR SURROUND SOUND ENDEAVORS !RE YOU
$OLBY WWWDOLBYCOM O«ERS SEVERAL FREE DOCU
EXCITED ABOUT THE CREATIVE POSSIBILITIES OPEN TO YOU
MENTS IN 0$& FORMAT THAT PROVIDE ADDITIONAL
WITH YOUR OWN WORK
DETAILS
) ALSO KNOW THAT NO SINGLE BOOK CAN TELL YOU EVERY
s
! 'UIDE TO $OLBY -ETADATA
s
0RODUCTION 'UIDELINES
s
-USIC 0RODUCTION 'UIDELINES
THING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT A SUBJECT 4HERE FORE ) ENCOURAGE YOU TO KEEP LEARNING ABOUT AUDIO PRODUCTION AND SURROUND SOUND TECHNIQUES ,ISTEN TO WHAT OTHER PROFESSIONALS ARE SAYING ABOUT AND DOING WITH SURROUND SOUND 'O TO THE MOVIES RENT $6$S BUY MUSIC MIXED SPECIlCALLY IN +EEP EXPANDING YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND YOUR OWN WORK WILL BE SO MUCH BETTER
$43 WWWDTSONLINECOM ALSO HAS A USEFUL DOCU MENT s
$6$ 6IDEO 0RODUCTION WITH $43 #OHERENT !COUS TICS !UDIO
#ONCLUSION
)F YOU PLAN TO AUTHOR MUSIC IN SURROUND SOUND GET THE 2ECORDING !CADEMYS 0RODUCERS AND %NGINEER ING WING WWWGRAMMYCOM GUIDELINES s
2ECOMMENDATIONS FOR 3URROUND 3OUND 0RODUC TION
3URROUND 0ROFESSIONAL -AGAZINE WWWSURROUND PROCOM HAS UP TO DATE INFORMATION ALONG WITH AN ANNUAL CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO SURROUND SOUND )M HAPPY TO HELP YOU FURTHER TOO $ROP BY $IGITAL -EDIA .ET WWWDMNFORUMSCOM AND YOULL lND ME CO HOSTING THE !CID 6EGAS AND 3OUND &ORGE FORUMS !LSO FEEL FREE TO STOP BY MY 7EB SITE AT WWWJEF FREYPlSHERCOM OR E MAIL ME AT JPF JE«REYPlSHER COM 3URROUND SOUND IS AN EVOLVING lELD ) HOPE YOU NOW FEEL EMPOWERED TO EXPERIMENT FREELY WITH YOUR OWN WORK )LL BE LISTENING
*E«REY 0 &ISHER
'LOSSARY
'LOSSARY 3OME OF THESE AUDIO TERMS ARE RELEVANT TO SURROUND
!#- !UDIO #OMPRESSION -ANAGER DEVELOPED BY -ICRO
SOUND DIRECTLY AND OTHER TERMS ARE RELATED TO THE AUDIO
SOFT AS THE STANDARD INTERFACE FOR SIGNAL PROCESSING OF AU
AND VIDEO INDUSTRY IN GENERAL 3OME OF THE TERMS ARE
DIO DATA IN THE 7INDOWS ENVIRONMENT PARTICULARLY GEARED
hNEWv LANGUAGE ADAPTED FROM THE ANALOG WORLD
TOWARDS THE 7!6 lLE FORMAT 3OME TOOLS ALLOW CUSTOM
!!& !DVANCED !UTHORING &ORMAT A FORMAT THAT ALLOWS APPLICATIONS TO SHARE RAW OR ROUGH CUTS !$ CONVERTER !NALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER -ANY !$S
!#- PROCESSES !$# !NOTHER NAME FOR ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER 3EE $!#
ARE ALSO $!S WHICH CONVERT DIGITAL BACK TO ANALOG FOR
!$2 !UTOMATED DIALOG REPLACEMENT THE PROCESS OF RE
MONITORING
PLACING ACTORS LINES RECORDED ON LOCATION WITH CLEAN AND
!# $OLBYS AUDIO COMPRESSION SCHEME THIRD GENERA TION "OTH STEREO AND SURROUND FORMAT lLES MAY BE ENCODED TO !# -ANY SOFTWARE TOOLS SUPPORT THE ENCODING OF STEREO AUDIO AND IMPORT OF !# lLES
CLEAR AUDIO RECORDED IN A STUDIO ENVIRONMENT !$2 WAS VERY POPULAR IN THE S AND S AND THEN WAS NOT QUITE AS COMMON THROUGH THE S 4HE HIGH VOLUME OF lLM TECHNOLOGY TODAY OFTEN CALLS FOR !$2 !$2 IS ALSO OFTEN CALLED hLOOPINGv BUT SHOULD NOT BE CONFUSED WITH AUDIO LOOPS SUCH AS THOSE FROM !#)$
'LOSSARY
!)&& !UDIO )NTERCHANGE &ILE &ORMAT
!NCHOR POINT ! BITSTREAM LOCATION
ANALOG AUDIO AND VIDEO SIGNALS !6) IS
)T CAN BE USED FOR STORING AUDIO IN
THAT SERVES AS A RANDOM POINT !N
ALSO THE lLE FORMAT USED BY VIDEO FOR
HIGH OR LOW RESOLUTION FORMATS AND
EXAMPLE IS AN -0%' ) FRAME
7INDOWS
!NTI ALIASING /VERSAMPLING SMOOTH
!TTENUATE !N ANALOG TERM REFERRING
ING lLTERS INTERPOLATION OF SOUND )T
TO THE DECREASING OF THE AUDIO LEVEL
IS THE OPPOSITE OF ALIASING
5SUALLY DESCRIBED IN DECIBELS
!RTIFACT $ISTORTION OF A PICTURE OR
!UDIO lLE !UDIO STORED IN ANY DIGI
A SOUND SIGNAL 7ITH DIGITAL VIDEO
TAL FORMAT 4HIS IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED
ARTIFACTS CAN RESULT FROM OVERLOAD
WITH AUDIOPHILE AN AUDIO A«ECIO
ING THE INPUT DEVICE WITH TOO MUCH
NADO
SHARING THEM BETWEEN COMPUTER SYS TEMS )T IS PREDOMINANTLY AN !PPLE FORMAT !LIASING 4HE UNDESIRED SHIFTING OF FREQUENCIES PARTICULARLY PROBLEMATIC AT LOW SAMPLING RATES WHERE THERE ARENT ENOUGH SAMPLES TO DESCRIBE OR RECREATE A SOUND &OR INSTANCE IF YOU HAVE A K(Z TONE AND ARE SAMPLING AT A RATE OF K(Z AND THE AUDIO TONE
SIGNAL OR FROM EXCESSIVE OR IMPROPER COMPRESSION
" FRAME )N INTERFRAME COMPRES SION SCHEMES EG -0%' A HIGHLY
RISES IN THEORY YOU WONT BE ABLE TO
!SPECT RATIO 2ATIO OF WIDTH TO HEIGHT
COMPRESSED BIDIRECTIONAL FRAME THAT
RECORD FREQUENCIES HIGHER THAN THE
IN DIMENSIONS OF AN IMAGE &OR EXAM
RECORDS THE CHANGE THAT OCCURRED
K(Z TONE 7HAT REALLY HAPPENS IS
PLE THE FRAME ASPECT RATIO OF .43#
BETWEEN THE I FRAMES BEFORE AND AFTER
THAT THE SAMPLE ACTUALLY BECOMES
VIDEO IS WHEREAS WIDESCREEN
IT " FRAMES ENABLE -0%' COMPRESSED
A RECREATION OF A LOWER TONE CREAT
FRAME SIZES USE THE MORE ELONGATED
VIDEO TO BE PLAYED IN REVERSE #ON
ING AN OBNOXIOUS DISTORTION OF THE
ASPECT RATIO OF OR
TRAST WITH ) FRAME AND 0 FRAME
!SSET !NY DIGITAL lLE THAT IS PART OF
"ALANCE 4HE DI«ERENCE IN LEVEL OR
THE LIBRARY OR PROJECT
APPARENT LOUDNESS BETWEEN 2IGHT
ORIGINAL TONE !MPLITUDE 4HE HEIGHT OF A WAVEFORM MEASURED FROM THE MIDDLE WHERE SILENCE WOULD BE INDICATED )F NO
!UDITION 0REVIEW AUDIO OR VIDEO
WAVEFORM IS DRAWN THEN THE AUDIO
!43# !DVANCED 4ELEVISION 3YSTEMS
SECTION IS SILENT THE MEASUREMENT
#OMMITTEE WHICH DETERMINES VOLUN
FROM CENTER TO THE HIGHEST POINT IN THE
TARY TECHNICAL STANDARDS OF ACQUISI
GRAPHICAL DRAWING IS THE VALUE OF THE
TION AUTHORING DISTRIBUTION AND RE
AMPLITUDE !COUSTIC AMPLITUDE IS MEA
CEPTION OF HIGH DElNITION TELEVISION
SURED IN D" SEE DECIBELS 4HE LOUDER THE SIGNAL THE HIGHER THE AMPLITUDE REGARDLESS OF THE MEASUREMENT FORMAT PEAK 2-3 )NSTANT ETC
!6) !UDIO 6IDEO )NTERLEAVED THE FOR MAT OR SCHEME CREATED BY -ICROSOFT FOR SYNCHRONIZING AND COMPRESSING
AND ,EFT IN A STEREO AUDIO SIGNAL 3EE 0ANNING "ALANCED CABLE ! CABLE THAT CONTAINS TWO CONDUCTORS CARRYING AUDIO PLUS A SHIELD FOR THE GROUND THAT CARRIES NO AUDIO 0ROFESSIONAL MIC CABLES ARE ALWAYS BALANCED "ANDWIDTH 4HE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES IN AN AUDIO lLE %1 OR OTHER SIGNAL
'LOSSARY
OR DEVICE THAT PASSES A SIGNAL 4HIS
"RICK WALL 7HEN DIGITAL AUDIO HITS
AGERED GREEN AND BLUE #OLORS
TERM ALSO REFERS TO THE DATA RATE OF A
THE D" THRESHOLD BITS ARE TRUNCATED
ARE CARRIED IN SEPARATES CHANNEL
STREAMING lLE
AND LOST 4HIS IS KNOWN AS HITTING
SO EACH MAY BE ADJUSTED INDEPEN
THE BRICK WALL AS THERE IS NO RECOVERY
DENTLY #HANNELS MAY ALSO BE ADDED
FROM LOST BITS )T IS A DIGITAL FORM OF
TO A COMPUTER GRAPHIC lLE TO DElNE
DISTORTION
MASKS
"RIGHT $ESCRIPTIVE TERM TO DESCRIBE
#HAPTER ! NEW SEGMENT OF AN EXIST
HIGH FREQUENCIES )F A SOUND IS BRIGHT
ING WORK AS THE WORK IS BROKEN UP
THEN IT CONTAINS A NUMBER OF HIGH
INTO SUBJECT OR SCENE SPECIlC SEC
FREQUENCIES )F THE SOUND IS NOT
TIONS
"ASS ,OW FREQUENCIES IN THE OVERALL SPECTRUM OF SOUND "ASS IS APPROXI MATED IN THE (Z TO (Z REGION OF THE FREQUENCY SPECTRUM "ED "ACKGROUND MUSIC OR SOUND EF FECT LAID UNDER A VOICE OVER 4YPICAL TERM IN TELEVISION AND RADIO
BRIGHT THEN IT MAY BE CONSIDERED
#HORUS &8 ! SERIES OF SHORT MODU
"ITMAP ! GRAPHIC IMAGE COMPRISED
DULL CONTAINING FEW HIGH FREQUENCIES
OF INDIVIDUAL PIXELS EACH OF WHICH
3IBILANCE IS TYPICALLY FAIRLY BRIGHT
HAS A VALUE THAT DElNE ITS RELATIVE
ALLOWING BREATH AND 3S 0S 4S 0S AND
BRIGHTNESS AND COLOR
OTHER SIBILANT SOUNDS TO BE HEARD
"IT DEPTH 4HE NUMBER OF BITS IN A
"UMPER 3TOCK AUDIO IDENTIFYING THE
SOUND OF AN ENSEMBLE DUE TO THE
SAMPLE 4HE GREATER THE NUMBER OF
TELEVISION RADIO OR CABLE STATION
SLIGHT DI«ERENCES IN TIMING AND PITCH
BITS THE GREATER THE RESOLUTION OF THE
OR PERHAPS DESIGNATING A CORPORATE
AUDIO lLE AND THEREFORE THE MORE AC
AUDIO IDENT SUCH AS THE FAMOUS )NTEL
CURATELY THE DIGITAL lLE WILL REPRODUCE
SOUND
THE ORIGINAL AUDIO IMAGE
"US ! FEATURE USED IN HARDWARE
LATED DELAYS WITH SLIGHT SHIFTS IN PITCH TO CREATE THE E«ECT OF MULTIPLE VOICES STEMMING FROM ONE VOICE 4HIS E«ECT ALLOWS A SOLO INSTRUMENT TO HAVE THE
#LIP ! DIGITIZED OR CAPTURED PORTION OF VIDEO #LIPPING $ISTORTION RESULTING FROM WHEN AUDIO IS hCLIPPED O« AFTER
"LUMLEIN 4ECHNIQUE ! STEREO
MIXERS AND SOME SOFTWARE MIXERS
MICROPHONE TECHNIQUE USING TWO BI
TO ROUTE AUDIO FROM PLACE TO PLACE
DIRECTIONAL lGURE OF MICROPHONES
SUCH AS SUBMIXES E«ECTS AND OTHER
CROSSED AGAINST EACH OTHER
PROCESSES
"OOST 2AISING THE VOLUME OF AN AUDIO
#APTURING #APTURING SOURCE VIDEO
ING $ISTORTION CAN ALSO MEAN THE
SIGNAL
FOR USE ON A COMPUTER )F ANALOG
CROPPING OF PEAKS OVERMODULATION
THE CAPTURED VIDEO IS CONVERTED TO
OF THE WHITE OR THE BLACK PORTIONS OF
DIGITAL
A VIDEO SIGNAL
#HANNEL %ACH COMPONENT COLOR THAT
#ODEC #ONTRACTION OF COMPRESSION
DElNES A COMPUTER GRAPHIC IM
DECOMPRESSION ALGORITHM USED TO EN
"0- "EATS PER MINUTE AND SOMETIMES BEATS PER MEASURE )TS AN INDICATION OF TEMPO
EXCEEDING MAXIMUM LEVELS $ISTOR TION CAN BE CAUSED AT INPUT OUTPUT OR PROCESSING STAGES )N THE DIGITAL REALM CLIPPING BECOMES BRICK WALL
'LOSSARY
CODE AND DECODE DATA SUCH AS SOUND
IS COPYRIGHTED AS ITS COMPLETED .O
FREQUENCY 4HE HIGHER THE CUTO« THE
AND VIDEO lLES #OMMON CODECS
ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO COPY THE COM
LESS ORIGINAL AUDIO IS ALLOWED TO BE
INCLUDE THOSE THAT CONVERT ANALOG
POSITION VIDEO OR OTHER ART FORMS
HEARD
VIDEO SIGNALS TO COMPRESSED DIGITAL
WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR
VIDEO lLES EG -0%' OR ONES THAT
OF THE WORK
CONVERT ANALOG SOUND SIGNALS INTO DIGITAL SOUND lLES SUCH AS 7INDOWS
#4) #URRENT 4IME )NDICATOR
7-! lLE FORMAT 3URROUND AUDIO IS
#UE ! SPECIlC PIECE OF MUSIC COM
OFTEN ENCODED TO THE !# CODEC
POSED TO PLAY AT A SPECIlC MOMENT
#OMPILATION ! MUSIC INDUSTRY TERM FOR A MUSIC PLAYLIST
IN TIME 4HE MOMENT THE COMPOSI TION IS TO PLAY IS CALLED A CUE POINT ! LIST OF CUE POINTS IS CALLED A CUE LIST
#OMPRESS DYNAMIC RANGE 4O
GENERALLY DETERMINED IN THE SPOT
REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF DYNAMIC RANGE
TING SESSION SEE 3POTTING 3POTTING
OF AN AUDIO SIGNAL MAKING THE OVERALL
MAY ALSO REFER TO A MARKER IN SOME
OUTPUT MORE CONSISTENT ! COMPRES
DIALOGS #UE ALSO REFERS TO SETTING UP
SOR ACTS LIKE AN AUTOMATED FADER
A PIECE OF MEDIA AUDIO OR VIDEO TO
BRINGING LOUD PORTIONS OF AN AUDIO
PLAY AT A SPECIlC TRIGGER SUCH AS A $*
SIGNAL TO A MORE QUIET POINT AND
CUEING UP MUSIC OR VIDEO TO PLAY AT
RAISING THE LEVEL OF QUIET SECTIONS TO
THE PRESS OF A BUTTON
MATCH LOUDER TRANSIENT PEAKS
#UT 4O DELETE A SECTION FROM A DIGITAL
$!23 $IGITAL !UDIO 2EFERENCE 3IGNAL $!7 $IGITAL !UDIO 7ORKSTATION $ECIBEL D" ! MEASUREMENT OF SOUND DESCRIBING ELECTRICAL POWER REFERENCED TO MILLIWATT 3O D"M IS EQUAL TO MILLIWATT OR M 4HE AB BREVIATION D" MAY REFER TO D"U D"V OR D"M 4O A LISTENER AUDIO MUST BE D" LOUDER TO APPEAR TO BE TWICE AS LOUD WHILE ELECTRONICALLY ONLY D" OF VOLTAGE DI«ERENCE ARE REQUIRED FOR THE SAME RESULT 4HIS IS WHY A WATT AMPLIlER IS NOT TWICE AS LOUD AS A WATT AMPLIlER $EINTERLACE 4HE PROCESS OF REMOV ING ARTIFACTS THAT RESULT FROM THE NATURE OF TWO lELDS PER FRAME INTER
#OMPRESS lLE SIZE 2ESAMPLING
EVENT !LSO REFERS TO A COMPOSITION
REDUCING A lLE SIZE FOR STREAMING
TYPICALLY IN ALBUM FORM WITH THE
OR SHARING OVER THE )NTERNET OR AN
COMPOSITION BEING A hCUTv OF AN AL
$ESTRUCTIVENON DESTRUCTIVE
INTRANET 5SUALLY A LOSSY PROCESS
BUM !LSO REFERS TO REDUCING FREQUEN
$ESTRUCTIVE EDITING ALTERS THE ORIGINAL
CAUSING SOME LOSS OF AUDIO QUALITY
CIES IN AN EQUALIZER AS IN hCUTTING THE
lLE AND CANNOT BE UNDONE )N THE
2EAL -EDIA -0%' -*0%' -ICROSOFT
BASSv FROM A MIX MEANING TO REDUCE
$!7 AND .,% WORLDS DESTRUCTIVE
7-6 AND 7-! ARE ALL EXAMPLES OF
THE AMOUNT OF BASS IN A MIX
EDITING IS OFTEN USED TO SAVE DISK
COMPRESSED MEDIA 5SE !PPLES #OM PRESSOR TO COMPRESS MEDIA
#UTO« FREQUENCY 4HE FREQUENCY AT WHICH AUDIO IS DEEPLY ATTENUATED
#OPYRIGHT *UST AS THE WORD IMPLIES
OR REDUCED ,OW PASS AND HIGH PASS
THE RIGHT TO COPY !NY COMPOSITION
lLTERS BOTH CENTER AROUND A CUTO«
LACED VIDEO
SPACE 7ITH THE COST OF HARD DRIVES COMING DOWN DESTRUCTIVE EDITING IS LESS PREVALENT THAN IT WAS NOT LONG AGO .ON DESTRUCTIVE EDITING DOES NOT A«ECT THE ORIGINAL lLE REGARDLESS OF
'LOSSARY
WHAT PROCESSES ARE APPLIED $IGITIZE #ONVERTING ANALOG TO DIGITAL AUDIO OR VIDEO 4HE MOMENT ANALOG
$ULL /PPOSITE OF "RIGHT 3OUND THAT
%«ECTS &8 3IGNAL PROCESSORS ARE
IS DULL LACKS HIGH FREQUENCIES )T MAY
REFERRED TO AS E«ECTS OR &8 2EVERBS
BE PERCEIVED AS UNEXCITING
CHORUSES DELAYS PHASERS mANGERS ARE ALL REFERRED TO AS &8
INFORMATION IS STORED ON A HARD DRIVE
$6$6 $IGITAL VIDEO THE MOST
BY WHATEVER MEANS IT ARRIVES THERE IT
COMMON FORM OF $6 COMPRESSION
%ND ACTION !N INSTRUCTION GIVEN TO A
BECOMES DIGITIZED
$6 USES A DATA RATE OF MBPS PER
PLAYLIST OR VIDEO lLE INDICATING WHAT
SECOND OR -" PER SECOND
THE $6$ PLAYER SHOULD DO FOLLOWING
$ISTORTION 4HE POINT AT WHICH AUDIO NO LONGER MAINTAINS ITS ORIGINAL INTEG
$6$ $IGITAL 6ERSATILE $ISK USED
RITY INTENTIONALLY OR NOT !UDIO THAT
FOR STORING IMAGES DATA AUDIO AND
EXCEEDS PHYSICAL OR ELECTRONIC LIMITA
SYSTEM BACKUPS 4HE STANDARD FOR
TIONS BECOMES DISTORTED !LSO USED
-0%' STORAGE AND DISPLAY OF MOVING
AS AN E«ECT PARTICULARLY ON GUITARS
IMAGES
VIOLINS AND OTHER STRINGED INSTRU MENTS 3EE #LIPPING $OLBY$OLBY ,ABS &OUNDED IN $OLBY ,ABORATORIES IS KNOWN FOR THE TECHNOLOGIES IT HAS DEVELOPED FOR IM PROVING AUDIO SOUND RECORDING AND REPRODUCTION INCLUDING THEIR NOISE REDUCTION SYSTEMS EG $OLBY ! " AND # $OLBY $IGITAL !# $OWNCONVERT ! TERM USED TO DE SCRIBE THE FORMAT CONVERSION FROM A HIGHER RESOLUTION INPUT SIGNAL NUM BER TO A LOWER DISPLAY NUMBER SUCH AS I INPUT TO I DISPLAY $43 $IGITAL 4HEATRE 3URROUND $43 IS A COMPETITOR TO !# )T IS SLIGHTLY MORE ROBUST WITH A HIGHER DATA RATE )T WAS DEVELOPED IN PART BY 3TEVEN 3PIELBERG
$6$ 3TART 3ONYS NOMENCLATURE FOR THE lRST PLAY VIDEO IN A $6$ PROJECT
THE END OF A VIDEOS PLAY !N END AC TION MIGHT INSTRUCT THE $6$ TO PLAY THE NEXT VIDEO ON THE DISC RETURN TO A MENU OR SIMPLY STOP %NVELOPE ! GRAPHIC DISPLAY OF A VOLUME PAN OR &8 CONTROL ALLOWING AUTOMATED CONTROL OVER THE BEHAVIOR OF SPECIlC PARAMETERS IN THE MIXING
$YNAMIC RANGE 4HE DI«ERENCE
OF SOUNDS !LSO REFERRED TO AS THE
BETWEEN LOUD AND QUIET PASSAGES IN
ACOUSTICAL CONTOUR OF A SOUND ITS
AN AUDIO PERFORMANCE 3OMETIMES RE
ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN AND RELEASE
FERRED TO IN TERMS OF HOW LOUD AUDIO
!$32
IS PERMITTED TO GO WITHOUT DISTORTION OR HOW QUIET AUDIO MAY GO BEFORE NOISE IS HEARD
%NVELOPE POINT ! HANDLE OR NODE IN SERTED ON AN ENVELOPE USED TO CONTROL VARIOUS PARAMETERS OF VOLUME PAN
$YNAMICS 6ARYING LEVELS OF AM
AND AUTOMATED &8 FUNCTIONS IN A $!7
PLITUDE THAT AUDIO DEMONSTRATES
OR .,% APPLICATION
THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT
%QUALIZER %1 ! PLUG IN THAT ALLOWS
%$, %DIT DECISION LIST 4HE %$, IS
SPECIlC FREQUENCIES TO BE MANIPU
OFTEN USED TO MOVE PROJECTS FROM
LATED AND CONTROLLED "ASS MID RANGE
ONE SOFTWARE APPLICATION TO ANOTHER
AND TREBLE FREQUENCIES ARE ALL BROKEN
CONTAINING TIME POINTER AND OTHER
DOWN INTO SPECIlC BANDS AND ARE CON
INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE PROJECT
TROLLABLE VIA SLIDERS OR DIALS TO CUT
AND HOW IT IS MANAGED
OR BOOST SPECIlC FREQUENCIES 4HIS
'LOSSARY
IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOLS
&IRE7IRE !N )%%% HIGH BAND
'AIN 4HE AMOUNT THAT A SOUND IS
FOUND IN ANY $!7 OR .,% TOOL AS IT
WIDTH HIGH SPEED INTERFACE CREATED
AMPLIlED FROM ITS ORIGINAL VALUE
ALLOWS SPECIlC CONTOURING AND SHAP
BY !PPLE AS AN INDUSTRY STANDARD FOR
THE CHANGE IN ITS POWER POINT 3EE
ING OF AUDIO EVENTS TO HELP IT lT MORE
lLE )/ NOT LIMITED TO BUT COMMONLY
!MPLITUDE
EASILY WITH OTHER AUDIO EVENTS
RELATED TO VIDEO AND AUDIO !LSO USED
%XPORT 3ENDING MEDIA FROM ONE AP PLICATION TO ANOTHER SUCH AS EXCHANG
AS A HARD DRIVE INTERFACE 3ONY CALLS THIS I ,INK
ING AUDIO FROM AN .,% TO A $!7 3EE
&OLEY 4HE ART OF CREATING AMBIENT
)MPORT
SOUND FOR lLM SYNCHRONIZED WITH
&03 !BBREVIATION FOR FRAMES PER SECOND THE STANDARD FOR MEASURING THE RATE OF VIDEO PLAYBACK SPEED ! RATE OF FPS IS CONSIDERED REAL TIME SPEED AND A RATE OF FPS IS CONSID ERED ANIMATION SPEED !T nFPS
ACTION ON THE SCREEN ! &OLEY ROOM USED TO RECORD AUDIO FOR lLM CONTAINS VARIOUS SURFACES AND EQUIPMENT TO SIMULATE OR IMITATE SOUNDS HEARD IN
'/0 'ROUP OF 0ICTURES (ANDLES )N A CAPTURED VIDEO lLE OF A SPECIlC LENGTH ADDITIONAL TIME BEFORE AND AFTER THE SPECIlED LENGTH %XTRA VIDEO IS CAPTURED FOR EDITING PURPOSES 4HE WORD hHANDLESv IS ALSO USED TO DESCRIBE ENVELOPE POINTS IN SOME $!7 OR .,% SOFTWARE
THE lELD RECORDED AUDIO FOR lLM OR
($46 (IGH $ElNITION 4ELEVISION
VIDEO
($46 IS RAPIDLY BECOMING A WORLD STANDARD IN BOTH P AND I
THE HUMAN EYE CAN DETECT INDIVIDUAL
&RAME &ILM MOVES AT FRAMES PER
FRAMES CAUSING VIDEO TO APPEAR
SECOND MEANING THAT INDIVIDUAL
JERKY
PICTURES OR hFRAMESv ARE REQUIRED FOR
($6 (IGH $ElNITION 6IDEO NOT TO BE
EACH SECOND OF lLM OR VIDEO !N EX
CONFUSED WITH ($#AM OR OTHER FOR
TRACTED STILL IMAGE OR WHERE THE PLAY
MATS ($6 IS A -BPS VIDEO STREAM
HEAD PARKS IN AN .,% IS REFERRED TO AS
WHEN RECORDED AT I RESOLUTION
A FRAME .43# VIDEO MOVES AT
AND -BPS WHEN RECORDED AT P
FRAMES PER SECOND AND 0!, VIDEO
RESOLUTION
&ADE ! GRADUAL DECREASE OR INCREASE OF VIDEO OR AUDIO !UDIO FADES FROM AUDIBLE TO SILENT VIDEO FADES FROM VISIBLE TO BLACK ! FADE MAY ALSO BE USED TO TRANSITION FROM ONE EVENT TO ANOTHER CROSSFADE &IELD /NE COMPLETE VERTICAL SCAN OF A PICTURE THAT HAS LINES .43# ! COMPLETE TELEVISION FRAME COMPRISES TWO lELDS THE LINES OF lELD ARE VER TICALLY INTERLACED WITH THOSE OF lELD FOR LINES OF RESOLUTION ACCORDING TO THE .43# STANDARD
MOVES AT FRAMES PER SECOND
FORMATS
(Z (ERTZ +ILO(ERTZ IS ABBREVIATED
&REQUENCY )N AUDIO THIS REFERS TO
K(Z AND MEGAHERTZ IS ABBREVIATED
HOW FAST A WAVEFORM OR AUDIO SIGNAL
-(Z
REPEATS ITSELF -EASURED IN (ERTZ ,OW FREQUENCIES ARE (Z TO (Z MID RANGE FREQUENCIES ARE (Z TO K(Z AND HIGH FREQUENCIES ARE K(Z TO K(Z
)/ )N/UT 2ELATING TO VIDEO AND AUDIO GENERALLY REFERRING TO HARD WARE USED TO GET AUDIO IN OR OUT OF A COMPUTER 3EE !$ #ONVERTER
'LOSSARY
) FRAME )N INTERFRAME COMPRESSION
,ATENCY ABOVE MILLISECONDS MS IS
,OOP ! SEGMENT OR SLICE OF AUDIO THAT
SCHEMES EG -0%' THE KEY FRAME
UNACCEPTABLE IN A RECORDING SITUATION
REPEATS WITHOUT ANY INDICATION OF THE
OR REFERENCE VIDEO FRAME THAT ACTS
AS THERE IS NO WAY TO PROPERLY MATCH
END OF THE SEGMENT ADJOINING THE BE
AS A POINT OF COMPARISON TO 0 AND
RECORDED AUDIO WITH AUDIO BEING
GINNING OF THE SEGMENT ,OOPED AUDIO
" FRAMES AND IS NOT REBUILT FROM
RECORDED RESULTING IN OUT OF TIME
SEQUENCES ARE WONDERFUL FOR SEAM
ANOTHER FRAME !N ) FRAME IS THE OP
lLES 7ITH !SIO DEVICES MOST $!7S
LESS MENU LOOPING IN $6$ AUTHORING
POSITE OF A " FRAME AND A 0 FRAME
AND .,%S ARE CAPABLE OF EXTREMELY
TOOLS
)MPORT 4O OPEN A COMPUTER lLE WITH
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AN APPLICATION THAT DID NOT CREATE
,AYBACK )MPORTING MATCHING
THE lLE -OST .,%S CAN IMPORT lLES
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ENDING IN WAV AI« WMA WMV JPG
SOUNDTRACK BACK TO THE VIDEO MAS
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TER %XPORTING AUDIO FROM !#)$ OR
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REDUCES THE AMOUNT OF VIDEO INFORMA
,AYOVER 2ECORDING AUDIO FROM AN
TION BY STORING ONLY THE DI«ERENCES
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OR AUDIO PORTION OF AN .,%
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)64# )NVERSE 4ELECINE 4HE PROCESS
TION PICTURE ASPECT RATIO 4HE ASPECT
-OIRE 6ISUAL DISTORTION CAUSED BY THE
OF CONVERTING FPS MEDIA TO FPS
RATIO OF MOTION PICTURES IS WIDER
INTERFERENCE OF SIMILAR FREQUENCIES
MEDIA BY REMOVING PULLDOWN
THAN THOSE OF STANDARD TELEVISIONS
OR THE WAVING E«ECT PRODUCED BY THE
4O PRESERVE THE ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO
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OF A MOTION PICTURE A MOTION PICTURE
,ATENCY 4HE PROCESSING TIME BE
INCLUDES BLACK BARS AT THE TOP AND
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BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN WHEN PLAYED ON
AND WHEN THE SIGNAL IS ACTUALLY HEARD
TELEVISION
-ONITOR !NY DEVICE THAT ALLOWS AUDIO OR VIDEO TO BE SEEN OR HEARD !UDIO MONITORS ARE IN THE FORM OF
'LOSSARY
SPEAKERS OR HEADPHONES VIDEO MONI TORS ARE IN THE FORM OF A TELEVISION #24 PLASMA OR ,#$ -ONO ! SINGLE CHANNEL OF AUDIO IN FORMATION AS OPPOSED TO STEREO AUDIO CONTAINING TWO CHANNELS -0 -0%' !UDIO ,AYER COMPRES SION FORMAT 5SED TO COMPRESS lLES FOR DELIVERY OVER THE )NTERNET OR FOR PLAYBACK ON PORTABLE HARDWARE DE VICES TO SAVE SPACE AND BANDWIDTH
NEARLY ANY FORM OF MEDIA -USIC COMPILATION ! SERIES OF AUDIO ASSETS THAT BEHAVE LIKE A PLAYLIST IN A $6$ PROJECT -UTE ! SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE SWITCH THAT PREVENTS AUDIO FROM BEING HEARD ON A CHANNEL OR CHANNELS .EAR lELD MONITORS 3MALL REFERENCE MONITORS OR SPEAKERS WITHIN CLOSE PROXIMITY OF THE ENGINEER OR EDITOR 4HEY ARE USED IN SMALL ROOMS OR FOR
0 FRAME )N INTERFRAME COMPRESSION SCHEMES SUCH AS -0%' THE PREDIC TIVE VIDEO FRAME THAT EXHIBITS THE CHANGE THAT OCCURRED COMPARED TO THE ) FRAME BEFORE IT 3EE ) FRAME AND " FRAME 0AD !TTENUATION OF THE ORIGINAL AUDIO LEVEL 3EE !TTENUATION 0!, 0HASE !LTERNATION ,INE -OST ALL COUNTRIES USE 0!, OUTSIDE OF THE 53 AND *APAN 3OMETIMES JOKINGLY REFERRED TO AS 0ICTURE AT ,AST
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.,% .ON LINEAR EDITOR
OF BOTH %ACH CHANNEL IN MOST .,%S
.ORMALIZE ! DIGITAL PROCESS FOR
AND $!7S O«ER A PAN CONTROL THAT
INCREASING THE LEVEL OF AN ENTIRE AUDIO
MAY BE AUTOMATED
lLE TO A PRESET LEVEL WITHOUT CLIPPING
THE BROADCAST QUALITY VIDEO FOUND
.43# .ATIONAL 4ELEVISION 3TANDARDS
ON $6$S AND REQUIRES A HARDWARE
#OMMITTEE 3OMETIMES HUMOROUSLY
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REFERRED TO AS .EVER THE 3AME #OLOR
PLAYBACK
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-4# -)$) TIME CODE .,%S AND $!7S
CONTAIN LOOPING INFORMATION BUT IS
OFTEN USE -4# TO ACT AS A SLAVE OR
INTENDED TO PLAY ONCE NOT NECESSAR
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ILY IN TIME
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AUDIO lLE AS ITS BEING COMPOSED
TAIN AUDIO VIDEO GRAPHICS -)$) ANI
PUTER TO AN ANALOG SPEAKER DIGITAL
ALSO REFERRED TO AS hPREVIEWINGv 4HAT
MATION OR TEXT IN ANY COMBINATION
OUTPUT VIA 30$)& !%3%"5 OR OTHER
MAKES NO SENSE BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT
)T IS A BROADLY USED TERM TO DESCRIBE
lLE FORMAT EXTERNAL TO THE COMPUTER
VIEWING THE VIDEO OR AUDIO PRIOR TO
0LAYBACK ,ISTENING OR MONITORING THE RECORDING AFTER ITS BEEN WRITTEN TO HARD DRIVE OR TAPE REVIEWING THE
'LOSSARY
ANY EDIT YOU ARE LISTENING OR WATCH
0ROJECT ! COLLECTION OF AUDIO AND
3!#$ 3UPER !UDIO #OMPACT $ISK
ING VIDEO POST EDIT MAKING THE TERM
VIDEO lLES TO BE ASSEMBLED FOR A lNAL
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hPREVIEWv INACCURATE
PRODUCT
0HILIPS 4HESE DISKS O«ER A SUPERIOR
0LAYHEAD 7HERE THE CURSOR LIES
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2EGION ! PREDETERMINED SPACE AND TIME ON THE 4IMELINE IN ANY $!7 OR .,% APPLICATION CONTROLLING PLAYBACK AREA AND TIME )T CAN ALSO MEAN A SEG MENT OF AUDIO OR VIDEO THAT MAY BE SEPARATELY MANAGED FOR EDITING 2ENDER 4O BLEND ALL MULTIMEDIA lLES TOGETHER IN ONE MASTER lLE FORMAT )T IS AKIN TO BAKING A CAKE FROM ALL ITS INDIVIDUAL INGREDIENTS 2'" 2ED 'REEN "LUE
RING TO AUDIO OR VIDEO PROCESSORS
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THAT MAY BE USED TO SUPPLEMENT THE
CIES ARE lLTERED OUT ! LOW FREQUENCY
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ROLL O« WILL RAPIDLY DIMINISH FREQUEN
TOOLS
CIES BEGINNING AT THE SPECIlED POINT
0RESET 0REDETERMINED PARAMETERS OF
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A PLUG IN TEMPLATE OR OTHER PREDE
2UMBLE ,OW FREQUENCIES THAT ARE TOO
TIMES CHALLENGING TO CONTROL 5SE A
TERMINED SETTING FOR AN APPLICATION
LOW TO ACTUALLY BE CLEARLY HEARD BUT
$E%SSER PLUGIN OR AN %1 TO CONTROL
THAT TAKE UP AUDIO INFORMATION SPACE
THIS PHENOMENON
0REVIEW 6IEWING OR LISTENING TO MEDIA FROM AN APPLICATION 0REVIEW IS DElNED BY WATCHING VIDEO ASSOCIATED WITH A PROJECT AND LISTENING TO AUDIO LOOPS OR COMPOSITIONS ASSIGNED TO THE VIDEO OR LISTENING TO PLAYBACK OF A MUSICAL COMPOSITION WITH OR WITH OUT VIDEO 3EE 0LAYBACK
&OOTSTEPS VIBRATIONS AND MOTORS ALL CREATE RUMBLE -ANY MIXING AND RE CORDING CONSOLES INCORPORATE RUMBLE
3LUG ! BLANK AREA LEFT ON A 4IMELINE FOR LATER INSERTION OF MEDIA
lLTERS SET TO APPROXIMATELY n(Z
3-04% 3OCIETY OF -OTION 0ICTURE AND
ROLLING LOW FREQUENCIES O« AT THAT
4ELEVISION %NGINEERS !LSO USED AS A
POINT TO CLEAN UP AUDIO 3EE 2OLL O«
TIMECODE REFERENCE
'LOSSARY
3OLO ! BUTTON OR SWITCH THAT ALLOWS
3TREAMER ! SLUG OR GRAPHIC OVERLAY
PRECISE ARRIVING AT THE SAME LOCATION
A SINGLE CHANNEL TO BE MONITORED
ON VIDEO PLAYBACK MARKING EXACT
AT THE SAME TIME )T IS A RELATIVELY
-UTES ALL OTHER AUDIO DURING PLAYBACK
POINTS THAT A CUE IS TO TAKE PLACE
SMALL AREA IN MOST ANY LISTENING ENVI
WHEN ENGAGED
&UNCTIONS AS A VISUAL HIT POINT OR CUE
RONMENT
3OURCE AUDIO !UDIO FROM THE ORIGI
3EE #UE
3WEETEN 0OLISHING OR IMPROVING AN
NAL PROGRAM MEDIA )N A VIDEO lLE
3UBWOOFER 3PEAKER ENCLOSURE OP
EXISTING RECORDING THROUGH ADDING
THIS IS ON LOCATION SOUND OR AUDIO
TIMIZED TO REPRODUCE SOUNDS FROM
OTHER PARTS TO THE COMPOSITION OR AU
RELATED TO THE ORIGINAL SOURCE AND IS
(Z TO (Z
DIO ELEMENTS 0ROCESSING OF SOUND IS
OFTEN REPLACED OR ENHANCED
3URROUND SOUND -ULTICHANNEL AUDIO
3POT !NNOUNCEMENT FOR BROADCAST
THAT EMANATES FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES
EG A COMMERCIAL
USUALLY SET EQUIDISTANT FROM THE
3POTTING )DENTIFYING AND DOCUMENT ING CUES FOR MUSIC E«ECTS SOUND DESIGN OR OTHER AUDIO INFORMATION 3EE #UE 3TEM !UDIO COMPONENTS SUCH AS DIALOG MUSIC AND E«ECTS
ALSO CONSIDERED SWEETENING !NYTHING DONE TO ORIGINAL AUDIO IN ORDER TO ENHANCE ITS QUALITY
LISTENERS POSITION /FTEN RELATED TO
3YNC 3YNCHRONIZE TO ENSURE THAT
SOUND SURROUND CAN BE QUADRO
EVENTS OCCUR AT THE SAME TIME 4IME
PHONIC OR AS LARGE AS ANY NUMBER OF
CODE IS GENERALLY A COMMON SOURCE TO
SPEAKER SOURCES MIGHT BE EMPLOYED
ENSURE EVENTS ARE IN SYNC
SO LONG AS THEY ARE ALL EMITTING UNIQUE AUDIO FROM EACH SOURCE 3 VIDEO 3HORT FOR SUPER VIDEO A TECH
4# 4IMECODE 4EMPORAL COMPRESSION ! COMPRES SION METHOD THAT REDUCES THE DATA
3TEREO 4WO CHANNEL AUDIO CONSISTING
NOLOGY USED FOR TRANSMITTING VIDEO
OF SIMILAR OR DISSIMILAR AUDIO SPREAD
SIGNALS OVER A CABLE BY DIVIDING THE
ACROSS THE LEFT TO RIGHT SPECTRUM 4WO
VIDEO INFORMATION INTO SEPARATE SIG
SEPARATE MONO CHANNELS SEPARATED
NALS ONE FOR LUMA AND ONE FOR CHRO
TO ONE LEFT AND ONE RIGHT WOULD NOT
MA 3 VIDEO IS SYNONYMOUS WITH 9#
BE CONSIDERED STEREO BUT RATHER DUAL
VIDEO 3 VIDEO IS A CONSUMER FORM OF
MONO 3TEREO MIXES CONSIST OF PLACING
COMPONENT VIDEO USED PRIMARILY WITH
4IMELINE ! COMPONENT OF A $!7 OR
ELEMENTS ON THE MULTITRACK TIMELINE
(I AND 3 6(3 EQUIPMENT
.,% WHERE GRAPHIC AND VIDEO ELE
IN REPRESENTATIONS OF THEIR OCCURRENCE ACROSS THE LEFT TO RIGHT SPECTRUM AND THEN MIXED TO A TWO CHANNEL MIX REmECTING THE POSITIONING OF AUDIO ELEMENTS
3WEET SPOT 4HE PRIME LISTENING AREA BETWEEN TWO SPEAKERS IN A STEREO ENVIRONMENT OR A LISTENING ENVI RONMENT 4HE SWEET SPOT IS THE POINT WHERE ALL AUDIO CHANNELS ARE MOST
CONTAINED WITHIN A SINGLE VIDEO FRAME BY IDENTIFYING SIMILAR AREAS BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL FRAMES AND ELIMINATING THE REDUNDANCY 3EE ALSO #ODEC AND -0%'
MENTS ARE PLACED FOR PURPOSES OF IN CLUSION ON THE $6$ OR #$ 4IMELINES INCLUDE AUDIO VIDEO AND GRAPHIC ELEMENTS
'LOSSARY
4RACK !N INDIVIDUAL LINE CONTAINING
PROCESS )T RESULTS IN SLOWER ENCODES
7AVE WAV 4HE -ICROSOFT DESIGNA
AUDIO LOOP ELEMENTS
BUT GENERALLY HIGHER QUALITY IN HIGH
TOR FOR AUDIO lLE FORMATS A COMMON
MOTION VIDEO
lLE TYPE 5SED BY 7INDOWS APPLICA
4RANSFER RATE (OW FAST A DISK DRIVE
TIONS AS A lLE FORMAT
OR #$ DRIVE CAN TRANSFER INFORMA
5NDERSCORE "ACKGROUND MUSIC NOT
TION TO THE #05 -AY BE A BURST RATE
NECESSARILY MUSICALLY COMPOSED TO
7ORKSPACE 4HE PRIMARY WORK SUR
OR SUSTAINED RATE (IGH CACHE LEVELS
CREATE AN EMOTIONAL ATMOSPHERE OR
FACE IN AN .,% OR $!7S MAIN WINDOW
-" OR LARGER ASSIST IN PROVID
ENVIRONMENT 5NDERSCORE IS SIMILAR
WHERE MOST OF THE WORK IS PERFORMED
ING INFORMATION TO THE #05 AT FAST
TO AND OFTEN CALLED A MUSIC BED 3EE
RATES IMPORTANT WHEN BUILDING LARGE
"ED
COMPOSITIONS OR &8 SEQUENCES IN THE .,% LOTS OF AUDIO TRACKS IN THE $!7 AND DEEP MENU STRUCTURES IN $6$ AUTHORING
5PCONVERT ! TERM USED TO DESCRIBE THE CONVERSION OF A LOWER RESOLUTION TO A HIGHER NUMBER SUCH AS hUPCON VERTINGv P TO I 4HIS IS A MIS
4RANSIENT 4HE DI«ERENCE BETWEEN
NOMER THOUGH SINCE TO ACCOMPLISH
THE LOWEST POINT OF DECAY AND HIGHEST
A QUALITY UPSAMPLE THE HORIZONTAL
POINT OF ATTACK IN AN AUDIO lLE
SCANNING FREQUENCY IS ACTUALLY LOW
4RANSPORT 0LAY RECORD STOP REWIND FAST FORWARD RECORD ARE ALL FUNCTIONS OF THE 4RANSPORT IN AN .,% OR $!7 4HE 4RANSPORT TOOLS CONTROL POSITION OF PLAYBACK AND THE PLAYHEAD 4REBLE 4HE HIGH END OF THE AUDIO
ERED FROM K(Z TO K(Z 4HE QUALITY OF RESOLUTION IS NOT IMPROVED BY THIS METHOD AND ITS MORE AP PROPRIATE TO DESCRIBE UPCONVERTING AS hRE CONFORMINGv 53" 5NIVERSAL 3ERIAL "US
FREQUENCY SPECTRUM GENERALLY K(Z
6IDEO lLE )N THE VIDEO WORLD THIS IS
AND ABOVE
RELEVANT TO 1UICK4IME MPG WMV
4WO PASS !N ENCODING FEATURE AL LOWING VIDEO TO BE SCANNED PRIOR
AVI MT OR MV lLES DATA lLES THAT CONTAIN VIDEO INFORMATION
TO ENCODING $URING THE lRST PASS
6OLUME 4HE INDICATOR FOR THE OVERALL
THE ENCODER DETERMINES HOW IT WILL
LEVEL OF A LOOP TRACK OR MASTER PROJ
ALLOCATE BITS DURING THE ENCODING
ECT OUTPUT LEVEL
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