Make better music now

One technique I’m growing more and more fond of for recording drums is an over-the-shoulder position. Specifically for right handed drummers, putting the mic over the right shoulder at roughly ear height. Whether as a mono drum overhead, one of a pair of overheads, or even as your single microphone for recording a whole kit it’s a great option.

Drums The Way Drummers Hear Them

Probably one of the simplest reasons why an over-the-shoulder approach to miking drums sounds great is because that is how the drummer hears his kit. He doesn’t hear it from the front of the kit (although other people do), nor from floating 9 feet up in the air.

Placing a microphone at roughly his right ear position gives you a realistic view of the kit. And if you allow the drummer to only monitor this microphone in is headphones, he’ll naturally balance the drums because he’s hearing them the way he’s used to hearing them.
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I’m a sucker for a studio challenge. Recently I decided to track an entire band production using only one microphone and a low cost audio interface. Why? Because that’s what many of you actually have in your home studio! The gear of choice: a Behringer B1 ($100 condenser mic) and the new Avid Fast Track Solo ($179 USB interface), all recorded and mixed on the included free Pro Tools Express software (using only the included stock plugins). Here’s how it all went down…

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Every great song has a hook. That one element that draws the listener in and keeps them there. Whether a pop song, jazz instrumental, or baroque orchestral piece, at the center of every song is a hook of some kind. And one of the keys to getting a great recording is to identify and build around the song’s hook.

What Is Your Song’s Hook?

I’ll show you what this can look like in the recording phase, but first you have to answer an important question: what IS the hook of your song? Can you clearly identify the hook? Sometimes it’s the vocal melody or an instrumental riff. Other times it is simply a percussive rhythm. Of all the great things going on in your song, what is the ONE thing that really drives it and makes it unique?
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These days, everything in the studio seems to blend together. From recording, to mixing, to arranging, to songwriting. Some people are even trying to master while they mix. It can get confusing and convoluted. So the question for today will be: is it OK to mix while you record? And if so what does that look like?

In fact recently a TRR reader emailed this quandry, and I’m sure many of you can identify with his situation:

I might pan some of the guitars, turn them down, etc while I get ready to track another guitar, keyboard part, bass, etc. Is that normal or should I not touch anything on the mixer until the song is pretty much done in the recording phase? – Doug (TRR reader)

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One way to speed up your mixing workflow is to treat your DAW like a console. By that I mean to set up a custom template that always opens with the exact tracks, routing, EQs and compressors you’d normally use already setup and ready to go. It allows you to work much like you would on an analog console where your raw tracks route through the board with all the effects patched in and ready go. Here’s how mine looks these days…

There are many things you and I cannot control in life. We can’t manufacture ideal opportunities or bend the universe to our will. It’s just the truth. However, there are a few things we CAN control. Things like our attitude, our response to circumstances, and of course how hard we work. Don’t worry, this applies to recording, trust me.

Good Things Come To Those Who…

There is a famous quote that is persistently attributed to Abraham Lincoln that speaks so much wisdom into how you and I need to approach our home studios:

Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. - Abraham Lincoln (16th President of The United States)

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This week I got to spend some quality time with a few audio friends (both old and new) in Nashville. In fact, my last night there I got to sit around a bon fire and talk all things recording and mixing with two of my favorite audio bloggers out there: Joe Gilder and Kevin Ward. If you don’t follow these guys yet, you should.

Kevin Ward – Mix Coach

Kevin is an award winning mixing engineer and producer, a great teacher, and all around humble guy. He does so much full time production and mixing work in his Nashville studio, that I don’t even know how he has time to run MixCoach.com, but he does. His site is packed with tips, tricks, video tutorials, and helpful podcasts aimed at the beginner all the way up to the advanced mix engineer.
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Well recorded vocals can make or break song. The good news? It’s not really that hard to capture a great vocal recording. In fact there are basically two main steps you need to follow. In today’s video I show you exactly how I follow these two steps to get a great vocal recording for myself and all my clients. Enjoy!

I have huge news to share today. For the first time ever I will be hosting a live, world wide, web event designed to help all of you frustrated home studio owners. From recording, to mixing, to where to invest money in gear, I’m covering it all. The event is called Take Back Your Studio and it’s going to be awesome.

Feeling Your Frustrations

I know what it’s like to not be getting the recordings you want. I know how it feels to spend forever mixing a song only have it fall apart, forcing you to start all over. I’ve lived the agony of money being tight and wondering whether or not one specific gear upgrade would really make a difference in the sound of my recordings.

So I know how you feel. But the truth is, it doesn’t have to be this way!
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If you happen to record guitars through a virtual amp plugin or box, then you’d be wise to done thing: commit to your sound on the way in. That’s right. None of this, recording the effected sound plus the direct sound, “just in case.”

Just in case of what? Just in case you completely change your mind on how guitars should sound while in the mixing phase? Bad idea.

You Have To Make A Decision

I’ve been pretty blown away by how realistic the Eleven Rack sounds as a virtual amp box. And it has the ability to record wet and dry signals into your DAW. But I would never do that. Why? At some point in the studio you must make a decision. At some point before your song hits a CD or MP3 for download you must decide what the guitars are going to sound like.
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