Studios
naxxfish
Charles Yarnold
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Koen Martens
> Studio space - what do we want/need?
Depends.. :)
I like to have as many mics as possible, so you can accommodate panel
discussions as well as one-man shows.
> I think as a template, we should go with a 2-mixer model - basically a
> "live" studio and a continuity position. i.e. the Live studio has all the
> mics and live show playout gear in it, TBUs or whatever going into it. The
> con position can be something really basic - which has the live studio PGM
> out and an auto-player of some description. This way, we can take the live
> studio off air - and they can do pre-recorded bits in there without it
> being on air. And, if we really wanted to, we could plug a mic into the
> con position and do continuity links between pre-recorded content. You
> could also use the studio to do production work and the like, should you
> wish.
Sounds good.
> "Outside" broadcasts would also be nice - but that is something that we can
> look into once we've got the basics down.
I normally use a kit that plugs into dect phones or older cell-phone models
and provides a roving reporter with xlr for a microphone and jack for head-
phones.
> What kit can people get hold of? I still need to check exactly what I've
> got available, but if you can post what you can offer then that'd be
> awesome.
I have this one currently:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/X2222USB.aspx
But intend to get this one somewhere in the next months:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/XL3200.aspx
I also have a smaller/simpler mixing desk I sometimes use alongside the 2222USB
to get more inputs.
As I find the 2222 to be a bit limiting with a large group of people in
the studio as well as call-ins etc..
For a minimal setup you want something with a bunch of microphone inputs,
at least one sub-bus to route everything through a compressor/limiter,
and for call-ins as many AUX busses as you want call-in lines and of
course some stereo line-in channels for music.
Also, a second compressor/limiter would be beneficial to put in front of
the FM transmitter so you do not send too much level into the transmitter
and force it into overdrive and leaking into harmonic bands.
What is really convenient is to have a dedicated machine set up as a dj
station (with for eg mixxx or other software), so you can easily pull in
tracks during a show.
This should be seperate from the streaming machine btw.
As for streaming, what I use is a combination of pulse-audio and liquidsoap,
pulse-audio to split the recorded audio in one pipe to the streaming encoder
and one pipe to a local recording on disk. The streaming encoder streams
to my deflection-host, where liquidsoap lives and recodes this single
stream into mp3 and ogg (currently both only at one quality, but you can
recode to different bitrates as well). Also, liquidsoap will play
stand-bye music when the live stream goes down or silent.
There's all kinds of fun btw, with using audio equipment on event-power
in a wet field.. Ground loops galore!
- gmc
Chris Roberts
On 12 Apr 2012 12:43, "Koen Martens" <g...@sonologic.nl> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 04:26:33AM -0700, naxxfish wrote:
> > Studio space - what do we want/need?
>
> Depends.. :)
>
> I like to have as many mics as possible, so you can accommodate panel
> discussions as well as one-man shows.
Plenty of mics is always a plus!
>
>
> > "Outside" broadcasts would also be nice - but that is something that we can
> > look into once we've got the basics down.
>
> I normally use a kit that plugs into dect phones or older cell-phone models
> and provides a roving reporter with xlr for a microphone and jack for head-
> phones.
Nice - I wonder if we will get dect coverage? Failing that, James Harrison has a nice program to do bidirectional audio over IP - we could use that with a laptop, with either a usb sound card with a Mic pre or just a Mic pre into built in sound. if there isn't wifi at the camp, I have some 802.11b APs with directionals that would work quite nicely for that. Have used them for STL type applications before and they work well.
>
> > What kit can people get hold of? I still need to check exactly what I've
> > got available, but if you can post what you can offer then that'd be
> > awesome.
>
> I have this one currently:
>
> http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/X2222USB.aspx
>
> But intend to get this one somewhere in the next months:
>
> http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/XL3200.aspx
>
> I also have a smaller/simpler mixing desk I sometimes use alongside the 2222USB
> to get more inputs.
>
> As I find the 2222 to be a bit limiting with a large group of people in
> the studio as well as call-ins etc..
>
> For a minimal setup you want something with a bunch of microphone inputs,
> at least one sub-bus to route everything through a compressor/limiter,
> and for call-ins as many AUX busses as you want call-in lines and of
> course some stereo line-in channels for music.
If you have a broadcast mixer with tbu channels, you wouldn't need so many auxes. I may be able to borrow an A&H XB-14 which has two telco channels, but I've yet to check if that's okay.
>
> Also, a second compressor/limiter would be beneficial to put in front of
> the FM transmitter so you do not send too much level into the transmitter
> and force it into overdrive and leaking into harmonic bands.
If we were going with FM, we would need a proper processor spec'd when we apply for the license, which would deal with all that. Though there is no harm in having the studio out limited as well :)
>
> What is really convenient is to have a dedicated machine set up as a dj
> station (with for eg mixxx or other software), so you can easily pull in
> tracks during a show.
>
> This should be seperate from the streaming machine btw.
I think a playout machine should be doable. Put rivendell on it, work the cart wall, and we'll be golden. Could whack mixxx on it too, but it might be nice to have another machine for that if the option is there.
>
> As for streaming, what I use is a combination of pulse-audio and liquidsoap,
> pulse-audio to split the recorded audio in one pipe to the streaming encoder
> and one pipe to a local recording on disk. The streaming encoder streams
> to my deflection-host, where liquidsoap lives and recodes this single
> stream into mp3 and ogg (currently both only at one quality, but you can
> recode to different bitrates as well). Also, liquidsoap will play
> stand-bye music when the live stream goes down or silent.
>
> There's all kinds of fun btw, with using audio equipment on event-power
> in a wet field.. Ground loops galore!
>
Ugg, yes, unfortunately I have experience of this from doing OBs from festivals. It'll be interesting, let's just say that. At least it's not AM, which is much harder to set up for grounding.
Cheers,
Alison W
before (live music stuff, fed at line level to output studio's desk)
and tons of cables, plus rackable amp and monitor speakers. Also have
a small DJ-style mixer. Re servers I have a spare (rackmounted, again)
Dell or IBM x-series which can provide processing oomph but don't have
soundcards in. Also have various power distro stuff.
Re hiring stuff in, istm that there is no point in paying for more
than a week's hire (we'll have to store it somewhere when not in use
too)
One thing, given this is an outdoor event and no buildings in the
vicinity which might have been available at other sites: we need to
keep this stuff *dry*, as well as secure. A logical studio, therefore,
would be a campervan or a caravan. What we don't want is to be in a
tent in the rain.
AlisonW
ps. I've changed my plans for this week so now hope to be (a) in
London, and (b) at the meeting, tomorrow night.
Koen Martens
> Re hiring stuff in, istm that there is no point in paying for more
> than a week's hire (we'll have to store it somewhere when not in use
> too)
Seeing what we have amongst ourselves, I don't see what we need to hire?
Maybe the FM transmitter..
> One thing, given this is an outdoor event and no buildings in the
> vicinity which might have been available at other sites: we need to
> keep this stuff *dry*, as well as secure. A logical studio, therefore,
> would be a campervan or a caravan. What we don't want is to be in a
> tent in the rain.
A tent (5x5) with hard floor works fine as a studio, in my experience. Things
will stay dry, as long as you don't turn them off. In case of doubt, you could
even put a heater in the tent to keep the air dry.
As for secure, last time i've been sleeping in the studio a few nights, another
guy did some nights as well. On har there was 24/7 radio even, so there was
always someone there.
- gmc
Chris Roberts
> On Sun, Apr 15, 2012 at 11:46:31PM +0100, Alison W wrote:
>> Re hiring stuff in, istm that there is no point in paying for more
>> than a week's hire (we'll have to store it somewhere when not in use
>> too)
>
> Seeing what we have amongst ourselves, I don't see what we need to hire?
> Maybe the FM transmitter..
>
That's the only thing I can think of right now that we can't source
from the community. I'd say a maximum of a 2 week hire, gives us a
week to set up and test it plus plenty of time to return it.
>> One thing, given this is an outdoor event and no buildings in the
>> vicinity which might have been available at other sites: we need to
>> keep this stuff *dry*, as well as secure. A logical studio, therefore,
>> would be a campervan or a caravan. What we don't want is to be in a
>> tent in the rain.
>
> A tent (5x5) with hard floor works fine as a studio, in my experience. Things
> will stay dry, as long as you don't turn them off. In case of doubt, you could
> even put a heater in the tent to keep the air dry.
I can think that'd be alright. We might want to put the transmitter
and associated gubbins at a different location, so we can get extra
height and better power (perhaps a nearby building of some kind?) and
link over 802.11a/b with a codec. Cooling could be an issue if we
keep it in a tent ....
>
> As for secure, last time i've been sleeping in the studio a few nights, another
> guy did some nights as well. On har there was 24/7 radio even, so there was
> always someone there.
I'd personally be happy babysitting the equipment overnight! Also if
we get located in a well-manned area of the camp (say near the main
HQ) then we can be reasonably assured that any security that is there
will be close by should we need it. Obviously we need to make sure
we're involved in any comms (radios etc.) so we can call for help if
required. I'm happy to stay on top of that issue as far as I can.
Koen Martens
I've never experienced physical security to be much of an issue on these camps,
the most i've ever worried about is drunken people wandering into an unattended
studio and spill beer over some of the equipment. I do assume the event is going
to take out event-insurance that we could piggyback on for the lent audio
equipment? That'll cover the most catastrophic events.
- gmc
Koen Martens
> from the community. I'd say a maximum of a 2 week hire, gives us a
> week to set up and test it plus plenty of time to return it.
I made a little table at the bottom of the wiki page listing what I can
bring:
http://wiki.emfcamp.org/wiki/EMFM
Could others append their gear?
- gmc
Chris Roberts
Nice, added my stuff. A bit minimal, but I have yet to see what I can wrangle. I may have an xb 14 mixer, but it depends if I'm allowed to borrow it and whether it's in use at the time.
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