Mixing | The Peacock

Every mix has one special element that likes to show off its plume of feathers. I call this element, "The Peacock" of the mix. Sometimes it is the vocals and sometimes it is the guitar. I'm never quite sure until I get in front of the mix. It just takes some time to listen and figure out what needs the most attention; How you should build the mix around the peacock is dictated by the array of colors present in the mix. If you display the peacock properly in the mix, it will draw attention to itself and listeners will be seduced by its beauty. The only thing you need to focus on is making sure the complimenting tracks don't get overlooked and the peacock will do the rest of the work.

Vocal Mixing | Using delay to get wide vocals

Mixing vocals can have its challenges. Do not fret! There are ways to make your vocals big and wide without
laying on huge amounts of compression. Try this technique, add some side-chain delay sends from the main vocal. Add 3 or 4 sends with delays set to different lengths. Slowly bring up the faders on the delay tracks to blend the vocal into the mix. It's also a good idea to have different eq curves on each of the delay tracks. Play with filters to get the right tone for your mix.

Black Lion Audio Signature 002 Mod

There are certain things that contribute to a great recording. The first is the interface that you're using. You can go and spend some $$$ on a HD converter and get great results. However, there is an alternative for great sound at a more affordable price. Black Lion Audio (www.blacklionaudio.com) is a company based in Chicago and they have some modifications that rival some of the big expensive converters. For under $2,000 you can get the BLA Signature Mod on your 002 or 003 rack. We currently have one that is used as our mobile rig and it holds up quite well. Many of the live recording that Shine On has been hired to record have been tracked with our modified 002r.

The Signature Mod will improve your converters, clock, and mic pres. These are huge improvements over the Digidesign stock interface. They also beef up the headphone amp to provide a more accurate monitoring option. The A/B recordings we did with the interface are jaw-dropping. There really is no comparison between the recordings. The mod improved the attack of transients and the depth of the EQ range. Drums have more punch, guitars roar and scream with more intensity, bass is bigger and richer in the low end, and vocals just rip through the mix to sit right in the pocket. These improvements are well worth the investment. You'll save time in the studio and your mixes will have a brilliance that just cannot be matched at this price point. If you'd like to get more info or experience with the interface, sign up for one of our Pro Tools lessons and an engineer will show you the ins and outs of this impressive upgrade to your studio.

Recording | Pro VO tracking

Voice over work can be very profitable and provide steady income. You just need one thing, a professional sound. Some recordings are just superior to others and it boils down to the talent and how the talent is recorded. Imagine just reading out loud for the rest of your professional career. At Shine On Studio, I produce some of the highest quality vocal recordings heard around the world. If you have a critical VO recording that needs to sound extremely professional, you've found your new recording studio.

My equipment and mic selection offers a wide range of presence and tone that will compliment any voice actor's project. I've worked with professional commercial productions for Television, Video Games, Theatrical Releases, Company Promotions, Educational Documentaries, Audio Books, Instructional DVDs, TV commercials, Radio commercials, and Private Interviews. I provide direction and vocal coaching to help clients get the right performance recorded to impress their employers.

Come by the studio for a tour and hear some of the quality production that has been produced at Shine On Studio. You've got the talent and I've got the experience to get the job done right. Professional sound for professional voice actors.

How to start a recording studio | part 2

Now you've got your computer and interface all ready to go. It's time to pick out a microphone or two so you can start recording. There are so many options out there and the prices are all over the place. Keep your budget in mind and remember there is more gear needed to complete the studio. So be reasonable about what you can afford.

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BLUE KIWI • Main Vocal Mic

At the very least, seek out a decent vocal mic. Vocals are such a big part of the music that it pays to have a clean vocal mic. If you have the budget, I highly recommend the BLUE KIWI mic as your main vocal mic. It's produces a very clean sound and has impressive detail in capturing vocals. I use this mic on a daily basis at the studio and it has been my go-to mic for years. Now, this is not an entry level mic at $1,999, so don't buy it if your budget doesn't allow this expense. There are other mics out there, so do a little research and find one that works for your setup. The RODE NTK is an excellent utility mic that can track vocals and then be used to record a kick drum. The tube in the NTK gives the signal a nice analog warmth that helps tracks sit nicely into the mix. I've used my NTK on guitar amps, acoustic guitars, vocals, drums, congas, violins, and a slew of other instruments. All the tracks sound great, so this mic is well worth the investment.

Now your budget might be tight, so not to fret, there are some great options out there for a budget studio. Blue makes a few smaller versions of their flagship mics. The REACTOR is a great mic if you can find one. They're about $500 brand new and they have the same capsule as the KIWI. The Blue Bird is another excellent option and it is another versatile mic that can be used for many different applications. Right now Sweetwater.com is offering a Blue Bird mic + a Focusrite Scarlett interface for $299. That's a good deal for getting yourself up and running.

The staple mic is the Shure SM58 and you can never go wrong with this mic. It is built like a tank and can take a beating and still provide quality audio recordings. This mic is under $100 and will give you solid recordings on almost anything you put in front of it. Now it's not designed to be used as a multipurpose mic, but I've had good results from using it as a snare mic and a vocal mic. If you want a solid instrument mic, the Shure SM57 is your new best friend. It is a universal mic for anything that needs to be recorded and it is also built like a tank. This mic is the go-to mic for many engineers for tracking snares, guitar amps, toms, and sometimes vocals. Very affordable and extremely versatile are the big bonus points for these two mics.

I could go on and on about all the different mics, but these are just some of my favorites. If you have a question about a mic or want to know what I think about a particular mic, just post a comment here and I'll respond as soon as I can. Now get back to recording!

How to start a recording studio | part 1

You've decided to start a recording studio. Now comes the planning for how to build your studio from the ground up. There are so many options, so let me help you consider a few that are crucial to the success of your new studio. I've been in the business for over 20 years now and I've seen what works and how well everything works. There are many different types of audio production studios, but for this segment, I'm going to focus on the beginner's project studio. Though you may have already started to build your studio, I'll be offering advice on things to consider for the success of all levels of studio production.

Before you spend too much time planning or spend any money on gear, take time to hash out your budget. You'll need to make some tough decisions about what is necessary now and what can be purchased down the road as the studio grows. Start a spreadsheet of your available finances and keep track of what you're spending. The last thing you want to do is buy a bunch of gear and then not have the funds to connect the pieces. There are things that many new studio engineers overlook and this is one main reason I'm writing this article.

First, you have to decide if you're going to be a PC or a MAC based computer system. You could get a new MAC and load Windows with the Parallels program. That's all up to you. There are advantages to both OS systems, so this decision has to fit with your configuration and your budget. PC systems are typically more affordable, but do carry the risk of more frequent crashing and data loss. MAC systems are more expensive and not as flexible as a PC based system. I'm not going to get too in-depth here, but if you'd like to post a comment, I'll do my best to respond.

For now, we'll assume that you've made your computer decision and you're ready to move on to the core of your system, the DAW. The DAW ( Digital Audio Workstation) is the heart of all digital recording studios. This is the interface that will provide recording and mixing capabilities for your studio. Most DAWs come with a hardware interface which does the A/D & D/A conversion for your audio. This is by far one of the most important choices to make when building your studio. The quality of audio conversion will ultimately impact the detail of the audio that comes out of your studio. The higher quality converters will give you a more accurate monitoring sound and yield a more dynamic range to your mixes. The beauty of most DAWs today, they will work with almost any interface you choose. This makes the options more bountiful and presents the opportunity for 3rd party companies to get into the market. Ultimately, this allows engineers the ability to mix and match software and hardware to customize a studio setup that is just right for their needs. Customize is such a great word and it is such a liberating concept!

I've personally worked with many different DAWs in my career and they all do a fine job of recording and mixing. There are some that only work on PC and some that only work on MAC, but most are cross-platform, so do pay attention to what is compatible with your system. The most widely used DAW is AVID's Pro Tools. Virtually every professional studio I've been in over the years is running Pro Tools as their primary DAW. It's not cheap software, but it is very user friendly with a mild learning curve. There are tons of books and videos out there to get you started working in Pro Tools and I'd recommend this as your primary DAW. The new line of AVID HD I/O interfaces have excellent converters and the audio quality is pristine. However, Pro Tools HD systems are not cheap. The entry level system is the Omni HD + Pro Tools HD Native and that starts at $4,999.00. Now there are some upgrade options, but just to get into Pro Tools HD, you may be spending a big chunk of your budget. If you can afford a quality interface, it will pay dividends down the road. Just be sure you are buying fear that you can grow into and not grow out of quickly. One pit fall I regularly encounter is folks who buy bargain gear with the intention of selling it when they need to upgrade. My warning is that you may not be able to sell the gear for a decent price, so don't rely on this strategy to recoup your capital funds.

Hope this was some useful insight for you to consider. Keep in mind there are many options out there and I highly recommend that you at least consider multiple DAWs and Hardware interfaces before you commit to purchasing. You should also look into financing your purchases and Sweetwater (.com) has some nice 0% interest for 24 months financing options. If you want to talk with my sales engineer, Joseph Secu x1232, he'll give you some good advice on what would work best for your setup. He's helped many of my clients purchase the right gear for their home studios and he's been helping me for over 14 years. I only have great things to say about Sweetwater and Mr. Secu.

Please leave any comments and I'll respond as soon as possible. Thanks for reading part 1 of this blog article. The next section I'll be discussing vocal microphones and preamps.

Making a Hit Record | The Music

Everyone is trying to figure out the recipe for composing music that will appeal to the listeners of the world. Today so many believe that you have to be flashy and jiggle your money maker on YouTube to make it to the top. That may work, but it could just as easily backfire and permanently halt your music career. So let's take a more productive route to the top of the charts by composing music that is emotional and has a unique sound. Original music is always embraced by more listeners than the copycat sounds of past musicians.

For starters, keep the lyrics slow and broad. The more you can dial in a larger audience, the more your popularity will grow. By this, I'm suggesting that you sing about things that affect all humans on one level or another. Songs about human emotions are usually the one that most listeners can associate with on a more personal level. If you can express an emotion through your music that resonates with an emotion that the listener regularly feels, this will establish a connection on a deeper level. Lyrics alone are usually not enough to make this connection, the music has to carry just as much emotion to make the bond solidify.

Now you don't need to compose a symphonic masterpiece to capture emotion in your music. In fact, I'd suggest you keep the music more sparse and focus on making the sounds very dynamic and rhythmic. Space between notes and sounds can be deeply emotional. When the groove has moments to breathe, it creates a more dramatic sense to the music. Now not every song you write has to be slow and sparse, but finding a common thread to weave through all your songs will help listeners find appreciation in your music as a whole instead of just the one hit song.

I'm always happy to listen to your music and give you my feedback. My opinion is just that, my opinion. I'm not the one to make the ultimate decision on what is a hit record, I'm just one person in a huge sea of music lovers. Keep in mind that not everyone is going to love your music. Make music that sings to your own soul. That's the first step on the road to making a hit record.

Making a Hit Record | The Band

Being in a band isn't always easy. There are many commitments and everyone has to work together to make the music cohesive. Everyone needs to have the enthusiasm of the music or the listeners will hear the lack of emotion. Let me offer a few tips to help your band fuse together and start composing that hit record that will be heard around the world.

Find a time that is convenient for everyone to get together and jam. Now there may have to be some sacrifice and some rescheduling. Take turns being the one that has to rearrange the schedule to get everyone in the same place at same time.

Record all your jam sessions. When a good idea or groove comes up, make a note of it and review. This is a great way to develop songs and mold them into hits.

Take turns bringing drinks and snacks to the jam sessions. If everyone pitches in, the band will grow and be productive. Every now and then have a BBQ party and just chill with your band mates. Take time to do other things together and get to know one another on a more personal level.

These are just the first few steps to take on your way to making a hit record.

Mixing | Don't over-produce your music

Mixing can be an overwhelming task. Don't let it get too complex. When you start a mix, start simple. Do a rough mix in a short amount of time. Take the mix and listen to it for a few days. Get an idea for what you want to achieve with your mix. This will be the best approach to getting a final mix that you're very happy to put out publicly. If you really want to try and get a decent mix in a short amount of time, set a timer for 10 minutes. Mix as much as you can and when the timer goes off you stop. Repeat this as many times as you want and then take the mixes with you for a day or two. Listen to them and hear what works and what needs to change. This will train and sharpen your mixing skills to expedite your workflow and lower your stress.

Mastering | CD or MP3

Many of my clients have been asking me if they should release their music on CD or MP3. In many ways, this is a no-brainer answer for most engineers. Yet, there are advantages to both formats. I'd say it has to ultimately come down to your budget.

CD audio is scientifically a higher resolution, but also comes at a higher cost. MP3 audio is easier to distribute and has the advantage of encoding metadata directly into the file. If you have the budget, go with CD masters, trust me, your fans will appreciate the increased audio quality. MP3 files can always be encoded from the CD audio.

If you do release MP3 files for your music, please use a quality codec and encode the files at 320 Kbps. Audiophiles like myself can hear a noticeable difference in the quality of audio as the Kbps encoding is lowered. A quality codec will also dither and render your audio without adding too many artifacts.

This topic can go on and on, so please leave any comments or questions and I'll respond as soon as I can. Thank you for reading this blog post.

Mixing | The loudness war

The loudness war is finally coming to an end. Many of the studio clients are asking me to determine the overall level of the mixes. This gives me the ability to mix more dynamic range into the audio instead of smashing the audio to squeeze as much volume as possible out of the tracks. This makes me so happy to hear quality music being produced at the studio.

Mixes that are smashed and hyper-compressed are lifeless and have no soul. The industry is flooded with this garbage and now we have a generation that will have to live with some form of hearing loss. I'm not sure what record execs were trying to achieve. They didn't sell any albums this year. Only Taylor Swift went Platinum and her album is not hyper-compressed. Go figure.

Recording | Rock Vocals

Rock vocals can appear to be an easy task, but they're most likely the hardest vocals to capture. Many rock songs have different levels of vocal intensity and this makes them tough to record. Unless the vocalist is a seasoned studio professional, you're going to wind up doing a few different takes and then composing a final track from multiple playlists. So, let's be up on how to approach this task.

First, have the singer go all the way through the song and get a feel for the level of intensity at each part of the song. Mark where there are significant changes to the vocal intensity. Start with the softer / quieter parts of the vocals. Position your mic so that there is no capsule distortion. (See my earlier post on mic placement) save the screaming / high intensity parts for the end. This will save the vocalist's voice and not put too much strain on the vocal cords.

Now a big part of the recording is emotion, so you need to encourage the vocalist to express their emotion. Listen to the recording and decide if you believe the lyrics and feel the emotion that the music is conveying. Rock vocals are the glue to the song and they need to be convincing.

Mixing | Rap Vocals

The compression on rap vocals is vital to the sound and success of the song. There are a few techniques that you can use, but I'm going to share one with you that is popular with my clients. Duplicate you main vocal track or if you have multiple main vocal tracks, bus them to an aux send. On this new track, add a compressor that has controls for attack, release, threshold, ratio, and output gain. I prefer the Waves Renaissance Compressor, but you can use any comp that has similar controls. Set the attack and release to be very short. Play the track and bring down the threshold until you start to have the compressor engage. Now drop your ratio down to around 8:1. This will squish the track and give you a nice even volume level for the vocals. Adjust the threshold and output volume to get a nice balance of compression and volume.

Now play this track along with the original vocal track. Keep the original vocal track up in the mix. This is your main vocal track that need to be up front. The new squashed track is mixed into the background. Bring the level up slowly until you hear the overall vocal level filling out the space in the mix. This technique keeps the vocal up front in the mix regardless of how much presence the vocalist put into the recording. This even tone of vocals will give your rap vocals a polished sound that is professional and captivating. Now you may need to adjust levels and ride the faders, but done correctly, this is an easy way to get big vocals into a bass heavy mix.

Recording | Hip Hop Vocals

In Hip Hop music, the vocals are 99% of the performance. So why not put 99% of your effort into mixing the vocals? Clients that record vocals at the studio are always pleasantly surprised at the clarity and detail our system provides. Plus many years of experience of EQ and adding effects is just the cherry on top.

The first thing with recording vocals is to make sure the mic is in the right place. Some vocalists have a forceful way of singing, so an off-axis mic technique is better suited for them. You have to listen to the recording and make sure the mic capsule is not overloading. Standing close to the mic can give lots of tone and presence to the vocals, but if there is capsule distortion, the performance is tarnished. Move the mic around ( or the vocalist) until you find a spot that is a good balance of clean signal and presence.

Mastering | What to expect

I regularly get the question, "what is mastering?" So let me break it down to the fundamentals. Mastering is basically checking your mix for any problems and then optimizing it for release to the public. I have had some mixes come in for mastering that are ready to go and don't need any adjustments. There are also the mixes that come in and need to be sent back to the mixing engineer. Mastering cannot fix a bad mix, so don't send your mix in if you don't like the way it sounds. A good mastering engineer takes a good mix and makes it better without squishing the dynamics out of the mix. Putting a limiter on the master buss is not mastering.

Here at Shine On Studio, we master your track with precision tools to enhance your mix. We do not alter the mix or make drastic changes to the EQ spectrum. You spent a lot of time working on your mix and we ensure that your masters sound clear and dynamic.

We do offer a class on how to master music. If you'd like to enroll or get more info, please comment or contact the studio.

Mastering | Getting your mix ready

I'd like to offer some advice about mastering. Many tracks come in to the studio for mastering and sometimes the mixes are not ready to be mastered. So here are a few tips on how to get your mix ready for mastering.

The primary thing to keep in mind when mixing is to make sure that you leave enough headroom in the mix for a mastering engineer to work their magic. So many times I get a mix that has absolutely no headroom. The dynamics of been squished to a point of no return and it is virtually impossible to master these tracks. Be conservative with the volumes of your mix. If you want your music to be louder just turn up the volume on your monitors. Do not use a limiter or a compressor to squish the music and boost the level. It's a good idea to not sacrifice the dynamics of your mix for increased volume levels. Use meter software and make sure that your mix has at least 6dB of headroom. This means that the maximum peak level of your mix does not exceed -6dBFS.

Dither is another area that can be confusing. To keep things simple, don't use dither if you have no idea what it does. If you track at 48KHz | 32 bit when recording and mixing, then make your mix at the same settings. The mastering engineer will do the dithering for you and make sure that the audio fidelity is maximized. If you convert your files to a different sample rate w/o dither, then you could induce artifacts or digital distortion into your mix.

If you're not quite sure how to deliver your files for mastering, then just ask your mastering engineer. Be sure to send the best quality files, too. Don't send MP3 versions if you have WAV files available. There are many sites that allow you to transfer big files for free. Sites like wetransfer.com is a great site for file sharing.

Hope this gives you a little more insight. Please leave comments and questions.

Mixing Guitars | Wall of Guitars

Getting a solid guitar sound in your mix can be frustrating. I know it's not easy, so here are a few tips to help you along the right path to make your guitars big and loud.

First, track your guitar as you normally would. Use a little bit of EQ were some effects and you're done. That was easy.

Next, record your guitar again as a second take. This time change a few of the settings on your amp or choose a different pick up on your guitar. This will give you a new tone that will help separate the sounds of the guitar when you go to mix the tracks.

Now do a third take and this time use an EQ to pull out the bottom of the tone. Give this guitar an effect that sounds like it's on the radio by filtering out everything below 250 Hz.

Pan the first two takes slightly right and left in the mix. Adjust compression as needed and you should be getting a bigger sound out of your guitar mix.

Please leave a comment if you'd like more info on this technique.

How to mic tablas

Recent clients have had some tabla tracks on their album and these little hand drums can be tricky to record. There are usually two drums that rest on the floor supported by a circular cushion. The musician sits on the floor and plays the drums with their fingers and palms. Just to give you an idea of what I'm about to describe for the mic setup.

The drums have a rich tambour and resonating swell that are characteristic of the drums. I first started with a sm7 on the wooden drum that has a higher pitch and a Beta52 on the lower pitched brass drum. Focused the mics on the sweet spot of the drums and angle them away from each other to help control the bleed. This gave me good results, but it wasn't quite the sound that I was trying to capture. After listening to the recordings a few times, and talking to the musician, I decided to try a more traditional drum approach. I set up two condenser mics, one directly over the drums slightly in front of the musician about the same height as the musicians ears. The other mic was set up just off to the side of the musician about the same height as the top of the drums. This gave us a great sound for the over all presence of the Tablas drums. However, we lost some of the low-end the came from the brass drum. So I decided to put the Beta 52 just off to the side of the brass drum. This brought all the low-end presence back into the mix and gave us a solid performance the musician was happy to put on the CD.

Mixing Snare Drums

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Robi Bean & Justin Fawsitt tracking in the studio.

Snare is the pulse of a rhythm section. It pumps movement into a song and supports the kick drum. However, the snare drum can be one of the more difficult sounds to mix. Snare is usually so prominent that it resides up front in the mix and usually sits right behind the vocals. So here are a few tips for good mixing techniques to get the snare in the pocket.

First, use good mic placement to capture the tone and ring of the snare that is desirable for the track. Typically a SM57 is used for snare tracking, but you may want to experiment with other mics to see if they give you a sound that is more desirable. I've used a Sennheiser e606 with great results for rock and punk snare recordings. Paired with the right preamp, you can really sculpt a tone that is your signature.

The next step is EQ. See if you can find the frequency that is prominent in the vocal track and then notch out just a touch of that frequency in the snare track. Also, use filters to help shape the tone of the snare so that it fits nicely into the mix with the other drum mics. As a sidenote, be sure to monitor your overhead mics as they will have plenty of snare sound. Sometimes there is a boxy sound to the snare around 300 Hz. Sweep your EQ around this frequency range and find the Boxee sound. Once you found the undesirable tone in the snare just notch it out a dB or two. This will help your snare cut through the mix and sit nicely behind the vocal track.

Behind the Scenes | Recording Engineer Clean Up Work

The recording engineer's work is not done after the session is over. The engineer must spend time working on the audio files to clean up unwanted noise in the files and make sure that fades are properly applied to smooth transitions. Back up copies need to be made and even though the engineer doesn't sit there and watch the computer transfer files, the engineer has to wait and check after the transfer is done to make sure that all the files transferred properly.

I'm usually in the studio hours before a session to check on timing issues and pitch correction. Returning to a session after taking some time off allows me to hear the tracks again with fresh ears. This way I'm more likely to catch little mistakes and focus on the recording's blemishes. This also gives me time to focus on ways to approach and produce the recording. I usually take this time to make notes for mixing the tracks. This way I am prepared for mixing as soon as the client arrives at the studio. If any re-tracking is required, will usually start there and then proceed to mixing. It's the little things like this prep work that keep my clients happy and keep them coming back to record more at Shine On Studio.