Audiotuts+

Sound Design: Using Vocal Parts as Instruments

Mo Volans — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:52:07 GMT

Looking for an epic lead instrument sound that’s a bit different? Consider converting your lead vocal. In this sound design and mixing tutorial, Mo Volans shows you how he used a vocal part as a lead instrument in one of his recent projects. Even if you work with a different DAW or style of music, you’ll find this screencast useful.

Create Big Cinematic Percussion with Drums of War 2

David Bode — Mon, 20 May 2013 07:18:42 GMT

In this tutorial we will explore Drums of War 2! We will demo the sounds and patches, as well and take a look at how the plugin is set up. We will check out two short examples of this plugin in use on some short cinematic tracks.

Workshop #277: Omacrie by Bad Maxton

Adrian Try — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:00:28 GMT

This track has been submitted for your friendly, constructive criticism. What useful feedback can you give the artist? The floor is yours to talk about the track and how they can fix problems in and improve upon the mix and the song.

Description of the track:

Being swamped with work for far too long, we started jamming one night with some music apps on an iPad Mini. Orphion with JamUp Pro XT literally knocked us off our socks with this amazing screaming guitar sound, around which we built Omacrie.
The full app line-up:
Orphion + JamUp Pro XT for the lead guitar
Magellan + JamUp Pro XT for the 2nd guitar
DM-1 + EchoPad for the drums
Audiobus strung all the apps together, with Multitrack DAW in the output slot. Enjoy!

Artist’s website: soundcloud.com/bad-maxton

Have a listen to the track and offer your constructive criticism for this Workshop in the comments section. Feel free to offer any type of advice – arrangement, mix, lyrics, performance. And remember to play nice – be constructive!

Need constructive criticism on your own tracks? Submit them for a workshop using this form. Most but not all submissions are published. There may be a wait of up to two months.

Symmetrical Scales Part 2 – Diminished

Lenny Pietrolata — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:08:21 GMT

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Symmetrical Scales

Here’s the second chapter of the symmetrical scales saga, covering the diminished sound. I like to refer to it as “sound” instead of scale, since today we’re going to get really physical with two types of diminished: the diminished scale, and the dominant diminished scale.

1. Theory

Diminished Scale

Let’s start with the diminished scale. This scale is also known as the diminished whole-half scale since it’s made alternating whole step and half step. I personally prefer a different way to build and think about this scale that, in my opinion, is going to help you big time when improvising.

The first thing I think about when I hear the word “diminished” is a diminished 7th chord/arpeggio. Why? Well, because every scale has to relate to a chord and in this case, a diminished 7th chord perfectly fits the diminished scale.

This chord has four notes in it:

1
b3
b5 (part of a diminished triad also) and
bb7 (basically a Maj6 soundwise, but keep in mind that in terms of intervals it’s some kind of 7).

So, I’ll put my guide tones on the staff.

The second thing I want to remember while I’m building this scale is the “leading tone”. So I’ll put a note—half step down from the root of my scale—on the staff.

The last thing I need to remember is that every missing note is a whole step above the root, the b3 and the b5.

This might seem a bit difficult to remember, but it’s going to set your mind to properly think about this scale: a diminished 7th arpeggio with a leading tone to its octave, and notes a whole step above the 1, b3 and b5.

Dominant Diminished Scale

Let’s now talk about the dominant diminished scale, which is also known as the diminished half-whole scale since it alternates between half steps and whole steps. As before, I’ll guide you through a way to build this scale where you understand it and target your note choices in a better way.

The first word you read in the name of this scale is “dominant”. That has to remind you of something. The notes that create a dominant chord or arpeggio are: 1 3 5 b7. Let’s put them on the staff.

The second thing you need to remember in order to build this scale, is that the missing notes are all a half step below our guide tones, with the only exception being the root. So basically, we’re going to have a note half a step above the root.

As you can notice, both of these scales have eight notes in them. That’s really unusual if you have only dealt with major scales. Both diminished scales have a repeating pattern: half step – whole step and whole step – half step. They are symmetrical.

2. Diminished Seventh Chords

Dealing with diminished scales naturally leads to diminished chords. As I mentioned in the previous section, every scale has to relate to a chord, so I just want to give you a brief explanation of how and when you can use a diminished chord, and its relation to the diminished scales we talked about.

First, a diminished chord is built by stacking notes a minor third apart. For this reason every note in the chord can be the root of the chord. In fact, if you move this chord up or down in minor thirds, you’re still going to have the same notes, just in a different order.

There are two ways a diminished chords can appear in a song: as a passing chord, or as a substitution for a Dom7(b9) chord. A passing chord will take advantage of the unstable sound of a diminished chord to connect two, or more, diatonic chords a whole step apart.

So for instance, the following progression in the key of G:

You could connect the first three chords with a diminished one:

The second usage of this chord is a little more theory-oriented. For example, let’s take a look at a G7(b9) and the notes in this chord.

You can always substitute this kind of chord with a diminished 7th chord, starting from the 3rd, 5th, 7th or the b9th of the chord. In fact, let’s look at the notes in Ab°7.

Notice you still have the same notes, with the exception of the root. (Cb is enharmonically a B.)

In the diagrams below I graphed out three common voicings for the diminished seven chord—one with the root on the sixth string, one with the root on the fifth, and one with the root on the fourth string.

3. Fingering

Diminished Scale

Let’s start with some fingering for the diminished scale.

In the diagram below you'll find a pattern for the diminished arpeggio. You can move this entire shape up or down a minor third, and you will still play the right notes. Most of the time you’ll just play some kind of pattern inside this shape, and move it along the neck.

In the next diagram I graphed out the diminished scale in one position. I personally haven’t found myself using that one a lot, but it’s always great having some kind of safe-zone in the neck where you can visualize the entire scale without moving your hand too much.

Dominant Diminished Scale

Let’s move to some fingering for the dominant diminished scale.

I honestly think the following pattern I graphed out for the diminished scale is really useful. It is a “fast-playing” type of fingering, but since you’re not going to play a dominant diminished scale over a chord for five minutes, you'll find it a handy quick lick in many situations.

As I said before, knowing your scale in one position is always a good thing. Here’s the dominant diminished scale in one spot.

4. Licks

Now that you understand what the diminished and a dominant diminished scales are, it’s time to learn some licks. I've included a few for you, but I encourage you to mess around with this scale and come up with some of your own. I also recorded a short audio sample for each lick that you might use as a sound reference.

Lick 1

The first lick descends with an A7 arpeggio, and then it comes back with A dominant diminished scale. I intentionally started with a dominant seven arpeggio to let you notice how to approach this scale: chord tones with added notes in between.

You can use alternate picking the whole lick, or use sweep picking for the descending part using hammer on. I suggest you use this lick with the proper chord, but you can also superimpose it over an altered chord.

In the audio example, I play the lick in eighth notes and then in sixteenth notes.

Lick 2

This second lick uses the diminished scale. I wrote this lick not thinking too much in term of an arpeggio, but trying to jump around intervals, and playing the whole scale shape a little bit more. I personally prefer alternate picking for this scale, and using slides.

In the audio example, I play the lick in eighth notes and sixteenth notes.

Lick 3

Back to the dominant diminished sound, this time you will deal with an eclectic hypnotic lick. I simply repeat the same diminished shape following the symmetry of the dominant diminished scale (half step – whole step).

As you can see, the same sequence is repeated, starting with a half step, then a whole step.

In the audio example, I play the lick in sixteenth notes and then in eighth notes.

Lick 4

Last but not least, we'll play a diminished run through the whole neck. I descend three strings, then come back one string, and then descend another three strings.

In the audio example, I play the lick in eighth notes and sixteenth notes.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this little journey through the diminished sound, and keep messing around with this scale. Don’t look at it as a "super outside" sound—you can mix up those scales with regular minor, major, blues scales.

Hungry for more? Check out the music of Scott Henderson, one of main users of the diminished sound.

Critique: Wolves

Patty Way — Wed, 15 May 2013 07:38:42 GMT

For this month’s critique, I have chosen a very hip song by Daniel Tyson entitled, “Wolves.” After listening to the song five times, I have to admit I find myself wanting to hear it again which is a very good sign indeed! It is entirely contagious and has that indefinable quality that simply grabs your ear in a very refreshing way.

This is a critique of “Wolves”, by Daniel Tyson. You’ll find the original workshop here.

Image: PhotoDune

Lyric

It obviously means something to the composer.

I was thrown off by the title—and still don’t really make the connection—but this is certainly not the first song to leave the listener wondering in that regard. It obviously means something to the composer. The only issue that might occur is one where someone is trying to request or locate the song, and based on the recording alone, would have no earthly guess as to what the title might be!

The lyric has just the right amount of tension and elusiveness, giving the listener a clue as to the nature of the woman in question and her own elusiveness. We sense that there is trouble in the relationship, which is confirmed with the line, “flash of light that blinds my honest side.” The chorus goes on to further explain that the singer found out too late that this woman could not be tamed.

As the song unwinds, the language remains a bit confusing to decipher, but in a good and intriguing way. Regardless of whether or not I knew exactly what the writer meant, I got the gist of the meaning of the lyric and found his use of language to be poetic, dark, and surreal.

Too much clarity would no doubt have detracted from the song’s essence. The emotion that inspired the song was confusing so it makes perfect sense to me that the lyric should portray that.

Image: PhotoDune

I especially like the phrasing change in the B section of the second verse where the stacatto quality of the vocal turns up the attitude and the bitter anger that goes with it. It created a nice break from the deliberate monotony of the chorus.

Melody and Track

It is all so very fresh and creative.

I tend to stay away from track comments and focus more on the song itself because I am by no stretch of the imagination an audiophile! However, the track is such a big part of this song that I at least want to render the reaction of this layman.

The spare guitar intro was awesomely crisp and reminded me of some of John Maher’s folkier meanderings. I am a large fan of the gentleman, so this is a large compliment!

The finger-picking feeling is soon eclipsed by rich layers and the highly effective doubling of vocals. I feel that the first heavy layering of vocals and harmony came in too big too soon, though. The song’s unusually late break threw us another curve, but again, given the nature of the song, I thought it worked really well. It is all so very fresh and creative.

Image: PhotoDune

The fifth scale tone of the minor key is the basic starting point of both the verses and chorus, which I would usually not care for. Once again, I like it in this song. The frequent repetition of this note in the chorus lends a drone-like monotony that is very hypnotic, and dazzles me in the same way that “You Can Do Magic” by the band, America, did so long ago.

There is a lot of melody and phrasing deviation between one verse and the next, which takes away from the song’s memorability, but creates a stream-of-consciousness feeling. Once the chorus rolls around, it is easy to sing along.

It just works. What can I say?

Originality

Who needs a pesky lawsuit?

Overall, this song is unique and fresh. The form, which I did not choose to over-explore, deviates from the norm and surprises the listener a few times.

The one spot I would take another look at is the melody and phrasing at the top of the chorus. No matter how I tried to dismiss it from my mind, I kept feeling a connection to Ricky Martin’s, “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” The two songs have entirely different vibes, but the resemblance dawned on me and no doubt will to someone else.

Just be careful. Who needs a pesky lawsuit?

Commerciality

I can totally see this song having a future. In the genre it most fits in, it would be easier to expose it to the world with a band or solo artist as its vehicle. Shopping the song itself to various artists would be much more difficult, simply because it is the kind of song usually written by its performers.

Image: PhotoDune

I can imagine it having film uses as well. The vagueness of the lyric makes it applicable to a lot of situations and the brooding mood is undeniable. You might try to submit it to one of the music-for-film houses. The track, of course, would need to be mastered and polished as much as possible. This will be the subject of one of my future articles in the not-too-distant future.

This is a rather short critique, but so much is right about this song that I don’t have too many suggestions or criticisms. I wish the writer large success with it and hope to stumble upon it on the airwaves one day.

Good luck, Daniel! What a pleasure it was to listen to “Wolves.” Gotto go! Wanna listen again.

How to Produce Guitars and Bass With Metal in Mind

Björgvin Benediktsson — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:38:28 GMT

When it comes to producing, recording and mixing insanely fast metal music, timing is everything. It sounds like an oxymoron, but metal needs to be clean. Not in tone, but in production.

It needs precision, clarity and tightness in every instrument, so that the aggressiveness and tight rhythm punches through your speakers. If not, you'll hear an indecipherable mess of overly distorted guitars, drunkenly played bass lines, and drums that are completely washed out by the sound of the cymbals.

Let's dive into some easy to use advice on how to create a better metal music production.

1. Get the Timing Tight

Tight on Time

Metal music usually revolves around the powerful riffs of the electric guitars. For incredibly fast riffs you'll need some incredibly good players.

If you have two guitar players their riffs need to align almost exactly. If not, you'll end up with a riff that simply sounds sloppy. There will always be a pseudo chorus effect when you have two different players, especially if you make them double track their parts as well. However, if you don't make sure those guitar riffs line up exactly to the time, you'll lose the power of the mix immediately. Never mind the great vocal performance or the awesome drum sound you got. If the riff sounds sloppy, that's all anybody's going to hear.

Now, the easiest way to do this is to simply get amazing players that can play really tight. The alternative is the painstaking editing process of syncing up all the guitars with everything else. I do not recommend this unless you only have a few spots here and there that you need fixed. Usually, if the guitarist is that good, it'll take less time to move the 2-3 parts around than to re-record the whole performance. If he isn't, send him home until he is.

The same goes for the bass guitar. It has to be locked into the guitar riff as much as possible. Any variation can cause the riff to sound sloppy.

This sort of attention to detail is what differentiates a metal production from a folk or rock song. You can get by with the occasional loose playing when you're strumming an acoustic guitar, or playing some indie guitar riff. But the key to making a metal riff work is a locked in riff from all the instruments.

The Reverse Way of Making Your Low End Tighter

I forget which band did this, but I thought it was an interesting approach to recording both guitars and bass. After this metal band had recorded the drums, they started with the guitars before they recorded bass. They probably had a guide bass to record the drums to, but the reason behind it was that the bass would take up too much space if it were recorded beforehand.

Their philosophy was to create the tightest, thickest guitar sound possible, because their songs mostly revolved around the guitar riffs anyway. So by recording their guitars first they had the opportunity to thicken them up because they wouldn't clutter up the mix when combined with the bass. Then, later on when the guitars were done, the bass player and the producer found a sound that complimented the sound of the preexisting electric guitars that they already recorded.

It seems like a counterintuitive way of recording bass but this sort of fill-in-the-gap bass recording sounded good to them.

2. Get the EQ Tight

EQ Substitution

In the same vein as before, using a bass approach to EQing guitars can also help. Since guitars aren't as bass-heavy as the bass guitar, boosting the lows in the guitars can produce a smoother effect than boosting the bass guitar.

A boost in 100 Hz in the bass guitar might cause undesired boom or mud while boosting the guitars could create a thicker and tighter sound. That way you could actually reduce mud in the bass while increasing tightness and thickness in the overall riff production.

Don't Fear the Filter

On the higher end of things, low-pass filters are your best friends to get rid of the hiss you get from distortion. Slapping a high-cut filter down to 12 kHz or so can clean up the unnecessary noise you get from very distorted or overdriven guitar amps or cheap stomp boxes.

The same goes for high-pass filters. The lowest rumble of the bass guitar (around 40-50 Hz) can easily be cut out without compromising the thickness of the bass.

Additionally, an overabundance of high-mids in the 4 kHz area can also cause a fatiguing guitar tone. Smoothing out your guitar by subtly cutting that area will reduce the harshness of your guitar while still keeping the aggressiveness of the guitar tone. A rounder tone with the same attack.

3. Don't Sacrifice Tightness for Space

Lastly, you might be tempted to use reverb to create a sense of space. While you definitely should use reverb in your mixes, metal music requires particular attention to it.

A little bit too much reverb on the guitars and you'll go back to the sloppy mess of sound that you've worked so hard to stay away from. If anything, short delays to create additional thickness will work better because they not only add a sense of depth to your guitar production but they also add another layer of guitars to your riffs.

As I've said before, attention to detail is crucial and adding too much space to really fast guitar playing will inevitably muddy up your production.

Conclusion: Take the Careful Approach

Producing the rhythm section of metal music comes down to a certain mentality. You can't slack off and make do with things that aren't 100% perfect. A small, uneven section in the rhythm section creates immediate sloppiness for the whole mix, resulting in an amateurish production just because there wasn't enough attention to detail.

Make sure your players are great, make your guitars and bass fit together and don't add too much space and you'll end up with a stellar metal production.

Workshop #276: Gray Sky by Lucas Fowler

Adrian Try — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:00:26 GMT

Description of the track:

Just a song I finally finished. Tell me what you think. It’s more ambient than normal.

Need constructive criticism on your own tracks? Submit them for a workshop using this form. Most but not all submissions are published. There may be a wait of up to two months.

The Ultimate Vocal Recording Tutorial

Barry Gardner — Wed, 08 May 2013 06:08:24 GMT

Recording vocals often fills a beginner with a certain amount of trepidation. If it is your first time, it is a good idea to gather together as much information as possible in order to make the best possible job of it. The good news is that with some careful planning you should be able to make a completely professional sounding vocal recording the first time round. This tutorial is going to help you achieve that goal.

This tutorial is written by Barry Gardner, mastering engineer at SafeandSound music mastering services.

Choosing Microphones and Accessories

Microphones

Fundamental to good vocal recordings are high quality microphones. Please leave the $15.00 plastic bodied microphones at the door when you come into the studio, and at the very least ensure you have a microphone suitable for project level studio work.

I suggest a good quality large diaphragm condenser mic or a high quality dynamic microphone. A condenser mic is sensitive, detailed, and often has a hi fi sound. You will require 48 volt phantom power on your microphone preamp in order to power the microphone. A condenser microphone will not work without this very specific powering method, so ensure your mixer or mic preamplifier can supply 48 volt phantom power.

Studio condenser microphone in shockmount. Photo: PhotoDune.

Dynamic microphones are more robust and less sensitive, but offer a more rounded sound with less emphasis in the highs. They are often used on rock and hip hop vocals. You do not need 48 volt phantom power for this microphone type.

Studio dynamic microphone. Photo: PhotoDune.

I will name a few low cost microphones to give you starting point. This is not specific endorsement for any given microphone but gives you an idea of where to start looking. These are all directional microphones which will usually be best suited for vocal work in domestic recording rooms.

Rode NT1A – condenser, requires 48 volt phantom
Audio Technica AT2020 – non-USB version, condenser requires 48 volt phantom
sE Electronics SE2200a – condenser, requires 48 volt phantom
Shure SM58 or SM57 – dynamic

(Amazon affiliate links)

I would suggest avoiding the temptation of buying a USB mic, unless you really have no other option. They may limit your recording choices in the future as you advance.

Every vocalist will sound different, and a choice must be made as to which microphone will suit the sonic goals best. We don't all have the luxury of a range of high end microphones, but if it is possible, best results are produced when a series of test recordings with different mics can be made for comparison.

Matching a microphone is about capturing and enriching desired vocal characteristics. This can take considerable time and if it is an option will produce the best end results assuming all other factors are in place.

Cables

A good quality microphone cable will retain all the detail and sonic information that comes from the microphone, so do not scrimp on the absolute cheapest cable you can find. It also shields the recording from external electromagnetic fields, clicks and hums.

If the cable needs to be long, high quality is even more important. I recommend a spend of £25.00/$45.00 on a 5 metre quality XLR male to XLR female cable.

Pop Shields and Wind Shields

These are not optional, they are essential. If you want to spend hours de-popping a great vocal take, that's up to you. But my advice is you should have a very good pop shield for any and all vocal recordings.

I have found that nylon mesh (similar to ladies tights) pop screens are superior to metal ones. I think this is because there are two layers of nylon with an air gap between around the "hoop". That's my own personal finding in practical use.

A condenser microphone with shock mount and pop shield inside an acoustic booth with acoustic panels on the background. Photo: PhotoDune.

The foam wind shield often supplied with a microphone is least effective but does have its place with vocalists who are very "poppy". Pop intensity varies between vocalists, and it's best to be prepared for the worst. In a sentence, vocal pops are best dealt with at source and avoided from being recorded.

I tend to position the pop shield around 4-5 inches from the front of the microphone, and if required add the foam shield on the mic as well. I have also in the past attached two nylon pop shields to the stand. It is much easier to add a little "air" EQ if required than de-pop a vocal.

It is possible to angle the microphone off axis to the front of the mouth to reduce the likelihood of pops, although you must consider where the compromise between direct vocal vs. the lower likelihood of pops lies.

I cannot stress it enough—don't record pops, they will ruin an otherwise great recording.

Vocal Proximity and Positioning

I do not recommend distant mic techniques for beginners and/or for dynamic microphones when recording vocals, though this does depend to a degree on which microphone you are using.

The distance of the microphone from the mouth of the vocalist is important, and will relate to the perceived character of the recording. It needs to suit the music which it will be eventually mixed into.

Close – 2-4 inches

Being close to the microphone—a distance of 2-4 inches—will produce a close, breathy, warm claustrophobic, overly-detailed and tight vocal sound. You will hear every sound the mouth produces, including "lipsmacks", tiny clicks from the fluid in the mouth, and other sounds from the tongue and throat.

You are more likely to suffer from big vocal pops and sibilance (an emphasis of "esses" and "whistling sounds"), unless the vocal style is whispered.

Close vocal microphones also cause a proximity effect. This means there is a tendency for a natural lift in the low frequency response of the microphone.

Distant – 10-16 inches

Being distant from microphone—at around 10-16 inches—will produce a distant, roomier, less intense, natural, less bassy, open, less detailed, less direct, and less "in your face" vocal. It is also less likely to suffer from excessive sibilance.

Good Compromise – 6-10 inches

A typical working distance that produces decent results has been 6-10 inches, a good compromise distance. But ultimately you must choose which works best for the track. If in doubt try and position two mics at different distances, and record them both and see what works best.

The tone of a vocal can be changed dramatically by positioning the microphone off-axis from the mouth opening. You can experiment with the mic positions:

Higher up near the nose can reduce pops and sibilance, but accentuate nasality.
Lower down the microphone will record a deeper, less bright sound as the mic will pick up more deep resonances from the throat and chest cavity.

Make test recordings to hear the different effects on vocal tone.

Studio Considerations

Acoustic and Environmental Control

As a general rule vocal recordings benefit from a "dead" or acoustically neutral recording space. This allows greater flexibility in post-production such as the addition of reverb in different types and amounts.

A reflection- and reverb-free recording is often preferred, as once any reverb from room reflections is recorded it is impossible to remove transparently. This fixes the character of the recording space, and if mistakes are made they are almost impossible to rectify.

You can add a reflection filter behind the microphone in order to reduce some of the energy making it to room boundaries. These are not a complete solution like a vocal recording booth.

Condenser mic with pop shield and reflection filter. Photo: Tim Sheerman-Chase on Flickr.

A condenser microphone with shock mount and pop shield inside an acoustic booth with acoustic panels on the background. Photo: PhotoDune.

You can help to minimize reflections by placing duvets/quilts on the walls in a room corner of the room and sing into the corner. Make a test recording to ensure the sound is not overly boxy as some of the lower frequency reflections can build up at high singing intensities. Singing into a large corner bass trap would be very effective at reducing room reflections if the room is fairly well damped in general.

Also, consider extraneous room noises such as ticking clocks, radiators, heating and cooling, creaks, computer fan noises, etc. Try and work out what noises you have and stop them at source. If you use a directional microphone, angle it so that any of these extraneous noises are nulled in the microphone's polar response.

Recording Levels

One of the worst possible vocal recording problems is distortion. Once it is there is it almost impossible to remove, and it is to be avoided completely. It is also very easy for the human ear to hear. Our ears are highly sensitive to any changes in the human voice.

In all recording work, gain structure is very important. It relates to minimizing the inherent noise floor of equipment and systems, and the avoidance of distortion either in analogue or digital domains.

When recording vocals, always record at 24-bit resolution, and I suggest a peak record level of -10 dBFS. At 24-bit there is no need to push the level higher than this.

These settings should produce the best signal-to-noise ratio with the vast majority of microphone preamplifiers. In any event, avoid any red lights on microphone preamps or mixing console channels when recording.

It is prudent to peak the vocal to -12 dBFS when taking recording levels, as the vocalist will often sing more intensely when an actual recording take happens.

A vocalist will often sing more intensely when an actual recording take happens. Photo: PhotoDune.

Dynamic Range Control During Recording

Some engineers like to add some gentle analogue compression during the recording phase. This can be done for artistic or technical control reasons. For example, a nice valve compressor can add character.

For character purposes this is fine, but may not be necessary as long as you ensure that you have ample headroom in your microphone preamplifier and recording interface.

If you have a vocalist with large dynamic swings (from quiet to loud), it may be a good idea to apply 2-3 dB of gain reduction on the peaks of the vocals during the recording stage.

Do be careful not to over compress the vocal when you are starting out, because once you have recorded the compression it will be very difficult to adjust the effects of the time constants on the recording. If in doubt, leave more headroom (record at a lower level), and do not compress when recording.

I tend to use an attack of 10-20 ms, and a release of between 150 and 200 ms for a vocal recording, and keep the gain reduction fairly light, around 3 dB maximum.

Working With the Vocalist in the Studio

Environment

The performance you get from the vocalist will relate to their comfort and confidence. As such make sure the room temperature is comfortable—not too hot and not too cold. Room temperature water should be available at all times.

If the vocalist has an inspiring object that is important to them, let them bring it into the studio and place it in front of them while they sing. This could be a photo or an object. It can bring a sense of inspiration and emotion, which is what most vocalists are trying to convey.

You will want to have a good chair available if the vocalist wishes to sit, although most wish to stand as the respiratory system is more open and vital when standing.

Some vocalist prefer to sing away from the glass, or facing away from the engineer. Make this completely ok and natural. The more comfortable the vocalist the better the performance you will capture.

As a recordist and engineer, your job is to make the vocalist as comfortable and relaxed as possible. This means nailing the engineering side so it is transparent.

I suggest testing all the equipment before the vocalist arrives in the studio. Make test recordings, and check that the headphones and talk back systems are working effectively. Also check any monitoring sends are working and set up correctly. Reverb in the cans is a common request.

Headphone Mixes

Most vocal recordings are done with headphone monitoring, so it is important that this headphone feed is as clear and articulate as possible. Make sure you can be heard, and that the levels provided are optimal for the vocalist. It is a very important factor in how the vocal will be delivered, both technically and in mood, so do everything possible to ensure an excellent headphone monitoring situation.

Before the session, check with the vocalist about what kind of monitoring arrangements they perform best to. Some may like a small PA monitor speaker in the studio, or may be bringing their own "in-ear monitoring" system.

Female vocalist wearing headphones while recording in the studio. Image: PhotoDune.

Microphone Preamplifiers

A vocal recording tutorial would not be complete without mention of microphone preamplifiers. Some of these are very low-cost, such as those found in a standard mixing console, and some can cost thousands of dollars. They can definitely affect the clarity and tone of the recording.

Some are designed with absolute fidelity and accuracy in mind, and some are designed with classic circuits, valves and transformers to add some vintage character to a recording. This is very subjective and you must determine if a preamplifier will add something special to a recording or not.

All of the above is essential, but a microphone preamplifier at least should be very low noise, and represent the output of the microphone in an articulate manner.

As you progress in your recording skill, you will be better equipped to hear the subtle differences between the myriad preamplifiers on the music technology market.

Summary

It is completely possible to record a stunning vocal recording with your first-ever recording if you follow these guidelines. It is not particularly difficult if you have the right equipment and make good preparations before the task commences.

Most of the above procedures can be run through using your own voice as a guide. Setting up well and preparing in advance will make the session run more smoothly.

Tuts+ Premium Cash Back Offer: 3 Days to Go

Joel Bankhead — Tue, 07 May 2013 23:00:48 GMT

This offer ends soon! Act now and don’t miss out on cash back when trying a monthly Tuts+ Premium subscription.

At $19 a month, Tuts+ Premium is fantastic value. But it’s even better when we hand your first $19 right back to you!

For a limited time we’re offering $19 cash back to new Tuts+ Premium monthly subscribers when signing up via PayPal. If you’ve been thinking about checking out our extensive library of courses, tutorials, eBooks and guides there’s never been a better time to join up and dive in.

This offer ends at noon on the 20th of May AEST, so act fast.

Become a Tuts+ Premium Member and take your creative & technical skills to a new level.

What can you learn on Tuts+ Premium? Glad you asked! Currently, more than 15,000 members are sharpening their skills in a wide range of areas including web design, web development, Photoshop, vectors, video effects, and many more.

With Tuts+ Premium you learn from expert instructors in every field, such as:

Designer Justin Maller (Nike, Verizon, DC Shoe Co.)
Illustrator Russell Tate (McDonald’s, Coca-Cola)
Developer Burak Guzel (Software Engineer at Facebook)

Join now and get instant access to your very own library of courses, tutorials, and eBooks, available whenever you need them. Become part of a community of over 15,000 members and start getting better at the skills you care about. Our dedicated team adds new content weekly, so there’s always something fresh to sink your teeth into.

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Community Project: Create & Upload a Rhythm Track

Adrian Try — Tue, 07 May 2013 08:00:11 GMT

Many people learn best not just by reading, listening or watching, but by doing. And that’s what community projects are all about. For our first project you’ll be creating and uploading your own rhythm track—in whatever genre you’re most comfortable with. Want to get involved? Read on to learn how.

How to Get Involved

We’ve been covering rhythm tracks over the last month or so. But beside giving you great material to read and watch, we want to give you the opportunity to learn by doing. By getting involved.

Would you like to participate in our first Audiotuts+ community project? It’s easy, all you need to do is join the Audiotuts+ SoundCloud group and get creative!

Here’s how to get started:

Sign up to SoundCloud if you don’t already have an account.
Join the Audiotuts+ Community Projects group.
Create one or more rhythm tracks of at least 20 seconds in length. Upload them to your SoundCloud account no later than May 18th. If you like, describe how you created the track, and what software you used.
Share the track(s) with the Audiotuts+ Community Project group.

Anything goes:

Choose whatever genre you like.
Use whatever software you have.
Use whatever rhythm instruments, samples, virtual instruments, spoons, or wobble boards you like.
Include other instruments if you like, but keep the focus on rhythm.
Your track can be smooth and subtle, or blow the roof off.
For inspiration, check out some of our older and more recent tutorials on producing rhythm tracks.

Guidelines

It must be 100% your own work.
You don’t have to spend hours and hours on your track, the project’s aim is to be fun, fast and individual.
You may submit more than one track.
Have fun!

Conclusion

We’ll post a roundup some of the best submissions later in the month. Remember, this is not a competition. The real benefit is that you learn something by taking part in the project.

Have a question? Please leave it below in the comments. This is our first community workshop—your questions and comments will help us get the formula right.

Happy music making!

Give Your Breakdowns More Punch with Manual Gain Alteration

Mo Volans — Mon, 06 May 2013 08:00:13 GMT

This quick tip is a follow-up to Mo Volans’s tutorial One Way to Build a Mastering Chain. No matter what style of track you are working on, it’s likely you’ll need to work with breakdowns or intros. In this screencast Mo demonstrates how to add extra impact using manual gain alteration.

Workshop #275: Highschool Heartbreak by MDOTDASUPA

Adrian Try — Sat, 04 May 2013 08:00:41 GMT

Description of the track:

Urban/Commercial Pop concept created with sole intentions on submitting for a Justin Bieber album placement. “Highschool Heartbreak” was Produced using Logic Pro 9 by MDOTDASUPA and Co-Produced using ImageLine’s FL Studio 10 by DRE BEATZ. A portion of the drums and instrumentation were created using the Akai MPD18 and MPK49.
Although we lacked the necessary resources in the end preventing us from getting the instrumental in the hands of Justin Bieber and/or his camp we managed to showcase our respective sounds and build a unique chemistry between one another which you guys bear witness to upon listening to the end result.

Artist’s website: mdotdasupa.com

Need constructive criticism on your own tracks? Submit them for a workshop using this form. Most but not all submissions are published. There may be a wait of up to two months.

Picking the Right Microphone – Vocals

Mike Elliott — Fri, 03 May 2013 06:52:12 GMT

Every art has its own “palette of colors” to work from when creating something new. While the visual arts quite literally have a palette of colors, music has various instruments, brands, amps, bows, etc. But what about audio and recording? Anyone who has done even a little bit of recording knows how often audio can take on an artistic perspective instead of a straight sciences approach. By choosing the right equipment, settings, placement, etc. we can drastically change the outcome of a production.

The most important of these decisions comes from choosing the right microphone. While mic placement is also paramount, if you start with the wrong microphone for a particular sound no fiddling with mic placement will get you to your goal. By either limiting our mic selection or greatly expanding it, we can create an array of audible color palettes to suit the mood of just about any type of music.

In this tutorial we will look at one of the most difficult sound sources to choose a mic for, the vocals. So if you were ever unsure of what mic to use, read on!

Vocal Styles

Probably one of the trickiest sound sources to record is a vocal. With such a wide variety of singing styles and voices, no one mic will fit every situation. However, certain situations or characteristics of a voice will help you better choose the right mic from the start. Here are a few situations you will commonly run into.

Pop and RnB

Christina Aguilera by Raffaele Fiorillo

Vocals in this style are usually the most important aspect of a song. While some RnB songs might leave plenty of breathing room for the vocals to sit and stick out, many pop songs have dense mixes which requires the vocals to cut through.

In these situations a large diaphragm condenser microphone will be your safest bet. Why? These microphones have very low self noise and have an extended top end that allows the diction in the voice to be heard. More particularly, the type of capsule design inside the microphone can have a huge impact on the resulting sound of the microphone and voice.

The two most common capsule designs are based of older Neumann designs called the K47 and K67. The K47 had a very natural open sound that did not hype up the high end but still had a detailed and clear sound. The K67 on the other hand has hyped of top end that was originally meant to be part of a pre-emphasis de-emphasis system to give a similar result. However, most k67 capsule types now and days do not have the de-emphasis portion in the design resulting in bright cutting microphones; this boost usually occurs between 6-10 kHz.

Here are some rules of thumb for Pop and RnB Style vocals:

Always use a LDC style microphone since clarity is paramount to the genre.
For more open tracks a K47 capsule microphone will give you detail without being over hyped.
Dense tracks should use a K67 without the de-emphasis circuit in order to cut through the resulting mix better. You can also use a generally brighter LDC even if it is not K67 style.

Rock

Eric Singer by Alberto Cabello

Whereas pop and RnB almost always use an LDC, rock runs the gambit of microphones; the particular genre of rock has a huge impact on the vocal mic of choice.

In the case of pop rock and alt rock, the same general rules as above apply since the vocals take on a very prominent role. However in the case of classic rock style vocals, a large diaphragm dynamic could actually serve better. That level of smoothness that comes out of these older recordings is due to the dynamic microphones which were inherently less bright. These mics create a sound that, while less clear, meshes well with everything else in the mix. Common choices for this role include the SM7B and the RE20 in one of its many forms; sometimes simple 421s or SM58s can work surprisingly well!

Another option available in the rock domain is the use of ribbon microphones. On more open sounding rock tracks that do not need crisp articulate vocals, a ribbon can work quiet well at keeping the top end tamed. If recording female rock vocals that do not need supreme clarity, a ribbon may actually be a better choice than a dynamic. However do keep in mind the fragile nature of these mics; you do not want some screaming plosive to blow out the ribbon!

Here are some rules of thumb for rock vocals:

Pop and alt rock should more than likely use a LDC in the same way as RnB and pop.
Classic rock-esque vocals that need to blend more than stick out benifit better with a large diaphragm dynamic.
A ribbon microphone will shine primarily on vocals and female leads in a song that does not need supreme clarity.

Classical

While not traditionally the topic of discussion for vocal microphones, the approach for classical vocals can be vastly different. In the case of pop-classical productions such as Christmas CDs and the like, the above options work quiet well. However traditional classical vocals take on a different persona.

Since classical vocals are often mixed from the audiences perspective, the microphones are traditionally placed further away resulting in a sound different from the up close and personal techniques of mainstream music. In these situations a small diaphragm condenser actually works better than a LDC. A SDC tends to have an extended frequency response and typically a high end boost that allows it to accurately pick up sources at greater distances. The only rule of thumb here is that the further away from the source you get, the greater high end boost you will need to accommodate for the distance.

Other Considerations

While the above genre considerations will get you in the ballpark for what kind of mic to use, each vocalist is different as are the recording situations. Some singers have a really deep resonant voice while others are airy and thin. What about if the singer is on stage or in the studio? All of these things play just as important of a role as the style of music they are singing.

To Saturate or Not to Saturate?

Tubes by Chris Roddy

The quality or timbre of a voice can have a huge impact on what type of microphone use choose within a given category, especially the LDC. For singers with very resonant voices that may muddy the mix up, a transformerless microphone would play the least into the singers resonant qualities.

Transformerless microphones are largely considered the most accurate and even sounding of mics since they do not rely on tubes or transformers to operate. However, for singers with thin airy voices that need to be thickened up, the tube or transformer style microphones can add the much need boost and saturation these vocals lack.

When combined the appropriate K47 or K67 style capsule, plenty of very useful combinations can occur:

For a natural open sound use a transformerless K47 style mic.
For a even but hyped up sound a transformerless K67 should be used.
If a fatter smoother mic is needed, then use a transformer or tube K47 style mic.
When a larger-than-life sound is called for, then a tube or transformer based K67 will give all the necessary oomph.

Patterns

Hyper-Cardioid by Galak76

Despite having an array of microphone pick-up patterns, many people simply grab for the nearest cardioid microphone. However, choosing the right pattern for the right vocals and situation can arguably have more impact than whether the mic is transformerless or tube.

The big key for tonal purposes is the proximity effect. As a microphone gets more directional (cardioid through figure-8), it develops a natural boost in the bass region when the singer is closer to the mic. Inversely, if the singer stands too far away then the bass can begin to rapidly drop in these mics.

The other issue with pickup patterns is the room and situation the vocals are being tracked in. If a singer is being recorded in a large open well tuned room, then just about any pickup pattern will work and it becomes a matter of proximity effect. However, in less tuned rooms, or worse yet live situation, what the microphone picks up and does not can play a massive role.

Here are some rules of thumb for pickup patterns:

If you need an up-close sound without boom then an omni pattern will work best.
To beef up thin or higher vocals just a touch, then use cardioid.
If drastic boosts in the lower range are needed, then hyper-cardioid and figure-8 should be used.
If you need to ignore only part of a room, then use a cardioid.
For live situations, always try to use a hyper-cardioid, since it rejects well in the back and the sides.

Final Thoughts

Picking the right microphone for a vocalist can be a time consuming task if you want to get it just right. However, knowing the music, tone of the singer, and the recording situation can greatly help you narrow down what microphone choices you should be looking at.

But remember, no hard and fast rules apply to any art. Sometimes you may want that really thin airy voice because it is pleasingly unique to the music. Remember, pick your colors wisely! Thanks for reading.

Take Your Game’s Immersion to the Next Level With Responsive Game Music

RetroModular — Thu, 02 May 2013 08:00:47 GMT

Music that is capable of changing dynamically and seamlessly to reflect what is happening on-screen can add a whole new level of immersion to a game. In this Gamedevtuts+ tutorial we take a look at one of the easier ways to add responsive music to a game.

How can you add responsive music to your games? Well, there are numerous ways of achieving this. Some are a lot more sophisticated than others and require multiple audio channels to be streamed from a local storage device, but adding some basic responsive music to a game is actually quite easy if you have access to a low-level sound API.

We are going to take a look at one solution that is simple and lightweight enough to be used today in online games – including JavaScript based games.

Demo

Here is a recorded version of the responsive music demo.

Visit Gamedevtuts+

If you’re interested in JavaScript development, or game audio in general, you can read the remainder of the tutorial on Gamedevtuts+. It includes source code, a live JavaScript demo, and detailed written instructions. Enjoy!

Open Mic: What Advice Would You Give a Beginner About Rhythm Tracks

Adrian Try — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:28:33 GMT

Imagine a friend has just got into audio production, have chosen their DAW, and are starting to produce their first song. What advice do you give them about producing the rhythm track? What strategies or techniques would you recommend? What sound sources, mic techniques and plugins should they use? What advice would you give to take some of the frustration out of their first experience?

Using Brainworx bx_digital V2 for Mastering

Mo Volans — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:00:14 GMT

This quick tip is a follow-up to Mo Volans’s tutorial One Way to Build a Mastering Chain. In this screencast you’ll learn how to set up M/S processing in a mastering chain. There are a number of good M/S processing plugins on the market. This post focuses on Brainworx bx_digital V2.

How I’m Starting to Achieve Success in the Music Industry

Nemeth Balazs — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:28:32 GMT

Today I will tell me my personal story, which started two years ago with Envato. This isn't a regular quick tip. I would like to encourage every reader to believe in what they do. It's possible to succeed!

Writing for Audiotuts+

Two years ago I saw an offer on Audiotuts+ that said you can write an article and get paid. I said myself, "I can do it. I have never written a tutorial before, but I can do it." So I wrote my first one, and was successful.

It was great, and I got a lot of money. I mean, for me this was huge—and I was still a school student. So I decided to write more, and was successful again and again.

But sadly the money wasn’t enough to live on in Hungary, my home country. I had to do more. I needed more work in the music industry.

Organizing Music Events and Exhibitions

There was an exhibition in Hungary about Ableton Live. It wasn’t huge, but this is small country. When I was attending the eleventh meeting I realised it was what I wanted to do. I wanted to be part of it. The main concept of the event was to get the top Hungarian producers to show the amateurs how they make music.

The event had a webpage, but it wasn’t successful because it didn't have much content. So I wrote a letter. Believe it or not, you can change your life with three emails.

The first I sent it was my Audiotuts tutorial email. The second was to the main organizer of the event. I wrote to him and attached my Audiotuts+ tutorials.

The third email was his reply. "OK, that’s fine. Want to do this? We can’t pay any salary." But I didn’t care. I believed that it would be something big, and started work on the webpage.

I created lots of Hungarian tutorials. The site became incredibly successful. Although there are lots of music vendors and sound engineers in the country, no one had ever been done anything like this.

The Ableton event was the first exhibition in our country promoting how to make electronic dance music. But it has never made any money. Every year it got bigger and bigger. At the fourteenth event there were more than 300 visitors and 700 online viewers. That was huge! And the music vendors saw that. They asked us about bringing their products and enterprise to support the meeting.

This is where the story really starts. I spoke to the main organizer about making an enterprise of it, and the potential that it had. He didn’t understand at first, but finally decided to let us do it.

The fifteenth event had a different name, because the artists were not just talking about Ableton Live anymore. It was called “Producer/DJ”. There were six exhibitors in the meeting with big guns, including Roland, Rane DJ, Numark, QSC, and some local vendors. It was a big success, and not just for the people who came to learn.

The big companies said the event was a financial success for them–they sold lots of product—and the exhibition had positive content. We earned money for the first time in seven years, and this was just my second year involved with the event. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was enough to make some improvements and investments.

Starting a Music Production and DJ School

Last year a firm ask me to start a music production and DJ school for them. That was my dream! Unfortunately it didn’t begin well. We did all the work, and they took all the money.

So we started again on our own, without money and a venue. I almost gave up.

Then a company asked me to write a book about Ableton Live. I did. I wrote it in two months, and earned a lot of money. We started the school again.

This April it started with 11 students. That's more than I was expecting.

Running the DJ Borze Portal

Lastly, my biggest success happened when the owner of the DJ Borze website asked me to become the CEO of his company, because he had to start working in Miami. That just happened in January! I stopped breathing for a moment.

Everyone in this country is familiar with DJ Borze—it has more than 180 000 visitors per month. So I decided to say, "Yes," and nowadays my job is to sell banners to the biggest music industry companies in Hungary.

The Latest Producer/DJ Event

The latest Producer/DJ event was held on April 20th. Believe it or not, the main organizer and supporter this time was Lamborghini.

It’s great story. It turns out one of my students has a high position in Lamborgini East-Europe. I mean, what are the chance of starting a new school, and someone from one of the biggest companies walks in to learn how to make electronic dance music?

I persuaded him to support our event. There were lots of products there: the new Numark controllers, The Roland Gaia synth, the MPC Renaissance, and some modular synths as well. We are growing incredible fast.

Conclusion

So I would like to say that if you love something, go for it, and work hard to reach your goal. I’m 100 percent sure it will work out.

It won't be easy. There lots of people out there who want your business to disappear. But there are others who want you to be successful, and are willing to help you.

I would like to thank Adrian Try and the Envato team for giving me the chance month by month to present my work. And thank all of my readers who follow me each month.

One Way to Build a Mastering Chain

Mo Volans — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:12:21 GMT

In this video tutorial, Mo Volans covers the subject of mastering. He approaches the topic from a different angle to his popular 2010 post, How to Master a Track in 15 Minutes or Less, showing one way he approaches the mastering process.

Workshop #274: Pluck Spring by Phalto

Adrian Try — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 08:00:28 GMT

Download audio file (Phalto_Spring.mp3)

Description:

Musical idea
Something uplifting, that conjured images and feelings of sun and beach.
Intended audience
Anyone.
Sound design
I go for clean, plucky sounds, and big washy verbs in the background.
Arrangement
Pretty standard. I think it could be greatly improved. Not sure how danceable the track is.
Some of the techniques I used
I created the synth patches in Sylenth, I use a “parallel reverb” on the master to give it a more lush sound. I do alot of mixing on the fly, and try to maintain as much dynamic range possible. Lot of use of filters and automation.
Some issues for feedback
I think the song sits somewhere awkwardly between being “loungey,” and being “danceable.” So the evoked emotion or impulse to dance could be clearer. The mix is dulled down and in retrospect I should have saturated some of the busses and brought out some brightness and air around 16 kHz upwards.

Artist’s website: soundcloud.com/phaltomusic

Need constructive criticism on your own tracks? Submit them for a workshop using this form. Most but not all submissions are published. There may be a wait of up to two months.

Multilayer Shaker Samples

David Bode — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:00:17 GMT

In this tutorial we will look at a free sample plugin called Shortcircuit, and how we can use this plugin with shaker samples to build a multilayered shaker patch. We will look at cutting up samples and setting up the plugin in Reaper, but these techniques will work with any DAW that supports VST plugs.

Quick Tip: Symmetrical Scales Part 1 – Whole Tone

Lenny Pietrolata — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:19:52 GMT

Today I'm going to talk about a particular scale (or sound) you can apply either in your improvisation or as a composing device. The whole tone is a six note scale with a really unique sound. It's built from whole steps, which gives a super unbalanced sound to this scale.

1. Whole Tone Theory

As I said, constructing this scale means using just pitches a whole step apart. That makes whole tone a scale that lacks of a tone center, and a scale with six note instead of seven.

Because this scale has only six notes, it does not have all the intervals of a major scale, or in any major mode. For instance, I labeled D# as a #5 instead of b6 since, everything has to relate to the chord you are going to play this scale over, and there's no chord with a b6 in its name. The lack of one interval inside this scale gives you that sort of unstable feel.

Another interesting feature of this scale is the number of augmented triads inside this scale. Starting from every note you can play an augmented triad or arpeggio.

2. Chords to Use With this Scale

Whole tone is used, mostly, in a "altered chords" situation. By altered chords I mean a dominant chord (a chord with a major 3rd and a minor 7th) with added altered tones (b9, #9, b5 or #11, #5 or b13).

If you want to use this scale sticking with the theory rules you should probably play whole tone just over an augmented chord with alterations that respect the scale. For instance, you wouldn't play A whole tone over A+(#9) since that chord has a #9 and whole tone as a regular 9.

In a real life context that scale is superimposed even over a regular dominant chord, just to create a really outside sound that immediately pops out.

3. Use the Correct Fingering

Here's the first fingering for G whole tone. I highlighted the root as G but you can start that same shape from whatever note in the scale and you will still play whole tone. In fact, there are only two whole tone scales, C and C#, because every note in the C scale is a whole tone scale too.

Here's a more "shred" style fingering that ascends a G whole tone scale.

I mentioned before that this scale has only augmented triads inside it. I pointed out a C# augmented since it's a familiar shape for me, but you can start from the interval you want, really.

Moving that shape up a whole step you will still be playing notes that are in the scale. This could be a nice device to use whenever you want to move along the neck, instead of playing always in the same area.

Conclusion

The use of this scale is definitely uncommon, and really odd sounding. From this point of view, the concept is heavy and not easy to digest.

I invite everyone that might be interested in "odd-sounding music", no matter the genre, to try to get this scale under your finger. It will add a big bonus to your improvisational skills!

Hard Drives and Audio – Software Considerations

Mike Elliott — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:00:07 GMT

In our last hard drive tutorial we looked at the various physical aspects, from cables and connections to data transfer speeds. Today we’ll dive into the software side of things. Do you know the difference between FAT32 and NTFS? Ever even heard of exFAT? Boot drives vs. media drives? If you are unsure about any of these terms and issues then read on!

Why Formatting Matters

The biggest concern with any hard drive from a software standpoint is how the drive is formatted. For those unaware, the formatting of a drive essentially tells the computer and the drive itself how data should be retrieved and stored. Typically, we never need to think about formatting because everything just works; until it goes wrong of course. With audio and other media focused fields, the formatting of the drive is a huge concern—especially when moving large data files between systems, which will inevitably happen.

The issues start to arise when we need to switch between systems, particularly Mac to PC and vise versa. Certain formatting schemes will simply not work on certain systems. Why? Because unfortunately everyone thinks their system is the best and the other guy should change. Take this scenario for example.

Imagine you did an on-location recording at a friends house on your brand new MacBook Pro. However, for mixing you needed the horse power of your beefy desktop PC. So to get the data to your PC you went and grabbed your old external hard drive that always worked with your Windows PC.

You plug it in to your Mac, and it shows up on the desktop. Perfect! Except when you go to drag your session over to the external drive the Mac says it cannot do it. What gives? Formatting, that’s what!

Understanding Different Formats

In order to effectively move hard drives between different operating systems, we need to know how they operate. In this section we’ll explore how drives are formatted in Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

Mac Formatting

“Yet Another Apple Logo” by Andrew on Flickr

The Mac OSX system utilizes Mac OS Extended as its primary means of drive formatting. While the formatting can come in different flavors, any drive formated for Mac OS Extended in some form will work on any other Mac without issue. So for those of you moving between various Macs, and not Mac to PC, this is the safest route to take.

Here are some considerations for the various forms of Mac OS Extended:

Journaled drives have an additional feature known as “journaling” included on them. This is essentially a record of all happenings on the drive which is used in case of power surges or some other improper system shut down.
While non-journaled drives will enter a state of limbo on reboot from a power surge, a journaled drive will read the journal file and continue on its merry way. Journaling also eliminates disk scans from improper shut downs.
Keep in mind however there is a theoretical (although negligible) slow down of disk write speed since the drive must constantly keep writing to the journal as well.
Mac drives tend to be case-sensitive, allowing for case sensitive file names. For example, “File.txt” and “file.txt” could be placed in the same folder without one erasing the other. More often than not, you will not need this type of formatting.

PC Formatting

“Installing Windows 7” by Alex W McCabe on Flickr

The PC (specifically Windows) architecture for hard drive formats varies greatly from the OSX system. Generally, you will almost always see a drive formated for PC using the NTFS formatting. This format originally started with Windows NT and has been the default standard since.

This format will not work on Macs. So if you think you may be switching back and forth between a PC and a Mac, avoid NTFS.

However for those of you in a PC only world, here are some other thoughts:

While Mac OS Extended has options for journaling and case sensitivity, the NTFS system does not give such options. Why? Because the choices are already in place by default. A NTFS drive will always be journaled and will always be case sensitive.
“But wait, I can’t make a ‘File.txt’ and ‘file.txt’ in the same folder! You said NTFS is case sensitive!” I did because it is true. However Windows makes things case insensitive. If you were using some other system you would actually be able to write case sensitive files.
The NTFS system will not work on a Mac period. Er, well not at least for writing files. OSX can read files from a NTFS drive and copy them to its own OS Extended drive. This means you could record on a PC laptop and work on a Mac desktop by coping the files over but do not expect the Mac to put files back onto the NTFS drive.

Hybrid Formatting

So for the rest of you who live in a Mac and PC world (which I imagine is quite a few), what options are there? The most obvious method people try is to partition your drive.

For those unaware, partitioning essentially creates two virtual drives with different file systems on the same physical drive. This way you could have an OS Extended drive and an NTFS drive at the same time. Perfect right? Not so fast!

If you need one Mac and one PC drive, with absolutely no reason to move files between them. Then yes this set up will work. But remember, the file systems are almost completely incompatible (see second bullet point above for exceptions) so your computers will not be able to work effectively with both halves of the drive.

So what options are left? Maybe these:

FAT32: This formatting scheme can be read and written to on both Mac and PC. However it does come with some limitations. The FAT32 format only allows for files up to four gigs in size, which for everyday use is not an issue. For audio or video however it’s a huge risk.
Some of you might be thinking, “But my individual audio files are never more than four gigs in a recording session!” and you are probably right. However were you recording at 16/44.1? As soon as you start recording at the higher quality settings (which, by the way, you should be!) you will very quickly pass that four gig file size limit.
A 24/96 non-stop recording of a orchestra concert will be absolutely huge! Furthermore FAT32 also is a non-journaled file system which means your precious recording data is not safe in the event of a power surge, improper shutdown, early ejection, etc.
exFAT: Where FAT32 leaves much to be desired, exFAT answers some of the problems. Unlike FAT32, exFAT is not limited by file size (its theoretical limit is 16 exbibytes) which can allow easy transfer of even the largest sessions between Mac and PC.
The downside? Just like the other FAT systems, it is a non-journaled setup, and being relatively new, doesn’t always work with every hard drive. Some drives play fine while others have trouble maintaining connection.

So What’s the Best Option?

While there is no one perfect solution, there are more optimal setups for drive formatting.

If you are running only PC or Mac, use the native file systems NTFS or OS Extended and avoid all other kinds of hassle.
For hybrid workflows, make sure your work drives (the ones you record to) are formatted for the native operating system. Then setup a transfer drive (either internal or external) that is formatted as exFAT.
The trick however is to make sure you never start working from the exFAT drive, always record the data to a native drive. While it theoretically should be fine, if you loose all of your hard work on a mix, or worse loose all the data permanently, you are going to be in a sore place really quickly.
Another important tip is to make sure your work drive and system drive (the one Windows or OSX is installed on) are separate drives. The computer reads/writes a lot of information from the hard drive to keep the operating system running on its own. When you start recording audio data you do not want that information interrupted in the slightest just because someone put a funny picture in your Dropbox folder. Keep your work drives and operating system drives separate!

Conclusion

While ideally everything should just work, in a Mac and PC based industry that will likely never be the case. The formatting of your hard drives greatly impacts your workflow and what you are able to do and not do.

The last thing you want to happen on a important session is to realize you need to reformat a hard drive to get the data you need. By the time you are done transferring your files and reformatting, it will probably be too late and the client may be long gone and mad.

Save yourself from future headaches and set up your drives now, and always keep a backup just in case.

How To Mix a Loud Hip Hop Kick Which Survives Mastering

Gábor Szurdoki — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:35:11 GMT

Since Dr. Dre’s “2001″, one of the most common subjects upcoming hip hop producers discuss is those loud kick drums. Everybody wants them, but very few producers/engineers are able to achieve them. I believe this is one of the hardest challenges of a hip hop producer: to make the kick drum loud, and the song itself loud, while avoiding having your kick drum squashed by the mastering compressor.

I’m talking about mixes like Dr. Dre’s “Xxplosive”, 50 Cent’s “In Da Club”, Fort Minor’s “Remember The Name”. To me and a lot of other hip hop producers, I believe, those mixes are good one to chase. The RMS and perceived loudness of the songs are really high, but still, the “knock” factor is there.

I was having a hard time achieving this back then. I either had my kick knocking while my master was quiet, or my master was loud but the kick drum lost its impact. Of course, the records I’m talking about here were mixed by professional engineers on expensive equipment. But I think the tip I give you here will bring you a lot closer to a hit kick.

Take a listen to the final result of this tutorial:

Download audio file (hiphopkick_sample.mp3)

1. Understand Sound Physics

To do this, you have to understand the sound physic behind the problem. The sound of a kick drum typically contains huge amount of low frequencies. This is why they are kick drums. And what you have to know about low frequencies, is that the lower a soundwave is, the more energy it contains, and the less you hear it.

Our ears can perceive something like 40 Hz and above. Below that, it’s more about physically perceiving the sound rather than actually hearing it. Those soundwaves are just too long for our ears, but because of their strong physical impact, we can feel them.

This transition from “hearing” to “feeling” in the low frequencies is what usually tricks a lot of producers/engineers, and makes them confused about how to place the kick in the mix. When you try to make a song loud, you have to decrease its dynamics by compression and limiting. And in this, you can only do so much gain reduction before the limiter starts to act in a strange way, killing the life out of your mix. The kick drum is usually the element in hip hop mixes which mastering limiters are “fighting” with, because that is
the loudest part of the mix.

Under 40-50 Hz, there are a lot of content in a kick drum which you can’t really hear, but still, it triggers the limiter, pushing it closer and closer to the point of squashing your mix. So, to make a kick drum loud without ruining your mix, you have to sacrifice some low end energy in order to be able to turn up the kick volume. I show you how to do this.

2. Find the Right Kick Drum

This is hands down the most important step. But what is the right kick drum?

The answer is, the one which fits your beat. If you have a beat with relatively few instruments, you can use an 808-like, low, sneaky, heartbeat-style kick drum. But if you have a lot going in in your mix, choose a more “colored” kick, one with more “character”.

Listen to these examples in order to understand what I mean:

Heartbeat-style
Download audio file (hiphopkick_1_boomy-kick.mp3)
Colored
Download audio file (hiphopkick_2_colored-kick.mp3)

The reason you need to be careful with this, is because if you choose the wrong kick drum, you can EQ, compress and mix it until dawn, but you won’t get the sound you’re looking for.

If you have a mix with a lot of space, you can have an 808-like kick. But if you have all those synths, pianos and strings playing every note on every octave, a kick like that will not be able to cut through the mix. Don’t be like me, and try to force the wrong kick into the wrong mix—unless your goal is a high level of frustration!

In this tutorial I’ll use a more crowded mix, because it’s harder. If you can do that, you can easily do it with a spacier one.

3. Record Your Kick at the Right Level

If you’re recording your kick from the analogue realm, it’s important to do it at the right level. Here, I’ll record the kick from my Akai MPC 500 into Samplitude. The process is the same in all DAWs.

Make sure that the peak level of your kick while recording is somewhere between -10 and -6 dBFS. This is very important. If you record it at a too hot level, it will distort your kick. And this is the last thing we want, because it will get enough distortion through mastering.

If you record it at a too low level, noise can appear. You may think a little bit noise won’t hurt, but a quiet noise at -30 dB can be sound like a monsoon wind after compression and limiting.

4. EQ Your Kick

As I said, making a kick stand out in a loud mix requires you to sacrifice some low end content in order to get more volume. You can only have two of the following three options: a loud mix, a lot of subs in the kick, and a loud kick. Choose!

In order to carve out some low end from the kick, use a normal equalizer. In this tip, I’ll use a Waves REQ 4.

You’ll have to try different settings by raising and lowering the filter frequency. I did it at 80Hz, but sometimes that is too much—it depends on the actual kick sample.

Filter out as many lows as you need to turn up the kick volume, but not more. Accuracy is crucial here. Carving out too many lows will make your kick lose its impact. And leaving too many subs in will be an obstacle when you try to increase the kick volume.

5. Compress Your Kick (Optional)

Usually, you don’t need to do this step, because most of the kick samples you use are probably already compressed. So look at this step as something you only do if you don’t find success after doing everything else.

Try to make the most impact by reaching the lowest possible kick level. Or, in other words, get the most “knock” from the peak level of your kick.

Compression can help here. But know that your kick is probably already compressed. The mastering compressor will compress it even further, as will the mastering limiter. So at this point don’t go above 2 dB of gain reduction.

I use a compression setting with a fast (9 ms) attack, and a ratio of 3.82. Set the release to a point where the compressor stops compressing before every other kick hit.

6. Make Space for Your Kick

In order to make your kick’s remaining lows work, you have to do some clearing in your mix. To me, that usually means HP filtering every instrument which is not a kick or bass. Pianos, strings, synthy, vocals, percussions, hihats, everything. All of their lows need to go, at least from 120-150 Hz. I sometimes go up to 250 Hz.

I do know that a lot of pianos or strings have content there, but the main thing to do here is sacrifice. A nice piano’s low end may sound good, but it’s not why the piano is there. It’s there for its mids and highs. Let the low end of the mix be dominated by the kick and the bass.

7. Set the Volume of Your Kick

This is what we are here for. If you’re after those strong hitting, loud kicks, the task is obvious here. Set the kick to a high level.

My kick here is around 6 dB above the mix. Yes, without the mastering effects on it, it doesn’t really sound right. The kick is a little bit too loud. But, this is what will make it really stand out after mastering.

8. Apply Mastering

Let’s see what we’ve got. I will use a compressor (an UAD 4K Bus Compressor) and a limiter (a UAD Precision Limiter). I use Universal Audio DSP-powered effects, but if you use Waves, you can do the same with the Waves SSL Compressor (almost identical to the UAD version) and the Waves L3 Multi-Ultra limiter.

First, instert your compressor. I use a mastering preset in a slightly modified version, with a 1 ms attack, auto release and a ratio of 4:1. Set the treshold so you can apply around 4 dB of gain reduction. After we put on the limiter, you can use the makeup gain on the compressor to add volume.

After the compression is working, put up your mastering limiter. At this point, all you really have to do is push volume. On the UAD Precision Limiter, it can be done by turning up the input knob, on the Waves L3, it’s by turning down the treshold. Push it until you get the volume you’re after. You’re done!

Conclusion

Let’s review what we’ve accomplished. Here is the final result of this tutorial:

Download audio file (hiphopkick_sample.mp3)

Compare that to what it sounded like before mastering dynamics:

Download audio file (hiphopkick_sample_nomaster.mp3)

Pitching Your Own Songs

Patty Way — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 08:00:00 GMT

In a perfect world, we tunesmiths would all have publishing deals with hefty draws and a dozen or more songs on hold at all times, but back to reality. A great many excellent songwriters with some hit-worthy songs in their catalogs do not have staff writing gigs. They may be avidly trying to land one, but in the meantime a cutting edge song could be languishing away in a dusty briefcase and fast becoming not-so-cutting-edge.

Assuming your songs are at the appropriate level, it’s a good idea to take the bull by the horns and start the arduous task of being your own songplugger. You’ll never find another as enthusiastic about your creations!

Creating Contacts

Image from PhotoDune

A songplugger works at a publishing company and his job is to get his company’s catalog heard by the decision makers.

Playing out, visiting publishers, co-writing, and meeting with performing rights organizations are all good ways to find contacts. Make an appointment with a rep at BMI, ASCAP, and/or SESAC and try to get a referral by impressing the socks off of them. Plan to play three to five songs. Bring a labeled CD and lyric sheets with your name and contact information on each. Be punctual and professional and you just might garner a contact and possibly a referral.

If your rep is impressed enough to arrange a meeting for you, it will almost definitely be with a publisher or songplugger. A songplugger works at a publishing company and his job is to get his company’s catalog heard by the decision makers.

If a publishing deal does not arise from your arranged meeting, and it probably won’t just yet, that person becomes another contact and hopefully a fan of your music.

Writers’ nights are great places meet future co-writers and reinforce already established connections. Co-writers you acquire may introduce you to their contacts, and vice versa ad infinitum.

A and R people from the labels may hear something they like when you take the stage. If you get a compliment from such a person, ask if they could grant you a few minutes in the form of a pitch meeting. Don’t be pushy, but don’t be a shrinking violet either.

I have had lots of luck by using the phrase, “five minutes.” The meeting usually stretches much longer but my suggestion of brevity got me in the door!

Above all, don’t be what the industry calls a “germ.” (pronounced with a hard G). Earn your contacts by delivering quality material presented professionally, not by glomming onto people and driving them into avoidance mode.

The Unglamorous Task of Getting Organized

Image from PhotoDune

Tune your instrument and if you can’t carry a tune in a Gucci bag, find someone who can.

In order to pitch a song, it should be in very listenable form. The standard of the industry is a decent, though possibly simple recording of your song with a nice, clear production and understandable lyrics.

Tune your instrument and if you can’t carry a tune in a Gucci bag, find someone who can. Ballads work fine as guitar or piano vocals, while uptempos come across better with at least a basic rhythm section.

Remember that the competition may be shopping his or her tunes with a full-blown, high dollar demo so do the best you can. That being said, studio demos are expensive and should be acquired cautiously!

Next, do your homework and find out who is looking for what and for whom. Just because you have a brand spanking new hit in your hand doesn’t mean it is right for every artist. Be selective!

Subscribe to a good tip sheet, such as RowFax or SongQuarters.

If and when you feel you have a good pitch for a certain artist, start going about landing an opportunity to present that song to an A and R rep at the artist’s label, a manager, producer, agent, or even the artist himself or herself. It is unlikely that any of the above folks will meet with you without a referral, but once in a while a lower level member of the label’s A and R staff will take a meeting.

Don’t rave about the songwriting contest you won back in Iowa. Trust me it only tells them that you are new at this.

When you do start making pitching contacts, don’t inundate them with every new song that floats off of your silver tongue.

If you cannot get your song to anybody in the artist’s camp, be patient and keep making new contacts. It is also perfectly acceptable to drop off your pitch package at the appropriate designated places. This information should be on your tipsheet.

Be sure to include lyric sheets with your name and phone number folded and neatly rubber banded to your CD box, which should also be labeled. Song titles should be on the CD label and the box label as well.

Again, be patient about landing such meetings and know that you are more likely to get a decent listen if the would-be listener is aware of your name.

When you do start making pitching contacts, don’t inundate them with every new song that floats off of your silver tongue. Be courteous and respect the fact that they are very busy people. Follow up when it is indicated.

Keep a file that shows where, when, for whom, and to whom, each of your songs was pitched and any reference notes. If an individual likes a certain song, but not for the artist currently looking, your notes will remind you to pitch to that contact again, but for a different artist.

The A and R Meeting

Image from PhotoDune

The most typical meeting songwriters attain are with the Artist and Repertoire staffs of the record labels. Deal only with the large labels and reputable smaller ones. You will be assigned a slot of time between fifteen and thirty minutes, and will usually be left fermenting in the waiting room for awhile beyond your agreed upon start time. When your key person calls you back to their office, keep your greeting short and to the point.

Your package should say which artist on the label’s roster you are pitching to.

Why you wrote the song and your concept for the video is very unwelcomed information.

A hold is a good sign but countless songs are put on hold for every album that comes out.

Let the song speak for itself. Don’t be overly offended if your song is turned off after only fifteen seconds or so. This is a very common occurrence. Perhaps they already have a song in that groove.

If you have several songs on your CD, you may get one longer listen, and another short perusal or two. I have encountered people who listen all the way through every song and others who barely make it through the musical intro. I have seethed through phone calls that were taken as my song was playing at exceedingly low volume only to be told, “I don’t get it!” when the song and phone call were finished. Once my CD was popped into a player that ran much too slowly and made the song sound like a dirge! Be prepared for anything, but remain cool ad polite.

At any rate, be keenly aware when the meeting is over, and do not overstay your welcome. It is better to leave a bit too early than to put your contact in the position of having to show you to the door.

In time, you will find your preferred audiences, and not waste your efforts on those that only seem to be filling a daily listening quota! Hopefully, one day you will be told that he or she would like to play one or more of the your songs for the artist or producer. Don’t hold your breath, but be hopeful. Something positive could come from such a comment, even if it’s only another meeting a month later.

Another possibility is that the listener may want to put your song on hold. Technically this means that you agree not to pitch the song to anyone else until the hold is dropped and made into a firm commitment. A hold is a good sign, but countless songs are put on hold for every album that comes out. Be happy, but not ecstatic.

This Songwriter’s Perspective

Image from PhotoDune

I still pitch my own catalog to this day, and did so even when I was in the middle of a publishing deal. Even though I had the luxury of a songplugging staff for most of my years in Nashville, I figured the more pitches, the merrier! It amounts to more tickets in the lottery assuming the pitches are valid.

On a few occasions, I may have jumped the gun and beat my plugger to a certain contact, but that was rare and brows were furrowed in my direction only occasionally.

On separate occasions during my twenty plus years in the biz, I have been stood up, mistaken for someone else, and left waiting for nearly two hours making small talk with the receptionist.

Once I even managed to flood the bathroom only several feet from the reception desk!

On a less horrifying note, an A and R gent once liked my material so much that he invited me to write with the Dixie Chicks! A friend of mine was called, and told that a song he had pitched was going to be recorded by the artist. After much jubilation, he later learned that it was actually another song by the same title that was being recorded. Talk about an anti-climax!

The industry is made up of humans, and humans can be kind, funny, cruel, clueless, thoughtless, and wonderful. Pitching your own catalog will teach you a lot about psychology, give you some colorful tales to tell, rob you of sleep, and with a little luck, land you a boatload of cuts.

Happy pitching!!

Workshop #273: On My Own by Caddy Watkins

Adrian Try — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 08:00:55 GMT

Download audio file (Onmyown2.mp3)

Description of the track:

A hip hop beat that I have created. Let me know what you think. I used Logic Pro and the MASCHINE.

Artist’s website: soundcloud.com/eew

Need constructive criticism on your own tracks? Submit them for a workshop using this form. Most but not all submissions are published. There may be a wait of up to two months.