There is a black hole in our industry.

A black hole so powerful, so perplexing, it forever changes who we are. I’m talking about Sync. It is a necessary part of the modern digital studio, but often times ignored all together. One of the reasons for this is the fact that there are many different forms of Sync based on “application.” There is Word Clock, LTC, VITC, Video Reference, MIDI Beat Clock, AES/EBU, the list goes on, and on, and on, and…Sync.

There are many different uses that all are part of the greater context in a session. For instance Word Clock. A standard within the Recording and Mixing environment, it allows us to Sync all of our digital devices (Audio Interfaces, Hardware Effects Processors, etc…) to allow digital transfer between these devices eliminating extra conversion steps in going from digital back to analog and back to digital. MIDI Beat Clock allows us to send Tempo messages to our MIDI devices so we can achieve a “musical” sync. One example is to allow us to sync arpeggio parts from a synthesizer to the tempo of our session. After all, music depends on the musicians staying in time with one another. Furthermore, there is also the possibility of using sync to lock up tape machines, consoles and beta video deck.

There’s a lot of stuff to remember!

Also, in most modern studios, the need for sync is no longer there. A lot of people have been working “In The Box.” The DAW keeps everything together for us, eliminating the need to run clock to our console and tape machine. The DAW is both of these things together so you really can’t mess anything up. For this reason, a lot of people have not had to even deal with Sync. It’s one of those things that deals with the environment. If you don’t have a traditional console, tape machines (or another storage device of any sort), video deck, etc., in your studio, you probably never have to worry about this stuff.

So, what to do if you ever find yourself working in an “A Room,” a place like Stankonia, and the producer asks you to track the vocal to the Studer Tape Machines as well as running the drums and backing parts from Pro Tools. The magic solution is Sync! It’s a special kind of feeling that comes over you after spending some time tinkering with all these machines, and then everything comes to life. It really feels like you’ve created art in this technical process! You hit “play” on the console transport, Pro Tools sees it, the Tape Machines spool up to start time, you feel like an Engineer.

It’s not all about mixing, it’s not all about recording. The ability to fix things and make things other people don’t know or understand is what I think truly can make a good engineer. Always be willing to learn new things. They might come in handy one day and keep you relevant.
Just some observations from the trenches.