you’re going to get a better sound recording electric guitars on analog than digital. If you’re going digital, you may want to use a bit more compression than normal, maybe dial more low-end because digital is like a clear pane of glass. And it’s important to make sure the guitars have been set up well, that the intonations are in good shape so the players are not having a tuning nightmare.

IN the mix I took the shaker (I just realised we always CALLED it a shaker, but actually it’s the Linn Cabasa), through an Eventide Flanger to make it dance around in stereo a bit and get it out of the dead centre, where it was too demanding. It sounded better being a little diffused… less artificial.

Ever heard of the “Cardinal Points Pan Law?” It’s not a law, so much as a mixing guideline:

The poster is talking about “hard” panning everything, as if there were only L,C,R switches instead of pan pots. So basically, there is no middle ground, except for necessity, as he says. You only use the spaces in between when you want some thing to stick out, like a tom.

Here’s a thread on Gearslutz discussing the 1960’s bass sound

if we’re talking pet sounds/association type bass sounds…first off i’d recommend flat wound strings. a hollow body bass would get you very close to that da dunka dunk/clacky bass sound…playing very controlled and muted and towards the bridge of the guitar.

next…and this is a really good trick in general…use a guitar amp. preferably a 60’s style tube amp. i’ve been able to get awesome bass sounds using all of the above through a fender deluxe reverb. my thought process is…generally there weren’t that many massive peavy/ampeg bass rigs laying around…especially towards the early part of the 60’s. most bassists would have used slightly more robust guitar amps. lastly…i used a ribbon mic about a foot and a half away from the speaker grill.

Also, there is a whole LOT of room between center and hard pan. Many a hit has had vocals panned just to one side of center or another – perhaps 30% or so – in order to balance a call and response with a guitar or horn section or backgroud vocals that were about the same distance to the other side. Or how about vocal duets? Do you want them both up the middle? Perhaps, but often not.

How to care for a tube mic:

When not in use, keep it in a tightly sealed case with silica inside the case, and keep the case itself in a dry consistantly cool room (if you are comfortable in the room, so will the mic be).

Often, the bass and vocals fight for the same space in a mix. This thread on Homerecording.com has thoughts on finding a balance between bass and vocals:

I’m very surprised that no one else seems to be a proponent of ducking the bass… It’s almost magical to my ears.. I’ve stuggled with the problem deonoted by the thread’s tittle for years and ducking the bass is the most efficient and least harmful (to the original tone delivery that I have came across..

In almost every situation, I would be at LEAST 4 feet further away with the mic than in those pictures. the harshness comes from the fact that the instrument was never designed to be heard from that close.

Do you need your ears cleaned? An audiologist chimes in:

Someone mentioned ear candles. I would absolutely, under no circumstances EVER use an ear candle. They are a hoax. We did some experimenting with these in graduate school and there is no way you can produce enough “suction” to remove anything from the ear canal with them. At best they are a waste of money and at worst they are potentially dangerous.

Tracking a 5-string bass shouldn’t be any more difficult than a bass:

if you can’t plug the bass into any old di and get a decent to good sound with no fiidling, the problem is with the hands and/or the instrument they’re holding. if you got a decent sound coming off tape (oh my, how tape takes care of so many bass problems), but when you drop it in the mix it disappears or plays hide and seek, the problem is likely in the arrangement and/or the part. that doesn’t mean that the solutions to the above problems can’t be found somewhat or even mostly in gear and tweaks, because a talented set of hands and ears can work miracles. but ime even the best miracles fall short of what happens when a great part is well played and mixed into the right arrangement.

You’re probably not going to fool anyone but it might be enough to imply the sound of an upright by having (or exaggerating) a few of its distinguishing traits. I think the decay is important. Uprights seem to have less sustain than electric bass. Try the Carol Kaye trick of putting some fabric near the end of the strings (near the bridge is best bet, but you could shove it between the strings and the fretboard at the nut) to dampen them.

Why do CDs use a sample rate of 44.1 KHz?

44.1 kHz came about because digital audio was encoded and then stored as video on video tape as white and black bits.

Since there are a number of video standards a sampling rate had to be chosen that would be divide up well on to video formats having different frame rates and scanned lines per frame.

And more, on the technical details:

Video recorders… were adapted to store audio samples by creating a pseudo-video waveform which would convey binary as black and white levels. The sampling rate of such a system is constrained to relate simply to the field rate and field structure of the television standard used, so that an integer number of samples can be stored on each usable TV line in the field.

What recording chain did John Mayer use on his album Continuum:

Vocals were Mic -> 1073s -> 1176 (or two chs with one into a Fairchild 670)
Neumann U47 (most), Neumann M269c & RCA 77 (“I’m Gonna Find Another You”)

How do you place your monitor speakers? Even if you’re mixing with computer speakers, there’s lots of useful advice here: