Recording - September 2013 - 26
oldfield
By Eleanor G
We’ve all been there...
You plug in a microphone and “check.” Nothing.
You make sure the pre is on, and set to an appropriate level, even crank it up a little. Nothing. You make
sure that Pro Tools is looking at the right input or that
you haven’t patched something wrong. Nothing.
You finally grab a new XLR and plug it in.
Ahhhhhh, there’s the problem—a crap cable. So
you fling the bum cable to the side, and move on.
Now, many engineers with home studios will let
that bad cable fester there until they finally throw it
away and eventually replace it. Before you do the
same thing, keep reading.
Tech it yourself
Having a home studio can and should come with
some simple tech tools. You’re the engineer, producer, staff musician/composer, manager and
owner, why not also the tech? Besides saving time,
it will also save you money—money that can be
spent on far more interesting things than cables.
I’m not saying to go dig into a Fairchild without
knowing what a transistor is, but home-studio fixes
such as mic and instrument cables are well within
any audiophile’s range of tech work. I’m going to
single out mic and instrument cables for two reasons:
1. They are the ones most commonly used and
abused. Things like D-Sub snakes, Elco connectors,
and BNC word clock cables usually stay put in one
place once they’ve been hooked up, particularly in
a home studio. Mic and instrument cables are the
ones being tugged, thrown, crimped, stepped on,
rolled over, spilt on, and occasionally chewed on by
pets or unruly clients.
2. They are the simplest to fix. I sincerely hope
that no one reading this has or ever will have to
make a 120-pin Elco-to-D-Sub snake. It is one of the
most time-consuming, soul-sucking tech duties out
there, particularly at 3 in the morning! Mic and
instrument cables are simple and fast, something
you don’t get a lot in this industry.
So now that we know the what and the why, we
can get into the “how to.”
26
RECORDING September 2013
1
The tools
First off, let me briefly go through the tools I use for this type of work. There
are many sources for these tools; personally I recommend Amazon and
pacrad.com. See Figure 1 for my rig, which features the following bits:
1. Soldering iron. There are a lot of different irons and tips out there. For a
simple home-studio setup, your average iron will work fine. I say “average”
because at a certain point, the
cheaper you go, the more difficult
2
they are to use. I’d say look to spend
between $50 and $100 on a soldering station (which includes the
iron, a heatproof stand where you
can put it down safely, a temperature
3
http://www.pacrad.com
Recording - September 2013
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - September 2013
Recording - September 2013
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
The History And Mystery Of Monitoring: A Chat With JBL’s Peter Chaikin
Better Sounds From Tight Spots
Do It Yourself: Fix Your Cables—Save Your Money!
Emotiva Pro Stealth 8 Monitors
MOTU Track16
Ashman Acoustics SOM50 Microphone
Sontronics Sonora 2
Stop Sound Leakage!
Drawmer MC2.1 Monitor Controller
Do It Yourself: Build Acoustic Treatment Right Into Your Walls!
From Shed To Studio
Sneak Previews: Apple Logic Pro X and Avid Pro Tools 11
Readers’ Tapes
Plug-In Outlet: FXpansion Bloom
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 21: Equalization—Part 2
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - September 2013 - Intro
Recording - September 2013 - Recording - September 2013
Recording - September 2013 - Cover2
Recording - September 2013 - 1
Recording - September 2013 - 2
Recording - September 2013 - 3
Recording - September 2013 - Fade In
Recording - September 2013 - 5
Recording - September 2013 - Contents
Recording - September 2013 - 7
Recording - September 2013 - Talkback
Recording - September 2013 - 9
Recording - September 2013 - Fast Forward
Recording - September 2013 - 11
Recording - September 2013 - 12
Recording - September 2013 - 13
Recording - September 2013 - The History And Mystery Of Monitoring: A Chat With JBL’s Peter Chaikin
Recording - September 2013 - 15
Recording - September 2013 - 16
Recording - September 2013 - 17
Recording - September 2013 - 18
Recording - September 2013 - 19
Recording - September 2013 - 20
Recording - September 2013 - 21
Recording - September 2013 - Better Sounds From Tight Spots
Recording - September 2013 - 23
Recording - September 2013 - 24
Recording - September 2013 - 25
Recording - September 2013 - Do It Yourself: Fix Your Cables—Save Your Money!
Recording - September 2013 - 27
Recording - September 2013 - 28
Recording - September 2013 - 29
Recording - September 2013 - Emotiva Pro Stealth 8 Monitors
Recording - September 2013 - 31
Recording - September 2013 - 32
Recording - September 2013 - 33
Recording - September 2013 - MOTU Track16
Recording - September 2013 - 35
Recording - September 2013 - Ashman Acoustics SOM50 Microphone
Recording - September 2013 - 37
Recording - September 2013 - Sontronics Sonora 2
Recording - September 2013 - 39
Recording - September 2013 - Stop Sound Leakage!
Recording - September 2013 - 41
Recording - September 2013 - 42
Recording - September 2013 - 43
Recording - September 2013 - 44
Recording - September 2013 - 45
Recording - September 2013 - Drawmer MC2.1 Monitor Controller
Recording - September 2013 - 47
Recording - September 2013 - Do It Yourself: Build Acoustic Treatment Right Into Your Walls!
Recording - September 2013 - 49
Recording - September 2013 - From Shed To Studio
Recording - September 2013 - 51
Recording - September 2013 - Sneak Previews: Apple Logic Pro X and Avid Pro Tools 11
Recording - September 2013 - 53
Recording - September 2013 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - September 2013 - 55
Recording - September 2013 - 56
Recording - September 2013 - 57
Recording - September 2013 - 58
Recording - September 2013 - 59
Recording - September 2013 - Plug-In Outlet: FXpansion Bloom
Recording - September 2013 - 61
Recording - September 2013 - Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 21: Equalization—Part 2
Recording - September 2013 - 63
Recording - September 2013 - 64
Recording - September 2013 - Advertiser Index
Recording - September 2013 - 66
Recording - September 2013 - 67
Recording - September 2013 - 68
Recording - September 2013 - 69
Recording - September 2013 - 70
Recording - September 2013 - 71
Recording - September 2013 - Cover3
Recording - September 2013 - Cover4
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