RECORDING TECHNIQUES I

 

LESSON 1B – LISTENING THROUGH HISTORY

1.1 – Au Clair de la Lune (1860)

Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville

Phonautogram – April 9, 1860

LISTEN TO THE RECORDING

1.2 — Edison’s St. Louis Tinfoil Recording

Thomas Edison – June 22, 1878

Recorded during a demonstration of Edison’s phonograph in St. Louis, this surviving tinfoil recording contains speech and musical performance. It is one of the earliest playable recordings of an American voice and an extraordinary surviving example of the first years of recorded sound.

LISTEN TO THE RECORDING

 

Audio and historical information courtesy of the Library of Congress, National Recording Registry.

More information:

Library of Congress — Edison’s “St. Louis tinfoil” recording (1878)

1.3 – La Media Noche

Sousa’s U.S. Marine Band – ca. 1890

Library of Congress – La Media Noche

Source: Library of Congress

LISTEN TO THE RECORDING

1.4 – Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Fisk University Jubilee Singers — 1909

Library of Congress – Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Source: Library of Congress, National Jukebox

LISTEN TO THE RECORDING

 

1.5 – Adeste Fideles

Associated Glee Clubs of America — Recorded March 31, 1925

Library of Congress – Adeste Fideles

Source: Library of Congress, National Recording Registry

LISTEN TO THE RECORDING

 

1.6 — How High the Moon

Les Paul and Mary Ford – 1951

Library of Congress – How High the Moon

Source: Library of Congress, National Recording Registry

LISTEN TO THE RECORDING

(For this recording, scroll down to 1951)

Learn more about Les Paul and the development of modern recording

LESSON 4A – Listening Example 4.1

Three Microphones, One Performance

 

MICROPHONE A

 

MICROPHONE B

MICROPHONE C

 

Lesson 4B – Listening Example 4.2

Hearing Polar Patterns

Cardioid

Figure-8

Omnidirectional

 

Lesson 4B – Listening Example 4.3

Hearing Proximity Effect


Lesson 4C – Listening Example 4.4

Hearing Microphone Placement

421 Close to Grille (about 1-inch)

 

421 Close to the Grille (about 6 inches)

421 About 12 Inches from the Grille

 

421 About 24 inches from the Grille

57 On Axis (1-2 inches from the grille)

57 Off Axis (1-2 inches from the grille)

 

Lesson 4D – Listening Example 4.5

Listening to Stereo Width

Blumblein Pair (Royer R-121s)

X/Y (Shure SM81s)

ORTF (Schoeps CMC6s, Cadidoid)

Small Spaced Pair (AKG 414 TLIIs /40 cms [16 inches] apart)


Large Spaced Pair (Earthworks QT50s)

M/S (Sides: AKG ULS Figure-8; Mid: Shure SM81)

M/S (Only Sides: AKG ULS Figure-8)

 

M/S (Only Mid: Shure SM81)