A typical setup

The audio recording equipment is minimal, consisting of little more than a large diaphragm condenser microphone into a preamp, which the recording mixer uses to balance the input level on the fly. Multiple microphones and stereo pickups are avoided in dubbing, where traditionally only one microphone is used. If a mono walla track seems thin, the loop is simply recorded a second time onto an adjacent track for a faux stereo effect.

There should always be an open channel of communication between the studio and the control room via talkback lines between the artistic director, who is in the studio, and the recording technician. In most cases the video is projected from a separate workstation that is synchronised to the DAW.

The following diagram shows the basic idea of what a dubbing studio looks like.

1) Actor’s microphone, to be recorded to the audio workstation (5)

2) Director’s microphone. This is an independent link between the director and the sound technician in the control room and should always be active.

3) Sound technician’s talk-back microphone, used to communicate with the actors and director in the other room.

4) Video workstation, used to control the video playback and the dubbing software. The video signal is sent to both the recording studio and the control room.

5) Audio workstation, which receives and records the signal from the microphone (1).