Recording Techniques in Logic & Mixing – Putting The Courses In To Practice
Logic and Mixing learner Nick Burns (Captain Mermaid) tells us how he put the recording techniques he learnt on the Logic course and even the Mixing course in to practice when he recorded and mixed this collaboration with singer Rebekah Anne Steele. “I used two SE small capsule condenser microphones on the guitar and arranged them in a XY pair to get a nice stereo image. I did record a DI signal, but didn’t end up using it in the mix in the end. If you want to know how not to record a guitar, see the video! I got Rebekah to sing...
read moreFocal SM9 and Twin Studio Monitor Speaker Demo
Focal invited me to Dean Street Studios for a Focal SM9 and Twin Studio Monitor Speaker Demo ages ago, but I just haven’t had time to write about them until now. When I walked into the room, the monitors were set up along with some NS10s like we have here for our mixing course. They looked massive with what I thought was an extra driver in the top of the cabinet! More on that later. The guys (Focal, Focal’s distributors and Gav at Kazbar Systems) had a selection of CDs and asked me to take my pick. I chose James Blake’s...
read moreRecording vocals: DIY vocal booth and pop shield or filter
Recording vocals: DIY vocal booth and pop shield or pop filter: This is about how I record vocals at home with a DIY vocal booth. We cover more on this on the Sound Engineering course. I have a macbook pro plugged up to an apogee duet, pop shield or pop filter, some cables running from my dining room to my bedroom where I have made a DIY vocal booth out of my wardrobe and some dressing gowns. You can see that I have the mic pretty close to the clothes in the wardrobe to ensure as many as the sound waves from the voice are captured and...
read moreAcoustic Treatment and Positioning of Studio Monitor Speakers
Acoustic Treatment and Positioning of Studio Monitor Speakers: Okay so now it’s time to choose and position your studio monitor speakers and just dip your toe into the wonderful world of studio acoustic treatment. More on this on the Mixing and Mastering course Most people listen to music in their cars or on a cheap home stereo sometimes even in mono. If your mix doesn’t sound good on a pair of small speakers, there’s not much point. A pair of ridiculously expensive active monitors may sound amazing, but no one else has...
read moreChoosing Powered and Active Studio Monitor Speakers
Choosing Powered and Active Studio Monitor Speakers: The positioning, orientation and mounting of studio monitors can have a huge influence on the final sound of a room and of course your mix. I wouldn’t go out and buy hi-fi speakers and a massive sub woofer if you have a room with parallel walls the size of a match box and don’t intend to apply much acoustic treatment. We should be looking for a happy medium, neither too bright nor too much bass. If the aspirations we have for our work are that it should sound as good as it can on...
read moreStanding waves and home studio acoustic treatment
Standing waves and home studio acoustic treatment: With technology advancements and computer processing power as it is now, the whole process of making hit records can be done in home studios, unless of course, you require a real orchestra! People with home studios often do not realise just how important the acoustic environment is. We tend to get a lot more excited about spending a few hundred quid on a shiny new synth than home studio acoustically treating a rooms walls, ceilings and floors for standing waves. There is also the issue of...
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