How to understand new equipment fast?

[xiaoken]

I'm stepping into a unfamiliar recording studio in a couple of days. Is there any tips or guidelines for me to follow, so that I can get acquainted to the gear quickly?

[TexRoadkill]

Find out what they have and at least skim the manuals before hand. That is SOP for most engineers jumping into new setups.

[Alchemist3k]

Most effects and processors work the same way and have the same parameters. Being aware of how to use effects processors and what each parameter does will help everytime.

An engineer will likely be on hand to help.

[Sennheiser]

I have a question: regardless of what brands of equipment are used, are most pro studios set up the same way as far as signal routing, patch bay assignment, monitor setup, etc?

I think I'd need a week in an unfamiliar studio. If I were to go in cold and start tracking I'm afraid it would sound like crap.

Comments?

[Kendog]

I would say the best method would be to know what you want. There's no way you'll walk in and learn all of the equipment in a new studio, but if you're setting up drums and you know you need some mic preamps, compressors, and eq, you'll either be able to find something you're familiar with or you'll ask the house engineer for his advice. Nobody would expect you to know the patch bay, but whatever board they have will have the same basic functions as any other, just with more options that you may or may not need.

Just keed in mind that you already know how to record. You only need to know what tools that particular studio has to give you what you want.

Ken Rutkowski
www.OuterLimitRecordingStudio.com