Archive for 'Reader Question'

If you’ve mixed for any length of time you might have thought to yourself if it matters in what order you insert plugins on your tracks. Or maybe the thought has never crossed your mind. You simply always reach for the same plugins in the same order on each mix. In either case today I want to answer a reader question regarding the subject and give you a few things to consider as you mix.

In what order should my plugins go in the insert? I usually start with a compressor/limiter and then move to EQ, possibly delay or reverb then desser if necessary…granted this is for vocals. I would really like to know what a good general guide is for tracks. – Michael R.

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What is it about the lure of other plugin bundles that makes us loathe the stock plugins that shipped with our DAW? My guess would be probably some great marketing hype mixed with confusion on the part of a newbie mixer. We’ve likely all been there, but today I want to address a recent reader question I received as I think it is relevant to many of you.

I am a Sonar X1 user and it came with lots of plugins for mixing. I’ve been thinking about getting a Waves plugin bundle, but I’m not sure if it is going to make a huge difference in quality of my mixes. The sales rep at “XYZ Guitar Store” said these plugins sound is a lot cleaner then any stock plugin. Should I invest in this plugin bundle or stick with my hosts plugins. I am confused please help…

To answer this question, I pose a few questions of my own.
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If you ever venture into the world of external mic preamps to compliment the ones built into your audio interface then you may be wondering what is the best way to hook it up. It is a common issue, but an important one to address. One of my readers on Twitter recently purchased an ART Tube MP on my blog’s recommendation for bass recording and had this question:

“I picked [the ART] up last night. Subtle but much more rich. For guitar I’ve been cranking the input into the red for a cool driven sound. One question…If you need more level into ProTools, do you increase the ART preamp output or the audio interface input?”

This is a great question. Let’s start at the beginning…

Mic Level To Line Level

When you plug a microphone into your audio interface’s input, you never have to really think much about whether it is a mic level or line level source. But in reality, microphone audio levels are very quiet, and the built in preamp in your interface is turning that signal up to what’s called a line level source, which is much more useable. If using an audio interface, that’s all you need to know. It turns your signal into a digital one and you’re golden.

However, if you start to use an external preamp, like the ART Tube MP mentioned above, then you need one extra step. You plug your microphone (using an XLR cable) into the external preamp’s mic input. Then using a balanced 1/4 inch cable (called a TRS cable) you run the output of that preamp into an available line input on your interface.

This is important. Your interface may have some microphone XLR inputs as well as some 1/4 inch TRS inputs for line level sources. Plug your preamp’s output into a line level input. Some interfaces have a combo connection that allows you to plug in XLR cables and TRS cables in the same input. If this is the case, you’ll likely have a switch that tells the interface that you want to use Mic or Line level on that input. Set this to Line. Keep in mind that Line inputs are different than Instrument inputs although both use a 1/4 connection.

Proper Gain Staging

Now that you have your preamp hooked up to your interface, the last thing we need to look at is your gain staging and signal flow. The gain knob on your interface controls the preamp on that interface. Since we are using an external preamp to bring the microphone signal up to line level we don’t need the gain on the interface.

If you have a line input with no gain knob associated with it, use that one. If not, follow this advice. Start by turning the interface gain knob all the way down. Then use the input (and sometimes output) knob(s) on your external mic pre to get the desired audio level into your DAW. If you need more gain into your software, adjust it on the preamp, not the interface as this would mean your signal is being boosted twice by two different preamps.

Remember, you don’t need really hot levels going into your DAW and you definitely don’t want unneeded noise. Avoid all of this by using conservative gain staging in your external preamp, and avoiding the extra gain from your interface’s pre when running a line in from an external.

In light of my soon to be released drum recording and mixing tutorial videos, REthink Drums, I wanted to answer a recent reader question on the subject. David asked me on twitter recently…

“Should I use Pro Tools’ Strike drum plugin or record live drums in a bad room with mediocre mics?”

David brings up a very relevant issue for the typical home recording person. We usually are limited to an untreated, bad sounding spare bedroom or basement in a house for our main recording space. With many elements of recording (vocals, guitars, keys) you can get by without much issue. But recording real drums is challenging and involves the sound of your tracking room a lot more than some of us would like.

Willing To Work? Choose Real Drums

As much as I love the ease of use and great sound of a virtual drum instrument like Strike or EZ Drummer, there is something so musical and dynamic about a real drummer recording real drums. I think most of us would agree. But David’s question points us to the dilemma, what do we do when our room sounds bad? If you’re willing to use a little bit of elbow grease and get your hands dirty then you can get a great sounding drum recording despite it all.

Poor Man’s Acoustic Treatment

If you have access to some thick blankets, do whatever you can to hang/drape them up against any nearby walls. This will help stop unwanted reflections of your drums from slapping back off the wall and into your overhead mics. You don’t need to deaden the room completely, just tame some of the sound. For a real shoddy example, check this post out where I recorded drums in someones foyer.

If you have a few dollars you can also pick up the Aural Xpanders kit from Auralex (less than $60) which gives you some helpful foam baffles that clip onto your drum mic stands and help block sound coming from behind the mic. These little guys are great for your drum overheads and snare mic and really help minimize the effect of a bad room sound.

The Question Of Microphones

David mentioned using “mediocre” microphones on the drums. I’m not sure what his definition of mediocre is, but you would be surprised how good of a drum sound you can get with one simple large diaphragm condenser mic, no matter the price tag. Take it a step further and pick up two $100 mics for stereo overheads, and some budget dynamic mics for kick and snare, you can get a killer drum sound.

People get up in arms about which mics to use on drums, but in terms of relevance to the sound you want there are three much bigger factors: sound of the physical drum kit, performance of the drummer, and placement of the mics. If you spend more of your time on those three issues you will likely get a better drum sound than if you dumped all of your money on more expensive or well regarded mics.

Practice, Practice, Practice

My recommendation to David (and to you ) is to take the opportunity to setup a real drum kit, learn how to get it to sound good by itself, learn a bit of simple acoustic treatment and how sound moves around a room, and learn good mic placement and technique with the mics you have. Then rinse and repeat…a lot!

This is how you learn and how you become a good engineer. Obviously a better sounding room will help, but that doesn’t help you make better music now if it’s not an option. Start with what you have and take the chance to improve your skill.

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

Since most home studio users are working with an affordable audio interface with only a handful of inputs and microphone preamps, we are relegated to recording a band one person at a time. Which honestly isn’t a bad thing at all. It in fact gives you some advantages: allowing you to use your best mics and pres over and over, letting you record a full band in a smaller space (i.e. a bedroom), and provides time to focus in on each performance a bit more.

But this multi-tracking one-at-at-time process leads to a great question from one of my readers, Chris:

What is the best order of recording each instrument, because I’ve tried getting the rhythm guitar down first and then I tried the drums but I wasn’t sure which was best. Also, is it best to record each track on there own with a metronome in the headphones or have other tracks playing as well? -Chris-

A Good Guide Track Goes A Long way

When it comes to order of recording, nothing really matters until you have a good guide track. A guide track (or a scratch track) can consist of simply an acoustic guitar and vocal performance to a predefined tempo or click. It can also be a demo recording of the band bounced down to an MP3. All that matters is that you put something in your DAW that your band members can “play along with”, especially those who are going first with nothing else recorded.

I usually ask the singer of the band to send me an MP3 demo of him playing/singing the song to a click. I import that into a Pro Tools session, edit it a bit to be sure it lines up with the desired tempo, and then I’m ready to go for my guide track. I now have something to mix into the headphones of the first musician up to the plate, which in my opinion should be the drummer.

Start With Drums

A good band listens to their drummer. And a good drummer listens to the click to not only keep time but to set the precedent for groove and overall dynamic. I find the most natural sounding recordings have come when I started with drums and let everyone else listen to the drum performance as they record later on. Every nuance, and dynamic set by the drummer will carry over to the emotion and feeling of the bass, guitars, keys, and of course vocals.

The drummer will only really  need the previously mentioned guide track: click and music/vocals. The click keeps him in time, and the music and vocals tell him where he is in the song. His or her headphone mix shouldn’t be hard to get right, so set it and then work on getting a great drum sound.

Then Everything But Vocals

What you record next doesn’t matter. Many like to lay bass guitar down right after drums. Sometimes I do that. Many times I like to have the guitarists lay their parts down so that the bassist can think about his or her bass lines in relation to the full scope of chords and tones captured by the guitars. Keyboards, brass, strings, percussion, synths, etc. would all fall into place here. Which order your record these guys in doesn’t matter as much as it does to the actual band members. Figure out what THEY would like to hear to be inspired and go from there.

And briefly touching back on Chris’ initial question, I do prefer to keep the click in everyone’s headphones a bit even after drums are recorded. The click is the glue that keeps it all together so it should be a goal to play alongside for everyone. But this is my opinion.

Lead Vocals And Beyond

You always want to end with vocals if you can. The singer needs to hear the entire band to really appropriately and convincingly deliver the lyric and melody of the song. Plus many times in recording sessions, the arrangements shift slightly and this requires the vocal to adjust alongside it. The singer needs to hear this in his or her ears to make the appropriate changes.

I like to capture all my lead vocal takes before I do any harmonies or extra vocals. That way I know that the main melody or vocal is set and from there I simply try to dress up certain parts and add some vocal candy throughout.

All That Matters

Regardless of how you record your band, or what order you do things in, the end goal is the same: a natural, believable recording that sounds like we all played it together…as a band! Do whatever is necessary for you and the band to make this result happen. Try things and if they don’t work, dont’ do them again. It’s not that complicated, nor is it a rule that you must follow. Let all your decisions ultimately serve the song and trust your ears.

Recently I sat down with award winning mix engineer, Kevin Ward to ask him some questions about the psychology of mixing and his workflow. Kevin is an awesome guy who has been mixing music for like 30 years.

Based out of Nashville, TN, Kevin mixes music professionally and also has started an online resource (MixCoach.com) to help new mixers improve their skill. His website is a great place to go for video tutorials and help from a guy who knows his stuff. Plus he’s got a helpful eBook you can download right away!

Kevin agreed to let me interview him with some common questions I get from readers like you all the time. We talked for almost an hour about mixing tips, but he pulled together a quick version of helpful stuff. In this snippet of our interview Kevin gives some answers to the following questions:

• How do you approach a mix?
• How do you know when a mix is finished?
• What can new mixers do TODAY to improve their mixes instantly?

Last week one of my readers, and great friend, called me up to ask my opinion on the future of Pro Tools as a viable recording platform. He was referring specifically to the recent re-branding and dissolving of the Digidesign name and how that might affect future releases and the overall direction and vision for Pro Tools.

In case you are not aware (or interested), Digidesign Pro Tools has been around since 1984. Much of Pro Tools has evolved over the past 26 years, especially in features, power, and popularity. But up until now it has always been a product of Digidesign. Now it is officailly being rebranded as Avid Pro Tools.

This Is Nothing New

To be fair, Avid (a huge media company specializing in video production software) purchased Digidesign way back in 1994 and has been the parent company ever since. Avid also purchased M-Audio in 2004 adding to the Pro Tools arsenal of audio interfaces. But up until now these brands (Digidesign and M-Audio) have been operating under their original names and organization. Avid has now decided to trim down and become more lean as a media company, hence the name change to Avid Pro Tools and the website consolidation.

Now, what does this mean for all of us Pro Tools users in the world? In my humble opinion…nothing! Pro Tools is not going away. It is too big, to wide spread, to saturated in the professional and home recording markets that it can’t just die. In fact, just the opposite will likely happen. With Avid slimming down its team and operations, more money is freed up for actual research and development for it’s products like Media Composer, Sibelious, and Pro Tools as opposed to paying overlapping positions in the company and maintaining mulitiple brands (e.g. websites, newsletters, printing).

What Does The Future Hold?

In the future I see more power and and innovation for both Pro Tools HD and LE/M-Powered. Avid is a company that develops and sells both powerful software and cutting edge hardware. Being able to package together amazing audio interfaces (from both Digi and M-Audio), top of the line control surfaces (with the recent acquisition of Euphonix), and the world’s most popular recording platform, Pro Tools, puts Avid in a great place.

If you are a current Pro Tools user, I say forget the the worries and crying happening on message boards and user forums regarding the “collapse of Pro Tools” as we know it. Instead fire open your amazing DAW and make a hit record! And if you are getting into recording and considering going in the direction of Pro Tools, have no fear. You aren’t about to make a mistake. Avid Pro Tools is a platform that is going to be supported for many years to come.

I will close with this. It’s important to remember that Pro Tools has only gotten more amazing since Avid acquired it in the mid 90s. It has expanded in every area possible including the home and prosumer market, paving the way for this home studio boom we are living in now. Just looking at feature set alone from version 5 to today’s version 8, Pro Tools gives you so much more than it ever did (and for less money)! Avid knows what its doing. So let them do their thing and you just do yours.

So I keep getting asked the same question by readers and YouTube subscribers, “How do you process your vocals in a mix?” Or put this way, “What plugins do you use to get your sound?” Since that is a subjective topic, I figured the best way to handle it was to do a video showing you my way of mixing vocals. There is no right or wrong here people. That’s what I love about music, the freedom to create sounds that YOU enjoy.

There are however some helpful things to keep in mind if you want your mixes, and specifically your vocals, to translate well in the real world. Hopefully this video will get you on your way to rockin’ vocal bliss! Enjoy.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Melodyne, the fantastic pitch correction (and manipulation) software from Celemony, and how I believe it to be the best way to touch up vocals. We had a healthy debate brewing about pitch correction, in general, over on my Facebook fan page and some interesting comments surfaced. Today I want to briefly touch on this debate and let you decide for yourself whether or not pitch correction is “cheating.”

The Argument Against It

One person, Monique, argued on my post that any kind of pitch correction is cheating. “As a vocalist/musician, Auto Tune and Melodyne should just go away. I believe it is offensive to all real musicians who have been working on their craft.” This sentiment is shared by many people, and I understand why.

Pitch correction software (and hardware) has enabled some vocalists who would potentially struggle in having consistently in tune performances to hang with those “more talented” than themselves. In a way (the argument goes) it removes the need for a lot of practice as well as the challenge of nailing a vocal take in the studio. I can identify with that last point, and in fact I wrote about it in my eBook The #1 Rule of Home Recording. I firmly believe that all the technology afforded us these days has a tendency to make us “lazy” when recording. We lose a sense of urgency and focus because heck, we can record a million more takes or “fix” it later…right?

Like Monique mentions, performing as a musician, even in the studio, is a craft that takes time to hone. If pitch correction makes us progressively more lazy, then music will inevitably suffer.

The Argument For It

On that same Facebook post, many fans were quick to defend pitch correction and gave a slew of reasons. “[Pitch correction]“, Joe says “is no more cheating than using reverb. Or should we all just record in a cavern to get that pure reverb effect?” Toby mentions, “After-the-fact pitch correction is a legitimate time-saving tool that allows for great performances without fussing over a few suspect pitches.”

As I mentioned on Facebook, I believe that there are primarily two reasons anyone would (and should) use pitch correction: to subtly correct pitch, or as an effect. Seems obvious, but here’s the point.

Everyone Needs A Little Help

Even the best musician needs some help in the studio. Whether you realize it or not, right now, in studios all across the world, top talent performances are being edited. What I mean is, drum fills are being tightened a bit, bass lines are being cleaned up, stray guitar hits are being pasted over. It’s a fact of life in the recording process. Even before digital recording, editing was happening. If it were that easy to record everything perfect, every time, there would be no need to edit at all!

But there is no conspiracy in having to edit a recording. It’s simply making it sound the best it can. We do it with movies, photographs, word documents, radio broadcasts, so why not with music? When when I have a vocalist in the studio and he or she is laying down some great takes of the lead but misses a note or two, I can be confident (and grateful) that Melodyne exists because I can keep that fantastic performance with it’s tone and emotional appeal, and then simply tighten up those stray notes so it’s not a distraction to the lyrics.

Using It Creatively

Then there’s the whole other reason to use pitch correction software, as an effect! Despite programs like Auto Tune being invented to fix a problem, it can be used instead to make an obvious (and non-human) effect. One that has clearly gained popularity over the years. If that’s what you’re going for, then I don’t see any reason to debate. It’s no different than using a chorus, phaser, or auto filter effect.

Decide For Yourself…And Then Move On

At the end of the day don’t spend much more than 20 minutes debating pitch correction…then make a decision and get back to creating great music. Melodyne and Auto Tune are simply tools. If you need them (or want them) then use them. If not, great…one less thing you need to purchase!

There is no right or wrong with pitch correction, as one of my readers mentioned on that post: “Perhaps this is more of a matter of doing what’s appropriate than a good vs. bad debate,” Akshay says. “For example, Damien Rice would sound a little strange with Auto Tune. It would detract from the raw and unfiltered mojo many have come to love. Auto Tune can have merit when utilized with artistic intention. When all is said and done, you have to do what is appropriate for the music.”