Tips & Advice

Doing the side by side comparison of your own recording next to one of your favorite pro recordings can be a humbling experience. Great engineers like the Bruce Swedien, Rich Breen, Bil VornDick, Al Schmitt, Michael Wagener, Joe Ferla and many others have years of experience (in addition to gobs of raw talent) that translate into great, knowledgeable, ears.

Now you get to have fun by mucking around with the work of the masters. Google any of the engineers above to find out the titles of some of their work. Now go out and buy a CD or two, or even download a file from iTunes or other music service, if you must (though mp3s just don’t have the resolution you really should have for this exercise).

Import a track into your DAW again and now insert a good parametric EQ into the channel. Now start messing with the track. Start by adding a low shelf boost of … say … 6 dB at a corner frequency of 150 Hz. Listen back and forth between the EQ’d and un-EQ’d track as you activate and deactivate the EQ. What happens to the feel of the tune? What about other frequencies? Do any other areas of the frequency spectrum change? What happens to the high end? What about the mids? Does it sound like anything has been added to these to frequency bands?

Now remove the shelving EQ and change the setting to “peak”. Set the “Q” to 0.7 and boost 6 dB at 350 Hz. Now what does the track sound like? Would you like some Mississippi with that mud pie? Now do the opposite and suck out 6 dB at 350. Thinner than a toothpick on the Atkins Diet? Do things sound brighter? What about the mood again?

Now continue the exercise at different frequencies. Try some honkiness between 500 Hz and 1kHz. Give yourself a buzz cut with a bunch of 3 kHz. Tone down some “essssssiness” at between 6 and 8 kHz depending on whether the vocalist is male or female. Add some extra “air” with a shelving boost at 12 kHz.

By now you should get the idea. Start with a great recording and learn what’s great about it by wrecking it with the gratuitous use of inappropriate EQ. If during your experimentation you notice the work of the masters starting to sound like your own recordings, you will know why — and what to look out for the next time your record and mix.

Note: This article appeared as part of a guest editorial in the January 2012 issue of Recording Magazine

Last time we looked at the importance of learning how to listen. Now, here’s how to do it.

The first thing I suggest you do, is gather a pencil and note pad because these tools are going to help you make sense of your listening exercises.
Start by opening up your DAW and importing a wave or aiff file of one of your own mixes into track one. Then, in track two, import a a favorite recording in a similar style to your own project. 
Now listen to each of these recordings, in turn, alternately muting and unmuting each track. As you do this pick up your pencil and start to make notes about your observations. Listen for some of the following things …

1. Overall spectral balance. What is the general “sound” like? Does one recording have considerably more highs than the other? How about low mids (the mud region)? 
2. Density. How much “space” is there around each sound? Does one recording sound more open and airy? Is the sound dry and tight? Can you clearly separate each instrument and vocal, both timbrally and in terms of transients? 
3. Stereo field. Is the stereo field wide or narrow? What about relative left to right placement of various instruments? 
4. Depth of field. What about the relative front to back placement of sounds? Do some sounds seem like they are in the back of the room, thanks to relatively more reflected sound content? Or is everything “in your face” and jammed up at the front of the sound stage? 
5. Noise, unwanted distortion and general weirdness. Can you detect any background hiss? Clicks and pops from overs or digital gear that is not synched to a master clock? Listen especially to the tail of the recording. Can you hear instruments brushing against clothing? Can you hear computer fans? Does one side of the stereo field fade out sooner than another? Can you hear excessive lip smacking on the vocals?

Start with the above areas and you’ll be amazed how much you can learn from your favourite recordings. Next time we’ll learn how to make better recordings by messing them up!

Note: This article appeared as part of a guest editorial in the January 2012 issue of Recording Magazine

Let’s face it … if you’re into sound recording, you’re probably into gear. That’s a good thing, because knowing what your gear does, and knowing how to get your gear to do what you want it to, is a key to making great recordings. But there’s a more fundamental aspect of recording that we sometimes forget about in the midst of all the gearlust: Listening.

That’s right. Knowing what to listen for, and how to listen for it is the absolute basic prerequisite to making pro recordings. Ask yourself … how much time do you spend pouring over gear reviews, technical specs and owner’s manuals (OK, scratch that last one)? Now how much time do you spend practicing your listening skills? If you’re like most recording enthusiasts, you spend a lot more time on the gear side of the equation.

You’ve probably heard it said that great engineers can make good recordings even with average gear. That is mostly true — and for one reason: Pro engineers know how to use their ears. They know when their gear is hitting the limits of its capabilities and they know what good recordings sound like. I urge you to take a little time to develop your listening skills. You will be amazed at how much better your recordings get in no time.

Next time we’ll get into some practical ways to develop your listening skills.

Note: This article appeared as part of a guest editorial in the January 2012 of Recording Magazine

You might read suggestions in forums that a good way to position microphones is to plug one ear and move the open ear around a sound source until is sounds good, then put the mic there. This method works as a starting point, but take the time to double check the sound through your monitors, while the mics are moved around. Your ear doesn’t work the same way as a condenser mic. In the end you have to listen to the overall sound source live and then double check through mics, because the mics — not your ears — will capture the sound.