Ken Walden Workshop

[Archiegood]

Last week I attended a workshop at Sweetwater presented by Ken Walden of Secrets of the Stars. Their products are instructional DVDs on general recording and using ProTools. Walden has worked on sessions with Santana, Metallica, John Lee Hooker, etc., and even recorded at Skywalker Studios.

While obviously aiming to sell DVDs, Walden made some interesting observations which I will share with you. Most of you have probably heard this stuff before.

First, he is very much into outboard pre-amps, which he feels are much better than what’s included in a typical DAW. And, he added, the days of needing to spend oodles for a monster Avalon unit are long gone. He feels there are great pres out there for little cash.

He is also very much into proper acoustics. He pointed out that no matter how much you spend for accurate monitors, if your listening room is not acoustically prepared, you will not get an accurate sound. He suggested that serious studio owners spend a grand to have a professional do the acoustics.

He believes that with bass, less is more. He suggests rolling off up to 300Hz on everything except the bass and kick. He uses high pass filters a lot. He also suggested adding punchy effects to the bass guitar to give it more definition in the mix.

To get the pro CD sound, he says masterers use peak limiters. He suggested using the limiter until it sounds weird, then back it off a few dbs.

He also said that a trick he learned is to use one mike above the snare, and one below, then reverse the polarity. To get a really sweet snare sound, he puts and SM57 pointed at the little air hole of the drum.

I was so taken by his pre-amp stand that I bought a Studio Projects VTB1 to run my C1 through. You can hear my first try with it on Unbelievable Revised, which is posted in the MP3 Mixing Forum.

I hope I didn’t bore you with this. Since Sweetwater is only 10 minutes from my house, I’ll keep you informed of future workshops.

[warlock110]

Originally Posted by Archiegood

Last week I attended a workshop at Sweetwater presented by Ken Walden of Secrets of the Stars. Their products are instructional DVDs on general recording and using ProTools. Walden has worked on sessions with Santana, Metallica, John Lee Hooker, etc., and even recorded at Skywalker Studios.

While obviously aiming to sell DVDs, Walden made some interesting observations which I will share with you. Most of you have probably heard this stuff before.

First, he is very much into outboard pre-amps, which he feels are much better than what’s included in a typical DAW. And, he added, the days of needing to spend oodles for a monster Avalon unit are long gone. He feels there are great pres out there for little cash.

He is also very much into proper acoustics. He pointed out that no matter how much you spend for accurate monitors, if your listening room is not acoustically prepared, you will not get an accurate sound. He suggested that serious studio owners spend a grand to have a professional do the acoustics.

He believes that with bass, less is more. He suggests rolling off up to 300Hz on everything except the bass and kick. He uses high pass filters a lot. He also suggested adding punchy effects to the bass guitar to give it more definition in the mix.

To get the pro CD sound, he says masterers use peak limiters. He suggested using the limiter until it sounds weird, then back it off a few dbs.

He also said that a trick he learned is to use one mike above the snare, and one below, then reverse the polarity. To get a really sweet snare sound, he puts and SM57 pointed at the little air hole of the drum.

I was so taken by his pre-amp stand that I bought a Studio Projects VTB1 to run my C1 through. You can hear my first try with it on Unbelievable Revised, which is posted in the MP3 Mixing Forum.

I hope I didn’t bore you with this. Since Sweetwater is only 10 minutes from my house, I’ll keep you informed of future workshops.

did he say which preamp is actually good for the money? hehe, i'm looking to buy a new pre and not wanting to spend too much money.

[chessrock]

Who was this ass clown again?

.

[Archiegood]

Warlock, my Sweetwater rep suggested three single channel units to me:

Grace 101, which sells for $566.00

A Rane unit, which did not have a 1/4 in input, for around $200.00

Studio Projects VTB1, which I bought for $120.00. It has a gain knob, and a tube drive control which allows you to fatten up the signal even more.

Other than that, you're on your own.

[Bulls Hit]

Originally Posted by chessrock

Who was this ass clown again?

.

I'm guessing it's not you.

Wait a minute.

You're Ken Walden?

[Track Rat]

No, Ken D Weber.