The Audio Wizard's Grimoire

Microphone Selection and Placement

2012-02-02T08:17:00.002-08:00

After you're sure that your source is the best it can be you need to select the right mic. Selecting the right microphone is important. If you get this wrong you're going to have problems further down the line. Does this mean you use your best mic, your most expensive mic? Hell no! You use the best mic for the particular instrument and this particular song. That is the key to getting a good home recording.

Now most likely you don't have a large number of microphones. You may only have one or two, if this is the case you will have to make do with what you have. The key is to use the proper mic technique as I mentioned in this post. Proper mic technique can make up for deficiencies in your microphone. Even the cheapest mic can give good results if you use it properly. Make do with what you have. I guarantee that if you pay attention to mic technique your recordings will be superior to recordings made with better equipment, but no technique.

Now back to mic selection. The first thing you should do is decide what the source needs. Is it overly bright? Then try using a ribbon mic or dynamic. Do you want a very detailed recording? Then use a condenser mic. If you're not familiar the three different types of microphones then you are severely handicapping your recording abilities. These days everyone wants to use condensers. Now condensers are fine but a good dynamic or ribbon mic can be just what the doctor ordered.

I particularly love dynamic mics. They are as a rule cheaper than condensers and harder to damage. Even more importantly dynamics take EQ better than the cheap condensers that are so prevalent these days. Shure makes some of the best dynamic mics in the world. There is a good summary of their microphones and what applications they are good in this post. Another mic I recommend is the EV RE-20. The RE-20 is my personal favorite. It works great on vocals, guitar amps, bass amps and kick drums. Here is a list of microphone's that I think everyone should have.

If you want to improve your recordings you need to pay attention to details. One of the most important details is mic selection and placement. So be sure to give it the attention is deserves.

It's All in the Source

2012-01-30T16:26:00.001-08:00

Start at the source you here this all the time. You hear this all the time, in books, on the web, when you talk to professional recording engineers and producers. However, how many times have you had the band all there, you put up the mics quickly, press record and hope for the best. Go ahead admit it, we've all done it. There are many times when this is the only you're going to get anything recorded.

Knowing this is the case it's important to make sure that you plan your recording sessions in advance, I know I say that a lot but it's true. Plan where you think the instruments will be placed, plan which mic you will use on which source. Spend some time thinking about how you want to place the mic. You can't know exactly how a certain instrument will sound on a certain song, on a certain day, but you can have a starting position.

A great source for this sort of information is Bobby Owsinski's book The Recording Engineer's Handbook. This book shows you (yeah, you don't even have to read) how to mic numerous sources. Now the mic techniques in the book aren't the most fancy or creative, but you know that you'll get a sound that's usable. And with just a bit of tweaking you can fine tune it.

Being in the ballpark is the goal, no one has an entire month these days to get the perfect snare sound. Getting the sound as close to what the finished product should sound like at the source, in the shortest time is our goal. So pay attention to this critical first link in the recording chain. Use you ears, make great music. And as always don't forget to have fun doing it. - Wizard

Communication Breakdowns

2012-01-30T10:23:00.000-08:00

Communication is extremely important in all areas of life and unfortunately it's easy to neglect. The importance of communication when recording is obvious but rarely talked about (it's more fun to talk about mics or that new mixer you want). However, I feel we all need to give a little bit of attention to this aspect of the recording process.

Before you start a session go and talk with the musicians make them feel comfortable and get to know a little about the music you'll be recording that day. Even if you have planed to do something it's always a possibility that the artist may have something different in mind.

Also it's always wise to inquire about the artist personally. I say this because during a session I was doing a few years ago I was not getting a good performance out of the vocalist and I kept pushing, not to hard just asking if we could do another take after three tries she left without saying a word. It wasn't until two weeks latter when we had another session that I learned she was having chest pains and couldn't breath(a few months latter she had a heart attack, but she's ok now). This illustrates the importance of making sure the artist and you are communicating, that day I was in a hurry and didn't stop to find out how the artist was feeling. Always make sure that the artist knows that if they have any problems that they can talk to you, and maybe you won't wind up contributing to someone heart attack.

Recording Jazz: The absolute basics

2009-12-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

Recording jazz can be one of the most rewarding and one of the most unnerving things a recording engineer has to deal with.

It's a blend of studio recording and and live recording. It requires the engineer to be constantly on his toes. However, recording jazz can be one of the most rewarding recording experiences you can have.

The first thing to remember when recording jazz is that jazz is an improvisational art and it is important to convey the sound and feel that was in the room at the time of recording. This means you will want to keep overdubs to a minimum or better yet don't overdub at all. This can be a foreign concept to many who record in home or project studios where very few sessions involve more than 3 or 4 instruments at a being recorded at a time (I'm counting drums as a single instrument).

When recording jazz you have to keep in mind the fact that the interaction between musicians is so critical in this style. So its vitally important for the musicians to be able to see and hear each other in the most natural way possible. This means you will most likely have to put musicians close together. So you are most likely going to have some bleed, but that's OK it will contribute to the overall sound of the recording. Excessive bleed happens when one instrument is playing to loud. You can control this bleed by positioning instruments in an intelligent way, this is the way the earliest recordings were done. The pioneers of recording would position the most important/quietest instruments closest to the recording device and position the louder instruments farther away. Doing this and making sure your mic choices and positions are right will keep bleed at a manageable and even profitable level.

While overdubs are undesirable when recording jazz I have occasionally had a jazz artist that wanted to overdub its rare and I wouldn't consider those artist as pure jazz musicians. If you must do an over dub it is important that if you can possibly record in the original space you do this is the best way to make sure your overdub gels with the main track.

Now if you haven't already guessed the most important thing in recording jazz is having a good room. Now a good room for recording pop may not be a good selection for jazz. You'll have to use your ears and the artist vision of where they want the music to sound like it is being preformed. I mention this because several jazz artist I have recorded wanted to sound like they were performing in a jazz club. To get this "jazz club" sound it's not imperative to have a perfectly treated room (which is a good thing for many home recordists). I have recorded jazz in living rooms, churches, auditoriums, and of course jazz clubs. It may even be a good idea to try a live recording although this is a major under taking.

Most of all I advise that you try to see the band perform live if you can not just when you're recording a jazz group but any band who performs live. This is the first thing you should do when preparing to record jazz groups. And trust me if there is ever a time to plan ahead it's when you are going to be recording a group that where overdubs won't be a major part of he finished track.

Now go out and a make a record that would make Miles jealous.

Compression Made Easier

2009-12-14T11:10:00.001-08:00

Learning how to set up a compressor can be a challenge, but here's an easy way to find the best setting. First set the release to its fastest possible setting and the ratio to a higher setting than you think you should need, then set the threshold so that there is always some compression. Next listen to the attack, because you have set a fast release it becomes easy to hear the attack. After you have the attack that you want then set the release, followed by the ratio and threshold in that order. The reason that this is helpful is because it allows you to isolate certain elements of what the compressor and set them to give the best possible sound.

The Top 5 DAWs

2008-02-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

The Best Audio Workstations.

Every year it another Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is released, and the flagships are upgraded. So which one is the best, well almost everyone has his own opinion, but I'm gonna list my favorites (yes I have used all of them on the list for projects). I'm not gonna list Mac DAWs like Logic because I only have PCs (although I love Logic when I get a chance to use it).

So here They are...

5. Live 7

Live 7 is DAW but is also designed to be used live (as the name denotes). Live 7 Features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to browse and preview audio files, then drop them directly into your session. It also has full VST support and can handle most loop formats, Live also supports MIDI and has a video import/export feature. All editing in Live is done in realtime so you can undo any mistakes you may make. Live 7 also allows you to automate the tempo and it will adjust any loops or tracks for you.

4. Tracktion 3

Tracktion is the quickest to learn, and the quickest to use. All recording and mixing is done from a clutter-free, single-screen user interface. It has MIDI and VST support, and is capable of importing Acid, Apple and REX Loops. It places no limits on track count, virtual instruments, or plug-ins (though your computer can only take so much abuse). Tracktion also features a high-definition 64-bit/192kHz mix engine and QuickTime video support.

3. Sonar 7

Soanr 7 is slightly harder to learn than Tracktion and Live, but with it we also enter the more "professional" DAW section of the list. Sonar features full VST support, full MIDI support and has an unlimited track, bus, and effect count. It also comes with a large collection of very good VSTs (better than the plug-ins most DAWs ship with). It was hard to decide where this should go on the list, I really like this DAW, but it gives me a lot of trouble so it got third place.

2. Cubase 4

My favorite for years Cubase (2, 3, and 4) was the DAW I kept coming back to (I kept trying Sonar) and I still use it frequently. Cubase is a bit harder to learn than sonar, but it will reward you with exelent results. Cubase has full MIDI and VST support. It also comes with 52 VST plug-ins which are of at least fair quality if not good, but you will want to buy some plug-ins of a higher quality. Cubase Features a video import/export function. I would recommend cubase if you want a professional full featured DAW that will work with almost any soundcard.

1. Protools LE or M-Powered

Protools is the industry standard and if you want to get truly professional results this is a good start. Now Protools is very expensive so till LE and M-powered only pros could afford it. I only got protools (m-powered) about a year ago, and have had a good time making music with it. Protools LE and Protools M-powered require special hardware to operate, and do not support VST instead they use RTAS plug-ins (most plug-ins offer this as a choice when you install them, and there is a VST to RTAS wrapper on the market). With a limit of 5 effects per track they do slightly handicap you, but this makes you think before you apply an effect. Protools LE and Protools M-powered both place restrictions on the number of tracks which can be a help or a hindrance. Protools is the DAW to use if you are serious I highly recommend it give it a try.

In conclusion any of these DAWs can give professional results in the right hands. Choose the DAW that suits your needs best, learn basic recording and mixing techniques, and