Back when I was starting to learn guitar I couldn’t understand the concept of scales. I thought: “Eric Clapton didn’t need no music theory and neither will I” What a dumb kid I was. I didn’t want to learn music theory and what notes were in a scale because I didn’t understand how it would help...
We’ve been rapping on about vocals this week because of David Glenn’s Mixing Vocals series. Today is not different, and it’s VERY important you pay attention. There’s this thing you have to do after you record vocals. Even before you think about making it sound better with EQ and compression. What is it? Editing. Ugh, snooze....
You know the vocals are usually the most important part of every mix. That’s why I thought I’d put together a handy tip sheet for you that you can use the next time you’re struggling with mixing vocals. Here we go: 1. Filter and cut – This is simple but important. Filter the low-end, cut...
Clashing instruments is a common problem in your mixes. I have the same problem all the time. Lately, I’ve been solving it with this simple EQ trick. I use an analyzer to tell me where the instruments clash. Here’s what you do: Start Strong When you’re EQ’ing a couple of instruments that you know will clash...
I hate producing myself. Absolutely loathe it. I admire guys like Graham over at The Recording Revolution who self-produce, record, mix and master their own music. I mean, I could. It’s just that I have this mental road block when it comes to my own music. When you self-produce you need to wear all the...
Let me confess something to you. I have a really big problem with subtractive EQ’ing. Why? Because every time I ONLY cut, I always feel like the source sounds weaker. I know I can just increase the volume to compensate for the reduction in gain. The only problem is that it’s hard to A/B test....
I know how you feel. You’re confused by loudness and scared to over-compress your mixes during mastering. But at the same time you also like mastering. Mastering is fun and allows you to get punchier mixes and louder songs. I bet you also don’t understand all this loudness jargon though. Like -16 dB LKFS, EBU...
Here’s a simple trick for a cool solo sound I came across the other day. I was working with a brass solo but I’m thinking it would work real well on anything, especially a kick-ass guitar solo. Here’s what you do: 1. Stereo Start by sending your solo to an aux bus where you insert...
Chris Lord-Alge, if you haven’t heard of him, is one bad-ass mixing engineer. He has over 750 credits to his name. He’s mixed artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Deftones and Avril Lavigne. He’s generally known for his hard-hitting and loud mixes. They’re punchy and compressed but still clean and pristine. But his secret isn’t...
I’m a big fan of wrist watches. I own a few and I wear each one depending on what clothes I’m wearing. I can’t wear a brown watch if my outfit is mostly black, and I can’t wear a black watch with all my light colors. I guess I probably put too much thought into...