Should Execptionally Talented Young Athletes Be Allowed to...

SHOULD EXECPTIONALLY TALENTED YOUNG ATHLETES BE ALLOWED TO PLAY PROFESSIONAL SPORTS WHEN THEY ARE STILL IN THEIR EARLY TEENS EVEN IF THEY HAVE TO MOVE AWAY FROM HOME AND LEAVE SCHOOL? Many believe that all of the hard work starts early. Like the saying says â€Å"he early bird gets the worm.† But is that all that sport is really about? I use to think that the answer to that question was yes! I feel that there are more disadvantages to sport specialization than there are advantages. Do you realize that sports affect us all in one way or another Whether or not you like sports has nothing to do with the whether or not it affects you. Its one thing for kids to dream of Olympic gold medals or Super Bowl rings and to work toward those†¦show more content†¦I feel that is good for kid’s to be involved in sports but sometimes parents push kid’s to participate. Between practice, games and travel time, there is not much free time for family time, play time or study time. They need time to play with friends and develop social skills outside of organized sports. Do not turn them into a workhorse. Realize that you cannot live your dream s through your child, and that they have dreams of their own. A parent should help a child set performance goals and develop a winning perspective and strive to instill a healthy level of competition. If kids don’t try other sports, how do they know whether or not they might like those sports more or be better at them? For many athletes their bodies are not completely developed. By playing at the speed of the higher conditioned and developed players in the professional league, young underdeveloped athletes run the risk of suffering an early career ending injury. These opportunities, though, come at a cost. While young athletes are participating in intensive sporting education, their academic education may be neglected. Age effects take a greater approach to the physical side of the sports people body, as the older the sports person is, the more mature and developed their body is and the younger the person is the less developed they are. Training and traveling allShow More RelatedShould Execptionally Talented Young Athletes Be Allowed to Play Professional Sports When They Are Still in Their Early Teens Even If They Have to Move Away from Home and Leave School?881 Words   |  4 PagesSHOULD EXECPTIONALLY TALENTED YOUNG ATHLETES BE ALLOWED TO PLAY PROFESSIONAL SPORTS WHEN THEY ARE STILL IN THEIR EARLY TEENS EVEN IF THEY HAVE TO MOVE AWAY FROM HOME AND LEAVE SCHOOL? Many believe that all of the hard work starts early. Like the saying says â€Å"he early bird gets the worm.† But is that all that sport is really about? I use to think that the answer to that question was yes! I feel that there are more disadvantages to sport specialization than there are advantages. Do you realize

Social Stratification Australia A Study Of Structured...

To account for the main causes of material inequality in Australia a study of structured social inequality must be conducted. This is known as stratification, an important element of macrosociology. ‘Social stratification refers to the systemic ways that groups of people are organised unequally within a broad social hierarchy.’ (Mayeda, 2007, p. 80) An important component of social stratification that is alluded to here by Mayeda is class. In this paper three of the main causes of material inequality in Australia will be explored with reference to the historical and theoretical structure of social stratification put forward by Karl Marx, one of sociology’s founding members, who formed the view that class is one of the key elements in understanding social stratification. The three main causes of material inequality in Australia that will be explored are education and employment, cost of living and access to services. Education and employment have been grouped together in this paper as they are inextricably linked. Low education levels result in unemployment and therefore increase the likelihood of living in poverty. Families living in poverty cannot afford to better educate their children to give them a higher chance of gaining employment and hence the cycle continues with the unemployed and working poor of the working class unable to give their children higher education, allowing them to move up the class ladder. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures from 2009 show thatShow MoreRelatedChapter 36148 Words   |  25 Pagesknown as what? A. Clique B. Society C. Organization D. Anthropocentrism E. Culture 6. _______ are the two central components of culture. A. Ethics and laws B. Values and norms C. Religious beliefs and family tradition D. Class consciousness and social mobility E. Language and religious beliefs 7. A __________ is an abstract idea about what a group believes to be good, right, and desirable. A. criterion B. value C. culture D. norm E. more 8. Which of the following is not true regarding cultureRead MoreThe Equal Education System9443 Words   |  38 Pages â€Æ' Table of Contents ï  ¶ Introduction 3 ï  ¶ Research Log 5 ï  ¶ Central Material 7-22 Chapter 1: Invisible Inequality 7 Chapter 2: Different Families, Different Lives 13 Chapter 3: Education Fever 19 ï  ¶ Conclusion 23 ï  ¶ Annotated Resource List 25 â€Æ' Introduction â€Å"Wealthy kids usually do better in school than poor kids† . Australians likes to think of themselves as an egalitarian society in which everyone has a ‘fair go’ . This idea has led to the creation of an equal education system but todayRead MoreHofstede: Cultures and Organizations - Software of the Mind Culture as Mental Programming9246 Words   |  37 Pagesresults of such refinement, like education, art, and literature. This is culture in the narrow sense; culture one Culture as mental software, however, corresponds to a much broader use of the word which is common among social anthropologists: this is ‘culture two’. In social anthropology, culture is a catchword for all those patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting referred to in the previous paragraphs. Not only those activities supposed to refine the mind are included in culture two, butRead MoreCuases Impact of Rural - Urban Migration from District Swabi to Peshawar14595 Words   |  59 PagesCAUSES OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION. (II) TO HIGHLIGHT POLITICAL REASONS AND (III) TO FIND OUT ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT. FOR DATA COLLECTION 40 RESPONDENTS WERE SELECTED ON RANDOM SAMPLING METHOD. QUESTIONNAIRE WAS USED AS A TOOL OF DATA COLLECTION. THE STUDY SHOWS THAT RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION CAUSED DUE TO ‘PUSH AND PULL FACTORS’. ALONG WITH THE CAUSES, RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION HAS ITS IMPACT ON HOST COMMUNITY. SOME OF THE SUGGESTIONS ARE GIVEN IN THE END FOR STOPPING RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION FROM SWABI TO PESHAWARRead MoreThe Historical Transformation of Work14383 Words   |  58 Pageshistory of human societies, it is only in the recent past that work has become synonymous with regular paid employment, a separate sphere of specialized economic activity for w hich one receives payment. Thus, the current conception of work is a modern social construction, the product of specific historical conditions that are typically denoted by the term ‘industrial capitalism’. The first part of this term indicates that work is a productive activity involving machines powered by inanimate energy sourcesRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesperspectives on the past) Includes bibliographical references. 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Whetten BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY Read MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 Pages4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 Learning objectives Introduction: the changing business environment (or the new marketing reality) Analysing the environment The nature of the marketing environment The evolution of environmental analysis The political, economic, social and technological environments Coming to terms with the industry and market breakpoints Coming to terms with the very different future: the implications for marketing planning Approaches to environmental analysis and scanning Summary 5 ApproachesRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 PagesTopics Chapter 1 Modern Project Management Chapter 8 Scheduling resources and cost 1.2 Project defined 1.3 Project management defined 1.4 Projects and programs (.2) 2.1 The project life cycle (.2.3) App. G.1 The project manager App. G.7 Political and social environments F.1 Integration of project management processes [3.1] 6.5.2 Setting a schedule baseline [8.1.4] 6.5.3.1 Setting a resource schedule 6.5.2.4 Resource leveling 7.2 Setting a cost and time baseline schedule (1.3.5) [8.1.3] 6.5.2.3 Critical

Honda Civic vs. Ford Focus Free Essays

Ever thought about buying a new, gas saving, family car? If somebody needs some great information about two types of cars, which are the 2010 Honda Civic Hybrid and the 2010 Ford Focus Sedan, then here it is. The quality of the car needs to be comfortable when riding in it. Also, the car needs to get good gas mileage, have a decent price, and have an exceptional warranty. We will write a custom essay sample on Honda Civic vs. Ford Focus or any similar topic only for you Order Now The main thing is to make sure the car has excellent performance specifications and is safe. In these next paragraphs a person should be able to make a decision about which car will suit your families needs best. Most people want to be comfortable when riding in a car. Comfort in a vehicle can save somebody from getting a sore bottom or anything like that. The Ford Focus and the Honda Civic both have a five-seating capacity. The front has two seats and the back has three seats. The Ford Focus has a little more cargo space than the Honda Civic. The Honda Civic has a little more head and leg room in the front seat of the car, whereas the Ford Focus has more head and leg room in the backseat for your passengers. (2010 Honda Civic) There is an article that was used for my information says that the Ford Focus has uncomfortable rear seating. 2010 Ford Focus) In another article it says that the front seats are comfortable, but it is a matter of personal opinion. (2010 Ford Focus: Overview) The Ford Focus has a compass, external temp, trip computer, stability and traction control, and Bluetooth that the Honda Civic does not have. The Honda Civic just has what is in both cars. There is air conditionin g, power windows, tilt steering, cruise control, AM/FM radio, CD player and an alarm in both of the cars. (2010 Honda Civic) While looking up articles, there were not any that said the Honda Civic had uncomfortable seating. However, any article that says the seats are uncomfortable could be wrong. It does not matter how the seats feel to anybody else, it is how the seats feel to each individual that matters. Gas prices are outrageous; so why not get a gas saving car? Living in a hilly/mountain area the gas mileage of a car will not be as good as what it could be. The gas mileage of a car will be better in an area that has a lot of flat land where a person has to drive a little ways to get where they are going. Gas mileage is that way with any vehicle, but when driving around and topping and starting every five minutes, it will use more gas than just driving around for about thirty minutes. The Honda Civic’s gas mileage for the city and highway is approximately twenty-five and thirty-six, while the Ford Focus’s city and highway gas mileage is approximately twenty-four and thirty-five. (2010 Honda Civic) There is barely any difference in the two cars gas mileage, so which ever car a person p icks they will get good gas mileage. Most everybody likes a deal when buying anything. Well when buying a car everybody wants to try to find the best deal possible. Whether it is a family car or a one person car, it needs to suits your needs. In choosing a car, evaluating the price of the cars is probably a smart thing to do. Look to make sure the cars that are being looked at stay within your budget and make sure the car has a good warranty for the value of your money. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the Honda Civic is $15,455 – $25,340. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the Ford Focus is $16,290 – $18,780. (2010 Honda Civic vs) The Honda Civic does cost more than the Ford Focus, but they are about the same price even though the Ford Focus is a little cheaper. The warranty of the new car is very important. Everybody should make sure that they have a good warranty so if anything messes up on your new car; it can be fixed for cheaper than what it would be without warranty. The Honda Civic and the Ford Focus warranties are for three years or 36,000 miles. Both have a power train warranty of five years or 60,000 miles. Also, both cars have a rust-through warranty of five years or unlimited miles and they both have a roadside aid warranty of three years or 36,000 miles. Remember all the warranties say the year or mile, but mean whichever one comes first. Compare Cars) Some cars do not come with very good warranty, but the car needs to come with as much warranty as necessary to suit your needs. If it does not, then that car is simply not the right car to buy. When buying a car, make sure to evaluate the performance specifications that are on the car. How the car performs is important to just about everybody because nobody wants their new car to mess up on them right after they buy it. The Ford Focus is almost the same size as the Honda Civic, but the Ford Focus is just a bit larger than the Honda Civic. 2010 Honda Civic vs) The Honda Civic and the Ford Focus both are front wheel drive and four wheel drive power brakes. The Honda Civic has electric rack and pinion steering, whereas the Ford Focus has power rack and pinion steering. (2010 Ford Focus-4dr) The Honda Civic’s engine is 110 at 6,000 RPM and the Ford Focus’s engine is 140 at 6,000 RPM. The spare tires for both cars are compact. Also, the front and rear wheels on the both cars are made of aluminum. The Honda Civic has fifteen inch tires on the front and rear tires (2010 Honda Civic Hybrid – 4dr), while the Ford Focus has tires that are seventeen inches on the front and rear tires. 2010 Ford Focus-4dr) Here, the only reason that the Ford Focus is better than the Honda Civic is because of the power rack and electric rack. My family has never owne d a car that has not had power rack and pinion steering, so that is why we would prefer the Ford Focus over the Honda Civic. Safety in a vehicle means a person’s life. Before buying a car, check out the safety features that vehicle has on it. The safety features in a vehicle is very important to everybody. So here is a little bit about these two cars safety. The Honda Civic and the Ford Focus both have front side airbags, curtain side airbags, antilock brake system, and antiskid system. The Honda Civic has traction control that the Ford Focus does not have. (2010 Ford Focus: Overview) The Ford Focus has dual front airbags and tire-pressure monitor that the Honda Civic does not have. (2010 Honda Civic: Overview) A tire-pressure monitor does help from having a blow out and the dual front airbags would probably make the passenger feel safer. Comparing, what the Honda Civic has over the Ford Focus makes the Ford Focus better. Buying a new car can be very overwhelming. Researching a few kinds of cars helps to narrow it down to the two cars you are leaning more towards purchasing and can make it a lot easier. The Ford Focus Sedan is better because of all the points made in this paper. Although the Honda Civic Hybrid is a good car too, the Ford Focus Sedan is what is needed to suit my family’s needs. This paper hopefully helped somebody make a decision on buying one of these types of cars or helped somebody out on what to look for when buying a new vehicle. How to cite Honda Civic vs. Ford Focus, Essay examples

Audio Mastering free essay sample

I have. Its more exhilarating than any theme park ride. Every corner is carefully calculated. Every tap on the brake is just enough to make it around the curve without going off the road. Such great power requires great responsibility, and the same is true for owners of the Finalizer. Now youre the driver, you can do an audio wheelie any time you want. You can take every musical curve at 100 mph. but ask yourself: is this the right thing for my music? This booklet is about both audio philosophy and technology. A good engineer must be musical. Knowing whats right for the music is an essential part of the mastering process. Mastering is a fine craft learned over years of practice, study and careful listening. I hope that this booklet will help you on that journey. Bob Katz 6 GETTING STARTED Mastering vs. Mixing Mastering requires an entirely different head than mixing. I once had an assistant who was a great mix engineer and who wanted to get into mastering. So I left her alone to equalize a rock album. After three hours, she was still working on the snare drum, which didnt have enough crack! But as soon as I walked in the room, I could hear something was wrong with the vocal. Which brings us to the first principle of mastering: Every action affects everything. Even touching the low bass affects the perception of the extreme highs. Mastering is the art of compromise; knowing whats possible and impossible, and making decisions about whats most important in the music. When you work on the bass drum, youll affect the bass for sure, sometimes for the better, sometimes worse. If the bass drum is light, you may be able to fix it by getting under the bass at somewhere under 60 Hz, with careful, selective equalization. You may be able to counteract a problem in the bass instrument by dipping around 80, 90, 100; but this can affect the low end of the vocal or the piano or the guitar be on the lookout for such interactions. Sometimes you cant tell if a problem can be fixed until you try; dont promise your client miracles. Experience is the best teacher. Think Holistically Before mastering, listen carefully to the performance, the message of the music. In many music genres, the vocals message is most important. In other styles, its the rhythm, in some its intended distortion, and so on. With rhythmic music, ask yourself, what can I do to make this music more exciting? With ballads, ask is this music about intimacy, space, depth, emotion, charisma, or all of the above? Ask, How can I help this music to communicate better to the audience? Always start by learning the emotion and the message of the clients music. After that, you can break it down into details such as the high frequencies, or the low frequencies, but relate your decisions to the intended message of the music. Some clients send a pseudo-mastered demonstration CD illustrating their goals. Even if you dont like the sound on their reference, or you think you can do better, carefully study the virtues of what theyve been listening to. During your mastering, refer back to the original mix; make sure you havent fixed what wasnt broken in the first place. There is no one-size-fitsall setting, and each song should be approached from scratch. In other words, when switching to a new song, bypass all processors, and listen to the new song in its naked glory to confirm it needs to be taken in the same or different direction than the previous number. Likewise, as you gain experience, you may want to ? tweak? he presets in your equipment. Presets are designed to make suggestions and provide good starting points, but they are not one-size-fits-all and should be adjusted according to the program material and your personal taste. The Wizard function of the TC dynamics processors may be a better way of establishing a starting point than a static preset. Listen carefully to the results of the Wizard and study what it has done and how, then, let your ears be the final musical judge. When you ask your spouse to turn the TV down a touch do you mean only 1 dB? 7 YOUR ROOM YOUR MONITORS Very few recording studios are suitable for mastering. For optimal mastering, use a different room than your recording studio or room. The typical recording control room has noisy fans, a large console and acoustic obstacles that interfere with evaluation of sound. With few exceptions, you wont find near-field monitors in a professional mastering room. No little speakers, cheap speakers, alternative monitors. Instead, theres a single set of high quality loudspeakers. The loudspeaker-room interface in a mastering room is highly refined, and the mastering engineer tuned into their sound, so that he/she knows how the sound will translate over a wide variety of systems. Whats wrong with near-field monitors? Near-field monitoring was devised to overcome the interference of poor control-room acoustics, but its far from perfect. In many control rooms, with large consoles and rack gear, the sound from the ideal big speakers bounces from these surfaces, producing inferior quality. Reflections from the back of the console are often neglected. Even with absorptive treatment, you cant defeat the laws of physics; some wavelengths are going to reflect. But near-field monitors mounted on console meter bridges are not necessarily cures. Nearby surfaces, especially the console itself, cause comb filtering, peaks and dips in frequency response. The mix engineer may try to compensate for problems which are really caused by monitoring acoustics; resulting in recordings with boomy or weak bass, peaks or dips (suckouts) in the midrange, thumpy bass drums, and so on. Sound travels over more than one path from the loudspeaker to your ears the direct path, and one or more reflected paths, especially the bounce off the console. That reflected path is so problematic that its almost impossible to locate nearfield monitors without breaking a fundamental acoustic rule: The length of the reflected signal path to the ears should be at least 2 to 3 times the direct signal path. Very few near-field monitors pass the bandwidth and compression test. Almost none have sufficient low frequency response to judge bass and subsonic problems, and very few can tolerate the instantaneous transients and power levels of music without monitor compression. If your monitors are already compressing, how can you judge your own use of compression? Near-field monitoring also exaggerates the amount of reverberation and left-right separation in a recording. Clients are often surprised to learn their singer has far less reverb than they had thought, and the sound less stereophonic when they hear the recording played with more-normal monitoring. Yes, the best mix engineers have learned how to work with near-field monitors and mentally compensate for their weaknesses, but these same mix engineers know better than to master in that environment. Theres no excuse for monitor weakness in a mastering room. Subwoofers Subwoofers, or prime loudspeakers with infrasonic response, are essential for a good mastering studio. Vocal P pops, subway rumble, microphone vibrations, and other distortions will be missed without subwoofers, not just the lowest notes of the bass. Proper subwoofer setup requires knowledge and specialized equipment. Ive been in too many studios where the subs are inaccurately adjusted, usually too hot, in a vain attempt to impress the client. But the results wont translate when the subs are incorrectly adjusted. Room Acoustics Whether your loudspeakers are mounted in soffits, or in free space, a properly designed room must have no interfering surfaces between the loudspeakers and your ears. Secondary reflections will be carefully controlled, and the dimensions of the room and solidity of the walls defined. A good mastering room should be at least 20 feet long, preferably 30 feet, and the monitors, if not in soffits, anchored to the floor, and placed several feet from walls and corners. Theres obviously a lot more to this part of the story, but the bottom line is to get an acoustic consultant unless you really know what youre doing. Monitor Translation Mastering engineers have long ago learned that the widest-range, most accurate loudspeakers translate to the widest variety of alternate playback systems. If you follow all of the above in your mastering room, your masters will translate to the majority of systems out there. Good mastering engineers hit the mark the first time, better than 7 times out of 10. Monitoring Levels and Fletcher-Munson There is a scientific reason for not monitoring too loudly. The Fletcher-Munson equal loudness contours reveal that the human ear does not have a linear response to bass energy. The louder you monitor, you can be fooled into thinking a program has more bass energy. Thus it is extremely important to monitor at approximately the same level as the ultimate listener to your recording. No matter how good your monitors, if you turn them up too far, then you will put too little bass into the program, and vice versa. When you go to a concert, do you identify an 80 Hz resonance under the third balcony? 8 METERING Truth in Metering 1999 marks the 60th anniversary of the VU Meter standard, yet many people still dont know how to read a VU! Despite all its defects, the VU meter has survived because it works. The VU meter, with its 300 millisecond averaging time constant, is closer to the loudness-sensing of the human ear, while sample accurate peak-reading meters tell you nothing except whether the capabilities of the digital medium are being exceeded. Two different programs, both reaching 0 dBFS on the peak meter, can sound 10 dB (or more) apart in loudness! This makes an averaging meter an essential supplement to the mastering engineer? s ears. Some meters have dual scales, displaying both average and peak. While mixing or mastering, use the average meter and glance at the peak meter. For popular music mastering, heres a conservative calibration setting that will help to produce masters in a similar ballpark to the best-sounding CDs ever made: With sine wave tone at -14 dBFS, adjust the averaging meter to read ZERO. If the averaging meter reaches 0 on typical musical peaks, and occasionally +3 or +4 on extreme sustained peaks, youre probably right in the ballpark. Every decibel of increased average level means that considerably more than 1 dB additional compression has been applied; which might or might not be the perfect thing for your kind of music. Listen and decide. The Ear Is The Final Judge Wide dynamic range material, such as classical music, folk music, some jazz and other styles are often mastered without any dynamics processing at all. In such cases, you may find the averaging meter reading well below 0. This is probably not a problem as long as the music sounds proper to the ears. Some mastering engineers working with wide-range music recalibrate their averaging meters to -20 dBFS = 0 VU, or else recognize that the averaging meter may read well below 0 VU with such music. Also realize that meters are generally not frequency-sensitive, but the human ear judges loudness by frequency distribution as well as level. Thus, two different programs reaching 0 VU (average) may have different loudness. Quasi-Peak Meters and Judgment of Quality The ear is the final arbiter of quality, but meters can help. The VU helps demonstrate if average levels are too hot, but as Ive described, it requires interpretation. An objective measure of quality is to measure transient loss to see if audible peaks are reduced. The ear has a certain rise time; we probably cant hear the difference between a 10 millisecond transient and a 10 microsecond transient. The digital Peak Program Meter is too fast; it measures inaudible (short duration) peaks as well as audible ones. A popular meter for detecting audible peaks is a quasi-peak meter, or analog PPM, defined by an EBU standard. Its usually made with analog circuitry, but can also be constructed with digital circuits. This meters 10 millisecond integration time is much slower than the 22 microseconds of the sample-accurate digital PPM. Short overloads, or short bursts of limiting can be inaudible, as long as the level on the quasi-peak meter does not drop. Peaks shorter than about 10 ms can usually be limited without audible penalty. Wide range program material with a true peak to average ratio of 18 to 20 dB can be transparently reduced to about 14 dB. Thats one of the reasons 30 IPS analog tape is desirable, as it performs this job very well. The Finalizer can also do this job, with the aid of a quasi-peak meter to verify the audible peak level is not coming down, and/or the VU meter to see if a 14 dB peak/average level is obtained. A rule of thumb is that short duration transients of unprocessed digital sources can be transparently reduced by 4 to 6 dB; however, this cannot be done with analog tape sources, which already have removed the short duration transients. Any further transient reduction (e. g. , compression/limiting) will not be transparent but may still be esthetically acceptable or even desirable. Over Counters and Increased Level 0 dBFS (FS=full scale) is the highest level that can be encoded. Most mastering engineers have discovered that you can often hit 0 dBFS on a digital PPM without hearing any distortion. In fact, a single peak to 0 dBFS is not defined as an over level. Over levels are measured with over counters. Conventional wisdom says that if three samples in a row reach 0 dBFS, then an overload must have occurred somewhere between the first and third sample. In an A/D converter, even if the source analog voltage exceeds 0 dBFS, the end result is a straight line at 0 dBFS. However, the ear forgives certain overloads. Note that a 3 to 6 sample over will often be inaudible with drums or percussion, but the ears may hear distortion with only a 1-sample over with piano material. The original Sony digital meter established the standard of 3 contiguous samples equals an over, but has a dip switch to indicate 1-sample overs. Some engineers conservatively use the 1-sample standard, but Ive had no problems with a set of good ears and a 3-sample over counter. You can often raise gain by 2 or more dB without having to limit or compress, when you trust the over counter and your ears, instead of a digital PPM. 9 DYNAMICS PROCESSING Dynamics Processing Both compression and limiting change the peak to average ratio of music, and both tools reduce dynamic range. Compression Compression changes sound much more than limiting. Think of compression as a tool to change the inner dynamics of music. While reducing dynamic range, it can beef up or punch low level and mid-level passages to make a stronger musical message. Limiting Limiting is an interesting tool. With fast enough attack time (1 or 2 samples), and fairly fast release (1 to 3 milliseconds), even several dB of limiting can be transparent to the ear. Consider limiting when you want to raise the apparent loudness of material without severely affecting its sound; consider compression when the material seems to lack punch or strength. Remember, the position of your monitor volume control has a tremendous effect on these matters of judgment. If it sounds properly punchy when you turn up the monitor, then maybe all you need is to turn up the volume rather than add another DSP process! If the music sounds adequately punchy, yet high levels are not approaching ZERO (reference -14 dBFS) on a VU meter, then consider limiting to raise the average level without significantly changing the sound. Equal-Loudness Comparisons Since loudness has such an effect on judgment, it is very important to make comparisons at equal apparent loudness. The processed version may seem to sound better only because it is louder. Thats what makes the Finalizers unique matched compare system so important. Adjust the gain so that there is no apparent change in loudness when the processing is bypassed. This puts everything on a level playing field. You may be surprised to discover that the processing is making the sound worse, and it was all an illusion of loudness. If the sound quality is about the same, then you have to decide if you really need the loudness gain. Dont join the loudness race (which has no winners); make an informed, not arbitrary, decision. To judge the absolute loudness of the Finalizer, you need average metering, and a calibrated monitor. See the appendix for references on calibrated monitor and metering systems. Manipulating Dynamics: Creating the Impact of Music Consider this rhythmic passage, representing a piece of modern pop music: shooby dooby doo WOP shooby dooby doo WOP shooby dooby doo WOP The accent point in this rhythm comes on the backbeat (WOP), often a snare drum hit. If you strongly compress this music piece, it might change to: SHOOBY DOOBY DOO WOP SHOOBY DOOBY DOO WOP SHOOBY DOOBY DOO WOP This completely removes the accent feel from the music, which is probably counterproductive. A light amount of compression might accomplish this shooby dooby doo WOP shooby dooby doo WOP shooby dooby doo WOP which could be just what the doctor ordered for this music. Strengthening the subaccents may give the music even more interest. But just like the TV weatherperson who puts an accent on the wrong syllable because theyve been taught to punch every sentence (The weather FOR tomorrow will be cloudy), its wrong to go against the natural dynamics of music. Unless youre trying for a special effect, and purposely creating an abstract composition. Much of hip hop music, for example, is intentionally abstract. anything goes, including any resemblance to the natural attacks and decays of musical instruments. Back to Shooby doo. This kind of manipulation can only be accomplished with careful adjustment of thresholds, compressor attack and release times. If the attack time is too short, the snare drums initial transient could be softened, losing the main accent and defeating the whole purpose of the compression. If the release time is too long, then the compressor wont recover fast enough from the gain reduction of the main accent to bring up the subaccent. If the release time is too fast, the sound will begin to distort. If the combination of attack and release time is not ideal for the rhythm of the music, the sound will be squashed, louder than the source, but wimpy loud instead of punchy loud. Its a delicate process, requiring time, experience, skill, and an excellent monitor system. 10 DYNAMICS PROCESSING Heres a trick for compressor adjustment: Find the approximate threshold irst, with a fairly high ratio and fast release time. Make sure the gain reduction meter bounces as the syllables you want to affect pass by. Then reduce the ratio to very low and put the release time to about 250 ms to start. From then on, its a matter of fine tuning attack, release and ratio, with possibly a readjustment of the threshold. The object is to put the threshold in between the lower and higher dynamics , so there is a constant alternation between high and low (or no) compression with the music. Too low a threshold will defeat the purpose, which is to differentiate the syllables of the music. Note! With too low a threshold and too high a ratio EVERYTHING WILL BE BROUGHT UP TO A CONSTANT LEVEL. Multiband processing can help in this process Transients (percussive sounds) contain more high frequency energy than continuous sounds. By using gentler compression or no compression at high frequencies (e. g. , higher threshold, lower ratio), you can let the transients through while still punching the sustain of the subaccents or the continuous sounds. Practice by listening to the impact of the percussion as you change compressor attack times. With care, you can have punch and impact, too. But with overcompression, or improperly-adjusted compression, you may get the punch, but lose the transient impact. Most music needs a little of both. Multiband compression also permits you to bring out certain elements that appear to be weak in the mix, such as the bass or bass drum, the vocal or guitars, or the snare, literally changing the mix. Learn to identify the frequency ranges of music so you can choose the best crossover frequencies. Compression, Stereo Image, and Depth Compression brings up the inner voices in musical material. Instruments that were in the back of the ensemble are brought forward, and the ambience, depth, width, and space are degraded. But not every instrument should be up front. Pay attention to these effects when you compare processed vs. unprocessed. Variety is the spice of life. Make sure your cure isnt worse than the disease. SEQUENCING Relative Levels, Loudness, and Normalization Sequencing an album requires adjustment of the levels of each tune. Weve seen that the ear judges loudness by the average, not peak levels of the music. Weve also seen that ompression and limiting change the loudness of the music by changing the peak to average ratio. Normalization is the process of finding the highest peak, and raising the gain until it reaches 0 dBFS. But do not use normalization to adjust the relative loudness of tunes, or you will end up with nonsense. The ear is the final arbiter of relative loudness of tunes. But the ear can be fooled, its better at making relative than absolute judgmen ts. Weve all had the experience of mixing at night, and returning in the morning to find everything sounds much louder! So dont make your judgments by needle drops play the end of each tune going into the beginning of the next. Its the only way. Do you know when the musicians are out of tune ? At the ballet, do you notice the music first, before the dancers? 11 RECIPE FOR RADIO SUCCESS The Myth of Radio-Ready Advertisements are created by marketing people, whose goal is to sell products, and often use ambiguous terms. The most ambiguous of those terms is radio ready. Be an aware consumer. Radio is the great leveler. It will take songs that sound very soft and unpunchy, and bring them up to compete with the hottest recordings; it will take songs that are extremely hot and processed, and squash them down in a very unpleasant manner. In other words, mastering with overzealous dynamics processing can actually make a record sound bad on the radio, or at least, not as good as properly-prepared competition. I discovered this fact at least 12 years ago, when I found that my audiophile recordings made with absolutely no compression or limiting were competing very well on the radio against heavily-processed recordings! Radio engineers will confirm this fact: Almost no special preparation is required to make a recording radio ready. The Music Always Comes First 1 Write a great original song, use fabulous singers, and wonderful arrangements. Be innovative, not too imitative (if you can get past the format censors, your innovative music will attract attention). 2 Sparse, light arrangements often work better than dense, complex ones, because the dynamics processing on the radio can turn dense arrangements into mush. When you examine the apparent exceptions (e. g. Phil Spectors wall of sound), the main vocal element is always mixed well above the wall. The Sound Comes Second 3 Radio Ready does not mean make it sound like its already on the radio. 4 Make sure your music sounds good, clean and dynamic at home and in the studio. That will guarantee it will sound good on the radio. 5 Many people are not familiar with good sound production and reproduction. First you must have a background, an ear education. Dont imitate the sound that you hear on the radio speaker. Compare your music to good recordings, auditioned on the best possible sound system. And dont forget the ultimate reference: the dynamic sound of live, unamplified music performed in a concert hall. Theres also evidence that prolonged exposure to loud music is causing hearing loss in an entire generation of our children. This leads to a preference for compressed sound, because dynamics bother the hearingimpaired. This, in turn, leads to a vicious cycle of even more loudness and further hearing loss. Do you hear me? Preparing For The Radio 6 Peak to average ratio is the difference between the level on an averaging meter, such as a VU meter, and the peak level of the music as read on a PPM. A meter which displays both peak and average on the same scale is most desirable, otherwise, you have to do some arithmetic, and look at two meters at once. If the dual-function meter reads -17 dBFS average, and -6 dBFS peak during some short musical passage, then your music has approximately an 11 dB peak to average ratio. Choose high peak to average ratio (14 dB or more) or low peak to average ratio (less than 14 dB) according to the sound you are trying to create at home-in general, without fear of how that will translate on the radio. If lowered peak to average ratio is part of your creative sound, it will translate on the radio, unless your processing was so severe that the average level becomes high enough to cause the radio processors to bring your music down (squash it). Avoid the danger zone, anything less than 6 dB peak to average ratio is dangerous, since radio processors are designed to try to maintain an average level, and they literally clamp material with too high an average level (material that would pin an ordinary VU meter). That material will probably sound worse on the radio than your competition with a larger peak to average atio. Think of your dynamics processor as a tool to help create your sound, not to be used for radio ready. The more compressed your material, the less the transient impact of the drums, clarity of the vocal syllables, and percussion. Sometimes thats esthetically desirable, but often it is displeasing, depending on the type of music. Use a wide range, uncompressed monitoring s ystem, to help decide which choice is best for your music. Compressors have always been used for effect in music production, and sometimes misused, from the 50s through the 90s. The newly-invented digital compressors are far more powerful than the old analog versions. Entirely new effects can be created, and some of todays hit records are even based on those effects. But watch out when you step on the gas of that Formula One Race Car! I feel that many rock CDs made in 1991 (before the popularity of powerful digital processors) sound better than major releases made in 1998. Only you have control over your sound; theres no official speed limit, and no policeman to revoke your drivers license, even though engineers are crashing all over the place. 2 RECIPE FOR RADIO SUCCESS 7 Subsonics Excessive subsonics can drain unnecessary energy away from the total loudness. In addition, excessive subsonic material can cause radio compressors to pump or be exercised unnecessarily. Check for excess subsonic energy in several ways: By looking with a real time analyzer, by listening with a pair of subwoofers, and by testing: If you are confident in the calibration of your s ubwoofers, test if the subsonics are musically meaningful by comparing the sound with and without a high-pass filter. If the sound gets clearer with the filter in, and you hear no losses in musical information, then use the filter on the program. Ironically, bass instruments (especially direct boxes) sometimes sound clearer when filtered below 40 Hz. But use your ears; dont extend this advice to the general case, and dont make this critical judgment with inferior monitors. 8 Excessive Sibilance The combination of FM Radios 75 microsecond pre-emphasis and poor sibilance controllers at the radio station can make a bad broadcast. Better to control excessive sibilance in the mastering. My efinition of excessive sibilance is that which would be annoying on a bright playback system. 9 Excessive peak percussion This problem is rare. Be aware of how radio processing reacts to percussive music. Watch out for a repetitive rhythmic transient thats many dB above the average level of the rest of the music, e. g. very sharp timbale hits with peaks at least 8 dB above the average vocal level. Radio processing, wit h its slow release times, can bring the vocal down severely with each timbale hit, and render the vocal (and all the background) inaudible for seconds at a time. Ideally, fix this problem in the mix, not in the mastering. Proper mix techniques, with selective processing, can keep this situation under control. Of course, if you can no longer fix it in the mix, then careful application of the Finalizers multi-band dynamics module will cure the problem without destroying the musics percussive nature. Just remember, this is a very rare situation that should be repaired with conservative, experienced ears, or your music will be ruined. Overcompression can ruin that beautiful percussive sound. Loudness and the radio Subtle multi-band compression and soft clipping can make you appear louder on the radio. If you feel this compromises the sound of the CD when played on the home system, why not make a special compressed single just for radio release. This gives you the best of both worlds. But remember, if you make the average level too high, it may trigger the radio processors to drop the level of your precious song. Do you know what comb filtering is? 13 DITHER Wordlengths and Dithering Dither is perhaps the most difficult concept for audio engineers to grasp. If this were a 24-bit world, with perfect 24-bit converters and 24-bit storage devices, there would be much less need for dither, and most of the dithering would go on behind the scenes. But until then (and the audio world is heading in that direction), you must apply dither whenever wordlength is reduced. The fine details of dithering are beyond the scope of this booklet; learn more by consulting the references in the appendix. Here are some basic rules and examples: 1 When reducing wordlength you must add dither. Example: From a 24-bit processor to a 16-bit DAT. Avoid dithering to 16 bits more than once on any project. Example: Use 24-bit intermediate storage, do not store intermediate work on 16-bit recorders. 3 Wordlength increases with almost any DSP calculation. Example: The outputs of digital recording consoles and processors like the Finalizer will be 24-bit even if you start with a 16-bit DAT or 16-bit multitrack. 4 Every flavor of dither and noise-shaping type sounds differ ent. It is necessary to audition any flavor of dither to determine which is more appropriate for a given type of music. When bouncing tracks with a digital console to a digital multitrack, dither the mix bus to the wordlength of the multitrack. If the multitrack is 16-bit digital, then youre violating rule #2 above, so try to avoid bounces unless you have a 20-bit (or better) digital multitrack. Example: You have four tracks of guitars on tracks 5 through 8, which you want to bounce in stereo to tracks 9 and 10. You have a 20-bit digital multitrack. You must dither the console outputs 9/10 to 20 bits. If you want to insert a processor (like the Finalizer) directly patched to tracks 9 and 10, dont dither the console, just dither the Finalizer to 20 bits. The Finalizers ADAT interface makes this process relatively painless. One complication: The ADAT chips on certain console interface cards are limited to only 20 bits. Consult your console manufacturer. Although the Finalizers ADAT interface carries a true 24 bits, if the consoles ADAT interface is limited to 20, you need to dither the console feed to the Finalizer to 20 bits and once again dither the Finalizer output to 20 bits to feed the multitrack! EQUALIZATION What Is An Accurate Tone Balance Perhaps the prime reason clients come to us is to verify and obtain an accurate tonal balance. The output of the major mastering studios is remarkably consistent, pointing to very accurate studio monitoring. As Ive pointed out, the goals of equalization in mastering are generally different from equalization in mixing. It is possible to help certain instruments (particularly the bass, bass drum and cymbals), but most of the time the goals are to produce a good spectral balance. What is a good tonal balance? The ear fancies the tonality of a symphony orchestra. On a 1/3 octave analyzer, the symphony always shows a gradual high frequency roll-off, as will most good pop music masters. Everything starts with the midrange. If the mid-frequency range is lacking in a rock recording, its just like leaving the violas or the woodwinds out of the symphony. The fundamentals of the vocal, guitar, piano and other instruments must be correct, or nothing else can be made right. Specialized Music Genres Its one thing to understand the symphony, and another to properly balance all the different music genres. The bass plays very different roles in each popular music genre. You could think of Reggae as a symphony with lots more bass instruments, but lets not get too hung up on the symphony analogy. Just remember to keep the symphony balance in your head as a basic reference, especially in the mid to high frequency balance. EQ Tricks Remember the yin and the yang: Contrasting ranges have an interactive effect. For example, a slight dip in the lower midrange (~250 Hz) can have a similar effect as a boost in the presence range (~5 kHz). Harshness in the upper midrange/lower highs can be combatted in several ways. For example, a harsh-sounding trumpet-section can be improved by dipping around 6-8 kHz, and/or by boosting circa 250 Hz. Either way produces a warmer presentation. The next trick is to restore the sense of air which can be lost by even a 1/2 dB cut at 7 kHz, and this can often be accomplished by raising the 15 to 20 kHz range, often only 1/4 dB can do the trick. Remember the interactivity of the frequency ranges; if you make a change in any of them, you must reevaluate your choices on them all. When you go to concerts, do you sometimes think you hear edits? 14 EQUALIZATION High Q or low? Gentle equalizer slopes almost always sound more natural than sharp. Qs of 0. 6 to 0. 8 are therefore very popular. Use the higher (sharper) Qs (greater than 2) when you need to be surgical, such as dealing with narrow-band bass resonances or high-frequency noises. The classic technique for finding a resonance is to start with a large boost (instead of a cut) to exaggerate the unwanted resonance, and fairly wide Q, then sweep through the frequencies until the resonance is most exaggerated, then narrow the Q to be surgical, and finally, dip the EQ the amount desired. Equalizer types Most of you are familiar with the difference between parametric and shelving equalizers. Parametric is the most popular equalizer type in recording and mixing, because were working with individual instruments. In mastering, shelving equalizers take on an increased role, because were dealing with overall program material. But the parametric is still most popular as it is surgical with defects, such as bass instruments that have resonances. Very few people know of a third and important curve thats extremely useful in mastering: the Baxandall curve (see ill. ). Hi-Fi tone controls are usually modeled around the Baxandall curve. Like shelving equalizers, a Baxandall curve is applied to low or high frequency boost/cuts. With a boost, instead of reaching a plateau (shelf), the Baxandall continues to rise. Think of the spread wings of a butterfly, but with a gentle curve applied. You can simulate a Baxandall high frequency boost by placing a parametric equalizer (Q= approximately 1) at the high-frequency limit (approximately 20 kHz). The portion of the bell curve above 20 k is ignored, and the result is a gradual rise starting at about 10 k and reaching its extreme at 20 k. This shape often corresponds better to the ears desires than any standard shelf. Baxandall Curve (grey) vs. Shelf (black) Most times the same EQ adjustment in both channels is best, as it maintains the stereo balance and relative phase between channels. But sometimes it is essential to be able to alter only one channels EQ. With a too-bright high-hat on the right side, a good sounding vocal in the middle and proper crash cymbal on the left, the best solution is to work on the right channels high frequencies. The Finalizer does not currently operate on separate channels, but other TC products provide this flexibility. Sometimes important instruments need help, though they should have been fixed in the mix. The best repair approach is to start subtly and advance to severity only if subtlety doesnt work. Remember: With a 2-track, every change affects everything! If the piano solo is weak, we try to make the changes surgically: only during the solo. only on the channel where the piano is primarily located, if that sounds less obtrusive. only in the fundamental frequencies if possible. as a last resort by raising the entire level, because a keen ear may notice a change when the gain is brought up. Instant A/Bs? With good monitoring, equalization changes of less than 1/2 dB are audible, so subtlety counts. You probably wont hear these changes in an instant A/B comparison, but you will notice them over time. I will take an equalizer in and out to confirm initial settings, but I never make instant EQ judgments. Music is so fluid from moment to moment that changes in the music will be confused with EQ changes. I usually play a passage for a reasonable time with setting A (sometimes 30 seconds, sometimes several minutes), then play it again with setting B. Or, play a continuous passage, listening to A for a reasonable time before switching to B. For example, over time it will become clear whether a subtle high frequency boost is helping or hurting the music. Equalization or Multiband Compression? Many people have complained that digital recording is harsh and bright. This is partly accurate: low-resolution recording (e. g. , 16 bit) doesnt sound as warm to the ear as high-resolution. In addition, digital recording is extremely unforgiving; distortion in preamplifiers, A/Ds, errors in mike placement are mercilessly revealed. The mastering engineer recognizes these defects and struggles to make a pleasant-sounding result. Use equalization when instruments at all levels need alteration, or one of the best tools to deal with these problems -multiband compression, which 1k 2k 4k 8k 16k 15 EQUALIZATION provides spectral balancing at different levels. It is possible to simulate the often-desirable high-frequency saturation characteristics of analog tape with a gentle high-frequency compressor. Use increased high-frequency compression at high levels when the sound gets harsh or bright. Or, vice versa, if you find that at low levels, the sound is losing its definition (which can happen due to poor microphone techniques, noise in the recording, or low-resolution recording) then apply gentle high frequency upward compression, engaged at lower levels. This function, often called AGC, is not available in the Finalizer, but can be found in the DBMAX by TC Electronic. EQ Interaction with the compressor If youre using split dynamics, make your first pass at equalization with the outputs (makeup gains) of the three bands. 3-band compression and equalization work hand-in-hand. If youre splitting dynamics processing, then tonal balance will be affected by the crossover frequencies, the amount of compression, and the makeup gain of each band. Before engaging an equalizer, first try to correct overall tonal balance with the makeup (output) gains of each compressor band. In general, the more compression, the duller the sound, because of the loss of transients. I first try to solve this problem by using less compression, or altering the attack time of the high-frequency compressor, but you may prefer to use the makeup gain or an equalizer to restore the high-frequency balance. NOISE REDUCTION Compression tends to amplify the noise in a source, because when the signal is below threshold, the compressor raises the gain. A possible antidote for noise is gentle low level expansion, especially at selective frequencies. Tape hiss, preamp hiss, noisy guitar and synth amplifiers can be perceived as problems or just part of the sound. But when you think the noise is a problem, dont be overzealous in its removal. I often refer to the sound of poorly-applied noise reduction as losing the baby with the bathwater. The key to good-sounding noise reduction is not to remove all the noise, but to accept a small improvement as a victory. Remember that louder signals mask the hiss, and also remember that the general public does not zero in on the noise as a problem. Theyre paying attention to the music, and you should, too! 1 to 4 dB of reduction in a narrow band centered around 3-5 kHz can be very effective and if done right, invisible to the ear. Do this with the Finalize rs multiband expansion. Start by finding a threshold, with initially a high expansion ratio, fast attack and release time. Zero in on a threshold that is just above the noise level. Youll hear ugly chatter and bouncing of the noise floor. Now, reduce the ratio to very small, below 1:2, perhaps even 1:1. 1, and slow the attack and release until there is little or no perceived modulation of the noise floor. The attack will usually have to be much faster than the release so that fast crescendos will not be affected. This gives gentle, almost imperceptible noise reduction. Use the Finalizers compare button to see how successful youve been. Hiss can be dramatically reduced, but make sure you havent damaged the music along with it. The thresholds in the other two bands may have to be set very high (expansion off). The Finalizers look-ahead delay actually allows the Expander to open before its hit by the signal, thereby conserving transients. Know Your Limits Noise reduction through simple expansion has its limits. If youre not satisfied, you may have to put the recording through specialized dedicated noise-reduction units, which employ algorithms that took years to perfect. In Noise-Reduction, you do get what you pay for, and if its inexpensive, its either ineffective, or probably no good. SIBILANCE CONTROL Sibilance Control (exaggerated s sounds) is a natural artifact of compressors. This occurs because the compressor doesnt recognize the continuous s sound as over threshold, but the ear is extremely sensitive in that frequency region. In other words, the compressor doesnt correspond with how the ear works. The solution is a very fast, narrowband compressor working only in the sibilance region (anywhere from 2. 5 kHz to about 9 kHz). At concerts do you try to identify the microphones that are used? 16 MONITORS Monitors and Equalization An inaccurate or unrefined monitor system not only causes incorrect equalization, but also results in too much equalization. The more accurate and linear your monitors, the less equalization you will apply, so it pays to talk a bit about monitor adjustment. The ear/brain must be used in conjunction with test instruments to determine monitor accuracy. For example, some degree of measured high-frequency roll-off usually sounds best (due to losses in the air), but there is no objective measurement that says this roll-off measures right, only an approximation. Thus, for the high frequencies, the ultimate monitor tweak must be done by ear. Which leads us to the chicken and egg problem: If you use recordings to judge monitors, how do you know that the recording was done right? The answer is to use the finest reference recordings (at least 25 to 50) to judge the monitors, and take an average. The highs will vary from a touch dull to a touch bright, but the majority will be right on if your monitor system is accurate. Try to avoid adding monitor correction equalizers; better to fix the room or replace the loudspeakers; my techniques include tweaks on speaker crossover components until the monitors fall precisely in the middle of the acceptance curve of all 50 reference recordings. Even with monitor brands that sound perfect elsewhere, your room, interconnect cable capacitance, power amplifiers, D/A converters, and preamplifiers affect high frequency response especially, so if you make any changes, you must reevaluate your monitors with the 25 best recordings! Monitors and Stereo Imaging The Finalizer provides powerful techniques for adjusting stereo imaging. But first, your monitors and acoustics must be up to the task. Separate your monitors to approximately a 60 degree angle. There is a test record that objectively evaluates stereo imaging, and detects comb-filtering caused by nearby surfaces, as well as defects in speaker crossovers. Its called the LEDR test, short for Listening Environment Diagnostic Recording, and is available from Chesky Records, (http://www. chesky/com) on JD37. First play the announce track and confirm that the announcers positions are correct. If not, then adjust speaker separation and angle. Then play the LEDR test. The beyond signal should extend about 1 foot to the left and right of the speakers. If not, then look for side wall reflections. Similarly, the up signal should rise straight up, 3 to 6 feet, and the over signal should be a rainbow rising at least as high as the up. If not, look for interfering objects above and between the speakers, or defective drivers or crossovers. Adjusting stereo balance Stereo balance must not be judged by comparing channel meters. The only way to accurately adjust stereo balance is by ear. Confirm your monitors are balanced by playing pink noise at an exact matched channel level. Sit in the sweet spot. All frequencies of the pink noise must image in a narrow spot in the center of the loudspeakers. If a film or TV actor wearing a microphone crosses his arms, do you immediately notice the change in sound quality? 17 ADVANCED MASTERING TECHNIQUES Mastering benefits from the digital audio workstation. The powerful Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) lets you make edits, smooth fades, emphasize or de-emphasize the loudness of sections. A client brought a DAT with 10 songs. On one of the songs, the bass was not mixed loudly enough (this can happen to even the best producer). We were able to bring up the bass with a narrow-band equalizer that had little effect on the vocal. But when the producer took the ref home, he was dissatisfied. Youve done a wonderful job on the bass, but the delicacy of the vocal is affected too much for my goals. Do you think I can bring you a DAT of the bass part so we can raise it there? I cant possibly duplicate this mix. I told him we could handle that, asking for a DAT with a full mix reference on one channel, and the isolated bass on the other. I was able to load the DAT into my workstation, synchronize the isolated bass, and raise the bass in the mastering environment, without affecting the vocal. It was an unequivocal success. Another client doing the album of a new age pianist brought a four-track Exabyte archive in our workstations format. Tracks 1 2 contained the full mix minus the piano, and tracks 3 4 contained only the piano. If all four tracks were mixed at unity gain we would end up with the full mix, but if necessary, we could level, compress, or equalize the piano separately in the mastering. Alternate Mixes Another approach is to ask the client to send separate vocal up, vocal correct, and vocal down mixes because the mastering environment is ideal for making those decisions, and mastering processing may affect that delicate balance. But often its a luxury to make separate mixes, and we dream of ways of tweaking the mix on an existing two-track. A recent client had mixed in a bass-light room and his bass was very boomy, right up to about 180 Hz. The vocal came down slightly when I corrected the boomy bass, but through special M-S processing techniques, I was able to produce a perfectly-balanced master hich leads us to MS Mastering Techniques Prior to the advent of digital processors like the Finalizer, mastering engineers were fairly limited in what we could accomplish; today, we still tell a few clients to go back and fix it in the mix, but we have tricks up our sleeves that can accomplish wonders with a two-track mix. One ancient technique is incredibly powerful MS Ma stering. MS stands for Mid-Side, or Mono-Stereo. In MS microphone technique, a cardioid, front-facing microphone is fed to the M, or mono channel, and a figure 8, side-facing microphone is fed to the S, or stereo channel. A simple decoder (just an audio mixer) combines these two channels to produce L(Left) and R(Right) outputs. Heres the decoder formula: M plus S equals L, M minus S equals R. Heres how to decode in the mixer: feed M to fader 1, S to fader 2, pan both to the left. Feed M to fader 3, S to fader 4, invert the polarity of fader 4 (minus S), pan both to the right. The more M in the mix, the more monophonic (centered) the material, the more S, the more wide-spread, or diffuse the material. If you mute the M channel, you will hear out of phase sound, containing largely the reverberation and the instruments at the extreme sides. Mute the S channel, and you will largely hear the vocalist; the sound collapses, missing richness and space. Theres not perfect separation between M and S channels, but enough to accomplish a lot of control on a simple 2-track. Its great for film work the apparent distance and position of an actor can be changed by simple manipulation of two faders. M-S technique doesnt have to be reserved to a specialized miking technique. By using MS, we can separate an ordinary stereo recording into its center and side elements, and then separately process those elements. I tell my clients Im making three tracks from two. Do you try to identify the frequency every time you hear system feedback? The MS adventure begins MS is another tool that reduces compromises and increases the possibilities of mastering. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. The Finalizer, and especially the Finalizer 96K, allows you to manipulate stereo separation using MS technique. Lets take a stereo recording with a weak, centerchannel vocalist. First we put in our MS encoder, which separates the signal into M and S. Then we decrease the S level or increase the M level. We then decode that signal back into L and R. Presto, the vocal level comes up, as does the bass (usually) and every other center instrument. In addition, the stereo width narrows, which often isnt desirable. But at least we raised the vocalist and saved the day! The Finalizers built-in width control does this job by changing the ratio of M to S. 18 ADVANCED MASTERING TECHNIQUES But we can accomplish a lot more, often with no audible compromise to the presentation, and make clients very happy. Lets take our stereo recording, encode it into MS, and apply separate equalization to the M and S channels. Heres the traditional (pre-Finalizer) method: Feed the output of the MS encoder to a dual-channel equalizer. Channel one of the equalizer contains the M channel, which has most of the vocal. Channel two contains the S channel, which has most of the ambience and side instruments. With the M channel EQ, we can raise the vocal slightly by raising (for example) the 250 Hz range, and perhaps also the presence range (5 kHz, for example). This brings up the center vocal with little effect on the other instruments, and lowers the stereo separation almost imperceptibly. The Finalizer 96Ks Spectral Stereo Imager can also remix this material, with a slightly different user interface. By raising the M level (reducing the width) of the 250 Hz and/or 5 kHz range, we bring up the center vocal very similarly to the traditional method, and without seriously deteriorating the imaging of the other instruments. In addition to this remix facility, the spectral stereo imager has very creative width control, limited only by your imagination. Spread the cymbals without losing the focus of the snare, tighten the bass image without losing stereo separation of other instruments, and so on. Even More Advanced M-S Technique Currently the Finalizer has a single threshold for both channels, but other TC Electronics products can accomplish even more sophisticated M-S mastering. Youve all heard the mix that sounds great, but the vocal is sometimes a bit buried when the instruments get loud. We try compressing the overall mix, or even narrow band compression of the vocal range, but it worsens the great sound of the instruments. MS compression can help us isolate the compression to the center chanel. By only compressing the M channel, we delicately bring up the center channel level when signals get loud. Or, better yet, use multiband MS compression, so, the bass (for example) is unaffected by our compression. In other words, compress only the midrange frequencies of only the M channel A very selective and powerful process, only available in todays digital world. Make an UnFinalized Safety Now you have a master, ready to send to the plant. The most professional mastering engineers make unprocessed safety copies of the music for future release on high-resolution media. If youre creating a submaster to take to a mastering house, also make an unprocessed version, as the mastering house may have a different idea of how to make your music shine. If you answered yes to most of the questions in this tutorial, then you? ll make a great mastering engineer. 19 APPENDIX REFERENCE References The Digital Domain website, http://www. digido. com, contains further references to topics mentioned in this booklet, with information on dither, compression, metering, monitor calibration, good-sounding commercial CDs to listen to, scientific references, and more. APPENDIX GLOSSARY dBFS dB reference full scale Full scale digital is defined as 0 dBFS, the maximum numeric level which can be encoded. Gain, Loudness, Volume and Level Loudness is the subjective judgment of level, by ear. Loudness is an approximate quantity, while level can be repeatable measured, if the averaging time of the measuring instrument is specified. In a professional context, dont use the term volume to avoid confusion with quarts and liters use loudness instead. Use the professional term gain control rather than volume control. Gain is often confused with Level. Gain is the property of an amplifier or attenuator, while level refers to the amount of signal going through that amplifier. For example, a signal may measure a level of -10 dBFS before going through an amplifier. If the amplifier has a gain of 6 dB, then the level of the signal on the output of the amplifier will be -4 dBFS. Absolute values are applied to level (e. g. , 6 volts, or -12 dBFS), while only relative values can be used for gain (e. g. a gain of 2X, or +6 dB). It is incorrect to say that a device has a gain of +7 dBm or dBv Bm or dBv or dBFS are absolute terms reserved for measured level, not for gain. Sample Rate The number of samples per second. The preferred abbreviation is S/s, or kS/s, e. g. , 44. 1 kS/s. Common usage is 44. 1 kHz, but this approach is often confusing when the same sentence also refers to bandwidth or frequencies of interest. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A big thank you to Bob Ludwig, of Gateway Mastering, Portland Maine, and Gl enn Meadows, of Masterfonics, Nashville, Tennessee. Bob and Glenn reviewed the manuscript and added helpful suggestions that made an even better booklet. 20

England Labor Report (1800S) Essays - Euthenics, Health Policy

England Labor Report (1800S) Labor Report Our country is in a very diabolical state. We are going through a Jurassic change. We are moving along the roads of improvement along with falling down hill in some areas. Our industries are heightening but one thing we haven't come to mind about is the workers and there conditions. We shield our selves from what the workers go through. On may take a step into a factory and truly realize the horror. They see the face of suffering and pain. People are treated like dirt. They work for unlimited hours in an environment to what seems like a mud pit. The puddles of green water and the muddy uncovered floors, along with the cramping space is a true suffering. Working all day long in what seems to be the vast out limits of hell. The harsh conditions in the many industrial towns of England need to be fixed. The overall poverty level has heightened as well as the death rate for persons under 50. Many have come to investigate these poor conditions and yet nothing has been done to stop them, or improve them. Most industrious city's have relied on the poor to do the dirty work. This is totally based upon the working conditions in the many factories located all across towns in England. The factories are so dirty and unclean, it's like a pig sty. You would think that that the people inside the factories threw dirt around all day long. The dirt and unclean conditions have effected the health of many. In such harsh conditions how is one suppose to work? Not only is the condition of the factories effecting the workers health, the lack of food and water is also. Workers have to get through the day with getting little or possibly no food, and many of the workers had to eat the food and work at the same time. The food wo uld then get all dirty, thus causing more health problems. The drinking water was found to be contaminated with dangerous bacteria's and several diseases. All these queries have a multitude of evidence to support it. These are only some of the cruel things factory workers are put to. Just these conditions should be enough to stop all harsh labour of any type. Some might say Well, those workers are poor any way, but even so, they are still human right? No human should ever be forced to work in such a filth filled environment. Men and women of all ages are being forced top work, even children! Even the youngest of all workers doesn't get to see the light of day cooped up working their little hands starving and seeking rest. We need a change, a change in law. A law to abolish such types of labour. There is a great fury of evidence that has been collected to support the abolishment of this cruel labour. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evidence #1 Frank Forrest, Chapters in the Life of a Dundee Factory Boy (1850) About a week after I became a mill boy, I was seized with a strong, heavy sickness, that few escape on first becoming factory workers. The cause of the sickness, which is known by the name of mill fever, is the contaminated atmosphere produced by so many breathing in a confined space, together with the heat and exhalations of grease and oil and the gas needed to light the establishment. #2 Elizabeth Bentley, interviewed by Michael Sadler's Parliamentary Committee on 4th June, 1832. I worked from five in the morning till nine at night. I lived two miles from the mill. We had no clock. If I had been too late at the mill, I would have been quartered. I mean that if I had been a quarter of an hour too late, a half an hour would have been taken off. I only got a penny an hour, and they would have taken a halfpenny. #3 First, as to the extent and operation of the evils which are the subject of this inquiry That the various forms of epidemic, endemic, and other disease caused, or aggravated, or propagated chiefly amongst the labouring classes by atmospheric impurities produced by decomposing animal and vegetable substances, by damp and filth, and close

Math 1025 Essays - Elementary Algebra, Mathematics, Problem Solving

Math 1025 Essays - Elementary Algebra, Mathematics, Problem Solving Math 1025 Portfolio #2 Reflections To receive full credit, you must answer each question completely as well as write complete sentences. 2.5When two variables are related, what does it mean to say that one is the independent variable and one is the dependent variable? Explain and give an example. When two variables are related, what it means to say is that one dependent and the other is independent, which means one solely depends on the other but the other can stand on it's own. The independent can stand alone and cannot be affected by any variable. The independent variable can change based on the independent but the dependent variable cannot change. 2.7Summarize each step of Polya's problem solving strategy in your own words. The first step of polya's problem is to get an idea or understand what the problem means. The second step is to come out with a plan on how to solve the problem, which is to either draw a picture, pattern or solve the equation and use graph if given. The next plan is to put your plan into action or practice until the problem is completely solved. The last step is to go back and check your work which means checking to see if your answers are correct and if there are no mistakes in the method used to solve the problem. 2.8How does the work we did in analyzing the rental car article connect to making decisions in your life? What do you think the point of this lesson is? To be sure on how to spend or be wise in how we use money because no matter what we decide to choose, it all perform the same function. We get to make decisions that are unnecessary in life but with this will help if we decide to do the most important things in our life. What exactly is an equation and how does it differ from an inequality? An equation is a mathematical way of saying that two or more expressions are equal and it differs from an inequality because an inequality shows that there is no equality in whatever problem is given or is being observed, which means there is difference in either the amount given or the ratio. 3.1If someone says that the point of graphing is plotting points and connecting the dots, how would you explain to them how very wrong that they are? Because the point of graphing is not as easy as they think it is. We can't just connect dots and Say we are done or finished. We need to graph it well, put every number where it belongs and also locate the x and y axis and which number is the axis and which number the y axis is in order to make sure every number goes to it right place before plot and then connect and then observe the direction, the trend. Explain in your own words what the slope of a line is. You should discuss both what it means graphically, and what the practical significance is. Graphically the slope of a line means finding the change in y based on a unit change in x the practical significance is that it shows the rate at which a change in the x value gives a change in the y value Describe the connection between the graph of a line and how we use the line's equation to solve problems like the pizza party problem. How would you find the solution of a graph? Solve your problem using your own method and you check to see if it matches that of the graph. Then you can use it to determine the solution to the graph. 3.5Describe what you learned about weight gained and loss from the Group portion of this section. If we need to draw a graph with weight gained and loss, we have to first the starting weight, how many weights one gain in every month and how it is reducing or increasing. 3.6Does the line of best fit provide useful information about every pair of data set? Explain. It translates the data into a linear equation that is easy to work with. For example, if it is hours and money,

The Angel of Death and the Sculptor Research Paper

The Angel of Death and the Sculptor - Research Paper Example Daniel Chester French was born in 1850 and died in 1913 and was recognized as one of the best American sculptors of his time. He was born in New Hampshire to a lawyer and US treasury secretary. His roots were quickly defined in American patriotism with his links and friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Alcott Family. After high school, French attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; however, he left quickly to help his father on the farm. He began painting after being influenced by art work from a visit to New York City and received his first commission for a statue known as â€Å"The Minute Man.† By 1913, French had received a Fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was afterwards consistently recognized for his works. He was a founding member of the National Sculpture Society and was a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as other artistic groups. The works he is best known for is the â€Å"Abraham Lincoln† sculpture at the Lincoln Memorial, Pulitzer Prize medal, and â€Å"Statue of the Republic.† Most of French’s works are consistent with the Revolution of America as the main theme as well as the historical aspects of each design. The â€Å"Angel of Death and the Sculptor† is one of a few of the works which French did based on cemetery areas that were in use. The commission came from Boston sculptor Martin Milmore and was based on the memory of his brother, Joseph. The original statue was made in bronze and was caste in Massachusetts. However, it quickly gained wide recognition and was offered a space in the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The replica of the bronze was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1917 and was then re-carved in marble in 1926 to be placed at the memorial2. These concepts were used and recognized as a way of honoring the memorial that was built while basing the memorial around the honor of the Civil War and the independence of America. This was combined with the healing process that was used for the war and in response to the lives that were lost to gain freedom through the land3. The different techniques which were used at this time were a combination of subject matter with basic ideologies which

Training Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Training Plan - Assignment Example The document acts as a guideline that describes license, permit and registration granted to a merchandise store. Given that Sport Check is a leading retailer of sports products, the content of the information in the document outlines the details of the project. Therefore, employees should be guided by the business start up Alberta Guide. The document offers steps involved in establishing a business in the merchandise store. Also, it assists employees in navigating through the state programs and services stipulated in sporting products. Getting an overview of the industry is also part of the knowledge of the merchandise store that employees must be conversant with in sporting stores. The overview outlines the types of operation involved in sporting stores such as Sport Check. New employees can learn the nature of the operation of the stores, franchise, location and design of Sport Check in Canada. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦(Canada Business Network, n.d. ) The employees must have adequate knowledge about the prices of products available in the merchandise stores. The shop has diverse products such as converse chuck Taylor, Speedo Graduated Compression, Nike Remora Swim Goggle that are sold at $64.99, $15.99 and $7.99 respectively. These products are among the few products that exist in the

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Challenges of implementing Health IT on the African continent - Essay Example While great strides have been made in managing the affairs of the continent by different countries in the continent, some have lagged behind in development, owing to the political instability and other natural forces such as the adverse climatic conditions and the environmental factors that poses a lot of challenge to the development of such countries. Consequently, the development of the African continent, especially in the field of health is far behind, compared to other continents of the world (Archangel, 2007). It is not unusual to find many people perishing from the very common and preventable diseases, which are non-existent in other continents, due to the inability of the African health systems to address such illnesses effectively (Edoho, 2011). Therefore, the health systems in the African continent highly require to be addressed. Nevertheless, there are major challenges that might face the implementation of the desired changes in the African health systems, especially regard ing the Health IT systems. Therefore, this discussion seeks to focus on the Challenges of implementing Health IT on the African continent, with a view to how such challenges can be overcome. Poor technological infrastructure, normally referred to as the digital divide, is one of the Challenges of implementing Health IT on the African continent (Khosrowpour, 2006).Technology in Africa is not only a challenge in the health sector, but in every other aspect of the technology application. By the year 2007, it was estimated that the access to technology was limited to a small percentage of the African continents population, including the telephone connectivity, the internet and the mobile phones accessibility. It was estimated that by then, only 1.5 in every 100 people had telephone connections in Africa (Edoho, 2011). The access to mobile phone subscriptions was estimated at 22.9% in every 100 people of the African population, while the level of internet accessibility was even lower, wi th the African continent having a meager internet accessibility of 3.7% for every 100 people of the African population. The African technological data is in sharp contrast with the global average technological data accessibility, where the internet accessibility, according to the global average was set at 20.6 for every 100 people globally (Edoho, 2011). The implementation of Health IT systems requires robust infrastructure, to ensure that data and information communication can easily be done by health professionals, health providers and other health institutions and agencies. The application of health IT systems is aimed at ensuring that the health information is gathered, stored, retrieved, analyzed and transmitted to the necessary information users, in the most timely manner (Archangel, 2007). However, all this cannot be achieved without a good infrastructural framework that allows for such gathering, storage, analysis and the transmission of the health information. The challenge with the African continent is that; it does not have a robust technological infrastructure, which would enhance the connectivity of the health systems and health facilities, thus enhancing transmission and sharing of information (Khosrowpour, 2006). Both satellite technology and the internet are limitedly developed in Africa, with only some countries managing to have access to such technology, though on a limited basis and restricted to the urban areas only. Considering the differences in

Analysis of Refugee Protection Mechanisms

Analysis of Refugee Protection Mechanisms INTRODUCTION On any given day, thousands of individuals including women and children from all parts of the world are forced to flee their homes for fear of persecution or to escape the dangers of armed conflicts and other refugee-creating force making claims for refugee status in foreign countries. If the key in defining who a refugee is, should not be the reason for leaving ones country but rather the reason for being unable or unwilling to return to it, then in contemporary international system, the problems of border control and trans-boundary flows of asylum seekers are ever relevant to states as well as to the academic researchers in the field of International Relations. After the crises in the management of refugees during World War II, international bodies, primarily United Nations, has allocated significant proportions of its attention and its resources to build up and develop norms of refugee protection as part of the international system of governance. The primary goal of the collective attempts was to lay down the basics for refugee protection in cases of political turmoil, civil or national wars and ethnic conflicts. These attempts, though, were not only the results of the dramatic event of World War II as hinted above, but also accompanied the development of Human Rights regimes at the global level since the late years of the 1940s. It is in this context that the Convention related to the status of Refugees had been drafted and was released on 28th July, 1951. Additional international document in the field is the 1967 Protocol Relating to the status of Refugees known as the New York Protocol. According to the UNHCR 2008 Global Trends report, there were some 42 million forcibly displaced people worldwide at the end of 2008. This includes 15.2 million refugees, 827000 asylum-seekers (pending cases) and 26 million internally displaced person (IDPs).[1] The legal obligations requiring that receiving states not return these refugees to situations of serious human rights abuse derive from international law, but does the so-called international refugee law clearly determine how governments respond to involuntary migration? If the answer is yes then why do states pay lip service to the important of honouring the right to seek asylum, but in practice devote significant resources to keep refugees away from their borders.[2] My work will attempt to evaluate the international refugee system so as to discover whether the norms in the system for refugee protection constitute an international regime, as defined by international relations literature in order to show that if it is a regim e, then states are no longer afforded the full freedom of action and decision making under the doctrine of sovereignty and that they have a certain level of obligation to abide by regime rules and help in the upkeep of the regime. International regime is increasingly in a state of crisis. While armed conflict and human rights abuse continue to force individuals and groups to flee, many governments are retrenching from their legal duty to provide refugees with the protection they require. In this work, I will attempt to explain among other things, refugee laws increasingly marginal role in defining the international response to refugee protection. This will lead me to suggest the basic principles upon which I believe reformulation of international refugee protection mechanisms should be predicated. Refugee law must be reaffirmed, bolstered and perhaps reconceived to respond to this serious deterioration in the rights and security of refugees. This thesis will evaluate the international legal mechanisms for refugee protection. Its premise is that refugee law is a mode of human rights protection. The paper will address the legal definition of a refugee, refugee rights and the institutional and procedural structur es through which claims for protection are evaluated. It will clearly define and apply contemporary legal standards, within an international and domestic legal context, and subject the present domestic and international regime to critical scrutiny. TOPIC AIM AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work is to closely look at the international refugee protection system that is made up of the various conventions, treaties and regional agreements, and domestic refugee policies, in order to determine whether or not the system constitute an international regime. The purpose of trying to discover whether these mechanisms for refugee protection do or do not constitute an international regime is to show that the members of the regime (i.e. signatory states to the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol, regional agreements and those states that have enshrined the Convention in to their domestic asylum policies) thus have their actions restricted considerably by the very fact that they are members of the regime. They are no longer allowed the full freedom and decision-making afforded to them under the doctrine of state sovereignty. Regime plays important role in the international system in bringing about co-operation and stability. In my analysis of regime theory, I will attem pt a highlight of the role the refugee protection regime plays within the international system as a whole and discuss whether the roles are changing. THESIS QUESTION: In lieu with the above, this paper will attempt to address the following thesis questions: Do the contemporary refugee protection mechanisms in the international system constitute an international regime? If the system of protection is an international regime, what kind of regime does it represent? What are its characteristics and how is it important? How are restrictive measures adopted by states affecting the international protection regime? Specifically, do they account for the change within or of, the regime, or a weakening of the regime itself? What is the role of the regime within the international system as a whole, and how is this role evolving especially in the face of states use of restrictive measures? THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The study will use the Rationalist approach to regime theory. The mainstream rationalist theories of (interest- based) neo-liberalism and (power-based) neo-realism are the basis for the theoretical framework for this write-up. The focus on neoliberal or interest based theory of regime represents the fact that it has been extraordinarily influential in the past (two) decades and have come to represent the mainstream approach to analyzing international institutions.[3] The work will however not be limited to these two theories. In a situation where millions of innocent lives are at stake each year and states come together to attempt to solve the existing problems and potentially stop it from occurring in the future, the researcher believes that it is not rational to assume that state action is driven by self interest and power politics alone. In contrast, state behavior within the international refugee protection regime largely comes from humanitarian concerns for people in need and fr om respect for international human rights law and international humanitarian law. It is in this light that the thesis will also consider the use of constructivist paradigm so as to show the importance of international norms, rules and principles, both within the regime itself and the role they play within the domestic asylum policy. SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF STUDY The work will aim at addressing the contemporary mechanisms in the international system for the protection of refugees focusing on post WWII onwards to current from historical perspective. While looking at the restrictive measures that states across the entire international system practice, the researcher will not undertake a close examination of any specific state within the international system of protection, but rather would address the system as a whole in an attempt to define and analyze its contents, discuss its importance in the international system and analyze the various changes that may be occurring within it and how these may affect the regime. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The methodological framework of this research is a qualitative one. This study will use interpretivism as its main research philosophy. A descriptive research intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study (Creswell, 1994). It is also concerned with relationships and practices that exist, beliefs and process that are on-going, effects that are being felt or trends that are developing. In addition, such approach tries to describe present conditions, events or systems based on the impressions or reactions of the respondents of the research (Creswell, 1994). Unlike quantitative research methods, which largely use a positivist epistemological position, qualitative research methods are based on an interpretivist epistemological position which stresses the understanding of the social world through an examination of the interpretation of that world by its participants. Interpretivism holds a different logic of research procedure from positivism. It seeks to understand human behavior, instead of just explaining it, which is what positivism seeks to do. The ontology of qualitative methods is constructivist, which contends that social phenomenon is continually being accomplished by social actors- they are produced through social interaction and are thus constantly being revised.[4] Basically, a descriptive research utilizes observations and surveys. It is for this particular reason that this approach was chosen by the researcher, whose intention is to gather first hand data. Moreover, this will allow for a flexible approach that when important new issues and questions arise at the duration of the study, a further investigation can be conducted. Another advantage is that with this approach, the research will be fast and somehow cost-effective. Aside from the qualitative finding method, secondary research will be conducted in this study. Sources in secondary research will include previous research reports, existing findings on journals and existing knowledge on books, newspapers, magazines and in the internet. The study will undertake an extensive review of the relevant literature on the subject of refugee flow, asylum policy, border control, state sovereignty, international humanitarian and human rights laws, and international refugee law. Basically, interpretation will be conducted which can account as qualitative in nature. STRUCTURE OF THE PAPER CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION In the first chapter, the researcher will introduce the aim of the thesis and formulates the research questions. The methodology of the thesis, a secondary research method and a qualitative, interpretivist, constructivist approaches will be outlined. Finally, the relevant theoretical and empirical literature will be reviewed. CHAPTER 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK This chapter will present the rationalist approach to regime theory, including neoliberal and neorealist theories. These theories are chosen as the theoretical framework for the thesis and will be used to evaluate the international mechanisms for refugee protection so as to discover whether or not the system constitutes an international regime considered as legal. CHAPTER 3. THE INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE PROTECTION MECHANISMS: AN INTERNATIONAL REGIME? The third chapter will firstly provide the definitions of the key terms discussed in the work. Then, it will discuss the historical background of the system. It will further discuss the three major components of the refugee protection mechanisms in the international system namely: the legal documents (various conventions, treaties and regional agreements), the protection bodies (UN bodies, human rights organizations, among others) and finally domestic refugee policy. The chapter will finally show how these three levels of protection are integrated to form the refugee protection mechanism. CHAPTER 4. THE REFUGEE PROTECTION MECHANISMS AS AN INTERNATIONAL REGIME. In this chapter, the researcher will attempt a discussion of the various types and components of international regime that exist in the international system. This discussion is then related to the international protection system in an attempt to prove whether or not the system constitutes an international regime, and what type of regime it is. It evaluates the role of the regime and its importance within the international system as a whole. CHAPTER 5. RESTRICTIVE MEASURES In this chapter, a description of the various restrictive measures that states practice in order to cut down the influx of refugees across national borders is presented. The reasons for, and effect of, the restrictive policies are outlined. The concept of state sovereignty in relations to states reasons for, and justification of, the use of restrictive policies will also be discussed in this chapter. CHAPTER 6. RESTRICTIVE POLICIES AND REGIME CHANGE This chapter will outline the neoliberal, neorealist and constructivist explanation of regime transformation. It will attempt to prove whether or not the use of restrictive measures by member states represents a change within, or of, the regime, or a weakening of the international regime of refugee protection. It then discuss the potential impact of the regime weakening on the regime itself, as well as for member states and for the refugees. CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSION This is the conclusive part of the work. The researcher will address the research question and attempts to answer them by providing a summary of the main conclusions about the refugee regimes type, strength and importance, and the role that it plays in the international system and how this is evolving. LITERATURE REVIEW (ANNOTATED) From the initial review of literature, the researcher found resource materials including the following books, legal documents, journals and articles which will provide insights in to the study: ALTERNATIVES, Turkish Journal of International Relations. Volume 5, number 12, spring and summer 2006. Countries have different approaches to refugee protection system. This article can be very useful for the research as it shows that one of the major differences in approaches is the receiving and/or transit status vis-a-vis the refugee flow. Using four European countries- Belgium, Slovenia, Greece and Turkey as cases, the article examines refugee policies and makes an evaluation of differences in refugee protection system that each country develops. Donnelly, Jack, International Human Rights: A Regime Analysis in International Organization, Vol. 40, No. 3 (summer, 1986), 599-642. Donnellys article will be used in order to discover what type of regime the mechanism for protection in the international system is. It is useful for regime analysis. Creswell, J. W. 2003. Research Design: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. SAGE. Thousand Oaks. USA. For the researchers choice of method of investigation, a reference to Creswells work on research design will provide great help. Guy S Goodwin-gill: (1996) The Refugee in International Law2nd Edition. Oxford University Press: Oxford. In this book, Goodwin-Gills provide an excellent overview of contemporary international refugee law, the three levels of protection, and the meanings and workings of the treaties and conventions on refugee protection. The book is widely recognized as the leading text on refugee law and as an excellent treatise of the international law on refugee, all the major problems are discussed in a general and lucid way. Hasenclever, Mayer and Rittberger (1997) Theories of International Regimes. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. This book is very essential in the writing of this thesis as it provides an overview of the rationalist approach to regime theory. The book examines in detail the neoliberal and neorealists distinct views on the origins, robustness and consequences of international regimes. Hathaway, James (ed) (1997) Reconceiving International Refugee Law. Martinus Mijhoff Publishers: The Hague. Hathaways Book, a collection of essays by leading migration scholars, will be helpful in that it offers a response to the concerns of many states that refugee protection has become no more than a back door route to permanent immigration. It explores the potential for a shift to a robust and empowering system of temporary asylum, supported by a pragmatic system of guarantees to share both the cost and human responsibilities. Helmut Breitmeier (2008). The Legitimacy of International Regimes. Ashgate Publishing Limited. England. How legitimate are outcomes, outputs and impacts of international regimes? In this book, theoretical and empirical chapters balance one another. The book explores the question whether problem-solving in international regimes is effective and equitable and whether regimes contribute that sates comply with international norms. It also analyses whether non-state actors can improve the output and input-oriented legitimacy of global governance systems. Michelle Foster (2007) International Refugee Law and Social Economic Rights. Refugee from Deprivation. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. A range of emerging refugee claims is beginning to challenge the boundaries of the refugee convention regime and question traditional distinction between economic migrants and political refugees. Fosters book will greatly help in identifying the conceptual and analytical challenges presented by socio-economic deprivation. It undertakes an assessment of the extent to which these challenges may be overcome by a creative interpretation of the refugee convention, consistent with correct principles of international treaty interpretation. Keohane, Robert O., International Institutions: Two Approaches in International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Dec., 1988), 379-396. This is a journal article by Keohane that will also be helpful in formulating the rationalist approach to regime theory. Krasner, Stephen D. (ed) (1989) International Regimes. Cornell University Press: Cambridge This book by Krasner includes articles by various authors on neorealist and neoliberal approaches to regime theory. It also provides sharp criticism of regime theory and so therefore will help the research. Wendt, Alexander, Anarchy is what States Make of it: The Social Construction of Power Politics in International Organization, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Spring, 1992), 391-425 Wendts article will be useful in creating an alternative understanding to neorealism of how and why cooperation occurs in the international system of states. Aside, a variety of conventions, treaties, and agreements Will also be reviewed and referred to, including the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, the Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, the 1990 Dublin Convention, the 1990 Schengen Convention, the 1977 Treaty of Amsterdam, the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, the 1981 African Charter on Human and peoples Rights and the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights and its Protocols. These documents can be accessed in the annexes of Guy S, Goodwin-Gills book The Refugee in International Law2nd Edition. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 379-550. 2008 Global Trends: Refugee Asylum- seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless Persons (16 June 2009). James C. Hathaway (Ed.). Re-conceiving International Refugee Law. P. xvii Hasenclever, Mayer and Rittberger (1997) Theories of International Regimes.p.4 Creswell, J.W. (1994) Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage. in Bryman (2001) Social Research Methods, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p.264