TABLE OF CONTENTS Post recording; digital sampling; midi; editing; sound effects; (foley) dialog replacement; voice over; sound processing; digital/analog recording; synthesizers; composing; video production; equipment testing/evaluation.
A separate room for each function? Hardly practical. One room for all these functions? Possible, with some compromises, but this is the working hypothesis for this chapter.
With so many functions, the only recourse is to consider the acoustical factors common to all of the functions:
GENERAL ROOM ACOUSTICS Any function requiring an open microphone demands reasonably good general acoustics.
LISTENING Every audio function must eventually be checked by the human ear. This means that loudspeakers will be required as well as adhering to the principles of Chap. 19.
NOISE Especially quiet conditions are required if digital recording standards are to be met. Noise from the outside as well as from within the room must be considered. The noise from many pieces of production equipment (fans, etc.) must be considered.
So many noise problems can be solved at the outset by choosing a space in a quiet location. Is it close to a railroad switch yard or busy intersection? Under the approach path (or worse yet, the take-off pattern) of the local airport? The maximum external noise spectrum must be reduced to the background NC noise goal within the space by the transmission loss of the walls, windows, etc.
If the space being considered is within a larger building, other...
