Deck 13: Computer Recording

Question 1

To prevent latency when recording a vocal or real instrument into a DAW, ________________.

A) monitor the latency signal only.
B) listen to the mix on speakers instead of headphones.
C) do not enable "echo input monitor".
D) enable "echo input monitor".

Answer 1

C

Question 2

You are ready to record a vocal in a DAW, but you are getting no signal. What is a possible cause?

A) The vocal track's input is not assigned to an audio interface input.
B) The vocalist's dynamic mic is not receiving phantom power.
C) The vocalist's mic is not aiming at the vocalist.
D) The powered monitor speaker is turned off.
E) all of the above.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

A recommended maximum digital recording level is ______________.

A) 0 dBFS in rms mode.
B) -6 dBFS in peak mode.
C) 0 dBFS in peak mode.
D) -6 dBFs in rms mode.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A digital audio workstation can record only ___________________.

A) analog audio.
B) digital audio.
C) MIDI and audio.
D) compressed audio.

Question 5

The three parts of a DAW are:

A) computer, audio interface, recording software
B) computer, sound card, editing device
C) controller surface, computer, midi interface
D) CD burner, computer, USB microphone

Question 6

The signal flow during DAW recording and playback is _______________.

A) interface to USB to computer
B) interface to hard drive to interface
C) input to output to input
D) microphone to mic preamp to interface

Question 7

Both word processing and digital audio editing can _______________.

A) fix mistakes.
B) delete.
C) copy and paste.
D) rearrange sections.
E) all of the above.

Question 8

What gets audio into and out of a computer?

A) MIDI interface cable
B) audio interface and cable
C) USB cable
D) FireWire cable

Question 9

To record an entire band at once with a DAW, the interface requires:

A) multiple mic inputs.
B) two mic inputs.
C) multiple line inputs.
D) more than two mic inputs and more than two line outputs.

Question 10

To achieve the highest sound quality on a CD, _________________.

A) use Disc-At-Once mode.
B) burn the CD at the fastest possible speed.
C) record in 16-bit resolution, same as a CD.
D) record in 24-bit resolution, convert to 16-bit and add dither.

Question 11

To record MIDI on a computer you need _______________.

A) a MIDI interface or audio interface with MIDI connectors.
B) a MIDI controller.
C) sequencing software.
D) a hard drive or memory card.
E) all of the above.

Question 12

Latency is __________________.

A) the signal processing delay through the driver and interface to the monitor output.
B) the delay time of a delay plug-in.
C) the compensation delay of a DAW for various plug-ins.
D) a MIDI effect.

Question 13

Switching from a WDM driver to an ASIO driver might ________________.

A) cause overheating in the computer's CPU.
B) allow more precise editing.
C) prevent drop-outs.
D) improve sound quality.

Question 14

If your DAW recording has 9 tracks, but your controller has 8 faders, how can you mix the recording?

A) Plug track 9 into another input.
B) Convert the 9 tracks down to 8 tracks, then mix with the controller.
C) You can't.
D) Press the bank switch.

Question 15

DAW plug-ins can _____________________.

A) correct musical pitch and timing.
B) improve signal flow.
C) correct digital audio artifacts.
D) condition the AC power that feeds the computer.

Question 16

The host is ________________.

A) the computer.
B) the engineer at a session.
C) the recording software.
D) the recording hardware.

Question 17

Emulation software can mimic ________________.

A) guitar amps.
B) microphones.
C) vintage compressors.
D) tape recorders.
E) all of the above.

Question 18

Pro Tools 11 uses ____________ for processing.

A) M-Box hardware
B) a Pro-Tools DSP card
C) your computer's CPU
D) your audio interface

Question 19

An example of an input device for a DAW track is __________________.

A) sound card channel 3
B) mic preamp 2
C) DAW channel 4
D) MIDI sequencer 5

Question 20

If you are hearing drop-outs or glitches during a DAW mixdown, a common fix is to __________________.

A) use a mic preamp instead of a mixer's mic preamp.
B) reduce the monitor volume.
C) Increase the buffer size.
D) Reduce the latency.

Question 21

Fade out, crossfade, stuttering, and creating identical chorus parts are examples of ____________.

A) A/D conversion.
B) editing.
C) mixing.
D) signal control.

Question 22

To achieve the best digital sound quality, _________________.

A) record on a hard disk rather than on RAM.
B) compress the signal while recording to prevent clipping.
C) add lots of reverb -- it's always impressive.
D) record at -6 dBFS maximum in peak meter mode.

Question 23

A digital recording ____________________.

A) is a copy of the signal source, even if it is noisy or distorted.
B) is cleaner than the signal source.
C) removes noise and distortion from the signal source.
D) slices audio into small segments so it sounds more grainy than analog.

Question 24

SMPTE time code is used mainly to _________________.

A) set the start-time of each CD track.
B) synchronize video with audio or synchronize two transports.
C) calculate the length of an album.
D) adjust frames per second.