Musical Skills!! 49Session fees and residual payments are higher when performances are
doubled.
The expense of doubling should be included in the budget. The agency
must know, prior to the session, that you plan to double. Doubling can
be costly and will be deducted from the creative fee if it is not approved
beforehand.
Delays, analogous to equalization, can be used in creative ways. It is
determined by the creator’s imagination.
Compressor/limiters.Compressor/limiters automatically attenuate
signals that go above a programmed volume level (gain) called athreshold.
For example, using a compressor/limiter produces essentially the same
function as lowering a fader to avoid distortion. If a compressor is set to a
2-to-1 ratio, for every two decibels of sound input, one decibel of output
level will occur. If a compressor can be set to very high compression ratios,
the effect is calledlimiting. (Not all compressors are also limiters.)
Compressors are commonly used in commercials. By averaging the
level between the loudest and softest sections, the overall track becomes
louder. If a track has a rhythmic arrangement, compressing the track cre-
ates a more powerful result. When used with vocals, instead of a singer
sounding too loud and the track too distant, the music track surrounds the
vocal.
Compressors are commonly used on individual tracks for the record-
ing of kick drums, snare drums, bass, and additional parts where the
dynamic range of the music is relatively equal (e.g., hip-hop rhythmic
tracks). If the dynamic range is critical to the effect of the composition,
compression should not be used (e.g., classical music), as it changes the
dynamics of the music.
A song heard on the radio sounds noticeably different than when it is
heard on a CD player because most broadcast stations havelimiters(com-
pressors with a higher threshold and ratio) that attenuate signals that go
above a designated threshold. When the dynamics of a track are com-
pressed, the audio sounds as if the levels are relatively equal; compression
can add energy. Many commercials (as well as records) have special radio
and television mixes. For example, most commercials are equalized
brighter (exaggerating the higher frequencies) than an average record; the
higher frequencies are attenuated on the radio and television, and the
extra highs compensate for the loss. After the music mix has been com-
pleted, the mixed tracks are compressed for the same reasons stated pre-
viously.
Expandersincrease or decrease the dynamic range. They help restore
dynamics in a signal if it has been overcompressed. They are the opposite
of compressors and limiters.
Noise gates can mute unwanted material such as noise between
recorded information or an open microphone not being used. The parame-
ters are adjustable. Noise gates are exaggerated expanders.