Archive for the ‘Workflows’ Category
How to Create Depth in a Mix
March 6, 2008 MixingThis post focuses on the topic of creating a sense of depth in mixes. It’s not too hard to make things sound big. It’s not too hard to make things sound wide. But it is very hard to do both while also creating a sense of depth. There are a myriad of tools available to [...]
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11 Important DAW Maintenance Tips
February 26, 2008 DAWs, MaintenanceThis post focuses on some basic techniques for keeping your DAW running in primo shape. It’s easy to take our computers for granted, but sometimes it seems like if you turn your back for a moment, your computer will destroy itself. The reality is that computers are incredibly complex machines and that small, day to [...]
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Monitoring Diversity for Better Mixes
February 25, 2008 Mixing, SpeakersThis post focuses on how monitoring with different kinds of speakers will help you achieve better mixes. One of the things that sets professional studios apart from hobbyist studios is their collection of monitors. Most studios have at least a couple pairs of monitors, from nearfields to farfields. Many have boomboxes and ‘hi-fi’ stereos to [...]
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The Art of Comping: Creating Master Performances
February 23, 2008 Comping, PostThis post focuses on the technique of comping, or creating a composite performance from various elements of multiple performances. It used to be that in order to get a recording of a performance the performers had to run straight through the material. But ever since the invention of overdubbing people have been changing the way [...]
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How to Record Piano
February 22, 2008 TrackingThis post is a continuation of my instrument series and describes the standard variations of recording piano, both grand and upright styles. Ahhh piano. One of the quintessential instruments that almost everyone knows the sound of. Like the snare drum that I featured in my last how-to, the piano is a complex instrument with many [...]
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Tracking a Band in a Single Room…
February 16, 2008 TrackingThis post focuses on the classic challenge of how to record a band in a single room and not have it sound completely awful. Lots of us have small production studios and tons of bands have single room practice spaces. Inevitably the question arises: “How can I record the band live in a single room [...]
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Taming Rock Cymbals with… a DeEsser!?
February 13, 2008 DeEssers, Drums, MixingThis post. focuses on the secret rock mixing practice of using a DeEsser on overheads. Rock overhead tracks are downright scary. Many rock drummers constantly wash out their cymbals and play in the studio with ‘live’ cymbals that have too much presence, designed to cut through stage noise. EQing the cymbals leaves you with mush [...]
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Idea: Rolling Tracking Station
February 12, 2008 DIY, TrackingThis post focuses on an idea I’ve had for a while: a rolling station that can be moved easily around the studio to ease tracking difficulty when working alone. One problem that I’ve run into is that, when working in a studio setup that includes a control room and a tracking room, it becomes very [...]
Read More »Adding Real Ambience After-the-Fact
February 7, 2008 Mixing, TrackingThis post focuses on capturing ambience by playing back and re-recording sounds in acoustic spaces. The idea of piping sounds into a space and retracking it isn’t new by any stretch of the imagination. Before the advent of reverb processors it was common practice to route audio to speakers in reverb chambers to achieve ambient [...]
Read More »Increasing Attack with Gates
February 6, 2008 Gates, MixingThis post focuses on the trick of increasing the attack of sounds using gates. Most people reach for EQ or compression when they want to add punch to their sounds. But I’ve found another way to accomplish a very specific kind of attack transient using gates. I sometimes use this trick to add attack kick [...]
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