Part 1: Transferring DAWs, project setup, initial leveling (for headroom), routing, naming, and general organization. (And a little on the Lead Vocal)

This song was delievered to me as a Logic Studio 8 project file.  While I do use and like Logic, I much prefer to mix in Pro Tools.  Therefore, I exported all the tracks out of Logic (and there were a LOT of them :).  If you need tips on how to get audio out of your DAW and into another, check out THIS article as well as THIS article.  Remember to export in the original sample rate and bit depth.

So now I was left with about 100 tracks (wow!) of 88.2/24 audio.  Time to import into Pro Tools.  Pro Tools HD Native will only support the playback of 96 voices at 88.2 kHz, so I quickly scanned the project for redundant tracks or similar parts that I could combine, made new tracks, right-clicked and chose “Hide and Make Inactive” on the unecessary tracks (don’t delete them!!), and got my count under 96.  (Note: I’ll address it later, but this consolidation process continued throughout the mix.)

Once that was done crunching, I just hit play and listened through the song 2-3 times.  This is a really important step in the mixing process – listen to the song in its raw form and begin to build your mental vision of where things need to go.  Personally, I keep a notebook on my desk and jot down notes as I listen (noting important parts, ideas for effects, things I think are unecessary, arrangement ideas, etc…).

So here’s where we are at:

Why do this?  Well, especially with a 90+ track project, if you want ANY chance of not slamming/clipping the mix bus, you need to get your levels under control at the start of the project.  Mix with plenty of headroom – always!  As you’ll see in later pictures, even after trimming everything down, the peaks of my song hit as high as -4 dBFS (I usually feel better if they are down around -6 dBFS).

OK – headroom is set – now it’s time to do some organizing.  I usually loop the song while I do this to continue to get a mental picture of where the song needs to go.  I start by moving tracks around, grouping them by instrument  (so in my case, I put the rhythm section stuff all the way to one side of the mix, vocals nearer to the middle, synths off to the other side… whatever works for you is fine – just get a system and stick with it).  In the process, I also renamed a lot of tracks.  Choose relevant names!  Additionally, I am an avid user of the scribble strip at the bottom of the mix window.  I like to jot notes about what the track has on it.  Personally, I’m not a fan of color-coding tracks – I’ve just never worked it into my workflow – so I use a combination of consistent organization and scribble strips to remember where everything is.

This is also when I setup some summing busses, aux tracks for effects, and my master bus.  Again – these are mostly personal workflow choices, so feel free to try these out, but there’s more than one way to do it.  I like to route all my tracks into an aux track that becomes my mix bus.  From there, I can print versions of the song right in the project file.  This master bus track along with my main aux track effect returns (typical reverbs and delays) goes in the center of my mix window.

If you do choose to go with this master bus approach:  one way or another (whether it’s through individual tracks or through sub busses) be sure to route all of your audio tracks through that master bus. Failure to do so initially could cause big headaches later (for balance, headroom, levels, automation…).

Now we’re ready to actually get going and mix.

I started with the lead vocal (aka the most important part of any pop song).  Simple rule: The lead vocal needs to be heard. Period.  In a context like this (pop/rock/etc.), the best way to get there is a recipe of compression, EQ, and time-based effects (reverb/delay).  I usually like to start with compression – because this addresses both volume and tonal issues (depending on which compressor/plug-in you choose).  One of my go-to compressors in-the-box (ITB) is the Bomb Factory Purple MC77.  In a very non-scientific way, I like this compressor because it can squash a vocal a-la-1176-style, but the MC77 seems to preserve the silky-smooth high end of a vocal better.  Now – be careful with these fast FET compressors -  without the right settings for the right song/style, you’ll end up hammering your vocal into oblivion.  The slowest attack time on this guy is less than 1 millisecond (ranges from 20 – 800 microseconds)

Long story short, after MC77 compression, I split the lead vocal into three tracks based on the organization of the song and how I wanted to lay out effects.  I patched the vocal tracks through my Vintech 473 (to drive the input stage pretty hot and add a tiny bit of high shelf EQ) on inserts.  Then, as you’ll see in the picture below, I printed the vocal track.  After copying over the reverb/delay automation data, I hid and deactivated the original tracks (leaving me with one, already compressed and EQ’d vocal track).  While the vocal definitely sounds compressed, I believe it’s at an appropriate level of compression for this song.  Compare the uneven waveforms of the original three tracks to the well-leveled bounce track.

To some, this may seem crazy (deciding on your vocal level, “sound”, and compression immediately when starting a mix).  In many cases, it would be.  But here, it will do a lot of good for my organization and the mix.  From the get go, my vocal level is set.  If I want it to be better heard, I need to turn other things DOWN, which is excellent for your headroom.  Also, my analog gear (the Vintech) is now free to use on other tracks.  Obviously if 2 hours into the mix, I realize that I need an adjustment, I can re-activate the tracks and rebounce… but hopefully I won’t have to.  “Going for the sound” and making decisions will help your ears know what is good/bad.  Making mistakes here is all part of the development process.  I’ll be clear – I don’t mean to suggest that everyone should be doing this in every project – rather, in this project it worked well and I think it’s a valuable learning and workflow tool that others should try out.

OK – lead vocal is good – time to go to drums and bass… in part 2!

Questions about anything mixing/PT related?  Post in the comments here or send me an email.

Connor

The Studio Files

The Vintech 473 offers 4 channels of Neve 1073-like preamp with shelving EQ in a 2 space rackmount unit.  It uses an external power supply (sold seperately) which can power up to 6 channels of Vintech preamps.

In Use:

Right after I got the unit, I got a chance to use it in a tracking session.

The external power supply has a good side and a bad side.  The good side is that the 473 stays fairly cool (temperature) even when running all 4 channels all day.  You can also power a few different units with one power supply.  The bad side is that its external and at this time, I can’t find a rackmount adapter for it.  It isn’t really a big deal, but carrying around extra cables and trying to find a case for it can be a tiny hump for the traveling engineer/producer.  I also wish it could power 8 channels (so I wouldn’t have to buy another if I get another 473…).  That all being said, I feel confident saying that I think the benefits outweigh the negatives.

First up, I used it on drums (specifically inside kick mic, snare drum top, and LR overheads).  The output attenuation pot was really nice to have on drums.  I could drive the preamp gain a little hotter (to get a taste of the transistor crunch), but could lower the output to prevent clipping the A/D. This was especially good on the close mics.  The shelving EQ was very convenient, and sounded great to boot.  I ended up dialing in a bit of 12k for the overheads, a bit of 60Hz for the kick, and adding some 3k to the snare.  A quick note – the unit is very easy to use.  That may seems like an odd comment, but it made the workflow very smooth.  The knobs are large, easy to grab, and are clearly labeled; the switches are large and take some effort to push (- a good thing!); things like this make me happy. 

I thought the preamps (and EQ) sounded fantastic.  The transients of the kick and snare sounded great (especially with the extra gain I gave to the input stage).  It worked well on overheads too.  Usually I prefer a tube preamp on overheads (due to the distortion qualities, transient response, etc…) but I thought the very-slightly overdriven 473 sounded great in this application.

Next I used the unit to track guitars.  I used two amps, mic’ing each off axis, one with an SM57 (with the transformer taken out) and the other with a FatHead II (stock tranny).   I ended up dialing 40-50 dB of gain and had no noise problems.  The 57 was plenty bright, but the ribbon would need some EQ.  A quick flick of the EQ switch, and I dialed in a fairly substantial boost at 3k.  It brought the track up to an appropriate level of brightness in the high end without becoming harsh.  While the 473 doesn’t have the EQ capabilities of the single channel strips from Vintech (or the original Neve’s for that matter), I find the shelves to be very convenient and great sounding.

After guitars, I used it on vocals (U87ai -> Vintech).  We actually started with the 87 through a UA 6176, and while that is another great unit (with tons of sonic options), we ended up liking the Vintech better on this particular application.  The Vintech had no tube color, which is what the song/singer was dictating.  The preamp performed just as how I would expect a 1073-like pre: very well.  I would feel comfortable using this as an everyday vocal preamp.  There are a lot of sonic options packed into this unit – the ability to drive the input hot and pull down the output, the EQ, etc…

A quick note in the middle here – the input impedance switch is another nice tool to have.  Switching from 300 up to 1200 Ohms did about what you’d expect (slightly more gain, slightly more present high frequencies).  Again, this is another sonic option the engineer has at his/her fingertips.  Convenience (as well as excellent quality) is really a theme on this unit.

For the pro studio, this is a great sounding unit at a great price.  4 channels of Neve preamps for around $3000 is a steal.  For the home or project studio, the 473 is a excellent choice for high quality front-end.  The preamps sound great, have plenty of (clean) gain for any mic, and the shelving EQ is excellent for tracking.  Additionally, the Hi-Z inputs on the front are great for tracking guitars, and the line inputs (and EQ) can give a great new color to in-the-box tracks.

// end of old review – start of new review

Well, it’s one year later, and I can say I’m just as thrilled with the unit.  I’ve done far less tracking this year as mixing, and the Vintech has shined.

The unit has held up well to my many travels.  I usually suit it up in a rack case and haul it all over the place.  I will still say that the external power supply is a bit of a hassle.  While I appreciate it’s merits in keeping the 473 cool and the power away from the audio, it is still hard to lug around in a separate box.  But – the hassle is worth it – the sound is awesome.

In mixing, I have it normalled out of my converters (to the line inputs) for inserts.  I use it on drums occasionally, but typically I throw my lead vocals and sometimes acoustic guitars through it.  Just driving a vocal through the line stage and adding a little EQ can bring it to the next level (anyone with a Neve console will probably tell you the exact same thing).  While the preamp sections are invaluable, it’s hard to ignore the awesomeness of having this unit for mixing.

As in my Avid Pro Tools Native HD+ HD I/O 16×16 analog review, let’s do the final breakdown:

Pros of the Vintech 473

• Amazing, amazing sound
• Great versatility for both tracking and mixing
• Rugged design, has held up well through travels
• Large pots and switches, makes dialing in settings in a heated session easy
• External power supply keeps heat and power away from your audio

Cons of the Vintech 473

• External power supply is an extra thing to haul around if you are often mobile
• Price – although for me, this was the best sound/price matchup of all the Neve clones, it is still pricey.  This could be a limiting factor for some studios

Overall, I’m very happy with the unit after the first year… here’s to many more!

Connor

The Studio Files

…Sometimes it’s just better for the PC users. If anyone wants to try some of these (Antress Modern Plugins) out and give us some feedback, I’ve heard really great things.

Oh, and did I mention that they are FREE!?!

I am in the process of re-deploying my dual core PC to run some sample libraries and Vienna Ensemble Pro, so I could install them with that outboard rig. Check it out and let’s see.

Happy New Year everybody. We’ve got some cool stuff in store for the new decade, so stay tuned!

Damon
The Studio Files

Check it out here:

http://www.pspaudioware.com/

And have a great holiday.

—Damon

Being a mix engineer is a a lot more than calling up plug-ins and twisting knobs until things sound better.  Granted, that (oversimplified summary) is a big part of mixing, but the musical influence of the mix engineer is just as important.  Think of muting as an ultimate multi-effect process.

Result #1 Spectral Flattery

Let’s say you are mixing a song with a big guitar solo in the middle of it.  The guitar solo is backed by the usual drums+bass, as well as 2 rhythm guitars, a keyboard, and a synth pad.  Its likely that the solo, the rhythm guitars, the keyboard, and the pad are all sharing some frequency range (specifically perhaps upper mids).  Once approach may be to load up some EQs and make strategic cuts to the accompanying instruments during that solo.  While this is a great start, and may be just the fix in some situations – consider the mute button.  Do you really need all 4 of the accompanying parts during this solo?  As a mix engineer, assuming you have been granted this freedom by the client/label/band, it is your job to make these mix-level arrangement decisions.  Muting an unneeded track will always clear more space than an EQ cut.

Result #2 A Better Arrangement

This concept also doesn’t just apply to just solo sections with a highlighted instrument.  When you first start your mix, listen through a few times and get a feel for all the parts.  If there are 9 guitars tracked, that does not mean that you need all 9 of them! (Especially in today’s session where its common to record a few mics on an instrument, leaving the final decision up to the mix).  Now, that being said, this is not a hack and slash process.  Use your ears and musical knowledge (as well as conversations with the artist/producer) to identify the most important elements of the song.  Muting conflicting tracks will save you a lot of time and energy during mixdown.

Result #3 Cleanliness!

When an electric guitar isn’t playing, its track is likely full of amp hiss, foot noises, etc…  When a tom isn’t being hit, its track is a sanctuary for cymbal and drum bleed.  At the beginning of your mixdown, it is a good idea to spend a few minutes in the Edit window cleaning up your tracks.  Cut out regions where instruments aren’t playing, decide on a tentative ending and start for the song, etc.  This short process will save you time later as well – as you won’t have to search through the mixer, solo tracks to figure out where the random noises are coming from.This process does take some discretion – there are plenty of times when manually-gating your toms like this is not a good direction.  Additionally, there are times with amp noise is a cool addition to a song.  Use your ears and musical discretion!

Expect an update on this article soon – my recording rig is currently out on a gig, so I was unable to add screen shots or audio from relevant sessions.  Hopefully by this weekend I’ll be up and running again.

C

The Studio Files

One of the projects that I’ve been working on this summer is a first release from a singer-songwriter, Jeffrey Crace. Jeff found us through The Studio Files a few months ago and asked about some help mixing some songs that he had recorded on a Korg 16-track MDR. He sent me the individual tracks for one song and I shot him back a quick mix. Well, he liked it, and decided to have me mix and master the whole project. He has decided to go with digital distribution first, plus an inexpensive short run of slimline CDs to sell at gigs and for promotional packets.

We went with TuneCore and the album is now live on Amazon and lala.com.
Check out Here We Go Again:

I’m going to go through several of the mixes in the next couple of weeks and talk about what plugins I used, and other techniques. If you listen to a track on Hotel Lagonda and want to know something specific, just ask!

More soon,

Damon
The Studio Files

It’s the end of a long mixing day, and the mix is sounding awesome in the control room.  We burn off a quick mix and take in the car on a CD for the drive home…

YUCK! It sounds terrible!  Why does it sound bad in the car (or in headphones/boombox/etc) but awesome in the control room??

Here are some tips and techniques to help improve your mix translation.

Take Breaks

Yes, the first suggestion has nothing to do with fancy gear, extra speakers, or even mixing experience (but it is definitely one of the most important!).  As you listen through the course of the day, a few things happen.  For starters, your ears begin to tire, which can affect (especially high) frequency response.  The longer you are working, the greater the chance your ears will not be responding as you’d ideally like.

Additionally, without breaks, your ears will get used to the sound of certain elements (even if they are “wrong”).  The longer you listen to that overly-bright snare drum, the more your ears will get used to it.  By taking a break, you give your ears a chance to remember what “normal” is.  Grab some food, ride your bike, go for a walk… just get out of the control room and clear your head/ears.

Listen through multiple speakers/headphones

As you progress in your mixes, switch to another set of speakers or headphones.  Think of someone in a studio switching down to NS10s from the big (SLS, custom, etc.)  mains).  In this case, the NS10s are obviously not nearly as accurate as the mains, but they give the mixing engineer a new perspective.  While the kick drum may sound awesome through the 15″ drivers of large speakers, it is causing the NS10s (with their much smaller drivers, narrower frequency response, and smaller power handling capabilities) to distort.

Obviously your studio monitors are going to be where you do the majority of your mixing, but switching to another pair, headphones, or running it out to your car can be a great idea.  (Personally, I like running it out to my car, because then I get a break out of it too, giving my ears a chance to reset).

Learn Your Gear!

Spend some time listening to commerical mixes on your system.  (Not passive listening while you are browsing the web/shopping/etc…)  Grab some CDs (not compressed formats!!! no mp3, AAC, etc…) and pop in some of your favorite tunes.  Listen to the relationships between the bass and kick drum, the vocals and guitars, etc.  Hear what these mixes sound like so that you have a reference point when doing your mixes.  If you know what great (commerical) music sounds like with your gear in your room, you can use it as a comparison (even dragging it into your session for direct A/B comparison while mixing).  While all rooms can’t be as accurate as the best pro rooms, by listening to these “pro mixes” in your environment, you can learn a lot about the sound of your space.

There are lots of other tricks that mix engineers swear by.  For me , I like running a mix out to my car.  I also like walking out of my control room, half closing the door, and listening to the balances from a distance.  Feel free to experiment, just find something that puts your listening environment in a new context.  Another great thing to do is to send mixes to friends (even non-musicians/non-engineers) and ask for their opinions.

(As a side note, always feel free to send me an mp3 via email for some feedback)

C

The Studio Files

In the context of a limited budget recording, you need to do as many things for free (or cheap!) as possible.  At the same time, you don’t want to sacrifice quality.

You have a lot of flexibility in the tracking stage, even on a small budgets.  Many small project studios (or even your home studio) may only have a few channels of input.  On top of that, they usually don’t have a nice big tuned room for drums.  Doing drums at these studios will often fall short.  Therefore, I would recommend allocating some budget to going to a bigger studio to track (at least) drums.  Even one full day at a studio could give you enough time to track drums for an EP (or more).  From there, you can transfer down to a cheaper project studio (or, again, your home studio) for vocals, guitars, bass, etc…  A wall of mattresses can make a nice quiet area to do these single source recordings.

So now you’ve tracked.  Next would be editing and mixing.  Definitely do ALL the editing at your home/project studio.  It doesn’t matter how many walls of preamps and microphones a studio has – an out of time drum hit sounds the same at a small studio.  Not only is editing at your house free, but its also good experience and practice to edit tunes.  Along with editing, I would do things like autotune vocals, sample replacements, (anything like that) at home.

Editing is done.  You have a perfectly grooving recording; it just needs to be mixed down.  I would at least start the mix at home.  Again, this is good practice, plus if you are going to transfer to another studio, you might as well give them a rough mix to work from.  Not only will this save them time (as the “basics” have already been done) but it will also give the mixing engineer a sense of the direction you’d like to see the song go.  Or, if you have the amibition/experience/tools, mixing your own project is obviously a completely viable solution.  Just make sure you are choosing the option that will get you the best sounding record as possible (of course, within the budget)  So what if there are no awesome, inexpensive studios around you to take the files for mixing??

Distance Collaboration!

This two word phrase is becoming the new norm for project studios.  It is very common to send session files out to studios across the country (world) to have them mixed.  There will be another article soon on Distance Collaboration (and how to find studios).  Often people working over the internet can charge less than booking time at a normal studio (since they can work at their own hours and don’t have to physically accomodate clients).

The same trends can apply to mastering (except for that I would not master your own project if you can avoid it).  Mastering is commonly thought of as being an expensive task, when in reality, this is not always true.  There are many fine mastering facilities that can finish an album for a few hundred bucks (or less!).  Again, distance collaboration can be key.  Often the studio that you are sending the files to for mixing can also master them for you (ahem, like Under the Piano Productions, ahem).

Although I’d assume this article is going to be read mostly by people doing the tracking/engineering/producing, this is a great resource for band members that do some (or all) of their own studio work.  I wouldn’t always recommend that a band member do everything (engineer/produce/mix/etc….), but being a part of the process is always a benefit.  Just don’t bite off more than you can chew (and remember, bringing in other talented people can only help the project).

C

The Studio Files

The Band: Wild Sweet Orange

The Album: We Have Cause to Be Uneasy

When I first heard Wild Sweet Orange’s LP, We Have Cause To Be Uneasy, my only regret was that I didn’t hear them sooner. I wanted to be the one that told everyone about this amazing band. I wanted to hear everyone comment on how awesome the band’s name was, and then call me 4 days later, after they had listened to the album, and thank me for the suggestion. But alas, I was not the first person to hear them, I was 7,999th. (according to their myspace page).

We Have Cause to Be Uneasy is the Band’s debut album, but you would never guess this from the maturity of their sound. While the core of the instrumentation represents the standard of any rock band, they don’t seem to be afraid of incorporating different sounds into their songs. Accordian, Triangle, synths and banjo all find their way onto the record with a prepared confidence. Unusual guitar delays and effects modules enhance the haunting vibe on a number of tracks, proving that they are not your average rockers. WSO blends the raw aggression of Southern rock with an indie/folk  sparkle that gives listeners something to remember. I found myself humming their hooks days later, wondering what the line was from.

The first line of “Ten Dead Dogs” immediately pulls you into the album, entranced with Preston Lovinggood’s voice. The lightness of his tone and angst in the lines makes you listen to each lyric, thankful that his voice is not any whinier (at risk of being emo). The song writing is refreshingly intelligent. The rhymes are varied and you actually feel proud when you can foresee what the next word is going to be, which is rarely the case. While most of the tracks are longer than the average pop tune, I never was tempted to skip to the next song. The band finds a way to rotate the musical textures enough to keep the listener interested, and the lyrics are well written enough to complete the story before things become repetitive.

I was most impressed with “Aretha’s Gold”, which appears later in the album. This grungy love track has all the elements of a classic rock song…and I mean all the elements. There are enough breakdowns to choke a horse and I could hear glimmers of grunge, 60′s, 90′s Pop and Indie rock in each verse… beautifully done, however. When the song drops down to an acoustic guitar and vocals, you remember how sick (good sick) Lovinggood’s voice is. The breakdown lasts about 8 bars longer than you would expect, but when the band returns you are ready to start rocking again, even though you are already 5:22 in to the song.

note – The only bands that I know of that can pull that off are legendary.

The production quality of the LP (this is a studio website), is about as adventurous as the writing.  Each track has a slightly different feel too, while avoiding a mix tape quality. Producer Mike McCarthy tried some interesting things with reverb throughout the album.  While I found the lead vocals to be a little too “platey” by normal mixing standards they definitely enhance the etherial sound of the tracks. Most of the mixes were nice and washy, but an occasional lead guitar part would cut through with little or no delay. Harmony parts were wonderfully mixed and provided enough of a musical idea to entice the avid car stereo harmonizer to chime in.

Wild Sweet Orange has started to tip the scales of the their own fate, gaining more national momentum with every show.  Touring the states such bands like What Made Milwaukee Famous (another new favorite of mine), I will not be surprised if we start seeing WSO all over the place. Make sure you check them out…and tell your friends… you don’t want someone else to ask you, “Have you ever heard of Wild Sweet Orange?”

What do your musical ears tell you?  I f you get a chance to listen to their stuff, drop me a line with your thoughts on Wild Sweet Orange.

Wild Sweet Orange  on myspace

www.wildsweetmusic.com

BJSR

03F1E9D2-12E6-8140-3FCC-F5361DF8D781

1.02.21

1.02.05

Click here.

Happy remixing. The link will have to be opened with iTunes, so when your browser says so, don’t fight it! You could even dump the tracks into a free application like Audacity, slice and dice and… voila!! Be sure to let us know if you post your own version at Radiohead’s website. It would be great to hear what all of you come up with.

DS
The StudioFiles

I would like to explore the idea of controlling your bass and low mid frequencies in the mix.

A big challenge I had when mixing this record down was getting rid of a muddy low end. In a record in this genre, there are a lot of instruments down there (multiple guitars playing low power chords, bass, kick drum, toms, lower vocals, elements of the scream, etc….). Everything needs to have its own space without muddying up the mix. At the same time, cutting too much out of the mix will undermine the sound’s power.

Your secret weapon in this fight is your hi-pass filter. Always try to cut things that aren’t needed. I noticed on my when mixing down the guitars, I always had a hi-pass filter engaged. Sometimes it was low (~100-150), but sometimes, it crept up even higher, towards the mid 200′s. This is ok! As long as it doesn’t kill/weaken the desired tone, this is a great way to start cleaning up your mix. This same concept applies to the vocals, toms, other instruments… Watch when putting a lot of hi-pass filters on your tracks. Too many with high ratio (like 18 or 24 db/octave) can actually introduce phase down there (which could be the subject of another article).

One of the hardest parts of the mix was getting the kick drum as bass to play nicely. Personally, I like to sit the kick drum in lower frequencies than I do my bass (for example, let’s say the bass drum is hitting hard around 60Hz, whereas the bass is up in the 80′s and 90′s Hz range. You can accomplish this by making cuts/boosts where you need them. You may look at the bass EQ below and say “what the heck is he doing using a hi-pass on the bass….? It’s the BASS?!”. But, this is not lunacy (at least I hope…). The non-aggressive hi-pass is what really separates the bass from the kick. The bass still has plenty of energy down there to sound like a bass. Just be careful not too cut too much out and make your bass player disappear.

Another good technique is to use cuts in the 175-300 area where appropriate. This is another area of the spectrum that can really start to get muddy. Guitars/vocals/drums can sometimes benefit from this. Be aware though: cutting too much of this will make everything sound weak, so proceed with caution.

To Be Continued extremely soon… need to get to work here….

C

The Studio Files

This recording project was full of a lot of “firsts” for me (first time converting a house into a recording studio, first time working with a screamer, first time having a band live with me for the recording process… etc). The short version of the story is that the band lived in my converted-recording-basement for a week because of some last minute logistical issues in going to another (real) studio. So with my trusty Digi 003 Rack (and a HEAP of borrowed gear, thanks Damon, Ben), we got to work for the long week.  Also props to Ronnie Pinnell for driving up to assist.

Given the circumstances, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share both the “do’s” and “do not’s” I learned along the way. I’ll try to cover everything from mic techniques to mixing and there and back again.

One of the more important aspects of this CD was getting the screamer’s (Tyler’s) voice to sound not only big mean and scary, but also different than others in his genre of competition. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the beloved SM7 for this task, so I was left to use an SM58. I actually started out by trying some large diaphragm condensers, but it was just way too “pretty” sounding.

Scream – raw

Sounds ok…. but definitely not where we want it. Its very muffled and bass heavy (as a result of him using a very close mic technique), hard to understand, and just not scary enough. First things first, let’s get some EQ cooking. In the picture below, you’ll see the fairly radical EQ I had to use to get rid of the bass and boost the highs. Notice the cut in the upper mids though. This was a critical part of the EQ (without it, everything was super harsh and painful).

Now I had to even out the volume a bit. Rather than just volume automating every word (which of course there was some of, later in the mix), I used a CT-4 compressor, which ALL RTAS users should own. The added bonus is that the compressor will bring out the smaller details of the scream (aka the scary parts). I used a fairly common compressor setting.

With the EQ and compression, the scream was starting to cut, but it wasn’t starting to scare yet. Solution=Distortion. I actually ended up using two techniques: one on the track itself (the tape drive from Massey) and one as a bus send (Sans Amp from the Digi Factory Bundle). You can see the settings below. The Sans Amp could be substituted with any amp simulator and the tape saturater could be replaced with the iZotope Vinyl (which is free).

Scream – processed

With those additions, I felt that the scream got to where we wanted it. Now here’s that raw scream processed and in the full mix.

Scream in the song

More to come

C

The Studio Files

So today, I am going to show you a before and after clip of a band called “Edith Marie” from Dayton, OH. I recorded them at the University of Dayton recording studio (Street Sounds) a few weeks back. The recordings were done on a Digidesign 003 Rack with a PreSonus DigiMax running in ADAT. The room was that of an average project studio: not sound proof, some acoustic treatment, air handling and bass problems… BUT, a really great and fun place to record and to learn new things. My motto has always been that you can often learn more (and can experiment more) when you aren’t in that “perfect room” with the vintage Neve console (although obviously there is a time and place for everything)

(Excuse the mp3′s… WAV’s are just too big for the internet ) First, the unmixed clip. This is pretty much a faders up mix with a few things sending to reverb and a little compression here and there (that I just inserted while tracking). Don’t worry, the obnoxious sheep noises at the end were only in there pre-mix

Edith Marie – UNMIXED

While it doesn’t sound bad, it has a long way to go. A lot of the basic elements are grooving, but everything needs some work. Now, quickly, here is the mix from the end of the day:

Edith Marie – MIXED

Fairly big difference. Let’s walkthrough how I got there. (Click on pictures to bring up full size)

First lets talk drums. The kick didn’t have a hole in the front, so my mic was outside the drum. This (coupled with the small room) led to a lot of cymbal bleed on the kick track. Solution: Gate it. I also added some EQ and some compression. The compressor is really functioning more like a limiter here, I’m just knocking down the biggest peaks and bringing the level up a bit

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Next let’s go to the snare. I ended up using two SM57′s on the snare. One on top, one shoved up into the strainer on the bottom. Again, I had a decent amount of leakage, but I chose NOT to gate, as I think it was taking away from the “naturalness” of the snare (made it sound fake). The snare had a good amount of high end already, but was heavy around 1k (which I cut). You’ll notice I boost around 110 on the snare. Don’t forget about the low frequencies of your snare drum, that’s where the “fat” in a snare lies. I hit the snare pretty hard with a slow attack Massey CT-4 compressor (which I think ALL pro tools users should own). Finally, just a small touch of a short plate reverb (D-Verb) was added via an aux send (not pictured below).

I’m going to breeze over the toms and overheads here. I just used a little EQ on the toms and that and some compression on the overheads. Don’t roll off (hi-pass) your overheads too much!! That’s another place where the fat of the snare drum originates. The drum bus did get a little compression and EQ. For drums (generally, not always) I like slower compression. If you get the attack time too fast, you lose the initial WHAM of the hits, whereas a slower attack will help to increase the decay time/bring up the smaller details in the drums.

Next up: bass. This particular bass was recorded just off of a DI (split off the instrument, before the amp). This gave us a nice full bass that had lots of attack. You may call me crazy for the filters I put on this (see pic below), but here’s the explanation. I needed the aggressive lo-pass because of some bad noise coming from the bass (perhaps some old/dirty pickups?). The hi-pass is on there to separate the bass from the kick. I mixed so that the bass sits more in the 70-90 range, and the kick hits below that. Finally, just a little mud out at 300 and some presence up below 2k. Also, I hit it fairly hard with a compressor (rather fast attack too) to tame a little bit of bright attack.

The big electric guitars took a little creative EQ to get sounding right. They were recorded with 57′s on the cabs (a small Crate and a small Fender amp with a Strat and a Les Paul). When I started, they were a little muddy and needed some definition up high. You’ll notice in the EQ below, I use a hi pass filter below 150 and also a small cut at 215 or so. I also took some out at 1k (to get a slightly more “metal” sound). The boosts happened at around 2.6K (medium Q and about 4 dB) and then a fairly flat shelf above 5K. The compressor in the picture below is actually on the guitar bus, not on the individual track (I only used bus compression). Again, its just a touch with the CT4. Finally, I added a bit of reverb and delay to certain tracks via aux sends (which you can see later on)

Let’s talk vocals (no pun intended). Here they are doubled, but I’ll just show you the main track (basically the same on both). I used a TLM103 to record the lead singer (Jordan Hart’s) voice. Usually that is a fairly warm mic, but I felt that it needed a bit more, so I boosted around 200 (right above a hi pass). Then, just for some presence, I added a shelf above 4k. That was followed by some typical vocal compression (notice the CT4 again, I love that plug-in). Oh yeah… forgot. Before all that, I did have a DeEsser going to cut down on the sibilance. See the pic below for those. The vocals also got some verb and delay via aux sends (pictured a little later on).

Ok, aux sends. I actually just have three going here, since it was such a quick mix. I have a short plate, a fast delay (almost like a doubler), and a longer verb. Here all three are opened up:

Last but not least… I like to mix through a 2bus and then into an audio track. That way, I can record different mixes into playlists, compare, etc. This way, I can also print my master bus effects without having to do a “bounce” per se. Here I am just running some shaping EQ with wide Q’s, some fairly light compression, and a limiter (just stopping it from going over). Plus I have an RNDigital Inspector (which is free to download!) to analyze my output. Usually I would recommend mixing a little “quieter” and not slamming things so hard in the mix. But, since I knew I would be “mastering” it that same day, I wanted to have less work bringing it up then (a speed tactic more than anything else).

And, finally, here is an image of the whole mix. You’ll notice that there aren’t a ton of plug-ins and effects running. I’d love to have more time to really delve into this, but when mixing fast, you need to get things done pronto. Glenn Brown (Lansing, MI) often talked about mixing quickly and “from the heart”. You need to feel the music quickly and make critical mix decisions on the spot. Some really great things can happen. While its often not ideal to mix really fast, its good to have the skill set and to understand some of the aspects (and even benefits) of it.

I welcome any comments/suggestions. Obviously I wouldn’t claim this to be the “end all” mix and/or recording, but it was a really fun and fast project. If anyone has any more specific questions about the techniques or process, please let me know.

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The Studio Files

How can you make your sounds shine on YouTube? Here are some things to check in your mixes to guarantee better youtube results. (And there are videos at the end …)

1. Check your mix in mono. Ever notice videos on YouTube that sound like the guitars have just disappeared? Its probably because of phase issues between the left and right channels. Thus, when summed to mono for YouTube, they cancel out and disappear. A lot of mixing engineers (and especially many “old school” guys) always always check their mixes in mono (or even mix a lot while in mono). Personally, I also think mono is a great tool for mixes. Yes, the argument comes out “Well, who listens in mono anymore….”. Answer: Youtube, some cell phones, other streaming media, etc. Even if you aren’t intending to put the mixes on youtube, I would suggest that you listen to your mixes quietly in mono. That is a great time to set vocal, bass, and drum levels.

2. Don’t slam the mix bus! Distortion is present enough on uncompressed wavs, but slam it to mp3, or youtube streaming audio, and the artifacts get worse and worse (plus the additional problems from the conversion itself). The conversion process will have a hard time chomping on the mix if it is a super compressed “square wave” mix.

3. Really pay attention to your low mids. Clarity is often a problem on YouTube videos. Obviously some of this comes from the conversion itself, but excessive low mid energy will just add fuel to the fire. At the same time, make sure you have carefully mixed the high end of the spectrum. Too much will add more of that unmistakable “internet streaming high-end garbage” (that will inevitably happen n places regardless).

Now I will show you an example here. I’ll be using some live videos of an artist named Chip Christy. (I am actually playing piano on these too). We recorded everything to a laptop with a MOTU 896. Piano is mic’ed in stereo with u87′s, vocals are on an AKG 414, guitar was taken DI as well as an SM81 out front.

First, check out this audio. This is an mp3 bounce of the piano for the beginning of the “Hit the Ground” video. Compare this to how the piano sounds in the embedded video below. It is much different, but it definitely doesn’t sound bad on YouTube.

Hit the Ground piano intro (mp3)

When I mixed these songs down, I mixed mostly in mono at low volume, since I knew these were being done specifically for YouTube. If you are mixing a band’s studio CD, you may even consider doing two different mixes if they will be making youtube videos.

Chip Christy – Hit the Ground (Live Acoustic) <- this one has the piano audio I referenced above

::This is basically the end of the article, but to thank Chip for letting us use him as an example, here is another video and a link to his myspace if you are interested::

This is Chip’s cover of Tupac’s “Thugz Mansion”

Chip’s Myspace Page

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The Studio Files