Underground Recording

Tutorial: How To Program MIDI Drums

2014-01-22T12:38:00.001-08:00

I know it has been a while since the last time I wrote my last post, but college has been keeping me very busy. I hope I will be able to spend more time around here and doing some more mixes this year. To begin with, here is an nice introduction/tutorial type of video I found on Youtube about programming MIDI drums.

Torque - Enhance Our Burial

2013-03-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

So I just realized I completely forgot to post this in here. Last year my band Torque released their first single; "Enhance Our Burial." Here is a link from Youtube where you can listen to it. Read the description so you can download it form free from Bandcamp or SoundCloud, and also get the raw audio files in case you would like to mix it yourself (Dropbox).

To release this single was a challenge for us, and it probably took us more than it should. But there it is, and we are very proud of it! Our plans now are to promote it, so we can get to gig more often, and hopefully do some touring around Central America sometime soon.

Feared Mixing Competition 2013

2013-01-08T22:02:00.001-08:00

I think this is probably the best way to start off 2013. The song is just amazing, it already sounds huge. I'm planning on submitting my entry sometime later too. Go to Youtube if you want to know more about the competition.

From the description:

"Mix the Feared song Possessed and have a chance to win awesome prizes from Randall Amplifiers, Seymour Duncan, Rocktron, Dean Markley, Warwick, Zildjian, DDrum, Presonus, Toontrack, Systematic Audio etc.

The competition is open worldwide!

Instructions:

1. To download the tracks go to this page and fill out the form:

http://www.fearedband.com/competition

2. Mix or remix the song in any way you want.

3. Post the song on Youtube OR Soundcloud and make sure to tag it with

#fearedmixingcomp before February 5th 2013.

4. A jury will determine and announce three winners by the 10th of February 2013. The first prize winner get to choose 4 products out of the 12 prizes in the video. The second place gets to pick 4 of the remainder products and the third place gets the remaining 4 products [...]"

The Systematic Mixing Guide

2012-12-14T01:15:00.000-08:00

The Systematic Mixing Guide is written by Ermin Hamidovic (aka "Ermz"), an Audio Engineer and Producer who runs Systematic Productions.

From the website: "The Systematic Mixing guide is the e-Book to kick start your journey toward absolute mix professionalism within the pop, rock & metal genres. Practical and direct information, conveying professional techniques, is guaranteed to give you the sort of mixing insight that would traditionaly take years to develop as a studio intern. These are the same techniques that have taken the author from being an industry newcomer, to one of the most highly sought after independent mix engineers in the country & abroad."

I have found this guide to be very helpful, it is an easy to read, simple, and detailed enough explanation of the mixing process which will present a bunch of tips and advice to improve your mixes. What I like the most is its focus on the genres I usually work with, and also the section about mixing bass. This section was definitely an "eye opener" for me. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a practical and objective way to learn more about mixing overall.

Miking a Cab for Metal - The Ola Way.

2012-05-30T12:16:00.001-07:00

Here's is a quick video tutorial about miking a cab (for metal music). I found it very helpful, specially for people who are just starting to mic a cab. Ola Enlgund explains some of the most common techniques used to mic a cab, and the different type of sounds you will get.

Subscribe to Ola Englund's Youtube channel: Ola Englund - The Official Channel.

Overloud Mark Studio 2 Review.

2012-05-29T07:27:00.002-07:00

Here's a good review I found on youtube about this excellent product for anyone who's looking for a good bass amp sim. This guy has a lot of good reviews and tips about recording on his channel, make sure you subscribe to him: Subscribe!

Key Features:

Six top-class Markbass amp models: TA501, R500, Classic 300,TTE500, Little Mark Tube and MoMark
Nine Markbass cabinets: STD 151HR (rear-ported 1x15"), STD 152HR (rear-ported 2x15"), STD 104HR (rear-ported 1x15"), STD 104HF (front-ported 4x10"), STD 106HF (front-ported 6x10"),Classic 108 (sealed 8x10"), Traveler 121H (front-ported 1x12"),New York 804 (front-ported 4x") and New York 122 (front-ported 2x12")
Full pedalboard including: octave, envelope filter, bass chorus, distortion and compressor
Choice of 6 microphones, plus a preset combination of 2 front microphones
Faithful reproduction of every characteristic and nuance of Markbass amps and cabinets
Ultra-flexible signal path makes it easy to balance the Direct (plugin) input, Line Out (amp direct Out) and Mic Output levels

Read more here: Overloud - The Official Site.

David Maxim Micic (Bilo 2.0)!

2012-05-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, if anyone of you is interested on listening to some amazing progressive music, please go ahead and check out this band. For more details, read the description of the video on Youtube.

David Maxim Micic is a guitar/keyboard player, composer and producer from Belgrade, Serbia, and a student at Berklee College of Music. By the age of 20, he had composed, recorded and produced over 8 hours of original music, written music for commercials, movies and TV series, and produced and arranged for many great musicians, mostly from Eastern Europe. He has had the privilege to study guitar with many great teachers, including Danilo Karamarkovic, Petar Jelic, Bata Kostic, Nenad Gajin Coca, Joe Musella, Thaddeus Hogarth and David Fiuczynski.

Taken from his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/davidmaximmicicmusic

Compression!

2012-05-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

What is a compressor?

In very simple terms, a compressor is a device that can automatically control the level of an audio signal.

Types of Compressor:
There are many types of compressor, each one uses different internal components to achieve the desired compression. This leads to each compressor imparting its own unique sound on the effected material. Tube and valve compressors are certainly top of the drool factor, with their ability to add 'warmth' to a signal. Most budget compressors use solid state components, Joe Meek tend to use Photo-optical components that again, impart their own sound. Many modern compressors use a combination of technologies (such as the Behringer Tube Composer), and of course there are the software compressors designed to emulate all the aforementioned. What type you use depends on the type of music you make, the way you like to work, and your budget. Always remember that basically, a £100 Joe Meek is doing the same job as a £3000 Uriel - controlling the signal level - but each one will approach the task slightly differently and 'colour' the sound in its own unique way.

Compressor Controls:

Compressors come with a variety of controls, but these are the most important.

Threshold – This sets the threshold level, measured in dB (decibels). When a signal exceeds this level, compression will be applied.

Ratio – This is the amount that the signal is reduced by the compressor. A compression ratio of 5:1 means that if the signal exceeds the threshold level by 5dB, the output signal only exceeds the threshold by 1dB. As you can see, the higher the ratio, the nearer the output level will be to the threshold level. When this happens (at ratios of around 20:1), we refer to it as limiting.

Attack – This is how long it takes for the compressor to act after a signal has exceeded the threshold level.

Release – This is how long it takes for the compressor to stop acting after the input signal has fallen back below the threshold level.

Output – After reducing the overall level of a signal, the output gain can be increased to bring the whole signal back to it’s peak level.

Hard knee/soft knee - While attack decides how fast a compressor acts, the compressors hard/soft knee characteristics decide how gradually the full amount of compression is applied. Hard knee compression applies full compression as soon as the attack allows, as shown below.

Soft knee compression actually occurs as the signal reaches the threshold, and is much more gradual than hard knee, as shown below. Soft knee is a much smoother, less noticeable compression over hard knee.

All this information was taken from: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/recording-studio/221-know-lots-about-compression.html

Here you can download a compressor (The Rocket) from Stillwell Audio. The Stillwell plugs are available for unlimited free trial, though you should buy them if you like them:
http://www.stillwellaudio.com/?page_id=68

Tutorial: Superior Drummer 2.0 (For Guitarists) by fluff191!

2012-05-26T11:47:00.002-07:00

Hey guys, I just found another good channel on youtube about home recording. This guys has uploaded some good tutorials on how to record @home, and he has also uplaoded some original instrumentals on his channel.
Here is a video tutorial about Superior Drummer for guitarrists!

Subscribe to his channel!

Awesome Youtube Channel

2011-12-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, I know I haven't write in a while, but I have been really busy. Not too long ago I found this channel in youtube, and let me tell you, there's plenty of amazing and very important information about recording that you should know! Subscribe to this guy's channel and learn some new stuff :).

Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ahjteam?feature=g-u

Nice mixing video:

Miking Example

2011-08-31T19:42:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I just found a good video tutorial on miking! He is using a shure sm57 for this video. Enjoy!

Visit his channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/fearcomplexmusic

Metal at Home on Youtube

2011-08-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of ways to learn how to record music on the internet. I would say one of the best ones is youtube. There is a lot of people that with a very low budget have achieved an amazing brutal tone!
Here I going to give you the link for just one of my favorites; "Ola Englund", and his youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/fearedse
He also has uploaded some tutorials on how to record @home, so you better watch them!
I am also attaching a video from his channel (one of my favorites):

Enjoy!

Reference Monitors

2011-08-17T21:13:00.000-07:00

If there is something you will need to buy in order to have a good home studio is your reference monitors. You will need to spend a reasonable amount of money (not $500) since a good set of monitors will let you hear what you record with precise and accurate detail. You also will need to take into consideration what you want to record. For instance, if you only want to record yourself playing and singing songs, probably a medium-size set of desktop monitor will be good for you, but if you are more into hip-hop, you will definitely need a sub woofer. Now let me give you some products that I think will fit into the @home music creation section.

Alesis M1 Active 320 USB (USD 99.00)

KRK Rokit Powered (5 generation) (USD 149.50)

This is the right way to place your reference monitors

M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 (USD 179.00)

Welcome!

2011-08-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

Let me first of all introduce myself. My name is Diego Castillo and I'm from Panama. I really enjoy listening to any type of music, and since a year or maybe less, I have came up with this passion of home recording. Because of that I have decided to create this blog, where I am going to post anything new that I learn (which will be a lot), and any news that we as beginners should now about recording.

This is the last video I have recorded, which hopefully will give you an idea of the audio that so far I'm getting from my home studio: