Wow, that was quite a journey. We started with sound being pressure
variations in the air, that sound hit an input transducer which was the
microphone. Or the variations of a string on in a
pick up. From there, we had the sound pressure
variations converted into voltage variations or an audio signal in a wire.
That then went to our interface, and particularly the microphone preamp.
Now, the output of either the microphone or the guitar was a very low level, and
the microphone preamp amplified that signal to bring it up to the standard
operating line level. Inside of the interface, it went through
the analog to digital conversion process. Going from a continuous or analog signal
into a signal represented in 1's and 0's, or numbers we call binary.
And that went to our digital audio workstation.
So, the DAW or Digital Audio Workstation is a software package that let's us mix
and manipulate sound in a huge variety of ways.
It really is, ends up being the central hub of the contemporary music production
process. And we're going to look in-depth into the
DAW in the coming weeks. For now, we'll just assume that we've
done what we wanted to do and want to listen back to our sound.
And in that, we have to do basically the reverse process.
The sound comes from the DAW, goes out along whichever cable connects the
interface to the computer. Maybe USB, maybe Firewire, goes through a
digital to analog conversion process, and goes out one of really two places from
your interface. It might go to the headphone output, in
which case you have your output transducers with your headphone speakers.
Or to a set of monitors, and we said that monitoring means to listen.
Now, there are wide variety of different monitors or speakers you could choose.
My suggestion would be to get a set of speakers designed specifically for being
used in a studio situation. For one, they'll be power speakers, which
means the amplifier which powers the speaker is built into the speaker.
And the speaker will be designed to be transparent.
And just like we were looking for a transparent microphone, like our large
diaphragm condenser mike, in a studio we want to have a set of transparent
speakers. Home theater speakers try to make things
sound good, right? They have, they're built to make things
sound really good, which can actually kind of cloud things.
It makes it kind of hard to hear the detail.
It's just trying to boost it up and make it powerful.
Studio monitors need to be clear, transparent, and have that clarity that
we, we need to hear all the details. So, you really want to get a set of
speakers that are designed specifically for this purpose.
So, powered speakers are, are really what you want.
Now, this is another, another opportunity to talk to the forums.
Go out and start asking what kind of speakers should I get for my studio?
Talk about what you have, and what options there are.
It's a, it's a huge discussion and one you really do want to have.
this has been a blast, we finished week one, which I'm really excited for.
there'll be a quiz after this. And please, take your time and really
dive in to those forums, and, and talk about this stuff with your classmates.