Alesis M1 ACTIVE - Page 16

About
the
l$l
Actiue
About
lllearlield
monitoring
In the
early days
of
recording,
most
recording
studios
used
big
monitor
speakers
almostexclusively.
unfortunately,
they
also required
high powered
ampMiers
and
expensive
acoustic
treaknent (often
poorly
done)
of the enlire
control
room.
still,
a
well-constructed
big
monitoring
system
really was
impressive
to listen
to, a fact
not
overlooked
by the
studio
owners
who
wanted
to impress
the record
company
executirres
who
paid
for
the big
studio's
time. These
big
systems
had
big-level
control
knobs,
and
climts
enjoyed
"cranking-up"
the
volume. Fortunately,
recording
mgineers and
producers
eventually
leamed
that
this was
not the
best
way to
accurately
mix rrusic
because it
wasn't
the way
most people
listened
to their
radios,
casset+es and
CD players.
Also,
big monitor
systems
and the costs
for
the required
control room
acoustic
treahnents
were going
through
the roof
(no
prm intended),
particularly
beyond
the
budget limits
of
smaller project
and home
itudios
which
were growing
in numbers.
A new
way of accurate
monitoring
was needed:
nearfield
monitoring.
Nearfield
monitors,
by their definition,
are
intended
for
mounting
close to the
listener. The
idea here
is to
improve
the direct acoustic
path betrareen
the
speaker
and
the listenerby
making
it shorter,
thereby giving
less
opporhmity
for the always
present
indirect
(reflected)
somds
to getback in
and muddle
things
up. With
nearfield
monitoring,
the surrounding
acoustic
mvironment
becorres
a much less
significant factor
in
establishing
the monitor
system's
sound character.
A good set
of small
monitors properly
placed in
a reasonably
non-reverberant
room
and properly powered
will yield
surprisingly
accurate
results atbudget
prices.
Caried to another
studio,
the same
monitor should
also provrde repeatable
r,esults.
In
fact, some recording
engineers carry
their own
speakers around
because
they lcrow
how
they will
sound in
almost any
room. Now,
even the
big sfudios use
smaller
speakers
to augment
their
big monitoring
systems, and
nearfield
monitors have
become proven
tools
in the recording
business.
,l/L
ffiIACTIUE
Rffi
TIAilUAL