Dov Recording Books Company

Dov Recording Books Company was originally founded in Michael and Deborah's garage, but now they also have offices and their own recording studio in New York City.

Driving a rented car, Henry took Audrey Hepburn to the company's recording studio. Deborah Raffin and the company's recording engineers were already waiting.

The two women exchanged a friendly cheek kiss, while Henry, the assistant, served coffee to everyone, especially the sound engineer. "Kiger, low-fat, low-caffeine, right?"

"Oh, thanks, Henry. I haven't had any energy all day without a drink like this this morning."

After delivering the coffee, Henry took out a paper bag, opened it, and asked, "We have sandwiches, hot dogs, and chocolate donuts. Which would you like?"

"Hot dog-"

As the sound engineer was speaking, Henry took out the hot dog and handed it to him. Unexpectedly, the man snatched the paper bag away and said, "I don't want the hot dog, I want everything else."

Staring at the lone hot dog in his hand, Henry paused for a moment before saying, "Don't you think that the little bit of calories you earn from coffee is not only lost on this sandwich and donut, but you're also going to incur an even bigger damn calorie debt?"

"Who told you to always buy the tastiest treats, you damn brat? Those donuts from Old Man Hood on the corner are a godsend! And Annie's sandwiches too."

At this point, two ladies nearby expressed their dissatisfaction, saying, "Hey gentlemen, there are ladies present. Use polite language."

The cowardly Kryptonian immediately apologized. "Sorry, boss."

The sound engineer, however, simply shrank his neck, stuck out his tongue, and made a face to get rid of it.

While the two men were stuffing their mouths with food, the two women began discussing what to record that day.

Ultimately, Audrey Hepburn selected four children's stories: Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb, Beauty and the Beast, and Lady Ledronette, the Queen of the Pagoda. Her voice was recorded reading these stories as part of the narrative.

Deborah Raffin, on the other hand, stayed in the recording studio as a producer. But in terms of acting skills or experience, Deborah couldn't offer much guidance to this Oscars- winning actress.

Therefore, the way the two interacted was not like that of a director to an actor or a producer to a singer. Instead, Deborah would offer her perspective from the audience's point of view, and then discuss with Ms. Hepburn whether there were other ways to express a certain line.

Henry and Kiger were also keeping their mouths busy, not only eating but also chatting.

There was an old cassette tape playing, and both of them had one earphone hanging down. While listening to the rock music, they talked, "You see, the low frequencies are best suited for bass and drums. You should clean up the other instruments as much as possible in this frequency range."

"By highlighting the unique characteristics of each instrument and removing unnecessary elements, we can make the sound of each frequency band sound clean and clear."

"The use of compressors and EQs must be done very carefully, because their functions are very powerful. Basically, we can use these two tools to adjust the sound to make it fuller, smoother, more powerful, or to cover up some of the singer's pronunciation mistakes."

"However, don't over-compress the audio tracks just because it's so useful. This will make the sound sound disjointed and inconsistent. We need to consider the overall sound and the unique characteristics of the individual sound."

"As for those effects, I think they should be used in the final stages, when refining and establishing personal style. During the recording phase, instead of focusing on the mixer, you should consider the setup of the recording studio."

"Not all sounds are suitable for close-up recording. Although we reduced the noise in the recording space, the resulting track would be dry and uninteresting. Using spatial reverberation can give instruments a sense of space and add a unique tension."

"Even the placement of instruments—which on the left, which on the right, and which in the center—creates a different feel. This is why lead singers are mostly positioned in the center; besides their leading role, the spatial quality of their voices is also crucial."

While looking at Kiger's messy notes and listening to his explanation, Henry couldn't help but say, "Goodness, even though these things are written in relevant books, you really can't understand what the words in the books are talking about if you haven't actually heard them."

Kiger said smugly, "These things are useless if you read a lot of books but haven't heard them. And you also need to have a good ear, otherwise you can't hear the subtle differences and can only rely on your feelings to decide whether this adjustment is good or bad."

"Then no matter how many books you read, you will never understand what those masters are saying in their books, or you will just regard those charlatans who spout nonsense as gospel. The worst part is that readers can't even tell whether the books are genuine or fake."

"I've seen quite a few so-called experts in the industry, and they're really just using the same few formulas and routines. If the singer's own skills aren't up to par, their work will be atrocious."

Henry's eyes lit up, and with a gossipy expression, he asked, "So, which master did you study under? Do you have any industry secrets?"

Kiger chuckled and said, "What master? I'm just a self-taught guy. I started as a submarine sonar operator, and I honed my skills by listening to whale sounds when I was bored underwater. Have you ever heard a whale sound? I'll play one for you."

Without waiting for Henry's agreement or refusal, Kiger rummaged through his cassette player. Soon, he replaced the rock music playing with a whale sound cassette.

Henry put on both headphones and listened intently to the voice of the largest creature on Earth.

The sounds of the ocean floor are quite unique, feeling completely different from the sounds that travel through the air, especially the echoes, which are layered and overlapping. Combined with the high-frequency sounds of whales, it truly has a mesmerizing quality.

Henry pulled up one earphone and asked curiously, "Did you record this on the submarine?"

"How could that be?" Kiger chuckled and said, "The audio recorded on the submarine, whether or not there is a combat situation, is classified information. If it were taken out casually, it would be fatal."

"The whale sounds you're hearing were recorded by the oceanographic research institute's research vessel. What you're hearing now isn't the most complete sound. We just need to adjust it with the mixer—oh, just a little bit!"

Watching Kiger manipulate an adjustment button, moving it up and down, Henry said, "Is there a connection problem again?"

"Yes, below -6dB, it seems to have no effect."

After removing the front panel of the mixer stand, Henry took a flashlight and looked inside at the tangled mess of wires.

Kiger also crouched down to inspect the mess, sighed, "If it weren't for you fixing it, seeing this mess, I would have just grabbed a pair of scissors and cut all the threads here, like Alexander the Great untied the Gordian Knot. This damn thing is older than me."