Archive for 'Guest Post'

A while back, Nashville based mixing engineer Joe Carrell was kind enough to do an interview with me. He covered so many important topics related to mixing and offered real practical advice for a beginner mixer. Many of you after listening to the interview emailed Joe some questions for further clarification. Joe was kind enough to pass them on to me to post for everyone’s benefit. Enjoy!

Signal Levels In My DAW?

Q: When I mix and place plug ins on each track, should I still try and keep my overall output signal below Odb?

Joe: Yes definitely, avoid clipping before and after the plug-in if possible. You’ll often turn down the input or output of an eq type plug to avoid clipping when using substantial frequency boost.  Vice-versa, you’ll often use make-up gain to restore ouput level when using heavy compression.

Q: What can I do when I get a session where each track is recorded pretty hot before any clipping?

Joe: Concerning sessions you receive with “Hot” recording levels, if they aren’t clipping the channels LED or clipping your plug-ins I would probably leave them as they are and just turn down the faders to make certain I wasn’t slamming the master output.  If you receive some that are clipping during playback, I would use the “Gain” audiosuite plug-in to bring it down a few db.  You could also use the “trim” plug as your first insert.  Unfortunately, any distortion that was printed as a result of the overloading will not go away, you’ll just clear some headroom for that channel’s playback and plug-ins.

High End Converters?

Q: Do you use apogee, lynx converter and which of two is better?

Joe: Both Lynx and Apogee are great products that I have used with success. I wouldn’t recommend either one over the other. In my personnel studio, I use the stock Digidesign HD converters.  Since my room is primarily a mix studio, they are used mostly to send and return to outboard effects units, etc.

Q: To get more width in a mix do the converters help?

Joe: I don’t know that I would say high end converters give me more ”width”…there is just a difference in the air or reality of the instrument.  It’s hard to explain, but I compare it to looking at a photograph of a snare drum versus being in the room with that actual drum. If you have the budget..go for it.  But, don’t feel that you have to go out and get them right away to make a great record.  I’ve mixed top ten singles where every vocal part was cut into Digi 002 pres and converters.

Saturation Plugins?

Q: Distortion on the stereo bus, really?

Joe: Well…yes and no.  It is not commonly on my master, but i’ve most certainly used it a few times as I found it’s “flavor” very cool for that song.  Even then, it was very limited, as far as, the actual amount of the process I was using. It was 95% the sound of the plug with only a slight bit of distortion added.  In the interview, I was just listing the things I use.  All the others mentioned are there nearly always.

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Check out Joe’s work and discography at www.mojoemix.com

The following is a guest post from my good friend and fellow recording blogger Joe Gilder from HomeStudioCorner.com. Check out his site for some awesome tips and tutorials on making music in the home studio!
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Do you have that nagging recording project that just seems like it will never be finished? Do you work and work and work and work, and there seems to be no end in site? Perhaps you’re getting too caught up in the details and missing out on the big picture.

The 80/20 Rule

You’ve probably heard of the 80/20 rule, right? It’s this magical little formula that tells us that 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but I’ve seen it apply to almost everything. When I was in sales, I found that the majority of my sales came from a small percentage of my customers. After running my own business for a year, I find that less than 20% of the tasks I do are actually income-generating tasks.

So how does the 80/20 rule play out for you in the studio? Do you spend 1 day recording, 3 days editing, 7 days mixing, and 2 days mastering? I bet if you spent a few more days on the first step, recording, you’d find that your tracks sound better and need less editing, are easier to mix and master.

You may find if you spend 4 days on recording, you’ll only need to spend 1 day on editing and 1 day on mixing and mastering. That’s 6 days, rather than 13.

You’ve worked on those projects before, right? The tracks were recorded so well that the song seemed to mix itself. You didn’t have to anything drastic with EQ, compression, or automation. You just made a few tweaks here and there, and let the tracks just “be.”

Check Your Focus

There are obviously no rules when it comes to recording. Every recording engineer has a different process and workflow. We also have our weak points, those areas where we waste a lot of time…those areas that become a source of frustration.

Here are a few tips to help you get over the hump and start knocking projects out much faster:

1. Analyze – What tasks take up the most of your time? Do you spend an hour EQ-ing the shaker track when it’s going to be buried in the mix anyway?

2. Eliminate – Once you identify those silly tasks that take up so much of your time, get rid of them. That’s not to say you shouldn’t EQ your shaker tracks, but limit how much time you spend. Give yourself 2 minutes and be done with it.

3. Finish – There’s something about actually COMPLETING a project that does wonders for my productivity. I just finished my album, for example, and will be releasing it later this month. It feels GREAT.

Make it a habit to periodically analyze your production techniques and habits. Part of becoming a better engineer is learning how to get great results FAST.