Movement and evolution

Hello,

I’ve been writing for about two months now and have enjoyed every post. I hope I have been writing good and useful content for you to read and further evolve your audio productions. I’m up to about 20,000 words at this point which for me is a pretty good achievement that I am really proud of.

But now there is time for change. I am moving this site.

I have a new website up and running at the domain name http://www.audio-production-tips.com

http://www.audio-production-tips.com

There I will continue updating content about audio production and music mixing. Everyday I hope to write a new article that will stay on the site, not as a blog post but as a dedicated web-site.

Why am I moving from wordpress.com?

First of all, wordpress.com doesn’t allow a lot of features. I would have to move to wordpress.org and learn a lot of webmaster-y things that I don’t have the time for. WordPress as a system is very intuitive and a great blog platform but at this point in time, not exactly what I’m looking for.

The service I am using now does all this for me and allows me complete control over what I put on the site, and although the wordpress templates offered here certainly look more professional than the current template I have up and running at Audio-production-tips.com there will be changes to the design very soon.

As of now the website has a few articles, some of them old blog posts from this site rewritten as stand-alone web-pages. I will keep posting and further developing that site until it is full of quality content, ideas and thoughts about the audio and music industry.

So I hope you will keep reading what I have to say and check out the new site. There you can browse through the content that’s already up as well as subscribing to the rss-feed guaranteeing you get updates as soon as I write them.

I hope to see you on the other side.

Björgvin

http://www.audio-production-tips.com

Perfection in your mixes.

A good mix is a perfect mix

I’ve been working on a song for a while now, from producing and recording to ultimately mixing. It’s a great song that’s been really fun to work on by a dear friend of mine. But when you’re involved in a project for so long and listen to the same song over and over again, ultimately you need a break from it.

Fatigue and tiredness from mixing is not an unheard concept. The general rule when mixing is that you should never mix when your ears are tired, so if you’re been recording or have been listening to music the whole day your mixing session is not going to go the same way as if you had rested ears.

You also need to try to step away from the mix. Because when you’re so involved in a mix you get way too much into the details, hearing things most listeners will never hear.

Dwelling on the details and trying to perfect every single note is an exercise in futility.

“The problem with perfection is that it has no limits. Normally, once you think you have obtained perfection you realize how it could be better.”

So every once in a while, take a step back. Think to yourself:

“Can I hear the song as a song instead of a collection of frequencies and amplitudes?”

If you are just pushing faders up and down, tweaking eq to and from the original mix you are never actually going to be able to finish a mix. There comes a time when you should just say to yourself:

“Ok, this is done. It sounds consistent to what I want it to”

If you had an idea in your head before starting the mix and now it’s sounding like you want it to, no amount of nit-pick-tweaking is going to make it perfect in your ears anymore.

My teacher told us, a mix is never finished, it’s abandoned. And that’s exactly what you should do. If it sounds good enough to you and amazing to other listeners, it is done.

And that’s exactly what I did. I just left it as is. I could have tweaked those guitars for months but I thought to myself: “This song is exactly as I want it to be”

Because in the end, it’s all about the song.

Musicians in a live sound setting

For me, there are two types of musicians.

Those that are so full of themselves and think that whatever you’re trying to do is a horrible job. These artists contantly complain about every aspect of your job. It is impossible to cater to these artists because whatever you do, it’s not good enough.

And then there are the musicians that are so insecure that they won’t tell you if you’re doing what they want you to. If they are unhappy with the sound, they won’t tell you because it’s probably their ears, or their fault it sounds bad.

And every once in a while, you get the third kind.

The professional.

The professional knows what you are doing and knows what you should be doing. They have been to enough sound-checks that they are comfortable with asking for what they want without being assholes about it. They don’t let things slide because they’re afraid of asking questions about but they also don’t bitch and moan when something doesn’t work out.

But there is equal importance in being a sound-tech.

I don’t know how many small gigs I’ve been to that could have been much better if the engineer knew how to do his job properly. I’m not saying that you should have a degree in audio, but a little understanding always helps.

There is also a difference in having the title of a professional and acting professionally. Having an engineering degree or diploma of some sort takes hours and thousands of dollars/euros/pounds. But acting professionally is free.

So the next time you’re acting as a musician or working as a sound-tech in a concert venue, remember to act professionally. Mutual respect between musicians and engineers can do wonders for the vibe of the work setting and will deliver better results to the audience.

Guitar recording with an overhead and a kick drum mic.

Getting the guitar sound

I read an interesting microphone technique in a book once. It might also have been featured in one of my Sound on Sound magazines, but I remember it having been Steve Albini talking about it.

Steve Albini is known for some pretty good producing and has an overall rock ‘n’ roll attitude when it comes to recording music, wanting as much emotion and feeling as possible.

But he’s not one to be ignorant when it comes to the technical side of recording. He’s not a producer that has no idea of how to engineer, being ambidextrous when it comes to both those things.

Great sounding small condenser

His microphone technique that piqued my interest was a guitar recording technique. Always trying to get the best guitar sound out of the speakers he told us about a very interesting pair of microphones he likes using.

Using a big bass drum type large dynamic and a small condenser he combined the best of both worlds. Using these two microphones he said it yielded some pretty good results.

So I decided to try it. I took an AKG D112, known for being a kick-drum mic and a AKG C391 small diafragm condenser.

I experimented with various positions:

• Both microphones equidistance, both on axis on opposite sides of the cone. The place known as the “sweet spot”.
• 391 on axis straight on the center and the 112 45° looking at the edge of the cone.
• Switching microphones I put the 112 on axis and the 391 at 45° looking into the edge of the cone as well.

The standard in kick drum miking

Of these three variations, constantly A/B’ing between them all I chose the 391 on center at 112 at 45° to be the best sounding one. It had the fullest sound without losing any definition.

We recorded a funky rock guitar with a crunchy tone so we needed it to be punchy and clear but still thick. The most surprising thing was the bass response of the 391. It sounded much thicker than I would have thought recording guitar and had a great low frequency response.

I had a lot of fun experimenting with this microphone technique as sometimes you read stuff in books that could sound interesting but you never try it. So it was a nice way to personally hear what these different microphones did together.

Do you have any fun experiments to share? Let us know in the comments.

How to get Phil Collins’s gated reverb.

Gated reverb master

I see many people wander into this site from Google searching for gated reverb. I wrote a post about the difference between gate reverb and gated reverb some time ago but I never really delved into the details of the how-to.

Gated reverb is a staple 80′s snare sound popularized by artists such as Phil Collins. Many other artists and producers have used it over the years although it is always relacioned to Phil Collins, as seen by the google search “gated reverb collins”.

In any DAW, this technique is pretty simple and easy to do and doesn’t involve a lot of steps.

Ingredients are:

• Snare track
• Aux send
• Effects return track
• Gate with a side-chain
• Judicious amount of reverb, preferably a hall.

Now, when you have all the ingredients together you mix the snare track as you like it, eq’ing and compressing as needed. When you have the snare track as you want it it’s time to send it via an aux to a stereo reverb.

I use Logic and use Logic’s Space Designer to dial up a big hall setting. Remember to have the reverb on 100% wet so the channel only has the reverb sound.

Now insert a gate after the the reverb. Put the threshold as far up as you can, essentially killing the reverb. Now via your side-chain on the gate patch the gate to the snare-drum track.

Now go gate it!

When your gated reverb is side-chained to the snare track you can start fiddling with the parameters of the gate. Reduce the threshold so it starts letting the reverb through. The reverb should breathe in time with the snare drum creating a thick snare drum sound without an excessive reverb trail.

Experimenting with the attack and release you can get different results. A fairly fast attack and medium release in time with the snare creates a sound that sounds like the reverb is being sucked into the snare again.

I like having the attack a little slower. That way you hear the snare sound first and it sounds like the snare is breathing out the reverb before promptly sucking it in again.

Experiment with the parameters until you get something you are satisfied with. Gated reverb can not only be used on a snare, you can experiment with other instruments as well.

How to understand audio speak.

Getting the glossary

A friend of mine follows this site and likes reading what I have to say. We’ve been friends for a while, recorded some songs together, shared some beers and late night outs. But through the awesomeness that is social media he told me all this through Twitter.

Granted, I don’t live in the same country as him anymore and I like using Twitter as much as the next guy so I don’t take offense.

Getting to the point, he pointed out that sometimes I use terms that can be indecipherable for a newcomer to audio technology, using slang and general lingo that people have a hard time understanding. So I’ve decided to every once in a while write glossary posts with terms that relate to what I am talking about here on this site.

Scanning through previous posts I have found some terms I think might be confusing to the newcomer. Some are obvious to those in the know, but then again everything is obvious if you know the answer.

–

P.A.

• Public announcement or P.A. is what you usually call the sound system or speakers you are working with. Slang like “Coming over the P.A.” basically means “shit that’s coming out of the speakers.”

Outboard equipment

• This is the equipment, whether it be compressors or multi-effect processors that don’t come built into your mixer or DAW. In a live setting, this is usually a big rack filled with all sorts of compressors, multi-effects, gates and other types of effects.

DAW

• Digital Audio Workstation. This is your software sequencer, Logic, Pro-Tools, Cubase. Whatever you use to record music in your computer.

FOH

• Front of house. This refers to front mixing area, where the sound-engineer mixing the concert is stationed. Also the best are to watch a concert sound-wise because if the engineer is a pro, it will sound the best around this area.

FX return

• When you send a signal from a track to an effects processor, you need to return the effected, or wet signal to a track. These tracks are referred to as FX returns.

White noise

• This is noise that has equal distribution of energy over the frequency spectrum. Used for measuring electrical equipment. Can be used for enhancing sounds, like snares or hi-hats.

–

These are just some of the terms I’ve been using these last months. I’ll come back to this subject again in a while and give you some more glossary to understand.

Is there anything you guys need to know especially? Let me know in the comments or in an e-mail.

Getting your audio software cheaper.

Getting Logic cheaper?

Are you a audio enthusiast, always recording or mixing music in your basement? Do you like all the new software that’s coming out but don’t have any money to buy expensive DAW’s from the store.

There’s a slightly cheaper way, and that’s without illegal downloading.

Audio schools often have special deals with companies like Digidesign, or Apple. Sometimes they also have a discount going on in some local stores as well.

I know it’s not cheap to go to an audio school like SAE or Fullsail, especially if you are only going with the intent on getting cheaper software. But maybe you have a friend, or have an acquaintance that goes to one of these audio schools.

Let them buy the software for you.

That way, everybody wins. Software companies get a sale and you get a cheaper package. And you might network and get to know somebody in the audio school.

That’s it for this week. I’m in Barcelona now probably on the beach(this post was written yesterday) so I’m just going to kick back and chill out.

For you guys that are planning a live concert or a studio mixing session, check out these former posts of mine.

• Tips for better live mixing

• 7 ways to make a mix stand out

• The five fundamental frequencies of equalizing a vocal

Have a good weekend.

Essential equipment for a live sound setting.

Do you have enough tracks?

When preparing for a live sound gig, there are some things you need to be aware of. Some gigs are obviously smaller or larger than others so you need to be sure you have everything you need to make the gig run more smoothly.

When you have the rider and are more or less sure of the lineup, you can more or less gauge what type of equipment you will need.

At every concert, there are different requirements, you may need more of some things and less of others but here below I point out the things that are necessary at every concert.

1. Mixer.

• Obvious right? But what I mean is that you should be aware of how many tracks the band will need and the size of the mixer required for the gig. The size of the mixer varies if you’re mixing a 16 track rock group or a 24 track special show with different line-ups. Also be aware of extra tracks for FX returns or playbacks for example.

2. Enough monitors.

• Make sure that everybody on stage can hear themselves. So be sure to bring enough monitors. It will be a pain both for you and the band if there are monitoring problems. Having a great stage sound will let the gig run more smoothly and the band will appear more confident.

3. Decent enough P.A.

• You won’t need a huge JBL Vertec line-array for a small club so plan accordingly. When talking to the equipment rental make sure you specify the size of the venue and type of the concert. The professionals who work there will usually be able to gauge how big your system will have to be. Sure, they might make it a little bit bigger than they really have to to charge more, but it’s safe to say they’re(usually) trustworthy.

4. Outboard equipment.

• In addition to the mixer, the FOH engineer must have a decent selection of outboard equipment to help him mix. When working with analog mixers, this means having a huge effects rack with compressors, gates and multi-effects. But when working with a digital mixer such as the Yamaha’s or the Roland M-400 all the compressors and effects are built-in making the process of inserting them a breeze.

• For example, working with a rock group and an analog mixer in my opinion you will need at least:
• Compressor/Gate for the kick drum.
• Compressor/Gate for the snare. You can often get dual gate/compressors that you can use and save space in your effect rack.
• Gates for the toms.
• Compressor for the bass.
• Compressors for the vocal, if more than one then use the compressor on the lead vocal.
• 3-4 different types of effects. Drum reverb, plate reverb for vocals and tap-tempo delay are my favorites and the ones I use the most.

5. Extra cables

• Lastly, because with Murphy’s law watching closely everything that goes on in the live sound field, make sure you have backups of everything. And more often than not, that means cables. Bring more cables than you think you will ever need, because you will need them.

So when you’re preparing for your next gig, prepare yourself and make notes of what you will need. Do you have a big enough mixer? Enough monitors? Will your P.A. be enough? Keep all these questions in mind and follow these guidelines and you’ll do great.

What do you guys think? Am I forgetting something? Something I’m not mentioning? Let me know in the comments.

7 reasons to love the acoustic guitar

One man band.

The acoustic guitar is my instrument of choice. Sure, the guitar in essence is my instrument of choice but given the choice between the electric and the acoustic I usually choose the acoustic. It’s the sound and character of the acoustic guitar that appeals to me, although I do like plugging in and rocking out electric guitar solos.

So as to explain better why the acoustic guitar appeals so much to me, I’m giving you 7 reason you should love the acoustic guitar.

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1. Thick strings, thick sound

• I string my acoustic with pretty thick strings, so it has a pretty bassy and thick sound. So the bassy and full sounding guitar lends itself nicely to alone-in-bedroom playing, writing songs or just jamming out riffs. I restrung my guitar once with a slightly lower gauge and it just wasn’t the same instrument after that. Strings have a lot to do with the character of the instrument so try finding the right gauge for your guitar.

2. Clean and self sustaining

• The acoustic guitar is a clean instrument with a full-range sound. So with a singing accompaniment sometimes that’s the only instrument you need. Some of my most favorite songs are by singer songwriters that only feature an acoustic and a vocal.

3. Good for all styles

• I think the acoustic guitar fits in every musical style. As a solo or a rhythm instrument it can be a part of any arrangement. Obvious styles include folk and country in popular music but it’s invaluable in flamenco and other ethnic musical styles as well. Even metal bands like In Flames and Slipknot have great acoustic songs, so it definitely has a place in every style.

4. Good for microphone techniques experimentation.

• Since it’s such a full-range and full-bodied instrument different characteristics are more dominant at different parts of the instrument. Different microphone positions and techniques lead to different results so experimentation is a must.

• Middle Side microphone technique is a favorite of mine(more about this technique later), but moving mics around listening to where the instrument sounds the best is also very acceptable. Just be aware of the possibilities of phase problems when using non-coincident microphone techniques.

5. All the different tunings.

• Sure, you can tune an electric guitar in all the same ways you can tune an acoustic, but there’s something inherently acoustic-y about open tunings. Open-G, open-D, open weirdness whatever. A personal experimental favorite of mine is drop-d tuning with a capo on the 10th fret but only putting the capo on the top five strings. This tuning has this droning d but high melodic chord notes since your essentially capo-ing a part of the d-minor pentatonic scale.

6. Has a percussive element.

• Using the body of the instrument you can get pretty cool percussive sounds out of it. Keeping in rhythm can sometimes be pretty hard when you’re trying to play complex things at the same time but some of the stuff I’ve seen people do is just amazing. Below is a video of Andy McKee playing his song Drifting, which is an example of pretty complex rhythmical and percussive acoustic playing.

7. Just makes you look cool.

Personally, I just think the acoustic guitar makes you look cool. Sure, David Gilmour’s 50 ft shadow playing the guitar solo to Comfortably Numb is cool but the simplicity of the acoustic guitar is what I think makes it one of the cooler instruments. Maybe I’m just biased, who knows.

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So that’s what I think. 7 reasons to love the acoustic guitar, I hope you agree with me on them, let me know what you think. Maybe you think the Ukulele is the king of instruments, let me know.

Mix in your surroundings.

On slow days when I get stuck in a slump I sometimes have a hard time figuring out what to write about. I mean, there are hundreds of articles and books on eq, compression and mixing.

But I like talking about it and sharing stuff with you so I constantly try to find an interesting perspective on all these books I’ve read, stuff I’ve learned and tricks I’ve experimented with.

Take reverb for instance, I’ve written a fair amount about reverb(link over here) and I’ve read and experimented with loads of digital reverb processors. But sometimes you get lost in all the digitalness(not a word I think) and you never become aware of your surroundings.

Do you guys live in a weird sounding loft in Manhattan? Do you have a really echo-y(and unsafe) elevator shaft you think could sound cool on a recording?

USE IT!

The old echo chambers of yesteryear were just that. Natural reverb chambers. Sure, they were calibrated and built to reverberated perfection, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stumble upon a cool sounding room somewhere.

I read an article about this producer/engineer in TapeOp #69(Check out the magazine). Christina Files told us in this article that she used the elevator shaft in their loft as an echo chamber. That prompted me to wonder how many of our day to day surroundings we can use to our audio advantage.

A friend of mine recorded a band in a house that had a long stairwell so he decided after listening to how cool the stairwell sounded to use it as an echo chamber as well. So there are definitely possibilities when it comes to using your surroundings.

• Buy some long cables.

• Position your microphone where your preferred room sounds the best.

• Position your monitors in the corners or wherever you think they sound best.

• Do you want weird phasing? Put the monitors in weird positions.

• Put one closer than the other.

• Put another in an adjacent room.

• Experiment.

It’s not only to get great sounding or weird sounding echo-y tracks, it’s also for fun and experimentation. Maybe you can’t use it the way you want to, but maybe it adds to the production.

If I didn’t live in an apartment building where I can’t even grill a steak on a barbecue without people complaining I’d definitely go nuts with my outdoor weird sounding elevator patio. I’m sure, when you think hard you could put some of your rooms, hallways or stairwells to good use.