Mike's Studio Journal

Progress Report

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:50:00 +0000

If you've followed my website/blogging over the years, you've probably noticed a lack of updates over the past few months. The main reason is that I've been knee deep in the construction of a new room in my house. The new space is a conversion of my underused garage into a multi-purpose "music room." This room will serve as both a personal writing/teaching/rehearsal space as well as a professional quality control room in which I can produce and mix stereo audio recordings.

Knowing absolutely nothing about design or construction, I thought it would be wise to at least call in an audio consultant to help. Originally, I had thought that I would wall up 2/3rds of my existing garage and leave the rest for storage. Upon consulting a designer, it was clear within the first five minutes of the site visit that my idea was not only not acoustically sound, but it was also wrought with building code violations.

Wes Lachot of Wes Lachot Design came up with a room plan that accomplished everything I wanted. By turning the space 90 degrees, walling up the existing door, and planning for six specifically angled walls, Wes was able to design a room that would be both acoustically sound and have just about as much storage space as my original concept. Wes' design also included plans for RPG acoustic clouds and RPG Omnifussors.

If you go to Wes' site (http://www.weslachot.com/) you'll notice that he typically does much larger scale designs. Two of note include the redesign of the legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York City and Mitch Easter's Fidelitorium Recordings in Kernersville, NC. He occasionally does smaller projects; I'm delighted that he was willing to work with me on this room. I've recorded and/or mixed five albums at Wes' Overdub Lane Recording in Durham, NC. So, I'm glad that I'm regarded as a good client for him.

Wes' first site visit was near the end of August. After a few weeks of expected turn around time, I received the master plans near the end of September. If you ever do any construction or building on your property, (or anyone else's property) you can almost bet that you'll need a permit from you local government. At least in Greensboro, the local building code enforcement division loves dealing directly with home owners (as opposed to dealing indirectly through contractors). Being so, it was very easy to call and figure out which permits I'd need for my home improvement project. In a week, I had all of the t's crossed and i's dotted so that construction could begin.

Construction began on October 1st. I hired Wes' master carpenter Tony Brett to handle the framing of the room. Framing is when 2x4's and 2x6's are laid in various ways to structure or "frame" the room. Tony arrived at 9 am, we shook hands, and went to Home Depot to buy lots of lumber. Having never purchased lumber before, I learned that there are types of lumber to avoid. First, you want to avoid lumber that has excessive crowning. That's when the lumber bows a bit. Second, you want to avoid lumber that has excessive wane. That's when the lumber twists a bit. A degree of crown and wane is acceptable, but it should be kept to a minimum. Tony completed the framing work in three days. Half of it was standard 24 inch oc (on-center) stud spacing. The other half was ornate and sophisticated angled framing.

After the framing, I had a few tasks to complete. Mainly, I had to build the exterior wall and complete the rear wall framing. Tony was kind enough to mark out the stud location for the staggered wall. I also had to hang two layers of 5/8 inch drywall. That was very difficult. The other tasks included tacking and sealing the existing garage door and having the drywall delivered and placed in the room. I also thought it would be a good idea for a city inspector to take a look at the framing before any more work began. Because there were no new structural additions to the house, he didn't need to sign off on anything. He did tell me that everything looked good, though.

This past week, I began having some of the trade work done. In most cities, to do specialized trade work requires a separate and additional permit. This makes sense because trade work is often quite complicated. I opted to not get the "home owners" equivalent permit because I honestly have no idea how to wire a room or set up and HVAC system. Once the trades are basically completed, I'll call the city for a rough inspection. Also, this week, Wes makes is first design visit since the drawing of the plans.

After that, I'll probably be drywalling for a while. Drywall is an interesting substance. On one hand, it's very firm and durable. On the other, it's soft, dusty, and fragile. I've found that I like to wear a breathing mask even when cutting drywall. Dust gets everywhere when you work with that stuff. Sanding joint compound is even worse. I tried wet sanding, but it wasn't as efficient.

Although working on a project like this has severely limited my music activities, I can't help but think that the effort is completely worth it. If everything turns out as planned, this is going to be a wonderful room. Everyday, something new gets accomplished. Everyday is one step closer to being finished.

Liquid Mix Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:34:00 +0000

Near the end of 2006, Focusrite (a pro audio manufacturer of respected studio doodads) announced the Liquid Mix. This all-in-one super box claimed to emulate 20 classic EQ’s and 40 classic compressors. The unit also touted on board DSP, which meant that while it simulated all of these sought after pieces it wouldn’t bog down your computer with error messages and “memory low” downers.

If something seems too good to be true, it often is. At first, I thought this was the case with the Liquid Mix. It sounded great when I used it on a few tracks. But, when I tried to “go for it” and incorporate the unit into a 24 track mix, my system often crashed…usually when the mix was just starting to get good. Also, on a Pro Tools LE system, there were severe latency issues when using the unit. A latency of 2056 samples was common. Using a delay compensation plug-in solved the problem. But, stopping to insert that on a track was a bit disruptive. It made reaching for normal plug-ins a more fluid choice…an issue of favoring two clicks of a mouse to ten.

Although, recently, after a bit of practice and patience, I’ve found a new passion for this piece of gear. Focusrite worked out many of the bugs and made a Liquid Mix 2.0 version available for download. I didn’t have to pay for the upgrade which was both nice and uncommon. With a 1GB memory upgrade I did on my Mac and the new 2.0 version, the box isn’t as clumsy and it is much more reliable. Last week, for the first time since I purchased it, I felt confident using it in a mixing session. If you’ve ever done for-hire studio work, you know how much of an embarrassment it can be when gear doesn’t work properly.

Another good feature that Focusrite added to the Liquid Mix is the availability of pre-sets. They call these “snapshots.” Although I’ve been doing professional studio work for only a few years, I couldn’t tell you what the sonic difference between a Drawmer compressor and a LA-2A leveling amplifer is. I know why they are different (vacuum tube processing vs. photo-optical processing), but I don’t know what those differences sound like. Knowledge of these differences would dictate the proper application of either piece of gear. The “Vintage Bass” snapshot, for example, dials up the LA-2A setting with a basic EQ setting that many studio engineers would call “a basic vintage bass compression/EQ setting.” Trading out different compressors in the context of this snapshot is quite educational—one can hear why photo-optical processing is preferable to other types of compressors…or not.

I subscribe to Sound on Sound, arguably one of the best how-to recording magazines. Every month, a successful commercial mix is broken down into segments. The mixing engineer often describes, in great detail, the kinds of compression and EQ he or she adds to specific tracks. And, the rationale for each decision is often explained. Last month, Mark Endert broke down his mix of Maroon 5’s “Makes Me Wonder.” The Liquid Mix served as a complete learning tool. As I read the article, I pulled up some of my own tracking and tried applying his settings to my work. Because the Liquid Mix has an emulation of a Tube Tech CL-1B compressor, I was able to hear how this brand of compression suited my voice. With a few exceptions, Liquid Mix emulates most of the outboard gear described in this magazine.

Now, it would be difficult for me to say whether or not Liquid Mix is “just as good” as the real things it strives to emulate. Honestly, I wouldn’t know. Many famous studio engineers have appeared in ads praising the unit. Whether or not one can trust an ad, once you figure out how to use it, it does have its merits. If nothing else, it serves as a great learning tool for not only what compression is, but also how it can be tastefully used to achieve a desired audio outcome. And, at most, you'll have 40 classic compressor emulations and 20 classic EQ emulations at your fingertips. Not bad for under a grand.

Although, as cool as this piece of gear is, outboard compression and EQ should be a secondary, or even tertiary concern in your signal chain. I mean, the best emulated compressor in the world isn’t going to fix a crappy song. Technology like auto-tune and beat detective can help mend poorly performed tracks, but those are often regressions toward a mean…You’ll have perfectly and astoundingly mediocre performances. I’ve found the best consideration to make, after assessing the strength of the song and the performer, is basic mic placement.

If a singer or player knows how to work the mic, compression and EQ isn’t necessary. Why make something smaller if it can exist at its natural dynamic range? Now, most people desire compression on a vocal performance (it’s a modern thing, I guess), so, as a starting point, I often set a compressor to a LIMITING mode (a ratio of 10:1 is nice). I adjust the threshold so that NO MORE than 6 dB of gain reduction occurs at the loudest point in a performance. I set the attack and release times for the compressor to almost as fast as possible. And, the vocal is printed with this undoable amount of dynamic processing. I’ll often apply a second stage of gain reduction (more of a true compression…either an OPTO setting or something with a 4:1 ratio) in mixdown. But, only if the performance needs it.

False Idols

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:17:00 +0000

Last Sunday I ate dinner with family & friends at Elmo's dinner in Durham, NC. A decade ago the joint went by the name Ninth Street Bakery. Not a few feet from where I sat was where bands used to set up for gigs.

In the summer of 1992, I my brother and I drove up to the Ninth Street Bakery to see Nikki Meets the Hibachi. John Gillespie and Elaine Tola comprised this original acoustic duo. I had heard Nikki on cassette, but I had never seen them live. As a soon to be high-school Senior, going to shows wasn't something I did very often.

As a thirty year old, eating a black bean burger not a few yards from where you saw one of the most influential and relevant shows of your life, I pondered the big questions: life cycles, friendships, destinies, histories. I didn't come to many conclusions. I just ordered the fries.

For the past year, John Gillespie and I have been working on the album that has become False Idols. John and I have worked together quite a bit over the past decade and a half. We shared scores of acoustic gigs in coffee shops/clubs in the South East. We've played in numerous bands together, including Kickball, the Happy Annies, and Collapsis (John was the first bass player for the group). For False Idols, I was in the producer's chair.

Working with John is a treat for any producer. He brings in good songs to the recording sessions. Also, he can sing a master take in a few passes. The same goes for his guitar playing and bass playing.

Because John knows how to efficiently work in a studio, he's able to make a quality album in less time. Also, the lessened need to focus on just getting a good take allows for more creative experimenting. On False Idols, we were all over the place with sounds, styles, and tracks.

8 of the 15 songs feature Kevin Rader-Rhodenbaugh on drums and percussion. We recorded his stuff on two different recording sessions. Also, for me, Kevin's kit was the first drum kit I ever professionally recorded. It was a real treat because it was so well kept. Recording drums isn't too tricky, but if you've never done it before, it can seem a bit overwhelming.

The remaining seven songs feature either no drums or some sort of drum programming on my part. Sometimes that programming consisted of Reasoned industrial beats. Sometimes it was cannibalized drum takes from old sessions. Sometimes it was Discrete Drums sliced to smithereens and reassembled for the song.

John's voice and acoustic guitar are the central elements that bind the record together. We tried to not lose sight of those things, even when the tracks got to their thickest.

If this project interests you, check out John's website www.purevolume.com/johngillespie He has quite a few samples up. Also, the album is available for sale at CD Baby and most of the digital retailers you enjoy (iTunes caries it).

On Friday, September 28th at 7:30 p.m., I'll be joining John and Athenaeum alum Nic Brown at the Cave in Chapel Hill, NC for a False Idols CD release party. I'll be playing bass guitar.

Spring Break

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:22:00 +0000

Over the past few weeks, things have snowballed. I didn't expect to begin design and construction of a new studio space until maybe 2009. But, opportunity knocked and I answered. So, I'm about three weeks into a several month long project: building a new studio space. It's been a dream of mine to do something like this since I started recording bands and songwriters. By the end of the year, it will be a reality.

Because I'm doing about 90% of the construction myself (I don't know how to frame, but drywalling isn't too bad), I've made the decision to take a break from the "spring" recording project that I began this summer. I'd like for it to be the first thing I mix in my new room.

So, for those of you who have been wondering when the next post will be, I don't know for sure. I'll most likely get tired of hanging drywall and want to do some singing...that's the next step on the six songs I've begun.

The Return of Spring, Session 5

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:20:00 +0000

I feel as if I'm finally making up for lost time. Getting two solid sessions in this week has been a real blessing.

On August 2, 2007, I spent a whole day tracking acoustic guitars on "The Great Divide" and "Falling in Love Too Fast." Again, I used a mix-and-match approach to microphones, preamps, and technique.

"The Great Divide" is a tune that masquerades as an acoustic rock song. But, really, it could be played just as well with chunky electric guitars. It's hard to fight the urge to track an SG, just to see what it would be like. Being so, I played the "Main AG" as I would have played an electric part. I played chunky, palm muted power chords in the verses and slightly more open phrasing in the opening and recurring riffs. Playing power chords on an acoustic guitar took a little getting used to, but once I got it to fit with Dale, it worked well. The TLM-103 through the 8Pre worked great for this.

I left the main guitar out of the chorus to create a different texture. For this, I used a stereo, XY miking technique. This makes the chorus pop out and get wide when it makes its entrance. I used a matched pair of Audix 51 condensers through the 8Pre for this. The XY technique is almost the same as the mono technique with the acoustic guitar. The really important thing is to make sure the microphones form a perfect 45 degree angle and that the capsules are as close together as possible without touching. If you don't do this, you'll have some phasing problems.

I felt as if the song needed one additional strummy guitar in the riff section and the bridge. So I played some open chords in these sections. I tuned the guitar slightly differently to make sure all of the tones were diatonic: EADGAE...the ringing B didn't work for me. This tuning also prompted a happy accident. During the new breakdown section, I accidentally played a great alternate part. It kind of sounded like a sitar. I used a different pre and the Audix 51 mic in mono.

Next, I tracked acoustic guitars on "Falling in Love Too Fast." This tune is the only finger pick song of the batch. For this, the approach needed to be fairly simple, as the part itself is fairly difficult to perform. I used a simple mono set up. But, I also recorded the acoustic guitar's direct line. The part is quite percussive. Having a direct line (that doesn't pick up the hits on the strings as much) will probably be a good idea for other possibilities.

I have a five take rule. After five takes, I stop, and pick the best one. Then, if there are any edits that need to be made, I make them. But, by and large, if I don't have it by take five, I'm not going to have it at all. This one took five takes. Because this song is de-tuned, I noticed a bit of pitch-i-ness when I played the G on the E string. I may opt to retrack this with a different guitar if it's a problem. Under the microscope, sometimes, things aren't perfect. But, we don't listen to things under a microscope. We listen to them on iPods.

I spent the end of the day adding some organ parts to "The Great Divide." This helps make the chorus pop out even more. It was a good day's work.

The Return of Spring, Session 4

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 13:39:00 +0000

Finally, I got a chance to devote a full, eight hour studio day to this project. When I pulled up the tracks, they sounded exciting and fresh, even though they were only drum tracks.

August 1st ended up being a full day devoted to "Water & Wine," one of the songs I began tracking in late June. What was intended to be a full day of acoustic guitar tracking on all the songs, ended up being a focused day on one song.

My production philosophy is fairly straight forward. I like to create recordings that a pleasant to listen to (meaning, they are in-time and in-tune) and also hold a listener's attention. The two ways I try to keep a listener attentive to a song is by arranging a song with a sense of dynamics as well as varying the tones from section to section when possible. Dynamics are best achieved with a well oiled (er, ...competent) rhythm section (bass and drums). Tonal variance is best achieved by using different accompanying instruments in the right places.

My main accompanying instrument, for this album, is the acoustic guitar. I only have one acoustic guitar that's worthy of studio work, a Taylor 410. My red Guild is best suited for live stuff. Strumming the same acoustic guitar in the same way for an entire album would be really boring. So, I'm presented with a challenge that many project studio owners face: How do I make one guitar sound interesting enough to carry a whole album?

Affecting the signal chain is the answer. Although I have one acoustic guitar, I have three really good condenser microphones; two of which are a matched pair. I also have a really good class A tube pre-amp (the thing you plug the mic cable into) and twelve class A solid-state pre's. A mixing and matching of these elements is capable of producing dozens of different timbres, all with the same source.

A second way to get a different tones out of the same guitar is a lot cheaper than investing in mic's and pre's. Using different guitar picks can greatly affect the tone of a guitar. A thin pick produces more zing. A thick pick produces more tone. If you don't believe me, drop a $1.50 on different gauged picks at your local music store and try it yourself.

If you've heard "Water & Wine," it has three basic sections. There's a strummy, campfire riff that begins, middles, and ends the song. Then, there's the verses. And, there's a bridge. So, to give the song some tonal variance, I made the approach to each section a little different.

For the riff, I opted for a straight double, panned hard left and hard right. I used a large diaphragm condenser mic for the left guitar and a small diaphragm condenser for the right guitar. I used the tube pre (with a little 240 raised, to give it some more body) on both guitars. I used a thin pick to give it some zing. To get a really good mono acoustic guitar tone, all you have to do is point your condenser mic at where the neck meets the body of your guitar. Place it 8 inches away. Hit record. That's it. If your room sucks or if you have trouble performing the part, that's another issue. But, if you want to get the mic placement right, that's it.

For the verses and bridge, I used a solid state pre and a large diaphragm condenser. I also used a thicker pick. This helped compensate for two guitars disappearing into one when the verses kicked in. To make the parts different, I varied by picking style. I arpeggiated the first verse, lightly strummed the second verse, moderately strummed in the bridge, and did single down beat strums in the third verse. Upon play back, with all the guitars in, the song had a great sense of organization, dynamics, and variance. It sounded really full...even before the bass has been recorded.

While listening to the verses, I realized that some different sonic pads would be nice. For this, I charted out the basic chords on a program called Sibelius and then imported the files as a MIDI track. Pro Tools 7 has some really great MIDI (that's musical instrument digital interface) capabilities. I outputed the MIDI files to my vintage synth box, which has some great organ, electric piano, and mellotron samples. For all you Athenaeum fans out there, that's the box I use on "Away," "Frozen in Time," and "Damage" when we perform those songs live.

I selected four different tones for the various parts. For verse 1, I used a nice tremolo Wurlitzer patch. For verse 2 I used a perc organ...different, but still very nice. For the bridge I used a big ol' B3 patch that gives the song a big lift. For the third verse, I used a mellotron string patch.

All in all, the song sounds exciting, just with these three elements on it. I'm hearing a spot for a horn section in the bridge and in the "na-na" parts. It'll be interesting to see how that develops.

The Return of Spring, Session 3

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:28:00 +0000

It has been an extremely busy few weeks. I let lots of things get away from me. But, I still found about three hours of free time to work on this project.

The next step is, of course, recording acoustic guitars. I took time over the past week to listen to the tracks and map out a strategy for how I'm going to record the guitars. On a song like "Focus," for example, I'm going to have a hard panned L/R guitar sound that involves two different, complementary parts. On a song like "Water & Wine," I want to have one, big stereo acoustic guitar for the strummy parts. So, rather than just jump into the recording, I like to map out things a bit...this saves time in the long run.

I also recorded a mellotron part on "Falling in Love Too Fast" in the bridge. I know I want that there, so I went ahead and tracked it.

So, if we have a mile to go with these songs, I've moved a foot this week. Still, it's a step forward.

The Return of Spring, Session 2

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 19:27:00 +0000

Since I didn't have a lot of time over the past two weeks, I split up my session time into three, three hour blocks. The next logical step in the project was to edit and grid the percussion that Dale tracked two weeks before.

Early in the production process, it's a good idea to decide if you want to use a "grid" for your songs. A "gridded" song is one that has it's measures, bars, and beats synced up to a tempo map. Most digital audio workstations have this function. The benefit to gridding a song is that the rhythm section, by default, has to be fairly tight to a consistent metronome. The drawback to gridding is that it can make a song sound a little stiff and metronomic. As with everything, the appropriateness of gridding depends on the context and musical style.

For each of these six songs, it made since to use track to a click and have a grid in place. Since I would be bringing in different musicians at different times to play on the project, the click track makes the best reference point. The real question was, "How much to the grid should the drums be?"

The great thing about working with a great drummer like Dale (www.dalebakerdrummer.com) is that, right out of the box, he's about 95% with the click at all times. The other 4% of the time, when he's not, it's because of an intentional inflection. The other 1% is a human element; I won't use the word error.

Of the six songs, the two that I envision syncing up MIDI applications and other rhythmic tools are "The Original Pullman Palace Car Dream" and "Falling in Love Too Fast." For that reason, it made sense to grid the drums & percussion heavily. By that, I used a great tool called beat detective. This allows me to quantize the drums to a specific groove. "Pullman" has a sixteenth "train" beat to it that sounds a bit erratic if it's even the least bit off. Beat detective smoothed this out greatly. And, now I can add some different gridded elements to the tracking if I choose. "Falling" has an odd, off tempo on the "4 &." For the same purpose, beat detective provided a smoothing effect.

I prefer to use beat detective to "looping." In the days of tape, recordists used to literally cut a loop of tape and run it around a free mic stand. On this looped tape, they would place a two to four bar drum pattern that, quite literally, loops and repeats. Looping creates somewhat of a sterile effect. Beat detective allows for rhythmic and tonal variation; you can set the amount of correction to a percentage, rather than an absolute. The result is organic and true to the percussionist's performance. Beat detective is very difficult to use, so if you have any questions please feel free to email me.

The other four songs have a great "live" feel to them. They were played to a click track, but they sway in the way that they should. For that reason, I didn't do much editing to the best take for each. "The Great Divide" and "Water & Wine" are straight up acoustic rock tunes. "On My Way" reprises the "train" beat, but does it a little looser; I plan to just add acoustic guitar and vocal to this one. "Out of My Mind" has a great primal, world beat feel to it.

So, the rhythm tracks are now ready for overdubs. The next step will be recording acoustic guitar tracks for the six songs. I should be able to get 60% of those done next week. All in all, things are sounding great.

The Return of Spring, Session 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:07:00 +0000

Two years ago, I started work on the album that I thought would become The Return of Spring. A number of considerations deterred me from getting too far down the road with that project. For one, I thought it would be a bit more interesting to release a live album. Also, I was compelled to record a religious concept album called The Gossman Passion.

On the commentary track for Live at the Evening Muse, I mentioned that I usually release one of these season themed concept albums once every six years or so. Being true to form, it seems that this summer would be the right time to record another concept album. And, since Spring has been on hold for a few years, it seems logical to pick up where I left off.

In the past two years, I've become much more adept with audio engineering and mixing. I decided to scratch all of the work I had done...it just didn't sound as good as it should. I had been using loops and discrete drums patches, too. These kinds of things are great and convenient...a really easy way to have great rhythm tracks for your songs. But, I had never used discrete drums in the past on my solo albums. I didn't want to if I didn't have to.

And so, because you should always begin with the rhythm tracks (one of the lessons of the Lessons of Autumn), drums and percussion marked the beginning of what I sincerely hope will become The Return of Spring. I want this album to mirror the format of Lessons. That means, I want to have some tracks that are acoustic guitar based (a la "November"). And, I want to have some band tracks (a la "Purple").

Last December, I played at Emmaus Way (an emergent church in Durham, NC; http://www.emmausway.net/) with a percussionist named Dale Baker (http://www.dalebakerdrummer.com/). The church meets in a 800 square foot loft and there's not a lot of space. I was impressed by the amount of tone and sophistication he was able to get out of a tambourine and a dumbek. I decided that he would be a great musician to hire for this project. And, he's really good with a regular drum kit, too. Check out his site for his elaborate bio. I guarantee you've heard his drumming somewhere.

And so, on Friday, June 22nd, Dale came over to my project studio to record drums and percussion. The day was divided by category: "rock kit" recording and "percussion kit" recording.

Dale brought over a really nice sounding birch Premier drum kit. His cymbals were very pleasant. And, he had three great sounding snares to choose from. The three songs we tracked drums for were "The Great Divide," "Water & Wine," and "The Original Pullman Palace Car Dream." These were formerly available at mikegarrigan.com as a part of the "Mandolin Sessions" that occurred in 2004. A live version of "Pullman" is also available on my live album. I really like Audix drum mics, so I threw those up all around the kit. I used a Focusrite Octopre to front end the tracks into Pro Tools.

After a lunch break, we tracked percussion for three other songs. Dale set up his perc set, which was one of the most unique sounding set-ups I've ever heard. We used a tambourine as a kick drum (don't laugh, it actually has more low end than a lot of kick drums). He set up a floor tom, a dumbek, a djembe, and a snare in a semi-circle. The three songs we tracked percussion for were "Out of My Mind," "On My Way" (also known as "Focus"), and "Falling in Love Too Fast." The first song was a part of the 2003 Corner Room Sessions. The other two have not been released yet...although, I've seen them floating around on some of my fan sites. These percussion tracks knocked my socks off. Wow, these are some really great tracks.

I hope to keep this album in a true "acoustic" mindset. By that I don't mean the sensitive-guy-playing-a-G-Chord kind of way. Rather than rely on electric instrumentation, I want to keep this record as organic as possible. Although, by even recording something to a computer, that's not even a possibility. I'd like to have horns, strings, and other instruments participate in the presentation. I promise to keep it tasteful, though.

I hope to devote one day a week to this project, so please check back frequently for updates. I would move faster on this project, but I'm happy to be staying busy recording other artists on the other four (or five) days a week that my project studio is booked. There are some real exciting things coming out of Smitty's now-a-days. And, if there's any way I can help you with your recording project, be it tracking, mixing, or whatever, please contact me at studio@mikegarrigan.com .

Writing Lyrics

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:07:00 +0000

This was originally posted in the message board forums at mikegarrigan.com.

Q: Mike, for a bit of a refresher, I re-read your songwriting essay. I find the minidisc advice to be most helpful, especially when writing vocal songs.One thing I did have to ask...can you go more into the lyric writing process? I know you have topics from your journal, but how about the mechanics of making it fit into a part of song. I have the most problem here. I end up with quite a bit of balled up paper. Would love to hear how you turn an idea or a line into a journal into a song (lyrics wise).

A: This is true. I consider songwriting the first part in the recording chain. I mean, a song can sound amazing. But, if it isn't much of a song, it's really not going to sound that great in the long run.

Lyric style is something that is as unique as a vocal sound or signature guitar tone. If you're any good, chances are you've found a voice that works for you. There's probably something unique about your lyrics that sets you apart from others. For me, I like to insert obtuse and personal images in to my songs. According my former A&R people, this trait has limited their mass appeal. However, the people who like what I do tend to almost always love it. OK, I know, "Chartreuse" wasn't my best song, but it was for the kids. And, if you ever went to a Collapsis show, you probably understand why we enjoyed playing it.

Making lyrics fit can be tough. And, for some people (like me) writing comes in waves. I'll tend to write four or five songs in one month and then have a song drought for a few. It comes down to two things: 1) inspiration and 2) process.

You have to be inspired to write something worthwhile. I don't think a great song hasn't come out of some sort of stimulus. It can be anything that moves you. Maybe you're having relationship trouble. Maybe you discovered the secret to life. Maybe something made you laugh this morning. People are different, but everyone is inspired by something.

The key to harnessing inspiration is to continually surround yourself with things that inspire you. I remember when I went to see Chuck Palahniuk read on book tour, he mentioned what he did to get inspired. He hates the sound of babies crying. So, for a while, he would do his writing on crowded, noisy airplanes. He let the negative energy inform and transform his words. Personally, I get a lot out of other writers and poets. Often, I'll pick up Wallace Steven's Collected Poems and read until I go-off on a chain of thought. I write that chain down and, sometimes, I discover some creative, unique and meaningful phrases.

Conversely, if you want to be inspired, you really need to eliminate inspiration suckers from your life. Most successful writers don't drink a six pack after work and then crash in front of the TV to let the prime time shows wash over them. I've never heard a successful writer discuss how the Xbox really inspired them to write that great hit. Watching sports does nothing for me. Any form of entertainment that requires only passive participation (tv, blockbuster movies, spectating sports, most video games) distract inspiration. Try to limit these things from you life and I bet your writing will improve. I know it helped me. Alternate forms of entertainment that inspire are live drama, books, essays, provocative independent movies, and intelligent debate.

Inspiration is worthless without some sort of process to harness it. I'm not in a writing mode right now, but when I am, I make a point to write in my journal everyday for an hour. Our brains work a million times faster than the fastest computer. A stream of consciousness is often all over the place. Writing it down is a wild ride. Most of the stuff that I've written that has been earmarked for my spring record comes out of a three month long journaling about my childhood. Write in a journal everyday for a month and you'll see it positively affect your writing. All in all, the key with successful writing, be it lyrics, novels, short stories, or plays, is actually writing. It takes discipline. It takes drive. It takes courage. A lot of people want to be great writers. Very few people have the drive to have a dedicated process. If it's really important to you, you'll find time to do it...no matter what.

I realize that I haven't answered your question, yet.

Making something fit from a journal idea into a song structure has mostly to do with framing. Sometimes, if I have a few lines that work well, especially in, say, the second verse of the song, I'll "lock" those in to the second verse. A lot of what makes songs work is the rhyming. I favor soft rhymes to hard ones. If you find two lines that work, try five or six different words that rhyme with the ends of those lines. Lock them in, like a grid. Then, work backwards to complete the thought. Sometimes, this doesn't work at all. Often it does.

Compress the Group

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Wed, 30 May 2007 18:47:00 +0000

Here's a little trick that I've found to be very useful for mixing...

Suppose you have a number of background vocals, say, anywhere from 4 to 8 parts. Depending on how they were tracked, it can be a struggle to make them sound like a well blended group. One thing that can help is to handle them as a "group" on your mixing console.

For Pro Tools and DAW users, the process is pretty simple.

1. Assign your background vocals to "NO OUTPUT" on the main mixing panel.

2. Create a bus send. Set each output on the bus to unity (0).

3. Open up an stereo AUX track and have the input of that track be the bus send.

4. Pull up each vocal track, one by one, and hear what it is doing. Find an appropriate pan (left or right). When lots of vocals are present, make sure you allocate the panning appropriately (i.e., don't pan everything at -40 or 40...use the stereo field to your advantage).

5. Once you have a good blend of everything, insert a stereo compressor on the AUX track. Most digidesign packages come with a BF76, the plug-in version of the 1176. I like this plug in because the default settings are often perfect. I prefer a ratio of 4:1 on vocals, but you be the boss.

6. Now the background vocals will be a single unified group, mixable via one, stereo fader. If something is a little too loud, you can always reduce the send value on the bus send. It's amazing how the compression can glue a background vocal performance together.

7. Also, reverbs for the background vocals can be sent all from the AUX send...this will free up dsp on your computer.

This approach also works on different "grouped" instruments, like drums and guitars. This method is great if you want a nice, professional blended sound for your layered background vocals.

Hawthorne's Curve (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:56:00 +0000

Many of my neighbors have been asking me if my band is getting back together. While it's hard to say if that's true, I have been recording bands at my home project studio. This past week, I had the pleasure of producing Hawthorne's Curve, a North Carolina based modern rock band.

The four piece band arrived last Thursday. We tracked drums on the first day, all guitars on the second day, and completed acoustic guitar tracking on the third day. Also on the third day, we completed one master vocal take. It was a complete joy to work with these guys.

I tracked everything reasonably flat, meaning no audacious EQ or undoable compression settings. I'm finding that the tracks will require a little bit of thinning out, but that's a good problem for a mixer to have.

The band has booked one additional day to finish up vocals.

The band is a fairly traditional four-piece rock band. The drummer, Timmy, had a second snare drum. I wondered about how that would affect the imaging, but it really didn't change much in the big picture. The extra texture seems nice in the rough mixes.

The bass player, Rhob, plays a five-string Tobias bass. The extra low string added a nice dimension at times. He's a seasoned player. His tone was very well rounded on the bottom end. I even had to roll a little off, as you can see to the right.

Roger, the guitar player, was very skilled. He played mostly through a 50 Watt Marshall with vintage 30's. He performed all of the songs with one or another variety of Les Paul. A Shure 57 Mic sounded great on his rig. The morning he arrived to track his parts, he ran into the control room shouting "You boys ready to melt some faces!" He was excited to record and his tracks have a lot of life.

John Hawthorne, the group's leader, principle singer and acoustic guitar player, tracked most of his stuff on the third day. I used a DI line and a front mic on the acoustic guitar to give it some stereo depth. He usually plays with some chorus effect on his acoustic guitar. The DI line lends itself well to that purpose. We completed one master vocal take and plan to finish up vocals on the next recording date. His vocals have a lot of grit and personality to them. I've never recorded a heavier band, so this will be very fun for me to finish.

What do I do with an acoustic bass?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:12:00 +0000

I love the challenge of recording instruments that I'm not used to recording. Yesterday, at a tracking session for John Gillespie, I got my first opportunity to record an acoustic bass.

Even with acoustic music, I typically prefer an electric bass. The electric bass is a known quantity--fairly easy to record well. John is working on a 19 song album at my studio. He thought, and I agreed, that it would be wise to change up the bass tone a bit from song to song. An acoustic bass seemed like a good option for five of the songs.

An acoustic bass is a different beast all together. All of the rules apply for acoustic guitar, except there's the issue of it being a lower octave and more air being displaced by the lower waves. The go-to mic for this kind of thing is a condenser mic. Most engineers would lobby for putting the mic about a foot away from the instrument. I didn't do this.

I took a line signal from the instrument's pickup. The direct line from this acoustic bass sounded a bit clacky, so I rolled off a considerable amount of highs. Still, I wasn't getting the low that I wanted from the direct line. Rather than boost a bunch of lows on the EQ, I reached for a dynamic floor tom mic. I put the mic as close to the sound hole as I could. I was very pleased with the result. The lows are full and resonant and I didn't have to compress or EQ at all. That's what I shoot for.

Recording Good Drum Tracks

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:21:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I had a moment of clarity. For years, with me, there had always been a certain level of mystique when it came to recording drum tracks. The large number of knobs in any given studio environment scared me, I guess. Also, most of the engineers I had worked with chained all kinds of things together to get their signature sound. I didn't understand what the boxes they were plugging things into did, either.

This past weekend, I recorded my first drum set in a studio environment. All of the drum sounds I had been using over the past three years were either recorded by someone else or samples. There are few better teachers than experience. I learned a lot this weekend.

For one, I'm happy to learn that I'm a purist. All of those gadgets, boxes, whistles, compressors, and pre-amps that so many engineers get hung up on are quite secondary to three fundamental factors: 1) getting a good drummer who 2) plays well tuned drums in a 3) good sounding room.

The session I recorded was for my #1 client, singer/songwriter John Gillespie. The drummer was Keven Rader-Roderbaugh who also teaches drums at www.drumlabonline.com John and Kevin requested that I record them naturally; just to capture what they play live in a room together. Kevin's experience as a drum teacher fills the first fundamental criterion quite well; he's a master drummer to say the least.

What I noticed first about Kevin's kit was how great it sounded, right out of its cases. The heads were new and tuned. The cymbals were classy. The snare was probably one of the best around; I doubt I'll have the pleasure of recording a snare that sounds that great again. The kick drum was full. The second fundamental criterion was met.

The real x-factor for this session was figuring out if my drum room sounded any good. I have extremely high ceilings in my living room, so I figured that would be a good room to try first. I recently purchased some Primacoustic gobos to help dampen the sound of this room. I had great luck with acoustic guitar tracks and vocals with these gobos. It would turn out that they would also help with drums. I like a little ambiance, so I only deadened one end of the room. That way, the sound could go somewhere, but just not bounce all over the room and into the drum mics. Even before I hit record, I knew that this was going to work.

As for the technical mumbo-jumbo, I used the Audix drum mic set on all of the drums. I also used a Yamaha sub kick on the kick drum; this allows one kick drum mic to primarily be for attack and lower mids and the sub to capture stuff between 50 and 80 Hz. Kevin had three toms, so I pulled out an extra SM57 to accommodate his style. I ran all 8 of these channels into the Focusrite Octopre, which lightpipes directly into my 002 Protools rig. The only real EQing I had to do was with the kick drum...pulling out about 4 db at 300 Hz with a reasonable Q.

We were able to track 7 songs in one day. John and Kevin played very well together. I'm greatly looking forward to tracking more projects like this. It was just too much fun.

Focusrite Octopre

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:40:00 +0000

I recently added the Focusrite Octopre to my studio front end. It's basically a channel strip with eight discrete pre-amps. It interfaces seamlessly with the Digi002 system that I use. Because you need at least four channels to get a decent, stereo image of a drum set, this seemed like a good investment.

I've been using it for about two weeks now. I've had three minor issues with it. All made me think that I would need to return it; I thought it was defective. There are some simple things to look for if you're using this piece of gear. I hope that in sharing these stories, you might save yourself a trip to the repair shop.

First of all, if you have a noisy fan, don't panic. About two hours into a session last Saturday, the fan in my Octopre kicked on. It didn't sound right. I understand that these units have a cooling fan that can make a little noise, but it shouldn't sound like an electric shaver. Before sending it to be repaired, take the top off of the unit (of course, make sure you disconnect the power, unrack the unit, and remove any connecting cables first). Now, on the underside of the top cover on my unit, there was a sheet of plastic that had been sucked into the ventilation system. I was able to easily peel this plastic sheet away from the underside. When I re-assembled the lid and turned the unit back on, it sounded fine; no more playing-card-in-the-spokes sound.

Secondly, it's important that you match your sample rates and bit depth. If you are running a session that's 24 bit and 48kHz, make sure that the Octopre has that setting as well. If you run these things at different rates, you'll find that your song will play back at a different speed! That's not good. It was a bit confusing to me when I was recording a song in E and then it played back a semi-tone flat of the key of F. "Wha Happened," you say? Unmatched sample rates.

Thirdly, you have to set the master clock to the ADAT setting. This can be done in your "Hardware" menu setting of your Pro Tools system. If you don't, you'll get some annoying pops and clicks. If I had hair, I would have been pulling it out had I not read a tech tip on a non-Focusrite site.

So, in summary, the Octopre is a great way to add 8 channels to the front end of your digital workstation. If you aren't familiar with how it interfaces, it can be a little confusing. Just be patient and you'll figure it out. I did.

The Truth about Acoustic Treatments and Monitoring

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 14:37:00 +0000

I do a lot of tracking and engineering at my home project studio. If you're reading this, you probably know that already. When I first started out, my monitoring situation (and the room I was working in) didn't sound that great. When I would get a mix sounding the way I liked it, it would never translate the same once I listened to it in the car. I found that I had to compensate and "guess" as to weather or not the levels were correct.

A few years ago, I bought a room analyzer that help me figure out what frequencies were being altered by the dimensions and inherent nature of my room. This product (now discontinued for some reason) was called the DBX Driverack Studio module. After sculpting a custom EQ graph, I was amazed at how much clearer everything sounded.

Why are most home studios "acoustically challenged?" Well, the main reason has to do with the nature of sound. It travels in waves. It travels in different sizes. Sound zings all over a room when there are reflective surfaces (such as bare walls). And, certain frequencies can cancel themselves out depending on how big the room is and at what angle everything is being set up at. In short, the environment in which you monitor your mixes and engineering greatly affects your judgement.

I am beginning to record bands in my project studio. I have a few rooms in my house with really high ceilings...the rooms are also really big. Being so, I decided to invest in some Freeport Acoustic Panels, made by Primacoustic. I intended to keep them out in the garage and use them as needed. When they arrived, just for kicks, I put them behind my studio monitors to see if they would make a difference. I am dumbfounded with how much clearer everything sounds now.

What I put into practice is the Dead-End/Live-End principle of monitoring. In general, it is best to have a dead front end (behind the studio monitors) and a somewhat live back end (where, say, the band sits when you're mixing their record). This way, the sounds that are coming towards you from the speakers is (almost) only the sound that's coming out of the speakers--not reflections from the rear wall, not flutter echo, but just the sounds with which you are working.

Now, I don't have the really expensive "diffusers" that most studios have behind the mix position. These serve to randomly reflect the sound. I used to wonder why these things cost so much, but once you figure out what their for, they almost seem under priced.

Another related issue to all of this has to do with monitor size. For about 9 years, I have been using 8" Roland digital monitors. I bought them to work in conjunction with my VS-1680. They worked well up until last week. The left one burned out last Monday. The right one burned out on Tuesday.

Even with my room analyzer, the bass from my mixes always seemed under-represented. It made no sense to me because I had some sub-traps in the speakers themselves and they should have been giving me an accurate picture. What I discovered was that 8" speakers are too big for a 10 x 10 room. So, I "downgraded" to a 5" speaker. I also put some Mo-Pads under the speaker to decouple them from the speaker stands. Now, the low end is very accurate in my room.

The other thing that bothered me about my old hi-tech, digital monitors was that they didn't give me a "flat" picture of what I was mixing. The sound was somewhat sweetened. This is counter-intuitive to what the purpose of monitoring is. Monitors should be flat so that you can accurately hear everything in a mix. You should let the listener decide where she wants to set her EQ levels. Mixing on flat monitors is a challenge, but if you can get it sounding good there, you can bet that it will sound good anywhere.

So, the point of this rant is this: if you have a project studio, it's a good idea to invest in acoustic treatments. You'll be surprised when you can actually hear what you are mixing. And, with monitoring, bigger isn't always better. The size of your speaker should correlate to the size of your room.

Liquid Mix

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:30:00 +0000

When I saw an ad for Focusrite's Liquid Channel pre-amp, I was really eager to try it out. That is, until I saw the $3000+ price tag. The unit promised to emulate scores of vintage, tube, and solid state pre-amps, compressors, and equalizers...all in one box. The reviews were very positive. The price was a bit high for me.

A few months ago, Focusrite issued a "mix" version of the unit called the Liquid Mix. This unit works as a VST plug-in in Pro Tools and offers many of the same vintage compressors and equalizers that the Liquid Channel has. The unit comes with an external DSP device that processes all of the digital data so it won't tax your computer. This unit was showered with equally positive and negative reviews. Because this device doesn't have the expensive pre-amp emulator, the price is cut by about 75%...something the average project studio can easily budget for.

I've been using the Liquid Mix for the past 48 hours. I can see why some people love it. I can see why some people hate it. I've also noticed a great dearth of information, data, feedback, and tech support about the unit on-line. Here, I hope to document some of my trials, tribulations, and successes with the Liquid Mix.

The first thing you should know about the Liquid Mix is that using it will tax your computer. Forget what the ads say, you need a powerful computer to run it. The device comes with on-board DSP, but my computer crashed many times in one session...just because I was running too many instances of the plug-in on my Pro Tools system. You'll need at least a dual 1.25 GHz processor and a minimum of 1 GB of RAM. I can't imagine why you would even try to run a firewire device on a PC, but there is a PC version of this unit. I use a Mac, so I don't know if PC's would have this problem. I had 512 GB of RAM on my computer. When I contacted tech support at Sweetwater, they recommended an immediate upgrade of memory if I was remotely interested in continuing to use the product. I'm going to leave it unplugged until I receive my memory upgrade...just for the sake of sanity.

The next thing you should know about the Liquid Mix is this: if you are into hyper-efficiency and effective "work flow," you'll find working with this unit very difficult...especially if you are using Pro Tools 7 LE, like me. In LE, the Liquid Mix causes a 2056 sample delay on the tracks that it affects. Being so, when you insert it as a plug-in, that track seems to be a little behind the band. Pro Tools 7 LE has a delay compensation plug-in that, but you have to add it to all of the track that DON'T have the Liquid Mix plug in on them. So, if you have a 32 track song and you want to simulate an LA-2A just on the bass guitar, you have to insert 31 time delay plug-ins on the other tracks. What a friggin' drag...

The easiest way, for me, to incorporate this unit into my work flow is to do the following.

Make an audio file that is exactly 2056 samples long.
Label it AAA Liquid Offset, so that it appears at the top of your audio files bin (you should have your files listed in alphabetical order...or at least know how your files are organized)
Duplicate the track you want to affect and label it "Liquid" whatever the instrument is.
Drag it to before the desired liquid mix track begins from the audio file bin.
Engage "shuffle" mode.
Select AAA Liquid Offset audio file.
Delete the file in the track.
Note how the desired track has now moved 2056 samples to the left.
Disengage "shuffle" mode.
Insert Liquid Mix on track.
When you press play, your track should be offset properly.

This is kind of a pain, but it became second nature after a few tries. The idea behind "work flow" is to do the least amount of tedious work possible so that you can spend more of your session time "producing." Two other ways to circumvent this delay flaw is to insert Liquid Mix on every track; or, to simply mix track by track (which you probably should) and determine on a track by track basis which tracks get the delay compensation plug-in and which do not.

So, other than the obvious computer crashing and work flow discombobulation, the device is great.

No, really, there is a reason to put up with this...the vintage compressors and eq's sound phenomenal. Wow.

The biggest problem I have with the device isn't the technical glitches (which are surmountable), it's the fact that I don't know what half of the compressors and eq's are supposed to sound like to begin with. I've made 8 studio albums and I couldn't tell you how a Joe Meek SC2 is different from a Pye 84. I don't know the difference between a Neve 1073 and an API 55a. But the thing is, now I can get an idea of what these things do sound like. So, one plus to this device is that it can be an education of sorts.

One reviewer mentioned that there are so many options that it's almost daunting. He recommended finding one or two compressors and EQ's that you do like and just use those. It's common knowledge that a five or six LA-2A's and a few 1176's (if properly used) can help a mix. Those devices are included in a few different forms in the compressor selection. Also, in my first few days with the device, I'm finding that I like those the best.

The fun section, for me, of the tool is the EQ emulator. What I like most is that when an EQ is emulated, it not only sounds like its vintage counterpart, but it also only has the same number of options. By that I mean, the Neve 1073 only has 4 knobs (HP filter, LF shelf, Bell, and HF shelf) as well as a limited Q (unlike digital EQ's which have an almost surgical quality to them). With the emulation, you get the designer's philosophy of how EQ should and shouldn't be used. I'm willing to bet that Rupert Neve thought wide Q's were better than narrow ones. Some of these can get a bit weird though...the Chandler Limit EMI EQ only permits the boosting of frequencies, which is something I try to never do. And, there is a "free" mode for the EQ so that you can add an extra band of EQ...a hybrid EQ of sorts.

I've only used a few of the settings on this tool, but all of the one's I've tried have a unique character. Most of the settings on the Renaissance compressors and EQ's seem like they're coming from the same place. I like how those sound, for sure. And now, I have many more options from which to choose.

The bottom line with the Liquid Mix is this: it's a great tool, but be prepared to change the way you do things if you want to use it.

ADAT Transfer Day

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 20:46:00 +0000

ADAT's were popular back in the 90's. Now-a-days they almost seem as neglected as the Beta home video format.

Last month when I was at Overdub Lane doing some tape transfers, one of the studio managers needed to clear out some storage space. I had a number of projects on the shelf, all of which were in ADAT format. These things are basically digital VHS tapes that allow for multi-track digital recording. Now that everything is either ANALOG TAPE or HARDDISK, this format is mostly extinct. That being the case, if there's something you have on ADAT format, there's no time like the present to transfer it on to a drive.

The one project I really cared about was, of course, my mid-90's album The Lessons of Autumn. So, today, I rented an ADAT machine and transferred the tracks from digital tape to a hard drive, driven by Pro Tools. When you do a transfer like this, it's usually best to listen to everything as it goes in. This was a 24 track album and I only had 8 inputs. So, in a way, I listened to the album three times today...but only 8 tracks at a time. It was pretty neat.

I also happened to have an ADAT with the final mixes of Athenaeum's Overdub Sessions. The only track that has been released from this session is "Paragraph," which appeared on Hourglass, the rarities CD from 2002. The other songs were all re-recorded for other albums. These demos those are quite impeccable. There are moments that rival the big-dollar versions. Anyway, I finally have a copy of these tracks in a digital format. My cassette tape wore out years ago.

EQing Common Sense

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 17:36:00 +0000

On just about every mixing console, digital audio workstation, or sound playback device, there's a function called EQ (short for equilization). This function allows the user to adjust specific frequencies along the sonic spectrum.

On consumer grade devices, these functions are either limited to general "low," "mid," or "high." Some of these devices have genre specific EQ that, generally, help to bring out desired nuances of specific types of music. For example, the EQ curve on urban music generally accentuates the lower frequencies and extreme high frequencies. On my car, my stereo has a "vocal" EQ setting that seems to boost the 1Khz frequency a few dB. I never use these genre specific settings, preferring to keep my EQ flat at all times.

In audio production, the EQ flood gates are wide open. On most mixing consoles, a user can dial in up to 7 different bands of EQ at varying widths. In computer based audio production suites (like Pro Tools) any number of plug-ins can be chained together to produce an nearly infinite combination of EQ. There is no limit to how much you can change a particular sound, for better or for worse.

For the beginner, if EQ adjustments are made haphazardly, these changes are usually for worse. Sure, a plug-in gives you seven bands of EQ to play with but how do you use it?

I consider myself still very much on the beginning side of understanding EQ, but there are a few things that I know now that I wish I knew when I was starting to mess around with EQ.

It's generally better to cut a frequency than to boost a frequency.
Different instruments have differing levels of information at different areas of the EQ graph. Notching out places in a mix for each instrument to live is a good approach to making a clear mix.
The voice has much of it's information at 1kHz.
Mixes can generally benefit from a high pass filter set to cut out everything below 50 Hz.
Boosting one frequency cuts another frequency. This sympathetic frequency will not show up on your EQ knob, so make sure you hear how one EQ adjustment affects the picture before making a second adjustment.
1.5 kHz and the sibilant frequencies (5 - 8 kHz) are harsh. Notching those out may help a vocal. Cutting too much can also make a vocal dull and lispy.
Adding a little air (high shelf above 5 kHz) to a master buss can also help a mix. Too much of this can also ruin a good mix.
Acoustic guitars have a lot of information along the entire EQ spectrum. The style of music generally dictates how much to adjust these values. Also, the manner in which the guitar is engineered and the quality of the instrument dictates quite a bit more. Acoustic instruments are tough.
Bass guitars generate many different sounds. For most music a good relationship between the extreme low and lower mids is important when adjusting the bass. Bass is an area that I'm hoping to learn more about in the coming year. In general, my mixes can benefit from a slightly clearer bass presence.
A properly tuned kick drum can generate tones between 50 Hz and 80 Hz. It's a good idea to decide who's gonna be on the bottom, the kick or the bass. Then, dedicate a section of the mix to both instruments. You'll be groovin' much better then.

I could go on and on, but as sure as I make these statements, there really are no hard-fast rules. So much of audio production is mojo, or that which cannot be taught, explained, or even transmitted...it comes from pure instinct.

Happy recording.

Erin White: Anticipation

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 14:22:00 +0000

Erin White & Brian Kennedy (executive producer) contacted me this past summer about making a CD. After a solid month of studio work and a few months at the plant Erin's CD Anticipation is now available. She is selling the CD through her website www.erinwhiteonline.com

This was the first project of mine that required remote recording. If you've been reading any of my posts from the summer, I did quite a bit of tracking in the UNCG recital halls. Brian is a classically trained pianist and had access to impeccably tuned pianos...something that many studios can't even boast. The acoustic piano is an integral part of this album, as you'll certainly hear if you happen to pick up a copy.

This record is also much more of a "pop" oriented project than what I've done in the past. Being so, I mastered it ever so slightly brighter than the other stuff I do. I'm a stickler for mastering volume, so I made it tastefully "loud" without blowing out your eardrums.

The album features three solid originals by Erin. Four songs are tasteful cover songs that were arranged by either Brian or me. And, one of the songs is a version of a song from the talent portion of Erin's Miss North Carolina pageant; she placed in the top five at this very competitive event.

Congratulations, Erin! I hope you sell a gazillion of these CD's. You definitely have a diverse, well paced album that will appeal to a wide variety of people with differing musical tastes.

The Candelabra Sessions, Part Two (Post 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 14:03:00 +0000

Things haven't been going as quickly as I would have liked them to have gone. However, I am happy with the progress that I've made.

I had a good talk with a friend and mentor of mine this past weekend (Wade Baynham, producer at the Second Story in Durham, NC). One of the things we discussed was the relationship of session speed and creativity. In general, the faster the session, the lesser the innovation. The records that are made "assembly line style" aren't usually very ground breaking. If the same presets, licks, chords, changes are used because of a lack of time, there probably won't be much new that the session can possibly offer.

I can think of three albums that were made in just two weeks that were ground breaking, but that had more to do with the players as well as the era (These would be Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Sir Elton John, Appetite for Destruction by Guns'N'Roses, and Southern Harmony and Musical Companion by the Black Crowes). But, as I write this, I think I may have confused ground breaking with just "good."

The song "Pillar of the Sun" has been giving me trouble for a good two months. The only way for me to figure out which key, which tempo, and which instruments were best for it was take two completely different approaches to it. I've concluded that the slower, lower keyed acoustic rendition is better than the full on version. Both of these took a total of four days to complete. Unlike the last session, this one is going at a slower pace. And still, I've made notes on how to make a better mix of the slower version. I will most likely finish this today and move on to the next song.

On Friday, I had a practice session with Mark. I showed him "Tuesday" and "Pillar of the Sun" and he liked what he heard. Part of me thinks that these will be good songs for him to make additions on over the next few months. Being so, I am considering not posting these demos, as they will most likely change quite a bit with the addition of other players.

The Candelabra Sessions, Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 21:14:00 +0000

I remember back when I was in high school...and college for that matter...there was always a great rush to get things done by Thanksgiving break. In the spirit of nostalgia, or perhaps just because I need a reason, I've decided to do some "cram-session" recording between now and Thanksgiving.

I have a decent collection of half-written and nearly written songs that could stand to use a proper studio demo. Because the last session worked so well, I hope to record five "normal songs" and three instrumental songs.

Today I recorded an acoustic song called "Tuesday." Using the techniques I've honed this summer on my studio clients, the version I recorded and mixed today sounds really good. There are a few tweaks I'll make later, but generally I'm pleased with it. So, look for some new material soon.

Collapsis Remastering

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 17:46:00 +0000

Recently, I came across two old board tapes: Collapsis--Zoo Bar, 5/3/97 & Collapsis--Coney Island High 8/15/97. After listening to them, I decided it would be a good idea to digitize them and make them as listenable as possible. Collapsis was a band I fronted from 1997 until early 2001. Most fans of the band are only familiar with the version that was out touring in 1998. During the band's first year, the line-up was continually in-flux.

The analog cassette board tapes sound a lot better than I remember the shows being. The set lists are wild, at least from my perspective. At anyrate, the shows have been mastered to CD-R and sound about as good as they can.

Naturally, hearing the band in a live setting made me want to reference what studio demos the band had made during that time. I had a 1/4" analog tape of three songs, a cassette with a handful of 8-track recordings, as well as some digitally archived ADAT recordings. There were 11 songs in all that I found.

I had no way of listening to the 1/4" material, so I booked a half hour at Overdub Lane (where the tracks were mixed) to transfer the material. On the tape was early versions of "Superhero" and "Radio Friendly Girlfriend" as well as a song that was eventually phased out "High Caliber Grease." We did a 88.1 digital hi-res transfer. When I processed the tracks in my mastering suite, they sounded as clean and clear as mechanically possible.

I transferred the analog cassette demos as well as the ADAT stuff via my home cassette recorders. I wish I had the DAT master of these songs, but really, they were eventually recorded so many more times that a little tape hiss is almost welcome. It makes it sound...real.

Currently, I am encoding all three CD's worth of material to mp3 for you to download and enjoy.

John Gillespie: Eternal Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 17:57:00 +0000

I love it when albums that I've worked on at my studio come back from the plant. I always get that "Wow, I did this" kind of feeling. That's a good thing.

Today I received a copy of John Gillespie's Eternal Summer. This is the album that we worked on about one day a week during John's summer vacation. We completed 12 songs this summer. This pressing also includes John's EP The Siren Child, a recorded he completed with me in the summer of 2005. So, I guess this pressing is an album and a half.

I have been working with John in a musical capacity for many years now. We've played many shows together and have been in three bands together (Kickball, The Happy Annies, and Collapsis--John was the first bass player). This is an exciting record for me for many reasons. The most relevant of which is that I'm a fan of his music and I'm glad I could be the guy at the record button for this one.

This particular album is a collection of songs that allude to literary works. The lead off track, "Allison," is based on The Wife of Bath's Prologue from the Canterbury Tales. Seven other songs allude similarly to other works. Four of the songs are Shakespearian sonnets set to music. And, the Siren Child material also contains a few literary allusions...namely, Joyce's "The Dead."

John can be reached via www.purevolume.com/johngillespie if you are interested in hearing samples of this album.

Congratulations, John!

Mastering Volume: Why Louder Isn't Always Better

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Garrigan) — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 20:12:00 +0000

It seems that every year, major label releases keep getting louder and louder.

Try this: go to your CD collection and select three albums. Find one that was released in the late 80's. Find one that came out in the mid-90's. Now, pick one that came out this year. Make sure these are real, store bought CD's and not copies from friends or mp3 clones (those won't fully illustrate this point).

The albums I picked are Toto IV, Jeff Buckley's Grace, and Train's For Me, It's You. Now, set the volume on your sound system to its middle setting. Not too loud, not too soft. Make sure the sound comfortably fills the room. When I put on Toto, things sound pretty good. When I switch to Grace, the CD seems louder. Now, when I switch to the Train CD, it sounds like my speakers are going to fly out of the room. It sounds almost twice as loud as the Toto CD.

What's up with that? What you are hearing is a difference in average volume levels. The technical term for this is RMS level (root-mean-square). Over the past 20 years, as CD technology has evolved, records have steadily become louder and louder. The RMS level of the Toto album is about -20 dB. The RMS level of the Jeff Buckley is about -10 dB. The RMS level of the Train is about -6 dB.

What does that mean? Because albums are getting louder and louder, dynamics and depth are becoming sacrificed. The main reason this has happened is because a louder album will stand out more when compared to a quieter album. The day major labels learned about this is the day that the volume wars began. Ricky Martin's last single topped the RMS charts with a ear-shattering RMS level of -3 dB.

This phenomenon is what mastering engineer Bob Katz calls "hypercompression." A little master bus compression can help glue a mix together, but jamming all of the life out of it so that it can compete with today's winners doesn't make a mix better. It degrades the quality of a master. It's a big no-no.

As a devotee of the study of classic albums, a quieter, well-produced album always sounds better to me than a crapped out hyper-compressed modern record. In spite of all of the hypercompression, I don't think it's possible for an album to rock harder than AC/DC's Back in Black. And, that's not a loud album.

Recently, I was finishing up John Gilllespie's album Endless Summer. I recorded and mixed the album at my studio. I also offered to master the project. I tried three different approaches to the final master. First, I tried a completely uncompressed version. I used an over-easy limiter to help match the levels. Second, I tried a hypercompressed version, taxed to the max. Third, I tried a version with bus compression on the final mixes with a brickwall limter set with the threshold to no more than -3 dB into the meters. The third version outperformed the other two on just about every system I tried. The third master is much more present than the first version and has more depth and dynamics than the second version.

The lesson learned is a simple one. Always, always trust your ears.

When you are finishing your band's next CD, I'm sure loudness will be a concern of everyone's. Just know that it's OK if your album isn't as loud as someone elses. Dynamics are a good thing.

Also, because most people use mp3 interfaces to listen to audio, these systems have built in "Sound Check" settings that play everything at the same levels. That is, assuming, that people will actually purchase your CD and not just rip it from a friend. If friend A's mp3 encoding is set to 128 kbps, it really doesn't matter if the CD has been mastered. The audio is already degraded to the point where RMS volume is the least of your problems.

The only time I would recommend jamming the average volume as high as it can go is when you are giving a demo to an A&R at a label. This will help it stand among the other hypercompressed stuff that's on her desk. Most A&R pass on 99% of the material they hear, so unless your feeling lucky, you might want to back it off a bit.