Could someone please help me with my new Studio Projects B1?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Julia
  • Start date Start date
To laptoppop...

Dear Lee,

Please keep us posted as to how the mixdown goes. I'm sure there are several of us (like me) that would be willing to help out in that department.
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Do you really mean it? That would be FABULOUS, because I'm having BIG problems mixing all the hard work I did recording the children.

First, as you already know, I've spent an awful lot of money out of my own personal pocket on this project. More ... much more ... than I actually had...reverting, unfortunately, to credit cards. But seeing how important this project has been to the children, I have felt it important to do the best I can for them.

Now...that said, it looks like I'm going to have to buy some reference monitors with a flat response. AND they'll have to be powered, because of course I don't have an amp.

I've narrowed down to the Studiophile 5B's and the MAudio's, both with a price tag of $300. I know, I know...none of you pro guys would spare expense on decent reference monitors...but I just don't have the money, period. I have a credit card, and $300 is well more than I should be spending.

Trouble is, I'm otherwise attempting to mix with my computer's NEC sound system...small speakers...or some cheap Sony headphones. What I get when I raise the levels up on my tracks is distortion, and plenty of it.

It seems as though if I play a SINGLE TRACK, I'm not getting distortion (I made sure to allow no clipping when actually recording)....but when I combine the vocal tracks (I have a group of kids on track 1, and another group of kids on track 2, a soloist on track 3, etc.)...that is when the distortion occurs. And yes, I'm panning the tracks so they're not all playing into one field.

So...what do you think about the reference monitors? Can you assist me with that? I know that if I simply keep my levels low when mixing so as to avoid distortion, I'll end up with a recording way too low for comfort.

Thank you very much indeed for your offer to help. I appreciate it immensely.

Julia
 
if your final mix is going to be mastered than you can mix the levels low(not to low) and they can be brought back up in the mastering.
if budget is a concern with the monitors i would mix with headphones.
 
Re: To laptoppop...

Julia said:
First, as you already know, I've spent an awful lot of money out of my own personal pocket on this project. More ... much more ... than I actually had...reverting, unfortunately, to credit cards. But seeing how important this project has been to the children, I have felt it important to do the best I can for them.

Julia
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Heh im just curious, dont these kids have parents with credit cards?

Anyway, im no guru, but generally if you have 2 tracks of the same thing, and play them together, it gets louder! IE if you have 2 tracks that individually ride around -9 to -3 db lets say, playing them together would push them possibly into clipping. Panning them goes a long way towards fixing this, but if the 2 tracks are riding really hot (-3 to -0 db) you still might have to back off the levels. Of course all of this is moot without a decent way to monitor them, which im still working on my self =/
 
Mixing...an update...

Thank you.

As an update to my previous post, I have just tried hooking my BR-1180CD up to my home stereo system, and I don't get the distortion any longer. It actually sounds pretty darned good, (despite the fact that amidst 170 children there are a bunch who cannot carry a tune in a bucket, God love 'em.)

So, I realize that it is ineffective to mix using a home stereo system, but if anyone has any guidance in this regard, perhaps I can get along with that for this project? Or is that WAY off base. I know a home stereo system enhances things, but I also don't play around much with the 1180's EQ's, etc...I just pan and sometimes add a tad of reverb or delay and that's about it.

I know you're all laughing yourselves silly reading this, but what can I tell ya? I'm a writer, not a record producer! :cool:

THanks again for all your thoughts.

Julia
 
best thing i think you can do, is once you have a mix down, play it in as many systems as possible. That holds true even when using good monitors, but its a way for me( i use Roland MA-8 micro monitors atm, not flat but better for music than any computer speaker type thing) to check for any possible unbalances.....different systems may accentuate different things......anyway beats spending $300 i dont have yet! heh
 
Julia,

First, while home stereo speakers are not the best to mix on, many home recorders have done OK using just those. High end stereos can start to have decent results. The biggest problem with home stereos is that they try to make everything sound "good" instead of "accurate".

How many songs/how long is the content for the CD? Do you have any way of putting a set of the raw tracks for one song onto a CD-R? I could mix one of the songs and tell you what I did.

A couple of forums down below this one is a forum called mixing and mastering -- great stuff there, especially in a thread called something like "now I will share secrets about mixing" (do a search on secrets in the mixing forum).

There's a lot to know about this stuff -- especially when it comes to volume, compression, clipping, normalization, EQ, etc.

Regarding monitors - I ended up with the Fostex PM-1 (about $400 at SamAsh), but you need to see what different monitors sound like to your ears with your music.

-lee-
 
Julia,

I've gotta agree with laptoppop. Don't spend any more money!!!! Especially since you're already over budget and on credit cards. The incremental gain will not be worth the additional cost for your application. Mix it on your home stereo, and then go to your friends house, and listen to it in the car on the way, and at the house, and in their car, and at another friend's house, until you decide if it sounds pretty good overall, or if there's something universal that's not cutting it. Then, make a couple of small changes, and repeat. This might take 2-3 iterations, if you've got a decent ear, and some patient friends. But what most people don't tell you about studio reference monitors is that you have to go through the EXACT same process with those, until your ears are used to what they sound like. Until then, they're only going to be marginally better (if at all) than a home stereo.

As a point of reference, I was part of mixing a CD on a pair of Mackie HR824's, which cost about $1500 for the pair. Even on these great monitors (which I'd love to have), it takes some getting used to. We had to check our mixes in the car, at home, and on boomboxes, to make sure that we weren't doing anything ridiculous.

But in the interest of the scope (and budget) of your project, I would ABSOLUTELY not buy reference monitors!!!!!

as always, just my (strongly opinionated) 2 cents...

-mg
 
Re: Update on my Studio Projects B1

Julia said:


As for Brent Casey, I emailed him and called, leaving a message, but have never heard back from him. His note to me on this board looked promising, (see above) but...being that we're just a poor little elementary school with a highly limited music program budget (i.e. whatever I can spare out of my own personal pocket)...he might not have seen a response worthwhile.

Julia
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Julia,

A response is always worth while. I must inform you that our office has been closed since the 20th of December. We are all on vacation and will retun on the 6th of January.

I hope you called your dealer for a replacement, but if not, I assure you we will handle this as soon as we are back. I am sorry but perhaps the calls were after we went on holiday.

Either way, we will replace your mic for you as soon as we are back.... Call me personally at 877-563-6335 on the 8th as I do not get back until then and we will handle your problem.
 
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