Archive for 'June, 2010'

On Monday we looked at the band Crossfade whose debut album was recorded in their Atlanta garage before they were ever signed to Columbia. If that gave you some encouragement (and I hope it did) then get ready for today’s post. Below is a video interview of the band Pistol Youth. These guys decided to write and record an album over the internet.

Basically all 4 guys were living in 4 different parts of the world and would record their own instruments using their home studios (basic M-Audio gear) and then send the files over the web to the next guy, so to speak. Some things to learn from this group:

• The desire to create great music is what helped them succeed. Not gear. Not a fancy studio, and not even being in the same city! If you have no passion for the music, then it’ll be hard to get a great recording.
• They got fantastic results using prosumer level gear, the stuff you and I are most likely to use in our studios. Again, it’s not about the gear.
• They all benefited from having recording knowledge. Without an engineer and even relying one guy in the band, these 4 musicians had to use their own knowledge and basic skills to setup and capture a clean and musical performance.

Now check out the interview (you’ll hear their album in the background and throughout) and get pumped!

My hope is that each and every post on The Recording Revolution gets you one step closer to creating more (and better) music. There really is no other point to this website. Sometimes I’ll go over studio techniques or tips, while other times I might review a piece of gear that I find to be affordable and helpful. But all of this content is only a means to an end: making music! If we miss that point then we get a bit too bogged down in the details.

Crossfade = Homemade

That being said, I always like to bring out examples of people who are making great music in home studios and not letting their “limitations” slow them down. One such example is the band Crossfade. This Atlanta based rock group hit mainstream radio with the single “Cold” in 2004 and has been rocking ever since (with a new album due out this summer). What you might not know is that their debut album was self recorded and produced before they were signed to a major label. And guess where it was recorded…in their garage!

The songs were solid enough for Columbia reps that they had no need to re-record anything. They simply added two more tunes to the 8 that were self recorded and then released it as their debut, major label album. The rest, as they say, is history. You can listen to the track “Cold” on their music video below, but here are some main points to consider:

• The recording quality is not perfect. It’s great, but not perfect. I’ve personally heard better tones and sounds come out of home studios, but that’s not the point. These guys got their songs recorded well enough, capturing the energy and emotion of their live performance, to get radio play. Nice!
• The vocals are very prominent. Having a solid vocal performance and letting it sit prominently in the mix is very important in most popular music today. This can take an OK track a lot further than it would go on it’s own, and this shows in this song.
• Garage recordings can be good enough for major label deals and radio play. That is the biggie here. Until we can get over that fact we will be hung up on gear, nice studios, and detailed techniques. Rather we should be focused on writing better songs and capturing them with as much clarity and authenticity as possible!

What Can We Learn?

So what can we learn from these guys? Don’t get wrapped up in the details. Don’t worry if your track isn’t perfect. It never will be. Set yourself some deadlines and get your music out there. Ultimately isn’t that what all this recording stuff is all about? Sharing music! What a concept. If these guys can do it, so can you.

When mastering your final mixes in your DAW it becomes very helpful to be able to reference some already mastered, professional tracks in order to know where your songs sound link in comparison. I like to be able to reference tracks right in my session so I’m hearing everything coming through the same D/A converters. This video explains my work-flow. Enjoy!

To be honest, so much of what makes up a good recording is working with a great song. Simply, you can’t go very far in the studio and expect a great result if the actual song writing isn’t stellar. On top of that I’ve written about how a solid arrangement takes what could be called “demos” to “professional” status much faster than people believe. But honestly what’s even more important before you dive into the arrangement and the studio tricks is this: can your song hold up when stripped away to just an instrument and voice?

Don’t Forget Your Acoustic Guitar

As the leader of a worship band at my local church I try to stay in tune with what some other wise and Godly bands, musicians, and worship pastors say on the subject of music. One website I follow is TheResurgence.com (a ministry of Mars Hill Church in Seattle). There was a recent article posted by Mars Hill’s worship pastor, Tim Smith entitled “Don’t Forget Your Acoustic Guitar.” In this article Tim talks about the importance of being able to strip away all the flashiness of instrumentation and effects and still have a song that is authentic, passionate, and moving.

“If a song can’t stand on its own with an acoustic guitar and a few voices raised together, it needs more work. Effects and instrumentation shouldn’t be used to cover up a poor song. If you can’t strip it all away, and still have substance that moves hearts to worship Jesus, then you’re relying too much on technology, tricks, and gear.”

Obviously this article is written for the context of worship music in church. But the principle is so spot on. A good song should be able to stand on it’s own. Whether that is a simple acoustic guitar and voice like Tim mentions or a solo piano riff, or even a simple melody on a violin, it needs to be complete, whole, and substantive even without all the trimmings.

Effects Are The Means To An End

Now the take home here (and quite frankly even the rest of the article on The Resurgence) is not that we should simply abandon effects, complex arrangements, or electronic music. It is simply a mental shift. Somewhere along the way of trying to make great music and polished recordings we started using effects as the end in itself rather than simply a conduit through which our simple song ideas explode into an amazing opus of rock. We need to approach our recordings in a new way, one in which the “unplugged” song is the center of attention and all the tools, tricks, and effects are there to enhance, support, and uplift it as the lead role.

One way to do this practically is to always ask yourself this question when making a musical decision: Does this help the song or simply cover it up? If you feel the song only getting better, more exciting, more moving or powerful, then you’re probably on the right track. If it is simply different, more complex, or worse, you can’t even get the original feel of the song back, then you’re probably off course. Time to strip away, and refresh.

Why We’re Even In The Studio

It seems crazy to say, but sometimes we need to remind ourselves of why we are even in the studio recording at all. It’s all about the music! We record, edit, mix, and share online because of the music. Everything we do in the studio needs to simply do one thing: serve the song. If ultimately we don’t have any good music worth “serving” in the studio then why are we even recording it? Ask yourself these questions before you hit the record button next time and see where the answer takes you. I hope you care more about the music than the tools used to serve that music.

If you typically use your home studio to record yourself, you may never think about the need for a custom separate headphone mix. But if you tend to record other people (or are in a band needing to record your band mates) then the ability to create custom mixes for them is paramount. This video will show you how to do that quickly and easily in Pro Tools (or any other DAW for that matter).

For most popular music, no matter the genre, vocals play a hugely important role. The lyrics tell the message of the artist while the vocal is usually the melody line that gets stuck in your head. So it’s no surprise that a good recording is only truly good if you have a fantastic vocal recording. One with emotion, authenticity, passion, and confidence. Today I want to highlight a few practical tips to helping you (or your vocalist) capture great vocal performances in your studio.

Create a Creative Atomosphere

Most of the time when we think about getting a great recording our minds immediately go gear. What “stuff” is going to help me capture that perfect vocal. What we tend to forget however is that having the “best” equipment in front of vocalist in a bland, boring, and uninspiring room won’t do much for you. It’s super critical to create a “creative” vibe in your studio (even if that is your bedroom) in order to motivate and compel a stellar vocal performance.

A lot of singers like the lights turned down. The darker the better because they don’t feel as self conscious. Maybe light some candles or have a dim light in the room. Does the room smell good? Is it cluttered with bills and papers? Is it too hot or cold in the room? These are all simple issues that need to be addressed way before you ever hit the record button when tracking vocals. Singers perform their absolute best when they feel in the zone, one that happens many times naturally on stage (dark room, stage environment, doesn’t feel like work). Take a few minutes to create a comfortable and “musical” atmosphere and watch things get better.

Take Time To Setup a Perfect Headphone Mix

Once a singer feels comfortable and creative, they still can’t perform well unless they can hear both themselves clearly and the music their singing with. Getting the perfect headphone mix (no matter how long it takes) is always worth it because it takes your vocalist one step further to feeling their absolute best. Otherwise, if they can barely hear themselves (or hear too much of their vocals) they won’t be thinking about singing at all; they’ll be thinking about surviving. At that is not what you want to capture.

Make sure your vocalist can hear all the instruments he/she wants to hear and at what levels. If he needs to hear more of his vocals then either turn him up or suggest removing one ear from the headphones in order to hear his vocals in “real space”. One tip I’ve learned over the years to help vocalists sing on pitch is this: if they are singing flat (under the pitch) it’s usually because they hear way too much of themselves and are backing off a bit. Simply turn down their vocals in their mix. The opposite is also true. If they are singing too sharp (or over the pitch) it means they can’t hear themselves enough and are pushing their vocals in order to hear themselves. Simply turn them up in their headphones. Rinse and repeat.

Let Them Sing Through The Song

I’ve been in many studio environments with other engineers and seen how different people approach actually recording vocals. One popular method is to punch in and out a lot (sometimes word by word) in order to compile a great take. I find this to be rather unsettling for most singers however.

Instead I prefer to hit record and let my vocalist warm up by singing through the entire song. Always record the “warm up” take just in case. Then I repeat the process letting them do 2 or 3 passes through the song, each time keeping the takes on a separate playlist (or virtual track). This gives the singer a chance to perform the song the way he or she actually knows it, as a whole song. Not piece by piece. And it also gives me plenty of material to work with later for comping and editing.

Notice a Trend?

In case you haven’t noticed, there is a trend in these three tips. In order to record great vocals, your vocalist (or yourself) needs to feel as natural as possible. They need to feel relaxed, hear themselves naturally, and be able to perform as naturally and normal as possible. Despite the studio being a different environment than the stage, our goal as engineers and producers is to cater to the musician’s needs in order to capture the best performance possible. These simple steps can help ensure that happens with your vocalist and thereby get you that much closer to a top notch recording!

There is much debate in the audio recording world over using a Mac or PC as your DAW computer of choice. I personally try to avoid those conversations as I believe they are a distraction to actually making music. I wrote about this in more depth in my ebook, The #1 Rule of Home Recording, which you can download for free here.

But if you are in the market for a new computer and you use a cross platform DAW such as Pro Tools, Cubase, Studio One, or Propellerhead’s Record let me give you three brief reasons why if you havne’t gone Mac yet, I will suggest you consider one.

1. Macs Just Work

It is a well known fact that Apple only manufactures a small line of personal computers (3 desktops and 3 laptop models). This allows Apple to focus on these core products and make sure they are built to strict standards and are satisfying the demands of both the casual and the professional user.

Combine that with the fact that Apple codes their own operating system to go with these great computers and you get a well oiled machine of hardware and software that more than play well with each other, they excel together. What does that mean for you the home studio user? It means better stability with fewer crashes, lean computing power with out bloated software, and more focused customer support if something goes wrong. Simply call Apple.

2. Macs Are Quiet

Most of us home studio owners have just one room acting as both control room and tracking room. This means our computers are right there in the vacinity of our sensitive studio microphones. It’s always a fight to keep the computer fans quiet without our CPU overheating so as to not add unwanted sound in our recordings.

Well ever since Apple moved it’s entire Macintosh line over Intel processors they’ve had some of the quietest computers I’ve ever heard. From their Macbooks to iMacs, to Mac Pros, these are super quiet machines with hardly any fan noise while running tons of tracks and plugins. Quiet computers are a must in the home studio, and Apple gives you that standard.

3. Macs Are Affordable

This is the one reason that many people miss (and potentially hold them back from buying a Mac). It’s a myth that Macs cost more than PCs. For one, if you actually build a PC comparable to most of the out of the box Macs, it will cost at least just as much. Macs come loaded with some high end features like built in Bluetooth and multi-touch technology that you can’t opt out of. I get this.

However, let’s look at what makes buying a Mac affordable by way of example. It starts with buying a refurbished mac over the “new” ones. At the Apple Store’s website you can purchase heavily discounted Mac’s that are basically brand new. They have either been returned or broken, and then Apple refurbishes them with geniuine Apple parts, repackages them brand new, and gives you the exact same one year warranty that comes with the “new” computers. This means you have the same coverage and computer for a lot less. One iMac I bought retailed for $1250 new and I got it for $999 refurbed. Same computer, lower price.

But here’s the real deal sealer. After 3 years I wanted to upgrade to a faster computer, so I sold my iMac on Ebay for just over $500. Talk about resale value. In essence my iMac cost me a little less than $500 when it was all said and done (for a computer worth $1250). I’ve repeated this process over the years with both mac laptops and desktops. It truly has removed the price issue from the equation.

Something To Consider

I try not to focus on gear that much, and if you read my blog for any length of time you’ll notice that I care more about making music than buying stuff. But we all need some gear to get started and at some point you may need to replace an old computer. If you do and you aren’t tied to a PC only DAW then I hope the above 3 reasons will motivate you to at least consider going Apple for your next machine. I’ve been pleased ever since I made the switch and I bet you will too.

Busy week this week, but I wanted to bring some of my previous tutorial videos covering mixing techniques all into one convenient place for you to enjoy. Take a few minutes, review the content in them, and apply them to your songs. If you do, I know you’ll see an improvement in your mixes. Also, please let me know if these videos have helped you in any tangible way. Have fun!

Quick Mixing Tips

Compression Basics

Mixing Drums

If you’ve ever worked in Pro Tools on a session that has a ton of tracks, playlists, edits, and regions then whether you know it or not you are creating one massive session with a bloated Audio Files folder. Pro Tools saves everything you record, no matter if you delete it from the edit window or record over it. The file is still there on your hard drive (and visible in your Regions bin). This can take up much needed space on your audio drive. Today I’m going to show you how to quickly and easily shrink your Pro Tools sessions and get rid of all the excess fat.

Select The Unused Regions

This will all take place from the Regions bin drop down menu. Make sure your Regions bin is visible and click on the drop down arrow on the top right of the bin. Arrow down and choose Select and then Unused from the menu.
You’re region bin should now show a bunch of highlighted names. These represent all pieces of audio and MIDI that Pro Tools is currently not using in your edit window. Keep in mind that audio on hidden playlists will not be selected as these are still “used” regions. Just not currently on top of the track.

Clear Unused Regions From Your Session

Now we need to tell Pro Tools to clear these regions out of our session. Go back to the Regions bin menu and choose the Clear option. A warning message will pop up asking you if you are sure you want to clear these regions. It will give you a choice to either clear them out of this session folder or delete them permanently from the hard drive. Typically it’s best to select “Remove” rather than delete. Only because it is possible that other sessions are pulling the audio from here and will be confused if it just disappears.

When Is This Helpful?

This processes is most helpful when wrapping up a recording or mix session. You’re pretty much done with the song and you just want to trim down the session size either for your archives or for sending the session on to a mixing engineer. Clearing out unused audio regions will give you a much leaner and easier file to backup/transfer over the web.

I’m a big fan of Behringer gear. These guys make pro audio gear at a price that fits with real hard working musicians’ budgets. I’ve written about some of their products before; here, and here. But I’ve never technically done a review. So today I’ve got a video review of their big brother microphone, the B2 Pro as well as one of their affordable tube preamps/DI boxes, the MIC 200. There is an audio example at the end so you can hear these guys in action. Hope you enjoy!