If your drum-kit were a band, the snare drum would be the frontman. It’s the driving force of the drum-kit. If the drum-kit were The Avengers, the snare would be Iron Man. The snare is the colorful and strong Superman to the thick and dark kick-drum’s Batman. And because the snare sound is such an...
I got an email from Graham Cochrane the other day. He was talking about his experience with NAMM and how he heard Tony Maserati say he uses presets all the time! But the thing is, he goes through the preset banks, finds something that’s close to what he’s looking for, tweaks to done and moves...
Muddy vocals are a constant struggle when you’re mixing music. Since the vocal sound is such an important part of the mix, no wonder it keeps you up at night. You want just the perfect-sounding EQ curve. Thickness and clarity without muddiness. So here are 5 steps for dealing with muddy vocals when you’re mixing your...
Being sick for a week gave me a different perspective on mixing music. Specifically when it comes to EQ. Isn’t EQ’ing a mix kind of like healing something that’s sick? You can look at it like surgery. Your mix is brought in with a case of boxy drums or nasally vocals and you take out...
1. Tame Drums – If the drums are getting in your way, careful attack and release timing can tame some of those pesky transients to make for easier-sounding drums in the background. 2. Explode Drums – On the other hand, if you want them to explode, parallel compression can make your drums big and juicy. 3. Take...
I’m going on a self-improvement kick and I want you to join me. No, it’s not gonna be a bunch of hypothetical, happy-go-lucky bull. Well, not for you at least. You should concentrate on making your mixes better. And here’s how my self-improvement kick can help you. Goals Hey, don’t roll your eyes at me!...
A reader wrote in with a few questions about compression for both mixing and mastering. I thought they might be relevant to you as well so I thought I’d quick-fire some answers for you all. Ready? All right, let’s go! It is said that you do compression after the mix. Don’t you compress during the...
Mixing hip-hop is something that’s made for the home recording studio. It’s mostly electronic so you can get away with using loops and synths in the box. No need for a big recording studio to track drums or anything like that. You just need a vocal recording setup in your bedroom studio and you’re up and...
Compression, along with EQ, is one of the most basic and useful tools you have in your arsenal for mixing. Compression makes things punchy. Compression makes things loud and clear. Compression makes your tracks more consistent throughout the song. But compression also makes things sound choked. Compression makes drums sound muffled and dull. Compression makes your listening experience tiring...
Don’t you just hate when your tracks sounds like they’re inside a cardboard box? I do. Whether it’s a bass drum, your voice or a piano chord, everything seems to be living inside a box. I don’t especially enjoy the sounds cardboard boxes make, especially when they’re interfering with my 26” kick drum sound, and...