I will finally share some "secrets" about mixing.

[flatfinger]

Understanding why katz reccomends a standardized method of a repeatable " home base" to " calibrate" you mixing from doesn't change the fact that eventually, the end user is going to be listening at many different volumes.

whatever level you should choose as your mixing home base. it's pure folly to not change up and check it at different volumes( or different days , for that matter)

 

[BRIEFCASEMANX]

wtf? why would anyone follow this. Kick drums ALWAYS get 350. it sounds good on EVERY speaker and tv. if it doesn't sound good cut guitars! everyone wants huge guitars, what about thick wallomping kick? How is it going to sound good in stereo if it sounds good in mono???

 

[Steve Henningsgard]

wtf? why would anyone follow this. Kick drums ALWAYS get 350. it sounds good on EVERY speaker and tv. if it doesn't sound good cut guitars! everyone wants huge guitars, what about thick wallomping kick? How is it going to sound good in stereo if it sounds good in mono???

Haha uhhh wtf?

 

[BRIEFCASEMANX]

Haha uhhh wtf?

what's up bro, afraid of 350hz??? Are you SKEERED??

 

[flatfinger]

"when I was just a baby, My momma told me son, always be a good boy don't play around with 350HZ!!!

 

[Hard Drive]

Hey all, I just registered after reading this thread.........I havn't read any other thread yet, but thanks to Ford for the original post.

When I first started home recording I would strive to reach a commercial quality sound.........with a lot of listening, a lot of mixing and mastering takes.........I still go through a lot of cdr's to get my shit right.

But I find it silly that many think they can get a commercial quality cd, from mix to mastering, right at home with their home studio's. You can't do it, you don't have the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

But if you listen to your monitors a lot, and learn them well.......you can do a pretty good job mixing with a unit like a Korg D3200. You must also do everything Ford says ......... If your trying to accomplish big things, hire a mastering studio(any of those guys around here?)..........if your trying to present a great cd to sell, on a budget, and not trying to get signed, have fun and do your best........and send it off to cdbaby!

Have fun trying to sound like a million dollar studio!$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

good to be here

 

[flatfinger]

You can't do it, you don't have the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

So the skill and experience of the operator are not a part of the equasion?? only the amount spent on the gear???

Shit, now I have to quit because I don't have an SSL console.
Thank god you chimmed in here . Other wise I might have wasted allot of time !!!!!!!!!!!!!




AHHHH thats the million dollar question!! is it all the gear or the operator... Could it be a little of both????? could the same people who engineered the best albums in the past do a fantastically better job than you or me with the same modest stuff you and I use ???

Welcome to the forum HD!!!

Just watch out for 350HZ

 

[eyeteeth]

If it hasn't already been mentioned... make that a sticky at the top of the newbie forum.

Like many others... I didn't read through all of it. Kept skipping through waiting for some "secrets"... till I saw that bit explained. But excellent advice for beginners... or even just nice to see someone else spouting off about.

I'm gong to revisit it though when I have more time.

 

[Hard Drive]

So the skill and experience of the operator are not a part of the equasion?? only the amount spent on the gear???

Come on, everyone knows when you have a million dollars worth of equipment, it doesn't take any skill to make an album, it runs it self.

AHHHH thats the million dollar question!! is it all the gear or the operator... Could it be a little of both????? could the same people who engineered the best albums in the past do a fantastically better job than you or me with the same modest stuff you and I use ???

my grandmother could do a better job than me

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

AHHHH thats the million dollar question!! is it all the gear or the operator... Could it be a little of both????? could the same people who engineered the best albums in the past do a fantastically better job than you or me with the same modest stuff you and I use ???

T-Bone Burnett could make a platinum-selling album on a Tascam Portastudio if he had to. Most of us couldn't do it with Paisley Park at our disposal to save our souls.

G.

 

[BRIEFCASEMANX]

T-Bone Burnett could make a platinum-selling album on a Tascam Portastudio if he had to. Most of us couldn't do it with Paisley Park at our disposal to save our souls.

G.

In the Russ Long dvd, he does 2 songs. 1 with all pro equipment, and 1 will consumer level equipment except for like 2 preamps and an nice outboard eq or 2. The first song sounds awesome. The 2nd one sounds less awesome, but still pretty great. Pretty great vs. awesome, plus he cheated a little. The gear matters IMO. My mixes got much better when I got good gear. But there are platinum selling albums that don't sound "awesome".

As long as you have talent to get the song across that's what's important though, eh?

 

[Middleman]

A great engineer on inexpensive gear will produce an average sounding recording. An inexperienced engineer on expensive equipment will produce an inexperienced sounding recording.

The weakest link in the chain is the optimum result in all cases.

That said, some of my worse engineering blunders sounded better on expensive gear.

 

[Dutch Dave]

Thanks for this!

 

[Zed10R]

Hey all, I just registered after reading this thread.........I havn't read any other thread yet, but thanks to Ford for the original post.

When I first started home recording I would strive to reach a commercial quality sound.........with a lot of listening, a lot of mixing and mastering takes.........I still go through a lot of cdr's to get my shit right.

But I find it silly that many think they can get a commercial quality cd, from mix to mastering, right at home with their home studio's. You can't do it, you don't have the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

But if you listen to your monitors a lot, and learn them well.......you can do a pretty good job mixing with a unit like a Korg D3200. You must also do everything Ford says ......... If your trying to accomplish big things, hire a mastering studio(any of those guys around here?)..........if your trying to present a great cd to sell, on a budget, and not trying to get signed, have fun and do your best........and send it off to cdbaby!

Have fun trying to sound like a million dollar studio!$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

good to be here

uuuhhh......it's always good to have new people chime in....???

The attitude of, if you can buy million dollar gear you will get a million dollar sound is total BS. Flat out not true, and is one of the few things that are offensive to me. I know I should not care, it is your $$ afterall...but that attitude...I dunno....it pisses me off. People looking for shrtcuts...for the easy way....for any way besides actually working for it...that bothers me too much to even explain.

On one hand you have a perfeclty valid point. If you are going for BIG things, it's best to seek out the truly experienced pro's with the high end gear. You will never get that sound with an SM57 and a DMP3 plugged into a pirated version of cakewalk 9.

On the other hand, anyone that has put any serious time and effort into recording at home will tell you that the single biggest factor in getting a really good sound is YOUR EARS. You do not need to spend big bucks on top shelf gear to get good...or even very good...recordings. Just don't get too depressed when you can't acheive greatness with said '57 and DMP3.

 

[Hard Drive]

Sorry Zed, didn't mean to piss you or anyone off.
If someone has an all in one machine at home, they can get a very very good sound in their final mix............I guess I have to say, if you made yourself a great master, but also had a high end studio master it, you would hear quite a difference.
But who cares, in the end, the average listener won't know the difference

 

[pathdoc]

Some great info. I appreciate it. I've been working in my home studio and have been training my ears. I usually mix at a moderate volume, 70bD's or so. I rarely use EQ. I do use a multiband compressor and trim out frequencies which I find offensive or problematic.

 

[pinhedgtr]

Thanks for the info Ford Van....very helpful, I can't wait to try some of this!

B

 

[Ironklad Audio]

Come on, everyone knows when you have a million dollars worth of equipment, it doesn't take any skill to make an album, it runs it self.

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

quite possible the stupidest statement i've EVER heard

when you have a million dollars worth of shit in one room, it doesn't run itself...it gets run by an EXPERIENCED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE ENGINEER

what happens when you have a mil. worth of gear...but can't wire a patchbay?

"DUDE! WHY'S THERE NO SIGNAL COMING IN? I PLUGGED THAT THING INTO THAT OTHER THING, AND UMM...I THINK IT SHOULD MAKE SOME NOISE, OR LIKE, LIGHT UP AN LED OR SOMETHING...."

 

[Steve Henningsgard]

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

quite possible the stupidest statement i've EVER heard

when you have a million dollars worth of shit in one room, it doesn't run itself...it gets run by an EXPERIENCED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE ENGINEER

what happens when you have a mil. worth of gear...but can't wire a patchbay?

"DUDE! WHY'S THERE NO SIGNAL COMING IN? I PLUGGED THAT THING INTO THAT OTHER THING, AND UMM...I THINK IT SHOULD MAKE SOME NOISE, OR LIKE, LIGHT UP AN LED OR SOMETHING...."

...sarcasm?

 

[Hard Drive]

IronKlad...........I was joking there man.........