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Multimedia lab
Recording Booth

THE BOOTH IS FUNCTIONAL AS OF 3/14/25. The guide below has been updated.

Physical Set Up Software Set Up Setting Recording Levels Troubleshooting

In a Glance

The Multimedia Lab recording booth is located in the Granoff Multimedia Lab and:

Is ideal for shorter recordings of one voice (15 mins or so)
Can be used at any time the Granoff lab is open. First come first serve, without any special training.
Includes a high-quality condenser mic and accompanying computer with software (Audition, Logic, Reaper, Audacity, etc.)
Can ALSO be used more simply with a personal portable recording device (phone, zoom audio recorder). Just walk in, close the door and record
Will greatly reduce but not eliminate background noise (not whisper quiet) as it is in an active space.
Can be used to record solo, or a team of two, producer and talent!

Physical Set up

The Booth

The booth has a small table and a mic stand, both of which can be adjusted to different heights depending on your setup.

ALWAYS USE TWO HANDS WHEN ADJUSTING THE MIC STAND as it can be heavier and more awkward to adjust than it looks.

You can adjust:

- how tall the mic stand is (green)
- how far out the boom pole extends (purple)
- the angle of the boom pole (orange)
REMOVE LAPTOPS OR ANYTHING OFF THE TABLE BEFORE ADJUSTING IT
- turn the knob (blue) to loosen the pole, then pull the table up or down. When you reach the desired height, tighten the knob.
We recommend setting the height to be slightly above where your mouth will be.

Microphone is slightly above where you are speaking from

A clip light is provided to help with reading scripts, and the mouse is connected to the outside computer

Producer + Talent Setup

If you are working with a friend or a producer, they can handle things like setting your levels, starting and stopping recordings, and giving you feedback from outside, while you, the talent, are in the booth.

After successfully setting up the software, the producer will be able to turn on and off their mic (the computer mic) by pressing on the round ID button on the Audient ID14 interface

two person set up above.

Set up your computer for solo recording

After you have completed the software set up below, very carefully rotate the computer on the arm to face the window of the recording booth. We have an extra mouse in the booth that will allow you to start and stop recordings, play things back, etc.
Its worth noting that the gain knob to adjust the levels on the mic is on Audient iD14 interface located on the computer table, meaning you will have to come in and out while testing and setting your levels, but once its set, you shouldn't have to worry about it again for that session.

Recording with Adobe Audition

The booth and microphone can be used with any DAW or audio software, but because the MML uses Adobe Audition software for podcasting, we will be sharing to set up a project in Audition. If you are unfamiliar with Adobe Audition, we recommend taking our podcast editing tutorial first

Software Set up

There will be three primary applications or systems we need to have set up correctly before we begin recording:

Mac System Preferences
Your DAW, in this case Adobe Audition
ID Mixer

Systems Preferences: Sound set to Audient id14

Click on the apple icon in the top left bar > System Settings
Click on "sound" then
- Set output to Audient ID14
- Set input to Audient ID14
- Set Sound Effects to Audient ID 14

Adobe Audition

Open Adobe Audition and navigate to the top left bar > Settings > Audio Hardware

2. Set the following:

- Default Input to Audient ID14
- Default Output to Audient ID14

3. Navigate to Audition > Settings > Audio Channel Mapping

Set the following:

Default File Input Channel 1 [L] to ...Analogue 1
Default File Input Channel 2 [R] to ...Analogue 1 *
Default File Output Channel 1 [L] to ...Analogue 1
Default File Output Channel 2 [R] to ...Analogue 2

*Note that both input channels are being set to Analog 1. This allows for the microphone, which produces a mono signal to feed both channels creating a stereo signal.

ID Mixer

Open the "ID" application from the application folder or spotlight
- If its your first time opening ID, you may be asked to give the application permission to the internal microphone. Give permission, we need the mac internal mic for our set up.
Exit out of the pop-up window to register to ARC Creative Hub
If you don't see the mixer, navigate to the top right tool apple tool bar, click on "ID" and select "Show Mixer"
If you don't see the system panel, navigate to top left of the apple tool bar and click on view, then select "System Panel"

5. Systems Panel Routing Analogue Outputs:

Mono Mode: C
ID Mode: Talkback
Analogue Outputs: CUE A selected for all

6. Systems Panel Routing Talkback:

Select External
Device: TONOR TM310 shotgun mic

7. In the Mixer Panel:

Make sure to open the mic and daw panels by selecting them in the top right corner of the mixer
Set the faders for Mic 1, Daw 1+2, and Daw 6 to "0"
- - Mic 1 = the recording booth mic
  - Daw 1+2 = playback from your DAW or listening back to what you recorded
  - Daw 6 = talkback, or the internal Imac mic which is used when working with a "producer" on the outside of the booth so that you can talk to each other
  - You can adjust the faders as you like if you want to hear one signal more than the other, but note this is just the headphone mix, and will not affect or adjust the actual gain of your recording
Set the headphone mix to CUE A by selecting it.
Solo CUE A by clicking on the square S
Adjust the volume of CUE A (3/4 or the way to start)
lastly, make sure your headphones are enabled in the bottom right corner

Your Software Set up is now done! Lets get ready for recording next in Adobe Audition

Setting the recording Levels

Setting the levels will be easier with a producer/friend helping but can easily be done on your own.For this resource page, we will assume you are working solo.

Start a new multitrack session in Adobe Audition (or other Daw)

- With Audition still open after your initial software set up (above), in the top menu bar select file > new > Multirack Session
- Arm track #1 for recording by selecting the square "R" button on the track adjustment panel.
- once armed for recording the track will get signal from the microphone, which you will see in the levels indicator. hint: If you want to use the larger level indicator on the bottom of the screen, select the square "I" right next to the record arming button. It would be best to turn this off when actual recording.

Getting to know the Audient ID14 Interface

Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the interface diagram below. While you won't necessarily use all aspects of the interface, having a basic idea of each component will help with our next steps

Get to know the Tonor Shotgun Mic

This mic sits on the desk and is used by the "producer" to communicate with talent in the booth inbetween takes. Press the ID button on the Audient ID14 interface to route the mic signal on and off. However, the mic has it own onboard touch control you should know about:

Blue icon: means that the mic is on without noise reduction.

Green icon: means the mic is on with noise reduction.

Red icon: the microphone is not on at all. It should never be red if you want talk-back functionality

Switching modes: long press between green and blue to switch back and forth between the two. single press to switch from green/blue to red and back.

Set Up your Headphones

Your headphone volume is set up on the Audient ID 14 interface which sits on the computer desk.
Make sure the headphone light is on, otherwise you may not hear anything at all
Use the large silver knob to increase or decrease your volume,
The headphone levels indicator on the device will tell you how high the volume is set. We recommend setting it to -3
You will also want to make sure that both headphones are plugged into the bottom right of the ID14

Test your levels

- Using Audition, record a short snippet of you talking clearly into the mic. Try to speak the same way as you will when you record. Be wary of "performance voice" which might be much louder or softer than the voice you will use in your recording, and thus can affect setting your levels
- Play your short recording back. There are a few things you can listen out for:
  1. Does it sound good to you in the headphones?
    - If you hear alot of unwanted background noise like hums, you may need to reduce your gain on the Audient ID14,
    - if your voice sounds muffled, you may need to increase your gain on the Audient ID14
    - not hearing anything? make sure you followed the steps for setting up your headphones. Also, check to see if phantom power is set to "on" on the ID14 (switch labeled 48v)

2. What color is your audio meter? In general:

- 1. - Green is good and means none of your audio is blown out
    - Hitting yellow occasionally is ideal. However, if all of your recording is in yellow with spikes in the red, your gain may be too high
    - Red indicates your audio is blown out. This might be ok as a temporary spike (laughing unexpectedly into the mic) but if you hit alot of red in your playback, lower your gain.

3. What decibel (DB) level is the majority of your audio at?

Looking at the level meter you can see the audio level as you playback. In general, you want to be around -12db with most your audio . Its ok to be lower (down to -20db), but you don't want to be generally higher than -12db.

- hint: If you want to use the larger level indicator on the bottom of the screen, select the square "I" right next to the record arming button. It would be best to turn this off when actual recording.

You are now ready to record!

TROUBLESHOOTING

if the suggestions below do not resolve the issue, email us at cats@brown.edu

IN ADOBE AUDITION.

Preferences > Audio Hardware

Make sure that your Audio Hardware is set to the following:

Device Class: Core Audio
Default Input: Audient ID14
Default Output: Audient 1D14

Clock: Out:Recording Booth Outputs
I/O Buffer Size: 512
Sample Rate:
- 4100 for podcasting
- 4800 for film or music
- This sample rate should be the same as your audio project setting

Preferences > Audio Channel Mapping

Default Stereo Input:

Because we only have one recording microphone, we want the same input, Analogue 1, to be used for both left and right channels.

Take a look at the image below to see that all file channels for input should be set to Audient iD14: Analogue1

Output:

Outputs should be set to Analogue 1 and Analogue 2 respectively (see below)

Audient ID14 Interface

Users should not unplug anything from the recording interface, but the major areas that should be checked are:

Is the iD14 Interface plugged into the computer?
Is the XLR cable coming from the booth plugged into the first input on back of iD14 interface?
Is the 48v phantom power on (switched to the right)? Without it, the microphone in the booth will not work
Is the mic gain set high enough to hear? usually 3/4 of the way around the knob is ideal
Are both headphones plugged into bottom right of the iD14 interface?
Are the headphones enabled, indicated by the glowing headphone button?
Has the headphone volume been set on the interface?

Tonor Mic (Producer Only)

Users should not unplug anything from the recording interface, but the major areas that should be checked are:

Is the microphone icon lit up?
- if it is not, contact CATS@brown.edu asap so we can fix the issue
The icon should be either blue or green
- If it is red, single-press the icon to turn on the mic to blue or green.
Remember, both the mic has to be on, and the ID button pressed/lit for producer talk back to work.

In ID Mixer Software

In the mixer and systems panel

Does CUE A have volume and has the cue been solo'd by clicking on the square S button
Are all tracks being routed to CUE A
Is the headphone icon enabled
Are the faders for Mic 1, Daw 1+2, and Daw 6 set to around "0"
Has the talkback mic been selected as the Tonor TM310 Shotgunmicrophone