Archive for 'February, 2010'

Have you ever wanted to stretch a piece of audio, say a vocal, a little longer than it was recorded? Maybe the note needed to be held over to the downbeat or you just wanted to change things up in a remix. In either case you need to stretch it and you want it to sound unaffected. Fortunately most DAWs have workarounds for this and Pro Tools is no exception.

In this video I’m going to show you the quickest way to simply stretch a vocal line without it affecting the pitch or audio quality in the slightest. Hope this helps!

I love digital recording. I love how much power and potential is available to us with a basic home studio and a mind overflowing with ideas. We can accomplish practically anything we can imagine with the help of today’s wonderful sounding and affordable gear. But there is a giant problem creeping up in the modern home studio; the elephant in the room that no one is owning up to…we’re all getting lazy!

To explain myself, here is a brief expert from my new eBook, The #1 Rule of Home Recording…

The moment I was first introduced to computer based recording, I saw the potential for recording millions of takes. At first it made sense to me to just record as much as you can and then pick the best take or takes later. But over the years I have come to realize how much of a hindrance this philosophy was, rather than a help.

I honestly believe that having unlimited takes and hard drive space has made us lazy. It seems we’ve lost that sense of urgency to try to perform our best in the studio and capture a great recording in a few takes. That was part of the magic of recording; it was a challenge to get that once-in-a-lifetime performance!

More importantly, having that feeling of pressure to produce (even slight pressure) created a sense of focus in the studio.

You see, the thing that makes home recording so wonderful (the freedom to create without any time or money constraints) is the very reason we are becoming lazy and creating lackluster recordings. If we want our listeners to take our music seriously, then we are going to have to take our recording sessions seriously. Treat it like a real session in a real studio with real money on the clock! Plan what you are going to do, then execute that plan.

In the eBook I go into more detail on how I like to approach this process in my own studio and how I focus my recording sessions. If you don’t have a copy already, you can download it for free on the top right of the site.

But you may have your own ways of zeroing in on what needs to be done in order to get a great performance in the studio. What has been successful for you? What keeps you focused? What keeps the laziness at bay when you’re making music?

If you are a Pro Tools user, you may find yourself taking advantage of the markers feature in the Edit window. Markers can be used for many things, but one thing they let you do is notate where each section of the song starts and ends (i.e. Verse 1, Chorus, Outro). I find this extremely helpful especially when recording another band whose songs I’m not as familiar with. Once we setup the guide track, we go ahead and put markers in so I know where to punch in and out as needed.

Seeing In Color

What I find very helpful however is to switch on the color option for these markers. It helps me see even quicker where the song changes. Let me show you what I mean. When you insert markers into your session normally, this is what they look like, gray and dull:

The first thing you need to do is go to your Preferences window. Simply click on Setup from the menu bar and choose Preferences.

Make sure you have the Display tab selected. On the right there is a section labeled “Color Coding”. Simply check the first box labeled Always Display Marker Colors and you’re done.

Close out of the preferences and flip back over to the Edit window and voila! You now have beautiful colors in between the markers, helping you identify sections of the song with a brief glance.

It’s The Little Tweaks

I know it sounds simple, but this one minor tweak can help speed up your work flow exponentially over time. And every minute and ever second you can get back by having a streamlined process and interface in Pro Tools is time you can spend on other things like mixing or trying something creative that would otherwise be a time waster.

This past week, one of my YouTube channel subscribers had a simple, but important question regarding microphones. He is building a home studio and already has an audio interface and some basic equipment, including a Sennhieser E835 vocal mic. In response to my suggestion of getting a large diaphragm condenser microphone, here is his question…

“I was wondering if it would make a huge difference in vocals. The E835 picks up a lot of everything in the room.. the AC, the PC; everything is really picky. Also it doesn’t have a “fat” sound, it seems very “skype-voice-like” if you know what i mean…“

Microphones 101

This is an important question to address and I’ll do it as briefly and clearly as I can. First of all, there are a few types of microphones available to you that use different technology to capture audio: dynamic, condenser, and ribbon mics; the first two of which I will address here.

The E835 mentioned above is a dynamic microphone, one commonly used on stage in live settings. It is a great microphone, one that I actually use in my band, that can take a lot of abuse from being dropped and “handled” during a live performance. That is where it shines.

Typically dynamic microphones are best used in live applications, but of course they have their place in the studio (miking guitar cabinets, drums, etc). While condenser mics are usually best suited for the studio. These types of microphones are very sensitive to audio waves, offering a realism and crispness to the recordings that many times isn’t there with a dynamic mic.

Go With A Condenser Mic

The most common studio microphone (and most worth your money at this point) is a simple large diaphragm condenser microphone. This will be your workhorse so to speak, capturing your vocals, acoustic guitars, drum overheads, room sounds, and even guitar amps. The way the microphone operates will inherently offer you a “fatter” and more realistic recording than a simple stage mic.

There are always exceptions to the rule (this is an “art” and not a “science”). For instance, the SM57 by Shure is typically used to mic guitar amps, but has been used with great success as a main vocal mic in the studio on majer label talent for years. It really just depends on the vocalist and the style of music. Nevertheless, my firm recomendation for home studio owners and musicians breaking into this remains the same: Spend $100 on a studio condenser microphone, use it like a maniac, and don’t look back.

Further Reading

For more information on microphones and how to mentally approach them in the studio, be sure to check out the microphone section in my new eBook: The #1 Rule of Home Recording. It’s completely free to download!

I am thrilled today to announce the release of my brand new eBook, The #1 Rule of Home Recording. This is an eBook featuring to-the-point advice on how to mentally approach recording, editing, and mixing in the home studio. This one simple “rule” will change the way you view home recording forever. I know it has for me!

Instead of simply giving you techniques to follow, I want to revolutionize the way you tackle anything musical in the studio. This rule can and should be a guiding principle for the way you work on music.

Applying the #1 rule will help you:

• Save money on gear
• Get better takes in the studio
• Edit and mix faster!

As with all the material I present here, this eBook lines up with my mentality of being productive in the studio. The #1 rule will help you sift through the hype and nonsense out there, allowing you to grow as both a musician and as an engineer. And ultimately, applying this rule will help you make better music, now!

There’s One More Thing…

And that’s not all. The best part about this eBook is that I’m giving it away FREE! That’s right, absolutely free. To get your copy of The #1 Rule of Home Recording right now, simply sign up for my newsletter at the top right of this site. You’ll get an instant download of the eBook, so you can read it and start applying the rule right away.

At TheRecordingRevolution.com I truly want you to succeed at making incredible music in your home studio. I personally feel this eBook will help you do that. So please, take 10 seconds and sign up for your free copy right now. Read it and let me know how it helps you in YOUR musical endeavours!

If you’ve sat down to use an amp modeling plugin you may have fallen in love. These plugins sound fantastic as of late and they give you the ability to get great tone in your DAW, without needing an amp. Plus you have the freedom to switch “amps” after the initial recording. It’s like time travel in the studio. Pretty sweet!

The problem comes when you realize that too many of these plugins (matched with 30+ tracks) tend to slow your computer down, and that is a royal pain. So the question becomes, “how do I save computer power without losing the freedom and flexibility of using an amp plugin?” This video should help you out…take a look.

Everyone, in some way, has a predisposition to what I call “brand snobbery.” That is, the phenomenon where people won’t even consider certain brands as they are viewed as inferior. We favor certain brands of a product over others, but usually without having tried the “lesser” brand. It’s based more on what other people say and less on what we actually know about the brand.

This is especially true with the audio gear industry. There are certain “elite” brands and there are certain “accepted” brands. And of course there are certain “garbage” brands that you’d be a fool to purchase any of their products. But who determined that to be true? Have you or I tried out each product of each brand to know this to be fact? I think not.

Do You Behringer Bash?

Let me give you an example. One brand that seems to always be in the “dog house” of audio internet forums is Behringer. According to “people” they are a cheap company that makes even cheaper gear. If you own or use any of the gear you’re not a serious player. And if you DO happen to own some Behringer gear, then you wouldn’t ever consider using it on a “real” project. Would you? I would…and I do. Over and over again. Why? Because it sounds great. I could care less what brand is on the faceplate of a preamp or on a microphone. If it works and sounds good, then bring it on!

There Are Two Problems Here

The problem you see is laziness. People are too lazy to actually try a product out for themselves. So instead, we just buy something based off of reviews and hear-say, and then defend that purchase to the death. Is that logical? Heck no. Instead we ought to assess our needs and our budget, do some research, try out some products if we can, and then make a decision. Then use that product like crazy and don’t look back.

The other problem is simply that it “feels” right to us that expensive always equals quality and affordable always equals lesser quality (or just plain garbage). “You get what you pay for” people will tell you. Well strictly speaking, that may be the case. You do get beautiful, premium made components, and a heritage of excellence when you buy a Neumann mic let’s say. But you could also just spend $100 on an MXL mic and get just as good of a result in your studio. Can we still justify the more expensive purchase? That is up for you to decide. I’m just trying to make a point.

The Point

The point is, don’t knock something till you try it. Don’t assume that a low price tag means low quality and bad results. It would be wise to spend as little as possible on gear that gets you the results you want, that way you can still have money take your girl out to dinner!

Bottom line, use the tools for what they are and don’t align your self worth with your purchases, good or bad. OK? Cool.

As many of you are starting to build your home studios you are having to make a choice of which recording software (or DAW) to go with. With so many great platforms available these days, and new ones launching almost every year it seems, it can be hard to pick one.

One of my readers, Jeff, asked me a question about Presonus’ brand new DAW, Studio One:

I’ve been reading your Blog for several months now and am preparing for my own studio. I know you are a ProTools guy, but I was wondering if you’ve tried Presonus Studio One, and if you have thoughts on this DAW.

Here are my thoughts

Presonus is a great company that makes some wonderful products for the home and professional studio. They are well known as of late for their audio interfaces and multi-channel preamps. I personally use (and wrote about) their digital mixing console for my band at church every week for practices, services, and live recording, and am very pleased.

Since launching their own recording software, Studio One, in 2009 I haven’t actually gotten my hands on it yet. But from what I’ve seen in development and since the release, it looks to be a fantastic option. Should YOU use it for your DAW? Here is the main thing to consider:

Do you already own a Presonus interface?

If so, then this could be a no brainer for you as Studio One integrates beautifully with Presonus hardware. Studio One comes in two main flavors, the Artist version (for $199) and the full version (for $399). The big difference between the two are the number of plugins that come bundled with it, plus the cool mastering features that come in the full version. In either case, Studio One offers a nice “self-contained” platform that should give you all you need to make quality recordings.

One thing to consider is that if you buy an interface from Presonus (even their $149 AudioBox USB) you’ll get Studio One Artist for free (a value of $199). Pretty sweet deal indeed! So if you own Presonus hardware, I think you’d be a fool not to at least try Studio One and see what you think of it!

Remember the big picture

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what platform you record on. No one is going to listen to your mix and say “Hey, sounds like this was recorded in Pro Tools…” (or Logic, Cubase, Studio One, etc). What DOES matter is your studio needs, your budget, and your creativity and drive to make great music. If Studio One happens to fit those needs and budget, then go with it and don’t look back!

For all you Pro Tools users out there I wanted to do a quick video tutorial on using the Elastic Pitch feature of version 8. No one really talks about this feature too much for some reason, but it can come in really handy when you want to transpose the pitch of any note or chord in your session, in real time!

Elastic Pitch is part of the amazing Elastic Audio engine that Pro Tools shipped out a couple of years ago in version 7.4, but with the release of version 8 it has added some great functionality. I ended up using it a little when doing my One Song One Month Challenge so I figured I’d share it with you guys!

So check out this quick video and let me know how YOU like to use Elastic Pitch in your session!

Since wrapping up January’s One Song One Month Challenge I have had a number of you readers email me and drop comments about how much you’ve enjoyed the challenge or were inspired to take on the challenge yourself this month. I am so encouraged to hear this! To me, the challenge has been a huge sucess if it has motivated others to be creative and productive.

One of my readers, JR, was kind enough to share his final song from the challenge with me and brave enough to allow me to post it here! Here’s a guy who before last month had never as much as touched Pro Tools or used real recording gear. He did a phenomenal job of taking the advice and challenge head on. The result? Major growth in skill and ability (and a great song) in just 4 short weeks!

Below are his thoughts on how this whole experience has gone. Read it, listen to his song, and be inspired! Thanks JR for sharing!

When the One Month, One Song Challenge was introduced I had barely even assembled my new recording setup.  After years of recording my demos using a computer microphone and Sony Vegas movie editting software I was now equipped with gear that I had purchased upon the recommendation of one of Graham’s earlier blog posts.

I forged ahead rocking my new MBox 2 Mini and AT2035 condenser mic and after numerous humbling attempts of trying to record my main guitar part to a click track (a new endeavor to me) I finally had my guitar parts recorded.  I got some quality tracks laid down and auditioned numerous drum loops that came with my Pro Tools software until I had spliced together percussion for the entire song.

After laying down some virtual instruments, vocals, and a bass line, I was able to follow along with Graham’s video and add some delay, EQ, and compression to get a quick mix on what would be my first ever recording using a real set up.

Did I sacrifice more than a few hours of sleep trying to figure out what I was doing till 3 or 4 am some nights?  Sure.  But in those hours I spent messing around attempting to find my way around a completely new system and with the assistance of Graham’s video blogs, I was able to record a song in one month as a complete Pro Tools rookie. I know I’m only scratching the surface but for a first time recording I’m pretty please with how it turned out.

Crazy by JR Mondell

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.