Recording 101 Yamaha Corporation of America 6600 Orangethorpe Ave.
AW16G Recording 101 - Table of Contents Introduction 1 AW16G Features 1 Setting up the AW16G 2 Connecting the Monitor System 2 Connecting the Instruments and/or Microphones 3 Turning the Equipment on 5 Recording 6 Creating a New Song 6 Setting the Input Level 7 Assigning the Input Signal to a Track 8 Recording the First Track 9 Punching In and Punching Out 9 Overdubbing 10 Mixdown 12 Setting Basic Levels 13 Adjusting the Panning 14 Panning Guidelines 15 Adjusting the EQ 16
Adjusting the Dynamic Processors 17 Using the Dynamics Library 17 Using the Internal Effects 18 Recording the Stereo Track 19 Creating an Audio CD 20 Glossary 22 iii
Introduction Congratulations on your purchase of the AW16G! The AW16G is a very powerful and easy to use digital audio workstation that will allow you to take your musical ideas from concept to completion. By combining all of the necessary tools into an affordable all-in-one unit, the AW16G makes it extremely easy for the home recording musician to achieve high-quality results. This guide was written with the recording novice in mind.
Setting up the AW16G Before you begin recording it is necessary to connect the AW16G with the equipment that it is to be used with. Step 1: Connect the Monitoring System If powered monitors are to be used with the AW16G, connect the Monitor Outs of the AW16G to the inputs of the monitors using unbalanced instrument cable. The monitor outputs of the AW16G are unbalanced 1/ 4-inch jacks so it is not necessary to use balanced cable. Do not use speaker cable to connect the AW16G to powered monitors.
With Unpowered Monitors If no monitors are available, or if you prefer, headphones can be used for monitoring. The headphones would be connected to the PHONES jack of the AW16G. With Headphones Step 2: Connect the instruments or microphones. The next step would be to connect the instruments or the microphones to the AW16G that you will be recording. Typically, it is best to start by recording the rhythm instruments first (drums and bass guitar) and then record the other instruments.
more comfortable recording other instruments first and then adding the drums later on this will work as long as you record with a metronome. This ensures that the drummer and other rhythm instruments can follow the tempo of the song. For more info on using the internal metronome of the AW16G see page 47 of the manual. The AW16G has two XLR input jacks, six TRS (tip, ring, and sleeve) 1/4inch jacks, and a special Hi-Z input for connecting electric guitars or basses directly to the AW16G.
If a condenser microphone is to be connected to either input 1 or 2, the phantom power must be turned on. The Hi-Z input should be used to connect electric guitars or basses with passive electronics to the AW16G. If the guitar or bass has active electronics, or is going through an effects device before being connected to the AW16G, then one of the regular 1/4-inch TRS inputs should be used. Step 3: Turn the Equipment on. The final step before you can begin recording is to turn all of the equipment on.
Recording Now that everything is set up and connected properly you can begin recording. The first step in the recording process is to create a new song. When you start the AW16G for the first time, an empty song will be loaded automatically. If you use this automatically loaded song, then there is no need to create a new song. Creating a New Song 1. In the Work Navigate Section press the [SONG] key until the Song List page is displayed. 2.
4. Cursor to OK and press the [ENTER] key. The TITLE EDIT popup window will appear, allowing you to name your song. 5. Assign a name to your song using the cursor arrows and the jog wheel. 6. After naming the song cursor to OK and press the [ENTER] key. Setting the Input Level After creating a new song the next step is to set the input level for the instrument or other sound source that you will be recording. 1. Raise the Stereo Fader (the red fader) to the 0 position. This is all of the way up.
The Input Setting popup window will appear. 2. While playing the instrument, turn the GAIN knob up to adjust the input level. The meter on the right hand side of the Input Setting screen should be around the –12 to -6 dB mark when the instrument is at its maximum level. Once you reach the 0 dB mark the signal will become distorted. Setting the input level at around -12 to -6 allows for changes in dynamics during live performance. 4. Turn the MONITOR/PHONES knob up to the desired listening level.
3. Press the [TRACK SEL] key of the track that you want to record on. The selected input channel will now be connected to the selected track. Both the selected [INPUT SEL] key and the selected [TRACK SEL] key will be blinking red and there will be a line connecting the two on the screen. 4. Raise the fader of the track that you are recording on to the 0 mark. Recording the First Track You are now ready to record.
If the mistake is only a short one and you just need to fix the mistake and not erase the rest of the track you can first punch-in at the point where the mistake was and then punch-out when you have fixed the mistake. To perform a punch-out, first punch-in at the point where the mistake was made then press the [PLAY] key by itself to ‘punch-out’ of recording after you have fixed the mistake.
2. Press the [INPUT SEL] key for the input channel that you are recorded from. 3. Press the [TRACK SEL] key of the track that you recorded on. The line that connected the input channel to the track will now disappear and the [TRACK SEL] key will no longer be blinking red, indicating that it is no longer recordenabled. Overdubbing Additional Tracks 1. Press and hold the [INPUT SEL] key for the input that you are going to record from. The Input Setting popup window will appear. 2.
The [INPUT SEL] keys and the [TRACK SEL] keys will now be red and blinking. 4. Press the [INPUT SEL] key for the input channel that you are going to record from. The [INPUT SEL] that was pushed will now be solid red, and the remaining [INPUT SEL] keys will no longer be blinking. 5. Press the [TRACK SEL] key of the track that you want to record on. The selected input channel will now be connected to the selected track.
Setting the Basic Levels A basic starting point in the mixdown process is to first set the levels for all of the individual tracks. 1. Lower all of the faders to infinity (all of the way down). 2. Raise the stereo fader to the 0 position (all of the way up). 3. Press the [VIEW] key until the METER page is displayed. This will aid in setting the individual levels. Tip: Setting the meters to be post instead of pre will allow you to view the levels after the fader, the EQ, and dynamics processors.
There are many different approaches to setting the levels in the mixdown process. Some people prefer to start with the vocals and then work their way backward, while others may start with the guitar. Neither one of these approaches is wrong. The idea is to just get a good overall balance between all of the instruments and if starting with the vocal works for you, then start with the vocal. After setting basic levels, you should pan the instruments between the left and right outputs to create a stereo image.
3. Turn the [PAN] knob to adjust the panning of the selected track. 4. To adjust the panning for additional tracks first press the [TRACK SEL] key of the desired track and then turn the [PAN] knob to the desired pan position. Panning Guidelines There are no rules for setting the panning when doing a mixdown but here are some general guidelines. Drums: The kick drum (bass drum) and the snare drum are usually panned up the center.
harmony then it would usually be panned up the center also. If there are multiple background vocals they would normally be panned just a little off center to the left and the right. For a wider sound you may prefer to pan some of the background vocals all of the way to the left and the rest all of the way to the right. Percussion: If the percussion is a very important part it would be panned just a little to the left or to the right of center.
3. Use the [DATA/JOG] wheel to select the desired EQ preset. 4. Cursor to the RECALL button in the LCD and press the [ENTER] key. This is for basic EQ adjustment. For complete control, use the cursor keys to select the various parameters within the EQ EDIT screen and then use the DATA/JOG wheel to adjust them. Using the Dynamics Processors After adjusting the EQ for all of the tracks it may be desirable to use the internal dynamic processors of the AW16G.
3. Use the [DATA/JOG] Wheel to select a desired preset. 4. Cursor to the Recall button and press the [ENTER] key. 5. To adjust the dynamic processor, turn the yellow [DYN] knob. In the default settings of the AW16G turning the [DYN] knob will adjust all parameters of the dynamic processor simultaneously. This allows for very quick and easy adjustment of the processor. This is for basic dynamic processor adjustments.
3. Cursor to the RECALL button on the screen and press the [ENTER] key. 4. Press the [EFF 1] knob once to access the EFFECTS SEND screen. 5. While playing the song, cursor to the send knob of the track that you want to send to the first effects unit, and then use the jog wheel to adjust the send level for each of the tracks. This is for the first effects processor of the AW16G. To use the second effects processor press the [EFF 2] knob instead of the [EFF 1] knob.
4. After the song has finished, press the [STOP] key to end the recording of the Stereo Track. Tip: In order to have a loud CD, the Stereo Meter (L R Meters) of the AW16G should be as close as possible to 0 dB without going over. If the levels are significantly below the 0 dB mark you should readjust the levels closer to the 0 dB mark. The Mastering Library may also be useful when recording the Stereo Track. For more info on using the mastering Library see page 73 of the manual.
NOTE: If an error message appears indicating that there is no stereo track you may need to save the song before the AW16G will recognize the stereo track. 4. Cursor to the NEW button in the LCD display and press the [ENTER] key. 5. Cursor to the song name and use the [JOG/DATA] wheel to select the desired song. 6. Cursor to EXECUTE and press the [ENTER] key.
Glossary Note: Additional glossary words can be found online at the following web address: http://solutionsnetwork.yamaha.com A/D Converter: Analog to Digital converter — An electronic device for converting analog signals to digital signals. The analog signal is sampled every few milliseconds and its level is quantized into a digital word. The larger the digital word, the more accurate the representation of the analog value. Balanced Cable: A cable that has dual (two) wire conductors.
Dynamics Processor: A signal processing device that is used to correct or control signal levels. They are able to compress, expand, compress-expand (compand), gate, or duck the signals passing through it. EQ: A signal processing device that increases or reduces specific frequencies of an audio signal. Gigabyte (GB): A unit of computer memory or data storage capacity equal to 1,024 megabytes. The AW16G comes with a 20 GB hard drive.
TRS: Used to refer to a Tip, Ring, Sleeve cable, connector, or jack. Also known as balanced 1/4". Inputs 3-8 of the AW16G use TRS jacks. XLR: Used to refer to a three-prong canon cable, connector, or jack. Inputs 1-2 of the AW16G are XLR inputs.
