Chapter

10.3 Studio Production Systems

Ernst-Joachim Voelker 10.3.1 Introduction
Sound recording in a studio and its balancing in the control room have always been of special importance in the development of audio systems and components. This technology not only has influenced the design of microphones and loudspeakers but has led to new standards for the quality of sound reproduction. For example, it is inconceivable that the revolution of sound motion pictures and stereophonic recording could have taken place without the development of increasingly more sophisticated studio techniques. The main goals of early work in electroacoustic transmission for speech and music were: 1) sufficient loudness and 2) quality of reproduction. As early as 1921, very large systems with horn loudspeakers and power amplifiers were in use in the U.S. to project the inauguration of President Harding to an audience of over 125,000 persons. These techniques soon were adopted by the film industry for the first talking pictures. The first electrodynamic moving-coil loudspeakers were described by H. Riegger in 1924 as a so-called Blatthaller; with these units, distances of several kilometers could be covered. The first stereophonic transmissions using microphones were made much earlier from the stage of the Paris Opera to Bell Telephone receivers in the telephone receiving room at the International Exhibition of Electricity in Paris in 1881. The stereo pickup was accomplished with carbon microphones installed to the left and right of the prompt box. Electromagnetic telephones were used for reception. The stage of the opera house can be called the first studio, the microphones the first studio microphones, and the receiving room the first control room. Arrangement of the microphones in the footlights of the stage and listening with high-quality headphones are still usable today, although the intervening 100+ years have seen many developments, for example, in amplifier technology, microphones, loudspeakers, quality of cables, improved signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), and recording techniques. The studio technique gave a significant impetus to the improvement of quality in recording, transmission, and reproduction.

10-33

10-34 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

10.3.1a Delayed Signals

A new field of study was opened by early research into the importance of short-term delayed signals to audio fidelity. Joseph Henry opened the door to acoustics as a natural science in 1854 when he demonstrated in the Lecture Theater of the Smithsonian Institution the advantage of reflected sounds when their delay times were less than or equal to 53 ms. If this delay time was increased, the signal was heard as an echo, which reduced the intelligibility of speech. In 1895, Wallace Clement Sabine confirmed the importance of these early data, identifying the fundamental relationship between reverberation time and total absorption, given by
0.163VT = ------------------n

(10.3.1)

1 Si
i=1

Where: T = the reverberation time, s V = the volume, m3 i = the absorption coefficient Si = the corresponding area, the individual surfaces being identified by i = I to n8 With the development of broadcasting in the 1920s, highly damped studios were built. Draperies were hung on the walls and the ceiling, and the announcer's position was divided from the studios by draperies. The floors were covered with a carpet. A single carbon microphone was followed by an amplifier and telephone lines to the transmitter. The control room was called an amplifier room. For 30 years, radio transmissions were monophonic. A long time had elapsed since the first two-channel transmission in Paris in 1881. In the 1960s, stereo-phony was introduced along with very-high-frequency (VHF) transmission. Concurrently, a new generation of studios was built. More light was thrown upon the mysteries of sound recording, for example, in the use of sound effects. In the following years there was a marked improvement in the quality of recording. The expectations of listeners were carefully taken into consideration and influenced studio production. A close relationship now existed between the market and studio production.

10.3.2 Studio Layout and Fundamental Properties

Studios are constructed to record a variety of sound pictures with microphones. Their acoustic properties are very important and cause specific room impressions. The use of close microphones can eliminate such room impressions. Artificial sound effects are possible. Fine tuning is carried out in the control room. Monitoring is usually effected with high-quality loudspeakers in an appropriate acoustic environment. Studios permit the use of production techniques suited for recordings, in which interruptions and repetitions are common. While an audience may be present, it will accept the production type of studio operation. A studio production thus differs from a live transmission from a concert hall or an opera house, where the audience or the listener at home expects an uninterrupted high-quality performance.

Studio Production Systems 10-35

Studios should provide stimulus for the performer. For that, good acoustics are necessary. In addition, the color, the daylighting, the effect lighting, and modern furniture are important. Television and film studios have special requirements for lighting and air conditioning. Sets may cover the acoustical wall treatment. Microphones must be used at greater distances to be out of the picture. The view through the control-room window is often obscured, and the picture monitor provides a direct view.

10.3.2a Survey of Studios

Studios can be divided into three groups as in Table 10.3.1: Broadcasting studios for radio and television Recording studios for music, speech, and television and film and dubbing Studios in theaters, multipurpose halls, and concert halls Studios are combined with control rooms except for self-operated and disk jockey studios. The control rooms may be used in different ways: for recording the output of the studio, for highquality monitoring, or for monitoring and recording musical instruments. In all three cases a high-quality monitoring loudspeaker system is used. Figures 10.3.1 through 10.3.12 show studios in simplified forms with their associated control rooms. The layouts are based primarily on well-known studios. Acoustical details will be described later. Tables 10.3.2 through 10.3.24 show the following data relating to the studios: Tm, s. Reverberation time as an arithmetic mean for the frequency range of f. T, s. Simple indication of the preferred reverberation time as a function of frequency at low, middle, and high frequencies. f Hz. Frequency range with low- and high-frequency limits. NR, dBa. Noise-rating curve according to ISO R1996 with A weighted sound-level equivalent. Recommended values after Voelker, considering international recommendations (see below). Lp, max. Maximum sound pressure level in the studio at the recording microphone position, in the vicinity of the sound source, or near the room surface. D, dB. Average sound-level difference between the studio and the recording room for wall, door, and window. R. Sound reflections which arrive at the microphone. Depending on the studio and recording technique, they can be either an advantage or a disadvantage.

Large Music Studios without an Audience or Television Recording Use

These studios are used for large orchestras, small orchestras, or choirs (Figure 10.3.1). Volume is normally 2000 m3 or more. Reverberation time may be adjusted between 1.5 and 1.2 s, depending on the distribution of draperies and other sound-absorbing materials. Changes of reverberation time are limited to the middle and high frequencies. The maximum sound level of 96 dBA within the studio must be taken into account when designing a studio adjacent to another studio (Table 10.3.2).

10-36 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Table 10.3.1 Survey of Speech and Music Studios

Studio Production Systems 10-37

Figure 10.3.1 Large music studio.

Table 10.3.2 Requirements for a Large Music Studio

Large Music Studios with and without an Audience

Such studios may have a volume of about 5000 m3 and are used for large orchestras, small orchestras, and soloists (Figure 10.3.2). When the orchestras are rehearsing in the studio, available volume may amount to 50 m3 per person, but when an audience is present, this figure falls to about 15 m3 per person. If audience seating is removed from the studio, reverberation time may rise as high as 2.4 s. With draperies that may be 10 to 12 m high and have an area as great as 240 m2, reverberation time declines to about 1.2 s with audience and orchestra present. The permitted noise level can vary between NR15 in studio use and NR20 with an audience present (Table 10.3.3).

10-38 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Figure 10.3.2 Large music studio with provision for an audience.

Table 10.3.3 Requirements for a Large Music Studio with Audience

Multipurpose Studio for Small Symphony Orchestra, Choir, and Instrumental Soloists
The volume of this type of studio is about 1000 m3 (Figure 10.3.3). The short reverberation time of about 0.9 s when the chamber orchestra is playing will be lengthened to about 1.2 s when only soloists are present. Additional variation of reverberation time by movable sound-absorbing elements on the wall may be an advantage. Strong first reflections can be prevented by mounting sound-absorbing material in the most effective positions on the walls or ceiling (Table 10.3.4).

Studio Production Systems 10-39

Figure 10.3.3 Chamber music studio.

Table 10.3.4 Requirements for a Chamber Music Studio

Dance Music Studio for Orchestra with String Instruments

A considerable amount of acoustic absorption is necessary to separate individual instruments or groups from each other (Figure 10.3.4). Draperies and freestanding screens are used for this purpose. Movable wall elements may be employed instead of draperies. In many cases, a reverberant area which suits strings, flutes, or acoustic guitars is provided. The volume of such a studio may be about 800 m3. Carpet may be used in some parts of the studio. The drummer plays in a drum booth to prevent interference with other microphones, as when an acoustic guitar is being recorded. Some studios have movable ceilings that can be lowered or raised to vary reverberation time. The frequency range of interest extends to low frequencies, which must be strongly damped by resonators (Table 10.3.5).

Rock and Pop

The use of closely spaced microphones is normal in this type of studio, with clusters of microphones for drums, piano, or other instruments. In order to discriminate against the sounds of

10-40 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Figure 10.3.4 Dance music studio.

Table 10.3.5 Requirements for a Dance Music Studio

other instruments, reflections must be avoided (Figure 10.3.5). In many cases the studio is small and lacks natural acoustics. A separate drum booth or enclosure is normally provided. The windows of such a booth should be continually adjustable to achieve the desired isolation between studio and booth. Sometimes individual reflecting surfaces are used to raise the sound level of the instruments (for example. the piano or sometimes the drum) at the ear of the players. Using these reflecting surfaces gives a local impression of liveliness (Table 10.3.6). The control-room window often is a fully glazed door. The following aspects must be considered: It is common to monitor at high sound levels in the control room. Sensitive instruments near the glass door can be affected, and feedback may even occur. The door facilitates the direct injection of electronic instruments, which can be arranged around the open door.

Studio Production Systems 10-41

Figure 10.3.5 Rock and pop music studio.

Table 10.3.6 Requirements for a Rock and Pop Studio

The control room is visually enlarged when the big door to the studio is opened. The highquality loudspeaker system in the control room can be used both for mixing and for monitoring individual instruments which may be playing behind the control engineer.

Concert Hall with Announcer Booth and Control Room and Adjacent Equipment Room
The concert hall provides the necessary acoustic environment for both audience and orchestra (Figure 10.3.6). Sound recordings or live transmissions must take these priorities into account. Audience and orchestra require a volume of about 12 m3 per person. The walls and ceiling are sound-reflecting to achieve the necessary reverberation time while avoiding echoes (Table 10.3.7). The equipment room can be separated from the control room to

10-42 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Figure 10.3.6 Concert studio with announcer booth and control room.

Table 10.3.7 Requirements for the Concern Hall

avoid interference when operating recording equipment (Table 10.3.8). The announcer booth, which has a view into the auditorium, is controlled by the sound engineer. Activities in the concert hall, such as applause or the sound of the instruments, to some extent may be allowed to reach the announcer's microphone. In the example shown in Figure 10.3.6 it is a disadvantage that the sound engineer has no direct view into the concert hall; in this case, closed-circuit TV is used.

Studio Production Systems 10-43

Table 10.3.8 Requirements for the Announcer Booth

Figure 10.3.7 On-air and production studio complex.

Studio Complex with On-Air and Production Studio

A studio complex may consist of a control room that works with a talk studio or a multipurpose studio (Figure 10.3.7). The adjacent equipment room serves as a control room for separate operation of the multipurpose studio. Nonreverberant recordings can be made in the very dead room Reverberation times and other properties are described in Tables 10.3.9, 10.3.10, and 10.3.11. For the differing requirements of speech, choir, orchestra, or even a drummer in the multipurpose studio, acoustics are varied with movable wall elements or adjustable absorbent roller blinds. The talk studio is suitable for announcements or for discussion programs. Possible operation of either control room with either studio requires a high level of sound isolation from the windows, doors, and walls.

10-44 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Table 10.3.9 Requirements for a Multipurpose Studio

Table 10.3.10 Requirements for the Announcer Booth

Drama Complex Including a Larger Studio

A drama complex is normally used for speech recordings. Each room has an individual acoustic condition. The large studio provides a reverberant area and, in the corner, a nonreflecting area for intimate speech. Many specific facilities are provided for sound effects, among them staircases of steel or wood, carpeted or wooden floors, and sand or gravel trays in the nonreflecting room (Figure 10.3.8). The impression of a receding voice can be provided by the wall arrangement shown in the non-reflecting room. In some organizations the large studio is divided into three parts by hanging draperies; one end will be reverberant and the other end dead, while the center area simulates a normal living-room condition. This type of studio has the disadvantage that while a recording is being made in one section the other parts cannot be used even for rehearsals. Requirements for the various areas of a drama complex are given in Tables 10.3.12, 10.3.13, and 10.3.14.

Studio Production Systems 10-45

Table 10.3.11 Requirements for the Nonreverberant Interview Studio

Figure 10.3.8 Studio complex for dramatic productions.

The large studio shown in Figure 10.3.8 is usable for the following activities: Large speech recordings with up to 30 persons, for example, simulating auditorium presentations. Many small recordings to create individual sound images, such as a corridor in a house, a table in a kitchen, or a telephone conversation in an office.

10-46 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Table 10.3.12 Requirements for a Large Studio in a Drama Complex

Table 10.3.13 Requirements for a Nonreverberant Recording Studio in a Drama Complex

The control room normally occupies a central position and has a view into the individual areas of the complex, as illustrated in Figure 10.3.9.

Television Studio for Live Broadcasting

A cyclorama and sets, together with extensive lighting and air-conditioning equipment are the important features of television studios (Figure 10.3.10). In many cases, a catwalk is constructed above the cyclorama. Normally it is not necessary for the control rooms to have a direct view into the studio. In any case, the production control room normally will have a bank of monitors that would obscure any studio window. The acoustic characteristics of such studios often are poor because of unavoidable reflections from the studio sets, the necessary equipment at ceiling level, and the hard reflective floor needed for stable camera movement (Table 10.3.15).

Studio Production Systems 10-47

Table 10.3.14 Requirements for a Reverberant Recording Studio in a Drama Complex

Figure 10.3.9 Control room position in a drama studio complex.

Television Complex with Two Studios

Two studios, each having its own control room but sharing a common equipment room, are combined in the layout shown in Figure 10.3.11. Each studio includes an announcer booth that opens directly from the control room (Figure 10.3.12). Double doors and sound locks provide the necessary isolation of the studios from the activities in the control area. Acoustic requirements are similar to those shown in Table 10.3.15. The larger studio has a design reverberation time of about 0.9 s. Table 10.3.16 provides technical information for the announcer room. In many cases, a single control room serves for both sound and production control. During production, close communication between sound engineer and producer is normally more important than the quality of the sound. The side area is open to give a direct view to the announcer booth but is acoustically dead to act as a sound lock. The sound engineer can improve listening conditions and

10-48 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Figure 10.3.10 Television studio with separate video and audio control rooms.

Table 10.3.15 Requirements for a Television Studio with Video and Audio Control Rooms

separate himself or herself from activities in the control room by closing the movable window between the two areas. The engineer can then listen at a higher level without interfering with other activities.

News Studio Complex for Broadcasting

Two control rooms are combined with three studios in the news complex (Figure 10.3.13). The disk jockey studio is self-operated with its own source and control equipment. It can also work with the other studiosin this case acting as a control room. There are many ways to use the studiosthe larger studio having the possibility of including an invited audience to take part in discussions. A certain amount of sound transfer from one area to another may be permissible. The

Studio Production Systems 10-49

Figure 10.3.11 Television complex with two studios.

Figure 10.3.12 Announcer booth with a combined television and audio control room.

same aim is achieved by windows that link all the areas together. On the other hand, the windows result in undesirable acoustic characteristics with strong reflections, and they also limit the wall

10-50 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Table 10.3.16 Requirements for a Television Complex with Two Studios

Figure 10.3.13 News studio complex for live, on-air broadcasting.

area available for acoustic treatment. In discussions in which microphone distance may be greater because of inexperienced participants, these strong reflections produce a small-room impression and lead to a colored sound. The disk jockey must use a close-speaking microphone to exclude the noise of equipment and its operation.

Studio Production Systems 10-51

Figure 10.3.14 Studios with a central control room.

Table 10.3.17 Requirements for Studios 1, 2, and 3 in Figure 10.3.14

Studios with a Central Control Room

The central control room/machine room is a popular concept in a variety of facilities. Studio 1 in Figure 10.3.14 could be a multipurpose studio for music and speech, while Studios 2, 3, and 4 would be designed primarily for speech with the following acoustic conditions: Highly damped or nonreverberant condition Reverberant condition as in a normal living room Very reverberant condition as in an empty room or a stairwell There could be other uses, such as group discussions (Table 10.3.17).

10-52 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Figure 10.3.15 Small radio station studio complex.

Table 10.3.18 Requirements for the Disk Jockey Studio

The control and equipment rooms together form a technical center. It is a disadvantage that the control room can work with only one studio at a time. Rehearsals or preparations for later recordings take place in the other studios at that time. In radio stations the control room can go on the air by taking from each studio a different program such as interviews, weather, or music (Figure 10.3.15.)

Radio Station
A small radio station may have two disk jockey studios, each of which can act as a control room operating with the common interview studio, with or without an audience (Table 10.3.18). It is

Studio Production Systems 10-53

Table 10.3.19 Requirements for Radio Station Support Studios

Table 10.3.20 Requirements for Large Studio (Volume 1000 m3) for Music Recording

common also to have a small studio for news inserts, weather, and other announcements (Table 10.3.19). Small music groups may be recorded in the larger studio (Table 10.3.20). Most recordings are speech-orientated and include discussions, news, weather, and telephone call-in programs (Table 10.3.21). A certain level of background noise may be permissible and even desirable, but there are certain types of transmission for which noise is disturbing, for instance, comments on serious events or poetry readings. To reduce the necessity to construct expensive, highly insulated studios, close-microphone techniques are normally employed (Tables 10.3.22 and 10.3.23). Figure 10.3.16 shows another arrangement of studios, control room, and disk jockey studio. For full utilization, one studio may be used for tape editing and preparation of computer-controlled transmissions. During transmission the control room, disk jockey studio, and weather studio work together.

10-54 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Table 10.3.21 Requirements for an Interview and Multipurpose Studio

Table 10.3.22 Requirements for a Disk Jockey Studio

Film-Dubbing Studio
In a film-dubbing studio, the sound from the studio is synchronized with the picture projected on the screen (Figure 10.3.17). There are areas of different sound absorption, for example, a highly damped commentator's booth and an area enclosed by draperies and screens (Table 10.3.24). The film is projected from the projection room; certain sound tracks containing music or background noise may already exist, while others are recorded from the studio. Nonreverberant studio conditions satisfy the many different scenes to be reproduced A wide range of electronic techniques is available to brighten dead acoustic conditions, for example, by artificial reverberation, filtering, or delay.

Studio Production Systems 10-55

Table 10.3.23 Requirements for a Weather and Traffic Studio

Figure 10.3.16 Multiple-studio radio station complex.

Combined Production and Film-Dubbing Studio

The complex shown in Figure 10.3.18 combines the functions of two dubbing studios and one sound-recording studio. Both dubbing studios need highly damped commentator's booths. The larger of the two studios accommodates an entire orchestra in front of the screen Acoustic requirements differ with the type of music and the instruments that are playing, and variable acoustics therefore are desirable.

10-56 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Figure 10.3.17 Film-dubbing studio.

Table 10.3.24 Requirements for a Film-Dubbing Studio

Studio Production Systems 10-57

Figure 10.3.18 Combined Production and film-dubbing studio.

10.3.2b Bibliography
Beranek, L. L., and J. W. Kopec: Wallace C. Sabine, Acoustical Consultant, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 69, 1981. Green, W., and J. P. Maxfield: Public Address Systems, presented at the Midwinter Convention of the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, N.Y., 1923. Hertz, B. F.: 100 Years with Stereo: The Beginning, presented at the 68th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, Hamburg, Germany, 1981. Kath, U.: Ein Hrspielstudio mit variabler Nachhallzeit, Rundfunktech. Mitt., no. 1, 1972. Moles, A., and F. Trautwein: Das elecktroakustische Institut Hermann Scherchen, Gravesaner Bltter, no. 5, pp. 5164, 1956. Noise Rating Curves, IS0 R 1996, 1971.
R. S. Shankland, R. S.: Architectural Acoustics in America to 1930, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 61,

1977.
Sabine, W. C.: The Collected Papers on Acoustics, Dover, New York, N.Y., 1964. Thiele, R.: Richtungsverteilung und Zeitfolge der Schallrckwrfe in Raumen, Acustica, vol. 3, 1953.
Trendelenburg, F.: Einfihrung in die Akustik, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pg. 123, 1939.

Vermeulen, R.: Akustik und Elektroakustik, Gravesaner Bltter, no. 7, 1960. Vermeulen, R.: Stereo Reverberation, Philips Tech. Rev., vol. 17, 1956.

10-58 Production Standards, Equipment, and Facility Design

Voelker, E. J.: Akustik und Aufnahmetechnik im modernen Hrfunk- und Fernseh-studio Anforderungen im Wandel, NTG Fachber., vol. 56, VDE-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1976. Voelker, E. J., and M. Brckmann: Raum- und Bauakustik des neuen Funkhauses des Hessischen Rundfunks in Kassel, Fortschr. Akustik, pp. 439442, VDI-Verlag, Dsseldorf, Germany, 1973.