22.02 2012

Record An EP In 2 Days [Part 2]


  

In part 1 of this post we discussed how it’s possible to record a full band production 7 song EP in just two short days. This was predicated on a lot of intentionality and prep, but that goes without saying. I record band’s EPs in this 2 day time frame a lot so today I wanted to give you more of the practical side of how I tend to work and make it happen in such a short time.

Day 1 – Drums, Bass, Core Instruments

Assuming we have our guide tracks in place for each song and the band is ready (see part 1 of this post), I like to start with drums. As the both the foundation of the song instrumentally and the most complex instrument to track well, I prefer to get this out of the way. Here is how a typical Day 1 breaks down…

    • 8:00AM – Setup gear/drums in location. This assumes you are location recording drums, for more space perhaps.
    • 9:00 – Begin mic placement and “get sounds.” This the most crucial point of finding what is the best way to capture this kit in the given environment and with your microphones.
Lesa meira

21.02 2012

Record An EP In 2 Days [Part 1]


  

What did you do this weekend? I just recorded a 7 song EP for an artist and his band. That’s right, 7 complete songs with drums, bass, guitars, keys, vocals, and everything in between. I don’t bring this up to simply talk about myself or brag. Rather I mention it because I want you to know that it is possible to record your next EP in 2 days!

Most home studio owners subscribe to the never ending process of always recording a project. You know those songs that you piece together little by little over the weeks, months, and years? The project takes forever to be recorded, if it is ever finished at all. We all need some pressure or deadlines to help us make things happen and recently I suggested to you singer/songwriters that you could and should write, record, mix, and release a 6 song EP in the next 6 months. But what about you bands who already have some songs written? Could you do it any faster? You sure can.

Lesa meira

20.02 2012

Forget What You Know About Mic Placement


  

There is a problem plaguing many audio engineers around the world, myself included: we think we’ve got mic placement down. Oh, sure you may have recorded a bunch of albums and found some success with your mic technique, but the problem lies in your stubbornness to actually listen to the source instead of relying on past experience.

What Worked Once, May Not Work Again

Everyone I talk to wants a quick fix. “Just tell me where to put the mic to record _____ and I’ll put it there.” I’m sorry to say people, it just doesn’t work that way. Oh sure, there are some ball park ideas that have worked for me in the past, but that’s irrelevant information to you if that is all you go on.

There are simply too many variables in a recording environment (source, room, performer, mic, placement, preamp, etc) too easily replicate a sound over and over again. You have to start from scratch each time.

Lesa meira

19.02 2012

Pro Tools 9 The Mixer’s Toolkit Giveaway


  

Want some killer Pro Tools mixing training for free?! Today is your day. One of my new good friends, Kevin Ward ofMixCoach.com helped co-write a brand new mixing book for Pro Tools users, Pro Tools 9: The Mixer’s Toolkit. I’ve read it about three times completely through now and it’s awesome.

The Mixing Book I Wish I Had

There are so many books out there on mixing, but most of them are either boring or theoretical. Kevin’s book is neither. It is a fast, funny, and relevant read. In The Mixer’s Toolkit, you’ll learn how to edit and tighten up drums, bass, and guitars using all of Pro Tools’ handy features like Beat Detective and Elastic Audio. You’ll discover to how to quickly create depth and clarity in your mixes with EQ (the built in free plugins) as well as how to get punchy radio ready mixes with compression. The book even takes you through some basic pre-mastering so you can get your tracks out in the real world.

It truly is the book I wish I had read when I started this whole mixing thing. You follow an actual mixing session (session file download is included) so you can follow along yourself! It honestly can’t get much easier than this people! I even learned some killer tips and tricks I had never known!

Lesa meira

18.02 2012

Why Your Drums Sound Weak In The Mix


  

Have you ever been mixing drum tracks in a session thinking they are sounding so huge and raucous, only to find once you bring in the other instruments in the mix that they disappear and sound weak as a baby? Yeah, I thought so. I used to get so frustrated with this phenomenon. Thinking for a moment that I finally had a killer drum sound only to have my dreams dashed when I un soloed them. The solution, my friends, might be simpler than you think.

What You Don’t Hear Will Kill You

There is a reason why EQ plugins (and outboard boxes) exist. Not every instrument needs every bit of frequency information to be as prominent as the next. In a very specific way, all of  your guitars, keyboards, and even vocals are pumping out sound at certain frequencies in the low mid range that are dominating your mix, even though you don’t hear it.

Your guitar may sound perfectly fine by itself, and it likely is. But that’s not the goal of a mix (to have a great guitar sound by itself). The chief aim of a mixer is to get all the tracks to sound huge and exciting (and clear) when played together. So how is this relavant to your weak drum sound? This un heard, extra low mid build up in your tracks is actually what is covering up your drums and sucking them dry.

Lesa meira

17.02 2012

3 Mixing Hacks


  

If you’ve tried your hand at mixing, then you’re aware that it is a complex process. It’s never really one or two tricks that make a mix standout, rather it’s hundreds of small decisions that snowball into a great (or bad) mix. Today, however, I want to give you three mixing “hacks” that are sure to almost force you into delivering better mixes!

Mix At Low Volumes

That’s right, you need to turn down your monitors while you mix. Anything can sound big and exciting at a loud volume, but a good mix is one that holds together even at low volumes. In fact, by simply mixing a low volume you force mixing decisions that make things pop at that volume, which will give you a better mix overall.

Chris Lord-Alge is famous for mentioning this many times in interviews. He mixes at a volume low enough to have a normal conversation with someone in the room (and even low enough to hear his assistant typing on the keyboard!). If you can get the drums and guitars to sound slamming at such a low volume, you are guaranteed to have a rocking track at louder listening levels. Simple!

Lesa meira

16.02 2012

The Case For Fewer Plugins


 

I have a theory: one huge reason so many home and project studio mixes sound amateur is because the mixers are using too many plugins. Sound like a bizarre correlation? Well if you’ve read my free eBookthen you may have a hint as to why I believe this is the case.

Time Wasted Chasing Tails

Many young mixers have grown up using a DAW (digital audio workstation). They have access to all the bundled plugins, plus have been told by the many magazines and web forums available that they “need” some “better” third party plugins if they really want great mixes. So the average mixer buys a bundle of two from some respecatable companies and then they try to get to work; shiny new plugins in hand.

The problem arises when it comes to do things like EQ or compress. Which EQ plugin should you use? The few that are bundled? The third party ones? The same goes with compressors. Which one is best for which type of track? These questions are really as pointless to the average user as a hamster running in a wheel. You’re asking the wrong questions. You should instead be focused on learning how to use these tools to mix, not which one to mix with.

Lesa meira

16.02 2012

Randy Staub Recording Evanenscence


  The multitracks for Evanescence’s third album were so big that they required two maxed-out Pro Tools rigs to play back!
Paul Tingen
The way the music business works,” says Randy Staub, “is that you get pigeonholed as an artist, a writer, a producer, an engineer and as a mixer. If you’ve had some success with heavy rock, like I had, people will naturally think that that’s all you do. I do like rock music, but I don’t like music because of its genre. I like it because it’s good. It can be extremely heavy, or it can be Hank Williams, or 50 Cent. I love all kinds of music, but sometimes, when I’m 13 tracks into mixing a heavy rock album, I find myself wishing that I was mixing a girl singer with an acoustic guitar!”
While Randy Staub’s sentiment is understandable, it’s also understandable that he’s regarded as a living legend in the world of rock, having worked with Mötley Crüe, Nickelback, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Iggy Pop, Alice In Chains, Bryan Adams, Hinder, Lostprophets, Evanescence and many more.
Lesa meira

15.02 2012

Getting Too Technical With Recording


  

There is a looming problem in the recording world: people are over complicating the recording process and getting too technical. Yes, there are so many intricacies and details to learn and you never feel like you’ve “arrived”, but at the end of the day I personally believe too many of us are focusing on the absolute wrong things when it comes to capturing great sounding tracks.

As Joe Gilder and I are gearing up for the Simply Recording Academy (our first ever 2 day workshop) in late September, I am getting totally amped to sit down in person with a handful of you guys to teach you the simplicity and the art of recording a live band in the home studio. Part of the philosophy of the workshop is to focus on what matters and forget the rest. Let me give you a few examples…

 
Lesa meira

15.02 2012

Mandy Parnell Mastering Björk’s Biophilia


  The mastering engineer’s role is changing as artists explore new formats. And as Björk and Mandy Parnell discovered, what works for the iPad might not work on CD...
Sam Inglis
Mandy Parnell.
Mastering is supposed to be the simple part of making records, right? You bring your stereo mixes along to someone with a fresh pair of ears, a nice monitoring system and a bunch of gold discs on the wall. He or she checks that there’s nothing wrong with your files, runs them through some specialist equipment you can’t afford in order to make them sound ‘finished’ and then generates production masters. Simple.
Simple, that is, unless you’re Björk, and your latest album is Biophilia, the ‘world’s first app album’, released in conjunction with Apple. All of Biophilia’s 10 tracks are being issued as apps for iOS devices in collaboration with Scott Snibbe, an interactive artist who combines his visuals with images from National Geographic and narration by David Attenborough. They explore a variety of music- and science‑based themes, forming a multimedia collection “encompassing music, apps, Internet, installations and live shows”.
Lesa meira

14.02 2012

Getting Too Mechanical With Editing


 

Glamorous or not, editing audio is a crucial part of the recording and mixing process. Beginning long before computers were around, the art of dicing and splicing wave forms together has grown into the beast that modern DAWs allow it to be.

In fact, with so much of the power of non linear (i.e. non-committal) editing being thrown around, many of us engineers are becoming too mechanical in the process. Part of what we’re going to cover at myupcoming workshop in Nashville next month is how to edit simply, musically, and quickly. You want to do the same!

Too Much Of A Good Thing Can Be Bad

By way of preface, I believe whole heartedly that a good mix stands on the shoulders of a great edit. I have a whole video product dedicated to proper editing and I edit audio all the time. In fact, many of the mixes I have critiqued from readers like you over the past couple of years have lacked in the area of editing. Whether it’s timing issues or mouth noises in between phrases, I hear lots of distractions and it takes away from the polish and the energy of the song. 
Lesa meira

14.02 2012

Jake Gosling


  Ed Sheeran’s phenomenal success depended on hard work, a few lucky breaks, and the talents of long‑term co‑writer and producer Jake Gosling.
Tom Doyle
Photos: Carey Sheffield
Few artists in recent times have experienced the kind of vertigo‑inducing rise that Ed Sheeran has enjoyed. When, in September 2011, his debut album, the symbolically titled , entered the album chart at number one, enjoying first week sales of over 100,000 before quickly going platinum, it seemed as if the 20‑year‑old singer‑songwriter had appeared from nowhere.
But Sheeran’s back story is actually one of an impressive level of dedication and dogged determination. As a teenager, inspired by Irish singer Damien Rice, he picked up a guitar and began writing songs while still at school in Framlingham, in Suffolk. As soon as he left, he hit the road, appearing at open mic nights around the country and hawking CDs out of his rucksack. In 2009 alone, as the legend now goes, he performed a staggering 312 gigs.
En route, he showed real bravery in stepping on a plane to Los Angeles at the age of 19, to perform solo in low‑life bars, before by chance encountering his sometime mentor, actor/musician Jamie Foxx, who took him in and recorded him at his home studio, with Sheeran kipping on the Hollywood star’s sofa.
However, none of the recordings Sheeran made with Foxx were to make their way onto . Instead, the album’s sessions were rooted in Sheeran’s relatively long‑term relationship with producer and co‑writer Jake Gosling, who runs his own Sticky Studios from a converted barn situated in an apple orchard in the small Surrey village of Windlesham. “It’s a great location,” Gosling enthuses. “It has a real country vibe. People love coming here, ‘cause it’s cut off and you’re not interrupted by anything, so it’s great for writing and all the rest of it.”
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