Welcome to northcountrydigital.com
 
 
 
 
 
 

Services Provided by North Country Digital

 

 High-Definition Two-Track Recording with 2-hour CD Turnaround

 

We have lots of fun doing this.  Here we take a world-class stereo mic pair (or several mics if you please) and record your performance on the spot to a high-definition 2-track master.  What is high definition?  Well first here's a very brief explanation of how standard CDs are recorded:

 

The sample rate of standard audio CDs is 44,100 per second and the bit rate is 16.  This means that a CD plays 44,100 "snapshots" of sound per second and each of those snapshots has 16 bits of information.  The result is excellent sound quality that we have all come to expect from commercial audio CDs.  Standard audio CDs are also called "Redbook" CDs.

 

Well here at North Country Digital we can record at a sample rate of up to 96,000 per second and a bit rate of 24. The result is sound quality that will simply blow your mind!  While today's CD players are not able to play CDs at this high resolution, we can easily convert the files to make you a CD that will play on standard CD players while still preserving your master recording at 96/24...and we can usually have it ready for you less than two hours after your performance.  

 

Your original high-definition soundfiles are later archived on a DVD-R.  In the future, when standard CDs are manufactured at higher resolutions, your master recording will already be there.

 

 

Why does it take two hours to produce a Redbook CD after a performance?  

Producing a Redbook CD from a high-definition master recording requires a few steps that take a bit of time:

Normalizing - Bringing the overall volume as high as it can get without distorting.

Tracking - Putting track marks for each song or movement so your CD is segmented the way you want it.

Creating fades - So that the beginning and end of the performance begin and end smoothly.  We can also create fade-ins and fade-outs for each track if you like.

Downsampling - This requires the most time and processing.  Our digital recorder takes your high-definition files and copies them, then converts the copies to a Redbook sample rate while preserving the original high-definition files.

Burning the CD - This is not a typical CD burner like you might have in your computer.  It has extra error correction and burns at just 4x speed (the faster the burn speed, the more likely you are to have errors on the disc) so you get a perfect CD master.

                Just for geeks:

                        Normalizing files in the Alesis Masterlink is a 2x process. 

                        Tracking and creating fades are instant processes. 

                        Downsampling is a near-realtime process.

                        Burning the CD is a 4x process.

 

 
High-Definition Multitrack Recording
 

Once the sound of your instrument hits the microphone, it's analog days are over!  We can record an unlimited number of tracks, up to 14 tracks at a time, in high-definition digital.  Mixing, effects, EQing...it's all done in the computer and digitally transferred back to the Alesis Masterlink.  The end result is a high definition master saved on CD-Rs for you to take with you.  We can also convert the final tracks to a standard "Redbook" CD that will play on today's CD players. 

 

All of the parameters of the automated mixdown (volume, panning, effects, EQ etc.) and the soundfiles themselves are archived on a DVD-R, which we keep for you at no charge.  So 10 years from now if you decide you want to remix your project, we can pick up right where we left off.

           

A Note about mastering:

Once you have a finished mix of a project, if you're planning to release it commercially, we strongly suggest that you send it to a mastering house for the final polish.  Basically the mastering process adds some equalization, compression and fullness to a mix, and should always be done by someone who is unfamiliar with the project (fresh ears.).

Here's a great article that tells more about mastering

 

One more thing about our multitrack setup: we run a simultaneous backup to a 24-track hard disk recorder.  This is linked from the main signal via fiber-optic cable and completely bypasses the computer-based recorder.  So if our powerbook crashes during the recording (and it never has but, hey, it's a computer) we lose nothing.  Also, the entire system runs on a surge-protected battery backup, so power surges or outages won't even stop us.


Something In Between

 

You may want something more than an on-the-fly 2-track live mix, but that whole unlimited track thing seems a little extreme.  Well, we understand that a lot of projects may fall somewhere in the middle.  We also understand that you may not have a pile of money to spend and that you want to capture your vision on a budget, but with great results that you'll be proud to share with friends and family. 

 

If you have practiced your parts and worked out your ideas, you can record an amazing amount of material in a short amount of time.  When you think you're ready to record, please contact us so we can figure out how to fully realize your musical vision on-budget.

 

 

Getting Your Music Out There

 

Once the project is complete, it's time to let the public hear the fruits of your hard work.  We can help you with CD duplication.  If you want to share your music right away we can encode your music in stereo mp3 format.  If you like, we'll even give you your own private page on this website and post your music for two weeks at no charge!  The same day that you finish your project (or perform your concert) you can easily have people around the world hearing your music.

 

 

 


This page was updated December 14, 2008