CROSSROADS Language StudioÊs Newsletter, November 201
20 1 1

How is a pop song recorded? You may
think the band go into a studio, theengineer places a microphone in frontof them, they play and hey presto! you
have a record. Well, this was how arecord was made in the early days ofrecordingwiththequietest
instruments nearest the microphone,
the loudest furthest away. Today, thesituation is quite different. The maindifference is that, because of multi-tracktechnology, instruments can be recorded
individually, at different times.
The drum kit is the most complicatedinstrument to record and this is recorded
first. The smallest kit would have four orfive drums and three cymbals. As it isimpractical to record each individually, one
after another, they all have to be played
simultaneously. Each drum (and cymbal)
has its own microphone positioned a few
centimeters away and not pointing at anyother drum. This is to reduce ‘bleed’, where
the sound from one drum bleeds into a
microphone positioned above another.
Special microphones that only record soundsources at which they are pointing andthose sensitive to a limited frequency range(for example, the bass drum microphone is
not likely to pick up much sound from thehigh frequency cymbals) are used for thesame reason. The aim is to have several
tracks each containing the sound of only
one drum. These can then be mixed
together, with the volumes adjusted, andpanned left and right to varying degrees tocreate a stereo effect. The tonal quality of
individual drum tracks can be changed
after recording and sound effects (such asecho) added.
.

Afterthedrums, thebass guitar
would most
likely be next,
followed bythe rhythm
guitar,keyboards
Henson Recording Studios, LA, USA
and any lead
instrument (that is, one playing a solo). The
vocals are usually the last to be added (thelead vocal followed by the backing vocals).
By recording each separately there is no
problem with bleed and no need for all themusicians to play perfectly at the sametime: the best ‘take’ from each musician canbe selected.
Once all the ‘live’ instruments have beenrecorded, pre-recorded samples or computergenerated sounds can be added. The
computer allows the engineer to correct
mistakes, too: re-pitching an out-of-tune note or
re-positioning one played too early or too late
are simple matters. The whole mix is thencompressed (which reduces the range ofvolume in the song to achieve a greaterimpact) and tonally tweaked (boosting or
cutting various frequencies).

Article by Jonathan

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SITE OF THE MONTH:
You can find some of the history of recording music here:

http://www.soc.duke.edu/~s142tm01/history2.html

Joshua Says: This month’s performance night and end-of-term party withbe held on the 26th. I am eagerly looking forward to all the usual shenanigans,but this term we are going to try something different. As suggested by some ofyou, we are going to try an “international food fair” to get the evening going.
This will start earlier than the usual party and I’m very keen to see how it
works out. Check out the details with Junko. See you there!

Junko Says: A borderless world is steadily taking shape and, with it, aninternational culture is being born. We cannot directly “learn” this culture, but
we do naturally assimilate its effects as it evolves and we mature along with it.
We can, however, learn the language that carries its message, English. I think
it is evident that the further we go, the more important English will become. I
truly hope more and more people in Japan start to realize this.

Jonathan Says: Last month I went to Kyoto with my family. We stayed
in a machiya, about 100 years old. My wife loved the owner’s Kyoto
dialect, which, unfortunately, I could not appreciate. We splashed out
on a five-course dinner at a restaurant famous for Kyoto specialties
and visited the usual temples and shrines. My wife and I enjoyedourselves but Kyoto is busy and no place to take small children.

Matthew Says: I am pleased about the number of public
holidays you have here in Japan. Last Thursday I went to asmall race track and watched some amateur car racing. It wasinteresting to see that Japanese people have a place where they
can take their cars to see how fast they can go. The only way an
Englishman can do this is on the street – illegally!

Ludovic Dit: L’autre jour, à la télévision japonaise, j’ai vu uneémission intéressante (c’est rare !) : un séminaire qui apprend auxJaponais comment parler en public, se présenter, plaisanter, demanière à captiver l’auditoire. Et les résultats étaient surprenants !
J’espère bien que cela va se généraliser au Japon, ce serait bénéfiquepour beaucoup, et surtout pour l’enseignement des langues !

The Giant’s Causeway

AndYukiko Yagi from S(B)1 recently visited NorthernIreland. This is her report:

Performance NightPlays, Recitals, karaoke
and lots of fun. Don’t
forget to invite
your friends andfamily to comealong!

The Giant’s Causeway is a natural formation of hexagonalpillars made of stone. It’s located on the north coast of
Northern Ireland and continues for about 8km. It was made bya lava flow about 60 million years ago. The lava cooled rapidly
and contracted into hexagonal-shaped pillars as if it was a tiledfloor.
A legend says that the causeway was made by a giant to go
across the sea to Scotland to fight with an enemy. If you go
and look at the remarkable view you’ll believe the legend.

* You can getthe details
from Junko
in our office

Miho and Akane’s Adventures Overseas – a serial by S(A)3 students: Episode 7‘Please calm down, Miho’, Tom said. ‘Let me introduce her. This is my younger sister, Alice’. Miho stared openmouthed at Alice. Akane felt greatly relieved. ‘I really wanted to meet you again but I couldn’t make contact withyou because of my complicated situation’.
He explained that when his visa expired he returned to Australia but soon after his father’s business went into crisis.
He was busily engaged in fund-raising activities. An inquiry detected fraudulent accounting: one of the accountants wasdiverting funds into his own pocket. The matter was settled just yesterday so they went to the stadium to celebrate.
‘You must be the Japanese girl he’s always talking about!’, said Alice, winking at her. Akane thought ‘Good for you, Miho’.
Miho said, ‘I couldn’t forget you so I quit my job and came here to search for you’. Tom was deeply impressed.
‘What a lucky day!’, shouted Alice.
‘What’s lucky about it? Australia lost the game’, grumbled some Australians at the bar. But when they heard
Miho and Tom’s story they cheered up and bought them a drink.
- The End Authors: Yukiko Tamai, Atsuyuki Yoko, Kazunori Saeki, Eri Ukita, Yuko Kozai

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