StudioMini XL 2.0

! ! ! ! ! User Manual

Copyright Fantastocrats © 2010. All rights reserved.

Under the copyright laws, this manual may not be copied, in whole or

in part, without the written consent of Fantastocrats.

This manual can also be found in the Guide

section of our website, where you can download

and add it to iBooks:

http://www.studiomini.me

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Contents

Introduction to Multitrack Recording! 4

StudioMini XL Main Interface! 6

Main Controls! 6

Faders! 7

Record Enable, Mute, Solo & Loops Buttons! 8

Meters! 10

Track Delete! 11

Song Title & Time Display! 11

Tab Bar! 12

Recording Techniques! 19

Built-in Microphone! 19

Audio Input Through Headphone Jack! 20

Audio Input through Camera Connection Kit! 21

Recording Example! 22

Equipment! 23

Connecting Everything! 24

Recording Sessions! 25

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Introduction to Multitrack Recording

Multitrack recording refers to an audio recording method that is the

standard for recording music and producing professional quality

results. The process was invented in the 1950s and quickly became

the technique by which nearly all music has been recorded and

produced since.

In the pre-digital era music was recorded on tape. Areas of tape were

designated as “tracks”, which were separate channels where audio

was recorded. These tracks could be recorded onto at the same time,

or recorded separately.

For example, if the tape is separated into 4 tracks there could be a

microphone picking up a singer being recorded on track 1. Another

microphone could pick up the drummer on track 2, another could pick

up the bass player on track 3 and another mic could pick up the

guitar on track 4. If the band is playing at the same time the recording

could happen simultaneously on all 4 separate tracks. This is the way

live albums are recorded.

Alternately, the drummer could be recorded first on track 2. Then,

while listening back to the drum track the bass player could be

recorded on track 3. The guitar player could go next and while

listening to bass and drums on tracks 3 & 2 he could “lay down” his

guitar part on track 4. Finally the singer could go into a vocal isolation

booth and while listening back to the rhythm section on tracks 2, 3 &

4

4 record the vocal performance on track 1, creating the complete

song. This is the preferred method for recording studio albums,

allowing the producers, musicians, and engineers to focus their

attention on one performance at a time.

Finally when all the recording and production is finished, these

multiple tracks are mixed down to 2 tracks with a mixer, producing the

final Stereo sound recording. A mixer unitʼs basic function is to adjust

each trackʼs output level in order to blend everything together.

In the digital era weʼre no longer recording on tape, but the basic

concepts are the same. We record audio on separate tracks and

finish by mixing them all down to a single stereo file. What only a

couple of decades ago required a professional studio full of audio

gear costing thousands of dollars you can now do with StudioMini XL

on your iPad! And StudioMini XL does a lot more, keep reading to find

out all the cool things you can do with it.

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StudioMini XL Main Interface

StudioMini XL is an 8 track recording studio that runs on your iPad.

Considering that almost all of their albums were recorded using 4

track machines, imagine what the Beatles would have thought of

StudioMini XL running on an iPad!

Main Controls

From right to left, we have the Record button, Stop button, Play/

Pause button, Timeline slider and Repeat button.

The Record button begins recording on that track. Only one track at a

time can be recorded onto at a time. The iPad has a single mono

input, either through the built-in Microphone or through the input

accessed by the headphone jack.

The Stop button stops playback or recording and returns the song to

the beginning.

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The Play button begins playback. During playback it lights up and

becomes a Pause button, allowing you to pause playback in order to

continue playing from that exact point.

The Timeline slider moves as the song progresses during playback.

You can move it to shift to any point in the song.

The Repeat button repeats the current song indefinitely.

Faders

There are 9 Faders. The first 8 correspond to the 8 audio tracks you

can record onto. The 9th track is for Loops. Moving the Faders

adjusts their corresponding track volumes, balancing the various

tracks to get the ideal mix.

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Record Enable, Mute, Solo & Loops Buttons

Record Enable buttons, marked by an R, are how you set up a track

for recording. You press the R on the track you want to record onto,

and then youʼre able to press the Record button to begin recording on

the track.

Mute buttons mute audio output on their corresponding tracks.

Solo buttons mute all un-soloed tracks.

To avoid confusion Mute and Solo buttons cannot be used at the

same time.

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The Loops button lets you access the bundled audio loops. This is

how you select a Loop to play along with. There is a Metronome,

along with 78 drum grooves in various styles to choose from.

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When Record Enable, Mute, Solo and Loops buttons are not

accessible they appear darker. Buttons become disabled like this at

times to maintain proper operation.

Meters

Meters are calibrated to dynamically display each tracksʼ volume

output level. They also display the input volume level of a track during

recording, which will help you make adjustments to capture the

perfect sound.

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