I can’t live without coffee. I can say, without a doubt, that without coffee I probably wouldn’t have written any of the articles on this site. It keeps my creative juices running and the ideas flowing. Hang on. I’ll be right back. Now that caffeine is pulsing through my veins we can continue. As you...
Most home studio engineers yearn for a second room to record in. Close your eyes, and make a wish: I wish, I wish, I wish I had a live room! Open your eyes. Nope? Still stuck with your single bedroom studio where you not only record, but mix and master everything you produce. Joe Gilder...
When you’re doing an acoustic guitar recording you’re going to want the most out of your full-bodied instrument. The nature of it being an acoustic instrument means that you will need some fairly capable mics if you want to capture the whole sound of the acoustic guitar – Everything from the deep lows to the...
Getting a juicy bass sound is something we all want right? Dealing with the low-end is tricky. It’s like sand. It gets everywhere when you only want it to stay on the ground. Bad analogies aside, low-end is pretty tricky to deal with, and during recording there are some things you should consider when you’re...
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE GUIDE: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MIXING DRUMS AND BEATS Mixing drums starts with the foundation. The kick drum sound. The kick drum sound and the snare will be the defining factors of your drum sound. If the kick drum sounds bad, the song’s foundation will lose its footing. The kick...
This is a guest post by Mike Sorensen of Acoustic Fields We live in the year 2012 AD and yet we are still light years away from perfecting the recording process. As Donald Rumsfeld once said: “There are known knowns and there are known unknowns.” OK, so he was talking about the Iraq war in...
Cooking is great. Doing the dishes afterwards is terrible. And it’s even worse when you leave them in the sink until the next time you have to cook. Then you not only have to do the dishes before you cook, but you ALSO have to do them afterwards! Terrible right? I like cooking, so I begrudgingly do...
In the battle for a great recording, who will win: the rich kids with all the nice gear, or the resourceful and educated intern? In one corner we have George the rich kid. His trust fund allows him to buy Neumann mics, Millenia pre-amps and Focal monitors. He thinks money will get him great recordings, so...
EQ is a tricky thing. It’s super helpful for sculpting your mixes, but it can also make them sound terrible. Especially if you’re doing any of these things below. 1. You Move the Wrong Knobs This is beginner’s mistake number 1 but it’s worth pointing out. If you’re only moving the frequency knob without moving...
We’ve been talking about the Loudness Wars all week, and for good reason. Today is Dynamic Range Day, the day we celebrate mixes that actually sound good. If I haven’t beaten the idea into the ground yet, here’s a video demonstration of what happens with too much compression. Are Your Mixes a Casualty? Here are...