Archive for 'Reader Question'

In case you weren’t aware, I write this blog for musicians and budding audio engineers; including myself! I care about writing, recording, and listening to great music as I’m sure you do as well. The goal of The Recording Revolution is to empower you, the readers, to change your attitude about recording just enough in order to see real productivity and enjoyment. I want you to be creating more music than ever, and to be doing it with quality results!

One of my readers, Daniel, sent me a kind email that totally encouraged me and reminded me of why I do this each and every day. I want you to read it real briefly and I hope that it motivates YOU as you are pursuing your music and studio work in 2010. At the end of this post are some helpful links that I think will get you moving in the right direction. Enjoy!

I enjoyed The #1 Rule of Home Recording very much. The eBook is a big part of what has motivated me to get back to working on my music. In the past week I have accomplished more for my music than in the past six months.

The big difference for me was what you said about working with the tools that you have. Previously I had been thinking that before I could start making recordings that would sound good I would need to finish converting my office into my studio. For this endeavor I still need to fix the sound of my room. While I know this is still important it is not as important as actually working on my music.

Working on music is more important than gear obsession. This is the difference. In the past week I have created a music website, uploaded all of my previous songs (most of which are just scratch tracks and sound like garbage lol) and I am currently working on a new song using what I have learned on your site. (The one song in one month videos are VERY helpful).

-Daniel

Helpful resources on The Recording Revolution:

• The #1 Rule of Home Recording – Free eBook that will save you time and money in your studio.
• The One Song One Month Challenge – 5 part video series designed to walk you through producing a song from start to finish.
• Home Recording Myths – Get your facts straight about home recording and stop letting these myths hold you back.

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!

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!

Here on the blog my goal is to help musicians like you get the most out of your home recording gear while saving both time and money. Hopefully my posts are helping you do that. Sometimes however you might have a specific question that you’d like answered and I want to do my best to answer those questions here on the blog. Today I have a great question from one of my readers regarding Pro Tools  and whether or not one should switch to it from a different recording program. Check out the video and decide for yourself!