H
hip-pop7
New member
I use pro tools m-powered 7, so if some1 could share the standard operating procedures of mixing in PT MPs or tricks of the trade to get a quality master?
SALUTATIONS.
SALUTATIONS.
C
chessrock
Banned
Lots of drugs.
.
.
NTK88
New member
Clarity in sound recordings
Where does clarity come from?
Mic placement? Mic selection?
Quality of the connections?
Would using a better cable help?
Upgrading mic pres?
What can I do. Ive got a great tone, but it lacks that clarity I hear on CDs, if you know what I mean.
Where does clarity come from?
Mic placement? Mic selection?
Quality of the connections?
Would using a better cable help?
Upgrading mic pres?
What can I do. Ive got a great tone, but it lacks that clarity I hear on CDs, if you know what I mean.
THX1136
Bonehead
What's your background and how much experience do you have in recording and mastering? To do a credible job anyone needs more than just the gear. Experience and a good ear are a must. There a many folks who believe that having a piece of gear oriented towards mastering makes it simple to come up with a quality finished product - just pick a preset and go with it. It is not that easy. Living in fast food culture makes folks think that it is and many are not only fooling themselves, but others also.
I apologize for being so blunt, but that is the reality. You could be one of those folks that have an innate talent that will make things easier, but it will still require a large investment of your time. Step up, take on the challenge and start towards the goal you seem to have. Perhaps you'll be giving us some great new music in a couple of years. If you don't start, you'll never know. And there's nothing worse than never trying.
I apologize for being so blunt, but that is the reality. You could be one of those folks that have an innate talent that will make things easier, but it will still require a large investment of your time. Step up, take on the challenge and start towards the goal you seem to have. Perhaps you'll be giving us some great new music in a couple of years. If you don't start, you'll never know. And there's nothing worse than never trying.
C
chessrock
Banned
I think you should just give up, because it's obvious if you don't know how to get stuff to sound good by now ... you probably never will. 
Might as well just cash it in while you're ahead.
.
Might as well just cash it in while you're ahead..
MadAudio
Damned if I do
This is the meat of that post. Read it over and over if necessary.
MadAudio
Damned if I do
I think you should just give up, because it's obvious if you don't know how to get stuff to sound good by now ... you probably never will.
.
You really do have an inappropriate sense of humor. You'd even be funny if you weren't always chastising noobs.
MessianicDreams
New member
The key to great engineering is, and always has been, expensive gear.
so get get a loan from yer bank
just kidding. practice, a good ear, and knowing what to listen for. you can get decent recordings out of budget gear if you know what you're doing. Always have a clear idea as to what you're after. If you can't hear it in your head, there's no way you'll be able to record it.
J
Juggernaut
New member
Yup, ears.
N
notbradsohner
Compression Addict
If you want your mixes to sound like commercial CDs, keep working on your mixes and engineering for around 25 years. A new mic isnt going to make you a better engineer.
NTK88
New member
No kidding.
I asked about clarity.
Not about producing a million dollar CD.
I hear people on here all the time with clear recordings and only using $1000 worth of gear.
I asked about clarity.
Not about producing a million dollar CD.
I hear people on here all the time with clear recordings and only using $1000 worth of gear.
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
There could be any number of a thousand different reasons for clarity - or more often, loss of clarity. Mic/pre quality, converter quality, clocking quality, tape/tape head quality, room quality, etc.
But, assuming you have two people, both with halfway decent ears, and you put them in the same room with the same halfway decent gear in a halfway decent environment, but there is a difference in the "clarity" of the results between the two, often times the difference is in the gain structure throughout the recording chain.
Keeping the right tactical signal levels all the way through the signal path, with the intent of striking the right balance of high headroom and low noise, all while driving each piece of gear in it's own sonic "sweet spot", can make or break a tracking session, regardless of the gear used.
G.
bkkornaker
www.bryankmusic.com
clarity = 8k frequency is your best friend.
good monitors, and good ears help too. I always double check my mixes with other "commercial CD'S" and A/B them all the time......it will help give you a feel of what you need to do overall.
good monitors, and good ears help too. I always double check my mixes with other "commercial CD'S" and A/B them all the time......it will help give you a feel of what you need to do overall.
NTK88
New member
Im willing to bet that has much to do with it as I have no clue about that.
I use some of the same gear as people at the tascam forums and they get much nicer results. Ive never read a thing on what you just said though.
I use some of the same gear as people at the tascam forums and they get much nicer results. Ive never read a thing on what you just said though.
NTK88
New member
Well ill be using garage band 08, a new IO probably an alesis one that runs about $400, 4 sm57, 1 beta 52, and 3 MK909 or what ever the $120 pair of pencile condesnors are at musicians friend. Maybe ill buy new mic cables to help as well. We use the cheap generic $10, 25 foot cables. Would you use tracking at the highest possible input with out ruining the sound is the best way to go? I read and was told to mix at low level so i assumed that meant track low too.
bkkornaker
www.bryankmusic.com
if your running cables longer than 20ft.....then you really want good quality cables so there is no signal loss, or any degrading of the tone or signal......
some decent cables for the $$$ (not to expensive) are Canare, Mogami, and Monster.
Track normal, but "mix" Low (leave some headroom). When mixing lower......you can always Bring the volume back up in the Mastering stage.
some decent cables for the $$$ (not to expensive) are Canare, Mogami, and Monster.
Track normal, but "mix" Low (leave some headroom). When mixing lower......you can always Bring the volume back up in the Mastering stage.
NTK88
New member
Makes sense because when we track low and then up the volume there is a lot of hiss. Removing the hiss probably removes high end freqs hecne loss in clarity.
bkkornaker
www.bryankmusic.com
Makes sense because when we track low and then up the volume there is a lot of hiss. Removing the hiss probably removes high end freqs hecne loss in clarity.
exactly! when tracking.....keep it up to normal levels, but dont have to exceed into "clipping" at any point at all........
BUT,....when all tracks are recorded and done.......and you pay back your song, youll notice that your "master Buss" or "main output" is now in the "red zone"...........so at this point, start to bring all your tracks down untill the master output buss is floating around -4 db (leave some headroom here).
now start to mix and adjust your individual tracks..............but watch the master buss levels so they dont go over -4 db, .......keep it around there.
once your done mixing, send your finished mix to an ME (mastering engieneer) and he will thank you for leaving some headroom, and he can bring the volume up correctly to normal commercial CD volume.
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
Based upon the context and the time stamps, I'm assuming you're referring to my post re gain structure.
While I don't disagree with the idea of cables and the rest of it, if you're unfamiliar with the concept of gain structure, I'd recommend looking into that and getting your technique up to par before you invest any more money. Getting new/better gear will only marginally help if you're still not using it to it's fullest extent.
Do some searching on "gain structure" and "gain staging", though, unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of any useful detail out there. Take an evening an hit your local library or Border's and look up a book called "Understanding Audio" by Daniel M. Thompson (Berklee Press, ISBN 0-634--00959-1). This is a great book on the technical aspects of audio engineering, and while it still does not delve super deeply into gain structure, it does one of the better jobs of explaining it on basic terms that I have seen.
G.
amra
Well-known member
Understanding Gain Structure/ Gain Staging.
That is what I think holds most noobs and even intermediate recorders back. I know once I finally understood it, all of my stuff took a giant leap.
Start here and when you understand it, check out some of the other links on the top of the page. If you take the time to understand it, you will see results....
http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/articles8.htm
That is what I think holds most noobs and even intermediate recorders back. I know once I finally understood it, all of my stuff took a giant leap.
Start here and when you understand it, check out some of the other links on the top of the page. If you take the time to understand it, you will see results....
http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/articles8.htm