It’s ALL in the MIX
Posted by admin on December 28, 2008 under Gear, Software, Sonar, Technique, Tips, Video, Vocals | 
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A V-Vocal intensive covering everything from basic pitch, timing, and dynamic changes, to advanced techniques: robot voices, “cher”-effect, LFOs, vibrato, and more. From the 2006 AES show, hosted by Michael Prager.
V-Vocal is unique to Sonar, and a powerful tool for getting the vocals sounding perfect.
Posted by admin on under Tips, Tracking | Be the First to Comment
Recording: Recording Tip: Successfully Dealing With A Dead Room - Pro Sound Web.Great article from Pro Sound Web on dealing with a dead tracking room to still achieve decent results.
Getting the sound recorded right really does help the mix go better. You can’t always plan to “fix it in the mix!”
Posted by admin on under Gear, ProTools, Software, Video | Be the First to Comment
Other software has had elegant comping solutions for awhile now, ProTools, the *industry standard* decided maybe they should as well. New to ProTools 8.0, Scott Church put together a video highlighting some of the new comping features.
Pro Tools 8.x: Sneak Peek at Cutting Edge (Track Comping) on Vimeo on Vimeo
via Pro Tools 8.x: Sneak Peek at Cutting Edge (Track Comping) on Vimeo.
Scott has many ProTools Tutorial Videos HERE
Posted by admin on under Mixing, Software, Technique, Tips, UAD2, Video | Be the First to Comment
Watch Matt Boudreau of Broken Records Studios mix a band with the UAD-2 and Cubase.
Posted by admin on under Compression, Instruments, Tips | Be the First to Comment
Here is a good discussion on Gearslutz as to compressing a vocal in a mix.
Posted by admin on under Gear, Instruments | Be the First to Comment
YouTube - Universal Audio IBP.
This tool can be especially effective for problematic drums.
Posted by admin on under Instruments, Tips | Be the First to Comment
There are a lot of things involved in recording great Background vocals, but the biggest secret is… They take a lot of time, so be patient.
If you want a really tight BG vocal arrangement with several parts it can take anywhere from 2 1/2-6 hours depending on the experience of the singers and the skill of the vocal arranger.
First off, if you haven’t worked with BG vox before, get a vocal arranger. It may be one of the singers you are using, it might not, but you need someone who hears and understands not only harmonies, but how bacground vocal arrangements usually fit in with the type of song you are recording. I was a vocal arranger for years before I became an engineer, and I assure you, different styles require different treatments.
Also… you don’t need the world’s best singers to get a great BG arrangement! Depending on the style, they should be pretty much on pitch… but often a great tone isn’t needed. Obviously this is different if you’re talking about one harmony line (think Indigo girls).. but for full, multi-part arrangements… not a neccessity. (Though the session WILL go faster with better singers.)
These next comments work whether your working with one singer doing all the backgrounds (Maybe the lead singer) or a small group of 2-4 people.
Layer and double! Do at LEAST 2 tracks of each vocal part (each person). If your group is all good on pitch, you can have them all record at once on the mic for some great energy! For R&B and pop, doing 4-8 tracks of each part is NOT overkill and gives that of so smooth sound.
The more tracks you are doing, the more rhythmically precise each line should be. Remember, this isn’t the lead vocal, you aren’t looking for each line to sound good on it’s own. The more tracks, the more staccatto the vocals should be sung… if not, after all your layers are together, it will sound like mush. Trust me, even with very staccatto vocals, after they are all layered, they will start to sound smooth AND crisp.
When mixing, roll out the bottom end with EQ. You don’t want them muddying up the track. Boost the highs as well. Try panning each line hard left and right to get them out of the way of the lead vocals and other instruments. If you did each part in pairs, it will still be balanced and sound nice and big.
Finally, compress the hell out of them. BG vocals really need to sit in a constant place in the mix. You can (and should) save processing power by running the compressor on a bus you have all the vocal lines going to.
This really just touches the surface on getting great background vocals, but I hope it gives you someplace to start! For some genres, the song really can live or die depending on how the BG vocals sound!
Posted by admin on under Instruments, Tips | Be the First to Comment
Do you need to have a rock guitar that shakes the house, but every time you get near that bone crunching volume… the vocals (and everything else) just seem to disappear?
The solution is simple.
First, double those guitars up. I don’t mean copy a track, I mean use two separate takes and pan them far left and right. Right away this clears up the center for the voice, and in addition to being able to turn up the guitars, they start sounding A LOT bigger.
Next run the two channels through a bus and put some heavy compression on with a middling attack to still let the punnchiness come through.
Now, use EQ. Use a high pass to roll off the lows somewhere below 80-200Hz. (Trust me, you don’t need those lows). Also dip the mids between 400-1000Hz, give a boost somewhere between 2-3kHz to bring out the crispiness, and dip again around 4-5kHz to make room for vocal diction. Then give a nice overall 3-6db boost from 8kHz up.
Of course this varies depending on the type of sound you want, but not as much as you might think. This model is pretty close for heavy, distorted guitars, as well as big, thick, full acoustic guitars… it’s a close starting point, you should be able to tweak and find a satisfying sound.
Posted by admin on under Compression, Tips | Be the First to Comment
Compression is used on pretty much every song ever used, but it you’re new to the game, maybe you don’t know where to use it, or are using it too much.
First, what is it? Compression reduces dynamic range. It compresses the loudest portions of a signal. This allows you to either turn everything up, or keep a signal more even so it can be placed in the mix better.
Many people advise using compression subtly, but let me be clear, not every compressor sounds the same, and there ARE better compressors than others out there. I personally love the UA 1176 from Universal Audio’s Powered Plug-in series.
The controls are simple and you can do some pretty extreme compression while still keeping the impression of dynamic range.
Whatever you use, there are a couple basic principles to keep in mind.
Threshold: This is the db level where the compression starts
Gain Reduction: This is usually expressed as a ratio. For instance 2:1 would mean that if your signal was -3db and your threshold is -43db, you would have 20db of compression.
Attack: Usually in ms. Keep low if you want to catch quick transients, raise it up if you want the crispness of the attack to come through and tame the tails.
Release: How long after the signal falls below the threshold until the compressor stops working. Adjusting this can help if you experience “pumping”… where the audio volume seems to pulse with the beat.
While compression is one of the most basic audio processes, it can take a long time to fully hear and understand the best ways to use it in a mix. Take the time to experiment, and listen to the differences in different processors.
If you’re looking to find out more, there is a great article on this topic at Tweakheadz.com
Posted by admin on under Business | Be the First to Comment
I always hear singers and performers say “I need my own sound” or “I need to find the right image“. And while those are both important comodoties in the business, I have decided it boils down to something else… IDENTITY.
An identity is more that sound or image… It boils down to… if someone sits and listens to you album, do they come away knowing (or thinking they know) who YOU are? A song is fleeting and fun. We can love a song without ever giving a rat’s crap who the artist is, but when you make us feel like we KNOW you… that is when a real fan is born.
It may sound simple, but it is tough. It’s hard to look at yourself and boil yourself down to a couple of things to make who you are clear to people. Of course we are ALL complex… but think of it like going to a party to meet friends… what side of yourself do you show? Read more of this article »
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