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The process of normalization often confuses newcomers to digital audio production. The word itself, "normalize," has various meanings, and this certainly contributes to the confusion. However, beginners and experts alike are also tripped up by the myths and misinformation that abound on the topic.
I address the 10 most common myths, and the truth behind […]
The easiest way to move a track "back" in a mix is to lower its volume. This works because in our everyday lives, sounds get quieter as they recede from us, so we're accustomed to the effect.
But our brains also use other cues to determine distance. For example, human hearing excels at matching a sound […]
Tags: delay, hearing, psychoacoustics, reverb
My apologies if you tried to reach Hometracked earlier and saw a 503 error. The site got a little busy - visitors from Digg, Reddit, and the awesome AbsolutePunk - and Dreamhost throttled my bandwidth. (So much for the 10Tb, I guess.) No matter, everything looks to be running again, and the hate-mail from angry […]
Read the full post ...Tags: hometracked
Here are some tips and techniques for treating vocal tracks with EQ while mixing.
Most importantly: Every voice is different, and every song is different. That advice bears remembering, even if you've heard it dozens of times. When you find yourself approaching a vocal mix on auto-pilot, applying effects "because they worked last time," consider […]
Pitch correction software has applications from restoration and mix-rescue to outright distortion of a voice or instrument. I'll discuss some of the more tasteful uses of these auto-tune tools (whether the original from Antares, or a variant like the free GSnap) below. But first I thought I'd highlight their misuse to illustrate the effects we […]
Read the full post ...Tags: freeplugins, mixing
This tip arises in most discussions of good equalizer technique: "Use narrow adjustments when cutting frequencies, and wide adjustments when boosting."
There are some great reasons to heed this advice. But they're not immediately obvious, especially if you're unfamiliar or uncomfortable with parametric EQs, and they're rarely fully explained. I'll explain and demonstrate below, and you […]
Tags: EQ
A few Homerecording.com regulars debate the merits of dithering. The conversation could easily have devolved into a flame war, but the participants kept it civil, and offered some great food for thought.
Some engineers even argue over which type of dither is best, claiming this algorithm is more airy sounding that that one, and so forth. […]
Tags: arrangement, hearing, myths, vocals
I keep a collection of audio samples designed to help check my monitor setup. Test tones, essentially, that I use after I've moved my speakers or desk, to ensure the speakers still behave as they should.
I've included 4 of the samples below, and I hope you find them useful - and possibly enlightening. Each tests […]
Over time, I've noted several questions that arise repeatedly on the web's home recording forums. Each question reads as though it should have a simple answer, but none of them do. And indeed, the questions themselves betray their askers' lack of experience with the subject.
In effect, posing one of these questions tells the world you're […]
Tags: EQ, FAQs, microphones, miking, mixing, professional engineers
As a songwriter I'm (far too) familiar with writer's block, and when my creative energy wanes, I'm not above using outside help to keep fresh ideas flowing.
In particular, I own and love Naomi Epel's Observation Deck. If I sense a creative lull creeping on, I pull out a card and ponder its message (for example, […]
Tags: inspiration, mixing
For most home recordists, working with cheap microphones is a fact of life. "Amateur" and "budget-constrained" are practically synonymous in audio engineering.
But cheap doesn't have to mean bad. With a little effort, even the most cost-conscious mic owner can capture great sounds.
To that end, here are 7 tips for getting the most from your […]
Tags: EQ, microphones, miking
I'm amazed when I compare Glyn Johns's early mixes of Let It Be with Phil Spector's final release. The music and performances are the same, but the mixes couldn't sound more different. Shouldn't these men, both professionals practicing a time-honoured craft, have created similar mixes with the same material?
Of course, no two listeners hear music […]
Tags: compression, EQ, mixing, professional engineers, tracking
From Gearslutz: How can I treat nasty snare drum ringing?
usually a "ring" isnt in one frequency…it's a complex combination of frequencies. so you may need to eq out 2-3 different places. if you find a resonance, and eq it out, but still hear a ring, then repeat the process till all rings are gone. Then, […]
Tags: drums, microphones, snare drum
To play sound our ears and brain understand, a digital audio system must emit an analog signal. The switch from digital to analog is handled by the digital-to-analog converter, usually just called a DAC.
Under specific conditions, which I describe below, the DAC can produce an analog signal that momentarily exceeds the level of the […]
Tags: mixing
I apologize for the dearth of updates on Hometracked this month. I've been busy with a few things, and one in particular that bears mentioning.
A local radio station songwriting contest recently caught my attention, mostly because of the sizable cash prizes: $10,000 for the winner, and a total purse of over $26,000. (This is a […]
Tags: business
Inspired by Jason Kottke's awesome digging in the newly-opened NY Times archive, here are some items from the archive documenting music and recording history.
The first reference to Edison's phonograph seems to be this satirical piece from November, 1877. At least, I hope it's satirical:
There is good reason to believe that if the phonograph proves to […]
Tags: history, music business, radio
"Reference tracks for better drum mixes" included a few drum-only passages captured from commercial recordings.
The ideal drum reference tracks feature few other instruments, as musical instruments tend to mask frequencies in the snare and kick drums. But since drums aren't often featured solo in pop and rock recordings, it can be tricky to find […]
Tags: drums, kickdrum, reference cd
Ben Goldacre writes the fantastic column Bad Science, in which he takes journalists to task for reporting poorly researched conclusions. I wonder if he'd consider expanding his field to include bad audio technology writing. He might start with Lee Gomes's article in the Wall Street Journal, Are Technology Limits In MP3s and iPods Ruining Pop […]
Read the full post ...Tags: independent artists, loudnesswars, MP3 compression, music business
Like most folk, I enjoyed the recent NY Times' article on Rick Rubin and Columbia Records. And while the portrayal of Rubin as larger-than-life-messiah borders on caricature, the article still advances some sage thinking on Columbia's woes:
Columbia didn't want Rubin to punch a clock. It wanted him to save the company. And just maybe the […]
Tags: independent artists, music business, myths
After my discussion of ribbon mic mods, Michael at OktavaMod sent me some pictures of sagging ribbons, something you might encounter while working on your mic.
The most common symptoms of a loose ribbon are low output and decreased low-frequency response. With your mic open, it's easy to see if the ribbon sags. But with sealed, […]
Read the full post ...Tags: microphones, pictures
I spend as much time as any guitar player tweaking knobs to find great tones. Here are some links that have helped me in the quest:
First, the effect of pickups on guitar tone:
Even though we each have different ideas about our ultimate tone, I think we're all looking for a rich sound - rich in […]
Tags: guitars
Inspired by "engineering screw-ups" on Gearslutz, here's a list of recording and mixing bloopers that made it past the mixing room onto the final release.
These aren't performance missteps, where the band missed a cue, or the singer came in too soon. There are certainly countless examples of those but most were included intentionally, to add […]
Tags: humour, mixing, professional engineers
David at Digital Audio Insider wrote an interesting article on using Last.fm Statistics to Quantify Audience Devotion. Audience devotion here refers to how many repeated listens a band's tracks receive. Basically, do people keep listening to the band?:
I thought it'd be fun to use Last.fm statistics to try to devise a measure of "audience devotion." […]
Tags: music business, predictions, promotion
I discussed a simple modification to an Apex 205 ribbon mic, and recorded samples to illustrate the change. Here are some concluding thoughts, and helpful resources for anyone planning to tweak a ribbon mic:
Should you do this mod?
Whether or not you should modify your own ribbon mic depends largely on your answers to 2 […]
Tags: diy, microphones
It's easy enough to play with mic placement on your guitar amp, but it's not always practical, especially if you record by yourself. This video highlights the main miking positions, and how each affects the guitar's tone.
Read the full post ...Yesterday, I described a simple modification on the Apex 205 ribbon mic. To show the results of the mod, I recorded samples using both the modded 205 and a stock version of the same mic.
Methodology
I recorded each pair of clips below simultaneously, which makes A/B comparison easy: Line up the beginning of both clips in […]
Tags: before&after, diy, microphones
I have two Apex 205 microphones, the cheap Chinese ribbon mics appearing in amateur mic collections everywhere. Even out of the box, these microphones (and the equivalent mics from Nady, Thomann, SM Pro, et. al.) sound decent. But a DIY'er can easily make 2 changes to improve the sound:
Remove unnecessary screening from the mic
Replace the […]
Tags: diy, microphones
In what FutureMusic dubs The Waves Ultimatum, Waves has been spying on studios to gather evidence against software thieves. Complete with hidden cameras. (There's more on the campaign in this Gearslutz thread: Software Police on Patrol.)
Waves is targeting professionals, not home studios. That's probably a good thing for the dozens of web forum posters […]
Tags: plugins
Watch for "the wall": Marathon runners hit a wall somewhere around the 20-mile mark. Mixing engineers experience something similar: After a point, mixes don't get better, they just get different. Learning to recognize when you've reached this point is crucial to improving as a mix engineer. Unlike runners, however, engineers who hit the mixing wall […]
Read the full post ...Tags: mixing, reverb, tips digest
Here's a classic thread from Prosoundweb with some of the pros sharing their thoughts on getting a thick guitar sound:
It's a lot of things, but most importainly[sic] it's the blend of guitars and bass in the arrangement. If you listen closely to your fav guitar sounds, the guitars aren't really that big on their […]
Tags: guitars
A custom reverb can add a unique signature to your recordings. And since practically every space reverberates, a home made reverb often requires no more than a speaker, and microphone to capture reflected sound. Understandably, then, reverb units are popular do-it-yourself projects for musicians and recording engineers.
Spring and plate reverbs are the easiest designs […]
I previously discussed the best bit rate for the MP3s you distribute. (Short answer: Probably 128KBps or 160KBps, but test your own music to be sure.)
There's a more important bitrate for most home recordists, however: The number of bits you use to record raw tracks. In all likelihood, your recording system gives you two choices, […]
Tags: MP3 compression, samplerate
In audio, a transient is commonly defined as "an abrupt or sudden change in level." We associate transients with sharp, harsh sounds: Think of cymbal crashes, hard-strummed acoustic guitar, and a singer's T's and CH's.
A microphone's ability to accurately capture these transients is known as transient response, and it's an important property to consider when […]
Tags: microphones, miking
While it has nothing to do with music, this story of Lego's success with Mindstorms hints at some powerful lessons:
Lego […] realized that their proprietary code was loose on the Internet and debated how best to handle the hackers… Some Lego executives worried that the hackers might cannibalize the market for future Mindstorms accessories or […]
Tags: music business, riaa
From homerecording.com, a collection of approaches to mixing:
First thing is to do the faders up listening. If you're a member of the band, or the engineer, or even worse both (as well as the song writer and the overall aranger of the songs….like I am), then TRY REALLY HARD to forget that. You have to […]
Tags: microphones, mixing
A couple of weeks ago, Avril Lavigne found herself facing allegations that she'd plagiarized a 30 year old song. (Here's some quick background.) It's old news now, but worth revisiting because some aspects of the case could be important for amateur producers and home recordists.
…
Lavigne and her co-writer didn't rip off The Rubinoos. Not even […]
Tags: arrangement, music business
Here are a couple of sites I've enjoyed recently that you might not have seen:
Homemade noize, a growing collection of DIY projects and software plugins, mostly aimed at amateur recording enthusiasts.
And Spinmeister's Extreme Mixer (eMXR) site, which focuses on online collaboration and remixing. From the site:
Long held business models for recorded music are crumbling not […]
Tags: collaboration, diy
Storm Recording Studio has disappeared off the internet, taking with it the only source of drum sample replacer Drumtrig.
I mentioned Drumtrig in the list of drum replacer plugins. It's a free, dressed-down alternative to Drumagog: Only one sample per track, but incredibly easy to use.
As with the similarly-fated Paris EQ, I saved the install […]
Tags: drum trigger, drums, plugins, vst
Michael Dean and Chris Caulder have released a CC-licensed (and free) eBook about making music digitally: Digital Music - DIY Now!
The book claims to be "for people who want to record their own compositions and get them out to the World" and "for people who want a career making music for films, TV, and video […]
Tags: business, home studio, music business
I'm Canadian, so I glaze over in most discussions of U.S. domestic policy. Accordingly, I have basically ignored the debate over Internet radio royalty rates. But my interest has increased after reading two well-reasoned opinions on how the debate bears directly on independent musicians.
The first, in Business Week:
The outrage against the CRB rates isn't fueled […]
Tags: business
Steve Albini (yes, that Steve Albini) hangs out on the 2+2 poker forums, and decided to entertain music questions from the poker community. It seems an odd location for that discussion, but the thread has some great Albini quotes:
Well, mixing isn't the magic bullet it's purported to be. A recording is about 90 percent as […]
Tags: professional engineers
I've been away from Hometracked for the last week because I had a chance to record in a great space: A Muskoka cottage with 14-foot cathedral ceilings and all-pine interior. Perfect for recording drums!
I was certain the space would yield a better drum sound. Still, I thought it would be interesting to hear how big […]
Tags: drums, home studio, snare drum
For a sales video, this "recording guitar" primer from Presonus is surprisingly effective, especially if you struggle to get a usable tone from acoustic or electric guitar:
Read the full post ...I ask most people I talk to where they listen to music: On a home stereo system? Through headphones? In the car? While I haven't tracked the answers scientifically, I'd say the breakdown looks roughly like:
Headphones or earphones:
60%
PC speakers:
20%
Car speakers:
10%
HiFi speakers:
10%
A recent CEA study adds that three quarters of adults online listen to music on […]
Read the full post ...For a full band mix, restringing your electric guitar probably won't, by itself, much affect the overall sound of your recording. Especially if the guitar's a little crunchy. Ditto for changing the snare drum head. Or tweaking the piano's tuning.
But taken together, small changes like these add up, and can really bring a mix to […]
Tags: guitars, tips digest
Music sales widgets are the Flash based "mp3 players with built-in music store" we see appearing across the web. SNOCAP is arguably the best known vendor, thanks to high profile deals with EMI and Myspace. But there are at least half a dozen other companies offering similar tools.
Why use one of these widgets to sell […]
This collection of home recording studio pictures might give you some ideas for your own space. Or cause drool-inducing envy.
Read the full post ...Tags: home studio, pictures, video
Some recent articles you may have missed:
…
I daresay most indie artists experience a visceral glee while reading these words in Rolling Stone:
Just a few years ago, many [music] industry executives thought their problems could be solved by bigger hits. "There wasn't anything a good hit couldn't fix for these guys," says a source who […]
Tags: music business
I spend a lot of time, in and out of the studio, with my ears covered, plugged, or otherwise shielded from loud sounds. I do it to protect my hearing, of course, but I wasn't always as diligent as I am now. The motivation behind my (possible over)use of earplugs was my discovery a few […]
Read the full post ...Tags: hearing, professional engineers
Double-tracking a vocal is a tried and true technique for adding character to (or covering flaws in) a vocal track. Here are two threads from homerecording.com on doubling vocals: [Thread 1], [Thread 2]:
Double tracking really depends on the vocalist being in control of his/her performance. Some people are good at it and some people aren't. […]
Tags: vocals
Home Studio Bootcamp in this month's EQ magazine has some great tips on improving your home studio's acoustics (or at least making the best of the existing sound.)
… for the truly broke, a rug on the floor, a bookcase on the wall, or even a strategically placed sofa between the source and the walls will […]
Tags: acoustics
Over the last few months Andrew Dubber, on his site New Music Strategies, has compiled a list of things you must know about music online.
He deals with changing realities in the music industry, and the strategies indie labels (though the advice applies to the major labels too) and artists will need to succeed in the […]
Tags: business, interviews, promotion
Characteristics of Musical Keys: Composers through history have associated various moods and colours with each of the 24 major and minor keys in Western music. From the link "This document contains a selection of information from the Internet about the emotion or mood associated with musical keys. It is not complete nor does it include […]
Read the full post ...I changed the web site to a 3-column layout today, and added a "live preview" feature to the comment form. If you see anything that looks out of place, I'd appreciate a heads-up. You can leave a comment, or email des at hometracked.
Read the full post ...Tags: hometracked
Butch Vig discusses mixing Smells Like Teen Spirit, and Cobain with his "vocal cords … starting to come right out of his throat."
Read the full post ...Tags: professional engineers, video
Generally it's best to avoid the use of heavy reverb on bass and kick drum tracks, since the extra reverberant low frequencies can quickly lead to a muddy sound. (Remember: Excessive bass causes amateur sounding tracks.)
But when used sparingly, a tight short reverb effect can add body and punch to a dull kick drum. This […]
Some instruments, guitars especially, sound great when double-tracked and separated in the stereo image. Hard-panned electric guitars are a standard in modern rock mixes, and engineers have used the technique on acoustic guitars too for decades.
Double-tracking is straightforward: Record a part twice, both takes as similar as possible, and pan one take hard left […]
Linkin Park's singles often inspire the question "haven't they already written this song?" An mp3 that does the rounds from time to time mixes Numb (on the left) and Pushing Me Away (on the right) to illustrate this with almost comical effect: All Linken Park Songs Sound Exactly The Same.
As shown below, and forgive the […]
Read the full post ...Make a cassette loop for about 6 seconds: As some of the commenters note, this could be used for old school loop-based effects. Exactly HOW you'd do that is not covered, of course.
The Time Correction Wiki: Described as a website "dedicated to the study and practice of time correction techniques in audio engineering and music […]
Tags: diy
Brad posted a great article this week on which CD sales approaches pay independent artists the most. His experience mirrors mine: Direct sales are the most profitable, followed by CD Baby, then the various online distribution methods. Says Brad:
No big surprise, buying direct from me is the best (for me). Direct digital sales… is the […]
Tags: business
A quick note: Create Digital Music hit their sponsors up for a pile of music hardware and software to give away (to U.S. residents.) Free stuff is good, free music stuff better.
Read the full post ...Tags: hardware
As an amateur recording engineer, you'll likely run into the name Recorderman when learning how to mic a drum kit. Recorderman's approach to placing overhead drum microphones is recommended for beginners because it's easy to set up, and yields good, sometimes great, results in practically every situation.
The name "Recorderman" comes from a user on the […]
Whether or not you're in it for the money, making a few bucks with your music is a great feeling. I've been writing songs most of my life, and recording for the better part of the last decade. And while I'm not a professional, I've still earned enough over the years to warrant paying taxes […]
Read the full post ...Tags: business
In Mix It Like A Record, Charles Dye recommends several methods of checking a mix for mono compatibility. The simplest: Put a finger in one of your ears!
There may be slightly more to it, however. Lifehacker recently featured a list of body hacks, and it included this great tip about using our ears:
If you're stuck […]
Tags: hearing, mixing, psychoacoustics
A web search for "best VST EQ" turns up dozens of pages that mention the Paris EQ VST, but for reasons I haven't been able to figure out, the plugin and its author Matt Craig have dropped off the face of the Internet.
That's a pity, because the plugin is fantastic. Although it's colorful, so not […]
Electronic Musician just added an old interview with Bob Clearmountain to their web site.
Clearmountain is one of my idols (his work with Radiohead notwithstanding.) And while he's arguably the most famous mixing engineer on the planet, he doesn't mind sharing advice with us amateurs on how to mix:
I mix at various monitoring levels, through different […]
Tags: interviews, mixing, professional engineers
Boy do I ever have a huge backlog of links to post. Here are a few stories from the last few weeks relating to indie artists and the music industry.
Can Music Survive Inside the Big Box, from the Wall Street Journal, discusses the increasing power of Walmart, Best Buy, and Target over the (traditional) music […]
Tags: music business
What are some reasons that a mix collapses when summed to mono?
It sounds like you are not switching back and forth often enough. Don't wait until you are committed to a balance to check mono. Make it an every-five-minute-auto button-push thing. After a while, you will get the hang of it.
Things to watch for when […]
Tags: mixing
I haven't updated Hometracked regularly the last few weeks because I've been busy working on a project with my frequent collaborator Rich Brewer.
Rich and I realized a month ago that we have a lot of unrecorded and unproduced material between us. Enough, we hope, for a decent album. So we've decided to record the album, […]
Tags: hometracked
A good general rule for EQ: Make your cuts narrow and your boosts wide.
That is, when removing frequencies, remove only what you need to. On a parametric EQ, use a high Q value, and identify specific problem frequencies. The less you cut, the more natural the result will sound. Conversely, when you boost a frequency […]
Tags: EQ, tips digest
Whether via search or link from a web forum, every few months I find myself back at the fantastic Sound On Sound article Using Equalisation. And as with Equal Time, the Electronic Musician I linked to before, I get something new from the Sound on Sound piece every time I read it.
The article covers the […]
Tags: EQ