What's your favorite studio "secret"?

[Kid Klash]

Hi there,

I don't recall a thread like this at HC for a while, so I thought I'd see if anyone had some favorite studio "tricks" to share with some of the younger members. I'll start with one of my old favorites :

Got some good sounding but "thin" drum tracks? If your board has a submix section, run a stereo submix of the drum tracks through your favorite stereo compressor, then back into a pair of inputs and mix it under the uncompressed drum tracks. You'll get the big, fat drum vibe, without losing the dynamics and sparkle of the uncompressed tracks.

OK - who's next?

[Polyblend]

Not allowed to tell - it's a secret.

[Scodiddly]

It's within walking distance, has great green tea, and if you're a regular they'll give you stuff not on the "gaijin menu".

Can't tell you, though. It's a secret.

[curtiswyant]

Talent.

[Kid Klash]

Alright, here's another. Ever get a vocalist that can't work with headphones for one reason or another? Bring him/her and the vocal mic into the control room; place the mic equal distance between and in front of the monitors (the mic becomes one of the three "corners" of an equalateral triangle); flip the polarity of one of the two monitors; pan the tracks in the center, and record the vocal tracks. The vocalist can hear the cue mix without being "confined" by cans, and the cue mix disappears from the vocal track because it cancels itself out.

Next?

[The Audacity Works]

Low cut everything as high as you can get away with (sometimes up to 500Hz or more), except kick and bass which you should also low cut, but only to around 30-40Hz.

Compress the group of BGs, and not the tracks individually.

My number one trick was listed somewhere here earlier, but now my business partners want me to keep it secret, because it's the one where the label asks "Whoa-- How the hell did you morph a zippered synth into a kick drum (or vocal or whatnot)?"

[Duck King]

Originally posted by audacity works
Low cut everything as high as you can get away with (sometimes up to 500Hz or more), except kick and bass which you should also low cut, but only to around 30-40Hz.

Compress the group of BGs, and not the tracks individually.

The same thing works with any multitracks instruments like guitars. It helps the timing as well as the volume.

[morale1313]

My secret...never let the musicians be satisfied with bullshit takes. If it sucks, then you can't be afraid to them. Not much of a secret, but it's all I got.

[Kid Klash]

Originally posted by morale1313
My secret...never let the musicians be satisfied with bullshit takes. If it sucks, then you can't be afraid to tell them. Not much of a secret, but it's all I got.

I'll agree with you here... it takes a lot of tact and great communication skills to do it, but in the long run, GIGO, or "get it right the first time".

I'm currently doing a mix of a song by a band from Portland Oregon that was popular in the 60's. The majority of the tracks sound amazingly good... but there are a couple train wrecks too. So I'm in a quandry... do I mix it to include everyone that played/performed, or do I mix it to sound good... I'll probably mix it both ways and make everyone happy

[Myth_Of_Invariance]

Fast release compression, moderate attack time. Works wonders.

Pan the effect on a stereo track pair, keep the dry signal mono. Creates a nice spread without the mix getting muddy.

BBE.

[Kid Klash]

A tip for recording drums and other percussion instruments :

The dynamic range of a drum is huge; it's pretty much whatever the dynamic range is of the recording medium you're capturing it on. There are lots of short, sharp transients ("spikes" in signal volume) with fast decay that require a specific preamp that won't clip (distort) when a big signal hits it. So, you need to choose your drum mic preamps with lots of clean "headroom" in mind. Read the spec sheets before you buy. It'll insure that all your recorded drum tracks have a "sound" foundation.

[Myth_Of_Invariance]

Try to understand the general eq character of each track/instrument and make them fit together like a puzzle, rather than having anything overlap. For instance, if your rhythm guitar has a mid peak at 600 or so hz, make sure your lead guitar, vocal, etc, aren't strong in that area. Maybe peak the lead at around 400 for extra body. The two parts will fit together better that way. Speakers strain themselves to recreate complex sounds (the kind that occur effortlessly live) so you have to make things as easy on them as possible.

[Warhead]

Musician's make the difference. If you hear the same kick drum and bass guitar played tight, usually no matter what the gear you're going to get "that sound" .

Put two lame f-ers behind both of them and have some sloppy stuff going on and people will tell you your mix sucks...

Playing in the pocket is important for good mixes.

Warren

[Kid Klash]

There are lots of ways to mic and record an open backed guitar amp (like a Fender, Vox, or Marshall).

One of my favorites is to close-mic the front-side of the speaker (or the outer side of one of the two speakers in a 2x10" or 2x12" combo); start by aiming the mic halfway between the dust cap and the frame, at an angle, an inch or two away from the grille cloth. A Shure SM-57 is one popular choice for this task. Record this on one track. Then, aim a second mic at the back of one speaker, back 6" to 12" from the speaker. You can choose another SM-57 mic for this if you want, or try a different mic (MD-421, D-112, E609, or...) for a different color. Flip the polarity on the mic preamp of the mic aimed at the open back mic, and record this on a second track. During mixdown, you can choose to make a composite of the two tracks (and sounds) and pan them together, or, try panning them wide for a big, stereo guitar sound. Mix to taste. Serve hot!

[bowisc]

The mysteries of His grace.

[MrKnobs]

My favorite studio secret is that untalented people who can't sing or play well will somehow come up with large amounts of money to record themselves.

Once I realized I was one of those untalented people I switched to this end of the business so I could receive the cash instead of dispense it.

Sorry, just in a cynical mood today. Flame if you must, but if it's on my time I need $40/hr.

Terry D.

[ANTILIFE]

hrm

[Scodiddly]

Playing bass guitar:

1. Play fairly hard; it gets you into an area where there is some natural compression of the sound.
2. Fret notes on top of the frets, instead of behind them. Much better tone, much reduced fret noise.
3. Damping, damping, damping. Learn to leave little gaps between each and every note, no matter how fast (or slow) you are playing. Really cleans up the sound.

[stunningbabe]

I always emphasise that in order for a mix to come out right and pleasant, it first starts with the music arrangement.

To nail my point, the arrangement should have the right balance of lows, mids and highs....meaning that if there are too many mid frequency instruments in the arrangement, there is gonna be a 'mess' in that frequency. Same goes for too much lows or highs.

To try to separate too much of the same frequencies is gonna be a mammoth task and not to mention dull sounding....coz there will be endless hours of eq'ing trying to rid these frequencies.

[Rimmer]

Eq is one of my sharpest tools.

It's the weapon I use most of all for tonal effect as much as for correction. If you make a fundamental change with Eq, make sure to reference back to the dry material frequently. The ear adjusts to tonal change quite quickly so it's easy to get it wrong if you don't provide yourself with a constant starting point. Eq is good for placement as well.