Recording

Important

Test the following steps before you record with your instrumentalists and let the administrator know at least 24 hours before if there is a problem or if you have questions.

What you'll need

1. Red labeled key to open rack drawer. Check this out from the administrator.

Procedure

1. Locate mic cables and mics in rack drawer (below mixer), and mic stands (behind piano).
2. There is an 8-channel break out box below the teacher station which you can pull out to the middle of the room and connect the mics into channels 1 and 2 (plus 3 and 4 if using another pair).
3. At the teacher station iMac: make sure that the button on the black box at the end of the desk is popped out. This connects the interface to the iMac.
4. At the rack, locate the Saffire Pro Fire 40 (black with blue trim). Turn on phantom power for Chan 1-4, and set gain on the input channels 1-2 (or 1-4) to about 12 o'clock.
5. Open Audacity. Next to the mic icon select "Saffire" as the recording interface. Make sure number of channels to record is set to 2 (or 4). Hit the record button and set levels accordingly.
6. To audition a take through the loudspeakers, set the Audacity output to CAMIL Audio Bus. Go to the Headphone icon at the top of the screen and select Digital Audio Switch. If you do not see the headphone icon, then run the SoundSource.app application in the Applications folder. Make sure that T is selected at the white box at the end of the table.
7. To throw away a take in Audacity click the X. To save, choose File-->Export... and choose Other uncompressed files... as the Format. Click the Options button and set that to AIFF at Signed 24-bit PCM.

Mic Selection

For vocals or loud instruments use the large diaphragm Samson C01 pair. For sensitive, or difficult to mic instruments use the Neumanns.

Known Issues

• No input levels at front meters - If you are not getting any input at the meters (or recording produces no audio), it could be that the clock source needs to be reset. When the Saffire unit is power-cycled it sometimes choose the wrong clock-source by default. To correct this issue, open Saffire MixControl from Applications and for the Sync Source option in the bottom right quadrant, choose Internal. The Sync Status should then change to Locked and you should see input at the meters.