Joy of Synths #2

A non-musician’s guide to creating sounds for podcasts, videos, and sampling for music using analog synthesizers.

Jul 01, 2023

Record Everything Every time Summer 2023

This issue is sponsored by CoWolves. https://discogs.com/seller/cowolves It’s powered in part by my learning and experiences at the Melrose Center Audio Studio (all classes are free) and filming/editing the Reel to Real podcast.

Summary of Joy of Synths #1

The top two synths under $200 are the Behringer K2 at $199 and the Korg Volca Modular for $169. Details are in Joy of Synths #1. For $249 there is the East Beast, a scaled down version of the Pittsburgh Modular SV-1b. Owning both, I’d save up for an equivalent to the SV-1b, or put that $250 towards an audio recorder like the Zoom H4N or H6N.

Record Everything Every time!

Unlike a piano that has fixed notes and scales, an analog synthesizer is reliably inconsistent, which makes it a fun, experimental instrument. For example, the tone of a synthesizer may change as the electronics warm up. Given the ephemeral pathways of analog signals, record everything every time or lose it forever.

“Imperfect says “I’m perfect””

You have to get rid of the idea of "getting good" and "practice makes perfect" with what is an imperfect generator of sound. Practice merits recording, as practice generates unique recordings the same as a well rehearsed patch when it comes to analog synthesizers.

KEEP IT SIMPLY SYNTH

It’s easy to over-complicate something as simple as recording sounds with a synthesizer and editing them in a computer.

But surely it can't be so simple! Microphones! Pop Filters! Sound-proofing!

Alas, it is simple because of context. Joy of Synths is a non-musician's guide for recording what are effectively sound effects, accents, and beds that lay beneath dialogue. This isn’t foley work or field recording that require microphones. These sounds are generated by an analog synthesizer.

You are building what is called a sound library. This is both a fun and cost-savings activity. Your sound recordings can be registered for copyright, and assigned digital finger prints in the form ISRC codes, and follow all the steps listed in this great article by Music Radar: https://www.musicradar.com/how-to/the-complete-checklist-for-releasing-your-own-music. Or not.

This checklist is for music with songwriters and composers. What you’ll be capturing is a sound recording, which you should register as“Group Registration for Works on an Album of Music” or “GRAM” because this saves you money https://www.copyright.gov/gram/

Your analog synth sound recordings can be for your exclusive use, without the costs and restrictions of purchasing another sound library. If you are okay with non-exclusive use of what you produce, there are platforms specifically for selling sound libraries to other producers for music, podcasts, games, and videos.

SONGS AND SOUND RECORDINGS

Songs and stand-alone music follow a path that starts with writing, composing, home or professional studio recording with an engineer, editing, and continues with mixing and mastering. Then comes the business of music and entertainment law, which is summed up in this short Album Release Checklist video by Davey Jay, Esquire.

SAMPLE YOURSELF

Copyright violations are no joke. Sampling other's sound recordings without their contractual permission can lead to a lawsuit that puts an end to current and future projects as you pay for lawyers and final judgements.

The amount of energy that is directed to "digging through the crates" for obscure beats for sampling is easily redirected to noodling with a synthesizer and controller.

This is why I don't recommend a Behringer Model D to start. This was designed for touring musicians, which means reliability and repeatability. Nope. Look to the more cost effective Behringer K2 thru Sweetwater, which is far more experimental with more patch points for redirecting the signals for more unique sounds.

DIRECT IN SAYS AUDIO ENGINEERS

Simply put, there are two options for recording: you can record sound with a microphone or by direct connection between instrument and recorder, aka Direct In.

A synthesizer has a VCA, or Voltage Controlled Amplifier, that when connected to an envelope generator, will allow sound to pass through the synthesizer. This is an amplifier. You don’t need an external powered amplifier thanks to the VCA.

You don’t need a microphone pointing to a guitar amp to best record a synthesizer. Direct In has been suggested by multiple Audio Engineers, who are the brains in a professional recording studio.

Amps and possibly PAs are needed for playing live, but that is not the context of initiating the recording a sound library.

ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY

Acoustics is the science of sound moving through an environment/medium. Architectural Acoustics deals with attenuating or amplifying sound in a built space. It's worth reading a book like "Architectural Acoustics," though half the book ceases to apply to synthesizers.

The sound of synth doesn't need to travel through a built or natural environment to be recorded by a microphone. You don't need a studio that absorbs specific frequencies. That's what synth filter modules and lopass gates are for.

If anything, broadcasting through speakers can confuse the issue, as speakers may emphasize certain frequencies like the low end bass, or mid range for more clarity (this is also known as the frequency response curve.) It's like overcranking the brightness on a TV set and then trying to color correct video to that TV Set. All your videos will be underexposed, as you'll be dropping brightness on the signal to compensate for over brightness on the display.

SD CARDS: USE 1X AND STORE AS ARCHIVE

I don’t like recording directly to harddrive because then you need another harddrive to archive it. I record to SD card, once, transfer the files, then store the physical SD card as the archive.

The reasoning is SD cards are so cheap the cost benefit of reuse is negligible. You can fit hours on a 32GB SD card at 96kHz 24bit. And you’ll be recording hours, because you’ll be recording everything every time, Direct In.

HEADPHONES

This is a dicey decision- how will you monitor the recording process? I’ve gradually moved away from speakers and trash amps to headphones placed on a table. Wearing headphones is a hearing hazard given how loud a synth can get as you try different wiring with patch cables. So if not on the table, then around my neck with headphone volume down.

I can listen to the recorded sound at a safe volume, but recording volumes can spike all over the place. This limits when I could record because I would need quiet to hear all frequencies, and it would be annoying to anyone else in the vicinity.

I connect the headphones to the monitor out headphone jack on the Zoom H4N. Why not the synth? You need to monitor the actual recording volume levels. If everything is recording at 0dB, you’ll have an unusable recording at 96K/24bit. You want to hear that so you can adjust the volume on either the recording device or synth.

RECORDING LEVELS

I record on the Zoom H4N at 10-50%, depending on synth. Start at 0/full left on the synth and 50% on the recorder. Slowly bring up the synth output level until you see signal on the recorder’s meters.

Then raise the synth output level as you bring down the recorder level. If you record with a quiet synth and recorder at 100%, you’ll start picking up the noise floor.

Synths are loud instruments. With proper levels, you shouldn’t hear a noise floor. Always look at the levels on the recorder and make sure they don’t peak at 0dB. DeciBels are measured on a negative scale, so make sure they are between -18 and -12 dB.

CABLES AND JACKS

If you do the above and still hear static, it’s either your cables are shot (always have two to test if it’s the cable or connection) or you’ve connected to the headphone out on the synth. Unless that’s your only option, use the synth’s 1/4” instrument cable output and audio recorders instrument jack input.

This means you’ll have to buy interconnect cables. These don’t have to be expensive because the synth is a loud instrument. In contrast, a guitar is a quiet/passive instrument, so you’ll need DI boxes and shielded cables. (I know, confusing because those are direct in boxes, but a synth is already a DI box so don’t buy a DI box!)

In Closing…

Thanks for reading this far! Record everything every time Direct In! And monitor off the recorder, not the synth itself. If you run into problems, it’s likely because of “gain staging,” which means the synth output is too low and the recording input level is too high.

MICROPHONE CHECK

The Zoom H4N audio recorder comes with stereo mic built in. It’s surprisingly good enough for podcasting if you keep it within a few feet of the subject. It has XLR and Instrument cable inputs, which makes the H4N my favorite recorder that lasts forever, or at least the past 12 years.

If you want more channel control, the Zoom H6N has four XLR/instrument inputs with actual dials for controlling gain (volume). It comes with two mic capsules- a mid/side and a stereo x/y.

If you must buy a proper microphone, I’d suggest a shotgun mic like the Rode NTG-2. That amplifies sound, is battery powered, and is known as a condenser mic. It’s designed to record voice in the speaking range and is used for recording dialog in videos and podcasts. It can record instruments. Aim it at the chest out of the camera frame and you’re good to go (oversimplifying, of course)! (Alas, the noise of the room/environment will enter the recording. But use a DeNoiser effect in Adobe Premiere to cancel room tone out.)

A dynamic mic doesn’t require power and reduces room tone considerably. A recommended one is the Shure SM7b, which is used to record vocals (singing), instruments, and yes, podcasts. See how your set up handles the SM7b before looking to Cloudlifters, which boost the SM7b signal.

End Note 7/1/2023

The first one is always a struggle. The second one is always longer. This month I got really hung up on copyright and other registrations, finally realizing Joy of Synths is about recording synths for a sound library to use for other projects. It’s not about composing and releasing music. This distinction is huge. Don’t let that distract you from the tasks at hand. Registrations are the last step before setting a release date. Recording synths is step one.