I’ve always thought of converting the best nuggest of online discussion into easily digestible blog posts. This is a practice post, and I would like to know what anyone who reads this thinks of this. Is this easy to read? Of value?
And how am I supposed to go around getting people’s permission to do this, if I continue to plagiarize and publicate their words of wisdom? Have I found a form of flattery greater than imitation?
Trodden wanted to sell his studio. He’s pissed.
uhhh spending my whole weekends in the studio, behind the board and computer screen, just to have nothing but shit sandwiches come out of the speakers. My ears suck. after spending 20 hours on 5 songs, you’d think i’d at least be in the 90-percent mark, but no, just sounds goofy and ball-less. maybe i’m boosting too many highs and lows and thats just sucking out the mids which leave it powerless. how fun is it to spend your days off, doing this, just to be exhausted and half mad when the day is over and nothing gained?
We’ve all been there. It is the territory of all genuine creative endeavours.
Joeysimms:
You have these kinds of days to prepare for the easy days when everything just comes together seemingly without effort.. Paying your dues, they call it.
Inverse adds:
I often find that my best stuff–writing I mean–is the stuff that’s easiest to write, and usually comes very quickly. And the stuff I bang my head against the wall with never amounts to anything. But I wouldn’t get the former without going through the latter.
Trodden gets more specific in his complaints.
something is wierd. i don’t know, I’m almost willing to completely restart a coouple of them instead of poking/mousing around teh automation i’ve already written. writing automation, using the mouse curser on the “fader” in the box is so fucking annoying, as much as going to the edit screen and redrawing line with the stupid finger thing.
i think my issues are.
1.too much reverb on all tracks
2. kick drum TOO big and boomy
3. bass too big and boomy
4. guitars not loud enough
5. highs boosted and too much mids cut in fiddle, mandolin and accordian.
6. sloppily tracked.
Bring the listening/monitoing volume wayyyy down and listen for a bit. that should help with some track levels. Too much reverb? pan the reverb returns to one side, with the source on the other. bring it up listening quiet in the ‘phones til it’s enough. Then, dip it a *touch* from there.
Penrithmatt patron saint of erstwhile audio engineers chimed in with these nuggest of wisdom.
no eq…..work the balance.
no effects…work the panning to aid the balance.
no compression…..use panning and level to make things heard…..
once you get a good balance,listening at a low to moderate level i’d think about adding effects to things??
do you have to use reverb?? short delays can make space and not eat all yer mid range…….i like them better…..slap for the vocals and guitars……100msec to 120msec…..a tiny touch of feedback……shorter and no feedback if yer a purist!!
a quater note delay,timed to the track should work for other stuff……..if you must use reverb choose what get’s to have it carefully…….only send a few things to it and don’t have a lot of reverb return….i dunno.i guess it’s all about personal prefrences but…..i don’t really use reverb too much and if i do it’s more of a special effect,as opposed to slathering it over everything……..i also like to work really quiet,in mono whilst getting a balance and adding effects,add effects until you can hear them,then back them down a touch……….depends on the music,i guess,but…….
can you flip the phase on one side of the reverb return?? it’s an old trick,but one i use all the time…….it basically knocks the centre of the reverb image out…..you only really hear it super wide and on the sides…..this is great,cos more often than not you want the verb to create a false sense of space at the edges of yer image……i dunno,try it,it’s kinda cool…especially in dense tracks where the centre image is for low end stuff…….sounds killer in headphones too…..
if yer gonna eq…….hi pass filter the shit out of everything…be brutal…..i’ve said it a million times but,clear all the low end shit out of stuff that doesn’t need it…..start at 75-100hz and go up until you hear it make a difference,then back it down…….you might find you don’t have to boost as much low end in the stuff that should have it as it’s not fighting for space with other stuff……..sometimes cutting super low stuff out of basses and bass drums makes them “speak” better……..some gentle shelving……it has worked before now……..
buss compression and eq……..a little bit of both might help you out….can’t really say i eq the mix buss that often but i usually have some kinda compressor across there…….totally fell inlove with the Chandler TG limiter last session….totally amazing….i hear great things about the plug ins too…….dunno.Neve 33609 adds thickness…SSL style comps keep it kinda tight……nothing to stop you strapping a couple together……..or just hammer an L2 over it like every one else and be done with it……
and yeah,stop beating yerself up about it…….