Ramblings on Recording

New Concept Video for Circadian Rhythm

2011-12-01T09:37:00.001+02:00

Our friends at Longshot Productions in Canada have created this fantastic concept video for our track Circadian Rhythm.

Integrating Analog Tape in Digital Recording

2011-11-26T11:31:00.001+02:00

On our latest two singles by State Cows - Hard Goodbye and Center of the Sun - as well as the single by Dynamo Bliss - Circadian Rhythm - I used a tape recorder in the mixing process.

The theory was that by utilizing the characteristics of tape, the digital tracks would "warm up" and become less sterile.

Method

After recording all tracks digitally I sent each one of them to tape and then back into the DAW. What simplified this process was that the tape recorder had three heads and was able to monitor the signal off the playback head while recording. Also, this meant that all tracks would line up with the same time delay back in the DAW. I've tried a similar project with a two-head recorder but it was tedious since the recorder would drift and tracks would line up at the beginning of the song but would deviate towards the end of the song.

Findings

I appreciated being able to drive different tracks at different levels to tape. Some tracks benefited from being run hot while others would require more modest levels. Overall, the tracks came out sounding subjectively quite a bit better. The compression of lightly overdriven tape made most tracks sound more consistent without sounding compressed or congested (as some plugin compressors tend to do). The analog tracks came out sounding more 'energetic' than the original digital tracks. I also felt that the tracks would fall easier into place while mixing.

I noticed a tendency for the analog tracks to sound slightly more 'veiled' than their digital counterparts. I suspect, though, that this may be related more to passing the same signal several times through a prosumer analog-to-digital converter than to the tape medium.

Recording Drums With Only One Microphone

2011-11-04T12:09:00.001+02:00

Our latest two State Cows singles were recorded with only one microphone for the whole drum kit. The motivation behind this minimalist approach was mainly educational. We wanted to see if it was possible to achieve a great quality, clear, phase-coherent and punchy drum recording with only one microphone. We were also very short on time and wanted to spend as much effort as possible getting a good take rather than setting up mikes. So, was it possible to get a good sound this way? Yes and no.

We started out with a ribbon mic (which is figure-eight by design) trying to find a sweet spot, that is the placement where the balance between different drums as well as the individual drum sounds are optimal. The sweet spot will vary with rooms, microphones, drums and drummers. In our case the sweet spot turned out to be just beside the drummer above the floor tom with a slight angle towards the kick drum.

Needless to say, any position you find will be a compromise. Using only one mic, it's virtually impossible to optimize the sound of every drum since their respective projection areas and angles will all be different in relation to the mic. Most important is to get the drum sounds used the MOST (typically kick and snare) right.

A problem for us was the poor acoustics of the recording room. Poor acoustics can usually be somewhat remedied by close-miking but this option was obviously not available. Another trick to remove ambience is to gate the drums but this also turned out to be tricky since kick and snare share the same mic as cymbals. I ended up using a transient designer to remove some sustain and thereby reducing some of the ambience of the room.

The most successful track was Hard Goodbye where the slightly ambient and distant sound benefited the track as a whole.

The other track - Center of the Sun - called for a much drier and snappier sound and the distant sound didn't flatter the drums as much.

Equalizing turned out to be very difficult since all drums shared the same track. For example, I needed to cut some low mid frequencies out of the kick drum but doing so would also cut low mid out of the snare drum which was unnecessary. I had to compromise and cut only some low mid leaving a bit too much low mid on the kick drum and removing a bit too much from the snare drum. The ribbon mic was quite dark and needed a lot of hi boost. There is a limit though as to how much hi boost can be done before starting to sound unnatural. I would've liked to brighten the snare more but it was not possible without ruining the cymbal sounds.

In conclusion, the overall drum sound came out slightly dull (the ribbon mic is dark) and a bit boxy because of poor acoustics but with some punch and quite good balance. In a great acoustic room, this approach could work better. Still I'd probably add at least one additional mic on the kick and use the main mic as overhead thereby being able to have some control over the sound of the kick and the rest of the kit separately.

Say Hello to the State Cows

2010-02-02T10:54:00.000+02:00

Me and my friend Daniel Andersson are in the final stages of recording an album of Westcoast/AOR music. The project has taken the name STATE COWS and has its own website here:

http://statecows.com

If you like slick, AOR, smooth rock, FM rock, westcoast, yacht rock or any of the other labels normally associated with this kind of music, this is for you!

ALBUM RELEASED: Dynamo Bliss - "21st Century Junk"

2010-01-15T11:08:00.000+02:00

Release day is here! Set your browser to: http://dynamobliss.com

Dynamo Bliss - "21st Century Junk" Will Be Released on 15th January 2010

2010-01-05T18:18:00.000+02:00

We've spent the last period of time negotiating contracts with various labels/publishers/distributors. What has become clear is that few companies these days are ready to take risks. A typical arrangement can be a 50/50 split but with the artist paying all the initial costs.

To make a long story short, we finally decided to publish the album ourselves at: http://dynamobliss.com

RELEASE DATE: 15th January 2010

Dynamo Bliss - Emerging Artist of the Week at MuzikReviews.com

2009-12-22T19:22:00.000+02:00

MuzikReviews.com is a cutting edge indie music online magazine offering reviews, features, articles and news. This week our band DYNAMO BLISS is the featured artist:

http://www.muzikreviews.com/dynamobliss.php

A Pitch Based Approach to Analog Sound in a Digital World

2009-12-19T15:41:00.024+02:00

No doubt a lot of effort these days go into making digital records sound more analog. What that really means is not quite defined but it all comes down to, in one way or another, distorting the recorded signal to achieve analog-like qualities. Two common techniques are tape and tube simulation. Generally, an analog tape simulator tries to emulate the sound of analog tape by inducing tape compression, saturation and sometimes the frequency response curves of reel-to-reel recorders and tape formulas. However, there's another artifact that is inherently present in all tape recorders that is usually disregarded - the instability of pitch and phase. This instability comes from the shortcomings of mechanical and electrical components relating to tape transport. Some of these pitch and phase shifts are periodical (e.g. tape head irregularities) and some are random (e.g. motor speed deviations). Many people try to avoid this artifact at all cost but I've found it to be the component that is most distinguishing when comparing analog and digital sound. Philosophically speaking, it might have to do with the concept of variation and making a sound more alive by being ever changing.

There are various ways to achieve this effect in the digital world. Here's a small tutorial using Reaper:

1. Start by opening a new project and adding a wav file.

2. Add an FX to the track ReaPitch but don't make any changes to the parameters. Only change the algorithm to élastique Pro 2 to minimize sound quality loss.

3. Press the Track Evelopes/Automation button

4. Press the Mod button on the row that says 1: Shift (cents). We only want to simulate small fluctuations in pitch.

5. In this dialogue you can add an LFO to modulate FX parameters continuously, in our case the pitch in cents. Make sure the uppermost slide bar is set to the middle. In the LFO panel you can experiment with the various parameters. Different sounds take pitch variations differently. If adding pitch variations to a whole mix rather than individual instruments, very subtle values will most likely work better. If it sounds right, it is right!

Likewise, the same procedure applies to adding a phase shifting LFO. A possible FX to use is JS: Utillity/phase_adjust included in Reaper.

Dynamo Bliss - Crossover Prog Project Website Launched

2009-11-25T15:35:00.004+02:00

It's been a long time coming but now the recording project that goes by the name DYNAMO BLISS is finally finished. Two sites have been set up:

http://www.dynamobliss.com (with music)

https://www.facebook.com/dynamobliss

The style is crossover prog. What is crossover prog? Progarchives has the answer:

http://www.progarchives.com/subgenre.asp?style=3

Also, check out the great artwork by Ditto Prihad below.

Mix Glue and White Noise

2009-10-24T23:06:00.007+03:00

Many times when mixing digital recordings, I find it difficult to make the tracks "sit". Even though the levels are fine the sounds feel disconnected. An often proposed solution is to use a 2-bus compressor but I often find that this changes the overall sound of the mix in unpleasant and unpredictable ways. A recent approach I've been using is to add a tiny amount of white noise. This may sound like degrading the recording but I've found that the noise seems to create a backdrop for the music. More like painting on a canvas instead of on a piece of transparent overhead paper. Paradoxically, the chaos provided by the white noise seems to add stability and connectedness to the music.

It's easy to add white noise in a DAW. Simply use a plugin such as Ferox, put it on an empty track and adjust the amount of noise.

Music video: Daniel Andersson - "Glamorous Hollywood"

2009-05-07T14:05:00.000+03:00

New video for song "Glamorous Hollywood", co-written by yours truly.

The song was originally released in 2008 on Zink Records (http://cdbaby.com/cd/danielandersson).

Creative Constraints

2009-03-31T23:23:00.000+03:00

Sometimes we get stuck in the tracks (no pun intended). One way to get around "producers block" is setting up rules - creative constraints. Although this might seem like a paradox at first, setting up limits may actually push creativity in totally new directions.

Here are a few examples of possible producing boundaries:

Instead of drums, use only percussion.
Try recording harmonies one note at a time like you were using only monophonic instruments.
Record a song completely live, without overdubs.
Limit the amount of microphones used on each instrument. E.g. try getting a good drum sound with only three, two or one mic.
Limit the amount of recording tracks.
Get the sound right at the instrument or amplifier and don't use effects in the mixing stage.
Record a song without conventional instruments. Use only voices or improvised instruments.
Limit the amount of takes per instrument.
Try recording the instruments in a different order than you would usually do.

And for songwriting:

Write a melody based on a specific scale.
Compose a song within a rigid form such as AABA or verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus.
Compose a melody on an instrument you're not familliar with.
Write a song just humming the tune, with no instrumental accompaniment.
Choose a theme for the lyrics before writing the music.
Write towards a specific musical style.

These are just a few examples but I hope they can inspire you to think of other possible creative constraints. Happy writing and recording!

Debut CD "Story Of A Woman" Available Again

2009-02-02T14:59:00.000+02:00

My debut CD "Story Of A Woman" has been reissued at CD Baby after some years of absence:

http://stefanolofsson.com/album/story-of-a-woman

Figure of Eight

2009-01-05T17:25:00.000+02:00

Our recording room has mediocre acoustics and we have limited absorption / bass trapping possibilities so we often resort to close-miking of instruments, typically with unidirectional microphones and sometimes using baffles to isolate instruments from each other.

In many cases though, I've discovered that a figure-eight polar pattern is a very practical option.

NOTE: Unidirectional / cardioid microphones pick up sounds from the front and to a lesser degree at the sides. Bidirectional / figure-eight microphone pick up sounds from the front and the back and virtually eliminate sounds coming in from the sides.

Here are some applications where I've found figure-eights (ribbons in particular) to be useful:

Overheads on drums. They seem to pick up less of the room sound and produce a tight and natural sound. Also, if having other instruments in the room, overheads hanging over the drum kit and pointing downwards will quite effectively isolate the drums from the rest of the instruments.
Bass drum. The sound seems to come out less colored. This is expected since they should pick up less reflections off the floor.
Snare drum when hi-hat leakage is a problem. The mic can easily be pointed towards the snare so that the hi-hat is in the null angle. Vice versa for the hi-hat mic if we're using one.

The Grim Reaper

2008-12-19T18:43:00.000+02:00

We chose to work with a computer based DAW for the current two projects. In the past we've also used digital stand-alone multitracks as well as tape multitracks. The main advantages of using a computer based DAW is the low cost of the media and the simplicity of moving media across platforms.

I've used ProTools, Logic, Cubase, Tracktion, Samplitude and, since a year back, Reaper. They all have their strengths and weaknesses but since I started using Reaper I feel no need to switch back to any of the other. Here are a few reasons why:

It is a very well designed program. The layout is simple and straight-forward but advanced features are available not too many clicks away. The installer is very small and fast and there is no dongle.
It is very robust and has not crashed on me yet (knock on wood).
It has great navigation features (similar to Emagic Logic).
The full commercial license of Reaper is priced along the lines of "home" or "light" versions of many other DAWs.
New features and bugfixes are very frequent (maybe a little too frequent).
There's a big online community with helpful people answering questions.

The drawbacks of Reaper are mainly in the MIDI department where I think both Logic and Cubase still have a distinct advantage.

The program is free to download and try out.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not affiliated with Reaper in any way. I just think it's a great program.