Digital Musings, Part 2
March 28, 2008 Filed in: Recording
When it comes to
recording, I don’t have a set way of doing
things. For one artist, I might record
everything live and mix it all later. For
others, I’ll multi-track, edit, and mix. It
really just depends.
Any engineer works differently than another. Those who have found a lot of success in the recording world and who are willing to share their secrets are always great resources. Recently, I stumbled upon a great learning tool: Multi-Platinum Pro Tools, a DVD set that walks the viewer through a real, live 8-hr mixing session…all done in Pro Tools.
I highly recommend the mixing session DVD to anyone who wants to improve his knowledge of gain structure, using plug-ins correctly, bussing, and how to get the best fidelity out of a computer based recording system. See www.multiplatinumprotools.com for a complete list of instructional videos. What makes this particular video great isn’t necessarily the rudiments, it’s the particular mixing engineer’s secrets and preferences.
Anyway, I always like to apply a new knowledge set to a real application. Recently, I mixed John Gillespie’s new project using the MMPT methods of bussing and gain structure. We were both pleased with the outcome. Immediately, I noticed that all of the mixes had an improved overall pre-mastering “loudness” that is ever so desirable now a days.
I was also pleased with the vocal sibilance. It was present without being piercing. This was a direct result of lining things up in a signal chain in an almost unconventional way. Most of my mentors, who learned on analog systems, would never have chained things together this way…MMPT works under the assumption that digital isn’t inferior than analog; it’s just different.
John’s new record is different from his last two in that he’s opted to return to a more “acoustic” sound. The ten-song set is largely just his voice accompanied by at least an acoustic guitar and at most one or two other instruments. We finished two songs that were left over from the False Idol’s sessions, but they were omitted at the end. These two songs were “band based” and changed the flow of the album. Although, these band songs also sounded outstanding with the MMPT mixing method. John Merchant (the mixing engineer on MMPT) does well to walk the viewer through phase and gain issues that always arise when a full drum set enters the equation.
I’m very pleased with the low end that we achieved on this album. It’s very difficult to get it just right if you aren’t monitoring properly. The number one reason I’m building a control room is because I want to have an accurate low end picture when I’m working. Most of the design is tailored to low-end accuracy. Because I mixed in Pro Tools, I only used plug-ins on the bass (beyond the basic limiting I usually do on the way in). I either used the Smack! Plug-in on OPTO mode (which behaves like an EL8 behaving like a LA-2A) or the BF-76 plug-in on 3, 5, and 4:1 with no more than 6 dB of gain reduction.
I have enjoyed using the TL Space convolution reverb on most of my projects these days. MPPT does well to illustrate how the “in the box” reverbs that come with Pro Tools can also be just as effective. I used the D-verb plate on many of the acoustic guitar tracks on John’s record.
All in all, it’s an exciting time. Digital is alive and well. And, it’s sounding better than ever.
Any engineer works differently than another. Those who have found a lot of success in the recording world and who are willing to share their secrets are always great resources. Recently, I stumbled upon a great learning tool: Multi-Platinum Pro Tools, a DVD set that walks the viewer through a real, live 8-hr mixing session…all done in Pro Tools.
I highly recommend the mixing session DVD to anyone who wants to improve his knowledge of gain structure, using plug-ins correctly, bussing, and how to get the best fidelity out of a computer based recording system. See www.multiplatinumprotools.com for a complete list of instructional videos. What makes this particular video great isn’t necessarily the rudiments, it’s the particular mixing engineer’s secrets and preferences.
Anyway, I always like to apply a new knowledge set to a real application. Recently, I mixed John Gillespie’s new project using the MMPT methods of bussing and gain structure. We were both pleased with the outcome. Immediately, I noticed that all of the mixes had an improved overall pre-mastering “loudness” that is ever so desirable now a days.
I was also pleased with the vocal sibilance. It was present without being piercing. This was a direct result of lining things up in a signal chain in an almost unconventional way. Most of my mentors, who learned on analog systems, would never have chained things together this way…MMPT works under the assumption that digital isn’t inferior than analog; it’s just different.
John’s new record is different from his last two in that he’s opted to return to a more “acoustic” sound. The ten-song set is largely just his voice accompanied by at least an acoustic guitar and at most one or two other instruments. We finished two songs that were left over from the False Idol’s sessions, but they were omitted at the end. These two songs were “band based” and changed the flow of the album. Although, these band songs also sounded outstanding with the MMPT mixing method. John Merchant (the mixing engineer on MMPT) does well to walk the viewer through phase and gain issues that always arise when a full drum set enters the equation.
I’m very pleased with the low end that we achieved on this album. It’s very difficult to get it just right if you aren’t monitoring properly. The number one reason I’m building a control room is because I want to have an accurate low end picture when I’m working. Most of the design is tailored to low-end accuracy. Because I mixed in Pro Tools, I only used plug-ins on the bass (beyond the basic limiting I usually do on the way in). I either used the Smack! Plug-in on OPTO mode (which behaves like an EL8 behaving like a LA-2A) or the BF-76 plug-in on 3, 5, and 4:1 with no more than 6 dB of gain reduction.
I have enjoyed using the TL Space convolution reverb on most of my projects these days. MPPT does well to illustrate how the “in the box” reverbs that come with Pro Tools can also be just as effective. I used the D-verb plate on many of the acoustic guitar tracks on John’s record.
All in all, it’s an exciting time. Digital is alive and well. And, it’s sounding better than ever.