What's your best recording tip?

  • Thread starter Thread starter bluelot2
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Re: What? Give away my secrets?

:Put the delay before the compressor..

Nice tips, How many mS delay are you using for vocal tracks ?
 
I tweak the delay button until it sounds right...

This reminds me of when I was in the army. We were instructed to shoot our automatic rifles in short bursts of 2-4 bullets per burst. Somebody asked "how do you know when you have shot 2-4 bullets". The officer looked at him with a look of complete disbeleif, and he said "Thats what differs you sub-officers from the privates. They would never ask such a question. They would just do it."
 
Yo Yo:

A BIG BIG BIG GORDON'S GIN MARTINI WITH TWO FRESH-ANCHOVY STUFFED BIG GREEN OLIVES, STIRRED GENTLY, ON HE ROCKS.

Sip, sip, sip....listen, listen, listen. Mix, Mix, Mix....

Hope this tip is the best.

Green Hornet
 
read A WHOLE LOT before buying anything

once you've bought it, be happy with it if it satisfies you, and don't compare to anyone else's system cos the grass is always greener on the other side.

eg: I use my doorstops -er- NS10Ms for monitors. if they work for me, stick with them
 
Beware of the point of deminishing returns: in your playing, in your use of effects, and in equiptment. Don't live for that next guitar, live to play the one you've already got.

Don't expect perfection, most of us can't achieve it.

Make your recoding gear so easy to use, that you will actually want to record, the playing is hard enough!!

My favorite tip: Hang your guitars on the wall, the urge to play will increase when they are not hidden in their cases.
 
Good point about hanging guitars and playing more - but only if it's not in a dry or damp basement without a humidifier or de-humidifier!!!!

;)

Bruce Valeriani
Blue Bear Sound
 
Re: What? Give away my secrets?

regebro said:
Well, OK, then.
Two tips I figured out all by myself: :)

1. Avoid the effects return on your mixer! Run the output from the reverb/delay to a mixer input if you can. That way you get filtering.
Click to expand...

You are SO right! I much prefer faders, too, rather than those rotary controls. Much easier. I also decided to plug the returns into channel inputs because my returns weren't being cooperative. :)

Isaiah
 
Record something!

Just jump in and record something...anything. Learn from your mistakes and triumphs. I can't stress this enough. You took the time to research and assemble your studio for the express purpose of RECORDING. Are you wondering if the mic you bought will sound good on an amp? Don't ask anyone, try it for yourself and THEN compare notes with others.

Mark
Alpha Dog
http://www.mp3.com/alphadog
http://alphadog.iuma.com
 
GT said:
My favorite tip: Hang your guitars on the wall, the urge to play will increase when they are not hidden in their cases.
Click to expand...
And the look good hanging there too!

//Regebro has two guitars, one banjo and a mandolin on his walls.
 
I know it's been said before, but I gotta go with "less is more". A slightly different twist is that a cut usually works better than a boost.

I've seen this idea here a thousand times and it only recently sunk in for me. I guess better late than never though because my mixes sound far better than they used to. Now if I only had a decent set of monitors...
 
Re: regebro

Re: Delay before the compressor ....

I can't understad what you do, if you put the delay before, the signal would be delayed. The right thing must be to spilt the insignal before the compressor and use the sidechain(key) from delay out.
 
Uhm, no...

Sidechain it? Why? I can't see the purpose of that at all.
Yes, there would be delay on the signal. Thats the whole point...
 
Thanks so much to everyone, for their great advice! I can't thank you all enough! I just got my first real pair of monitors and have been studying pro recordings. I've been sitting in a 2x2x2 triangle and closing my eyes to focus on what's in the mixes. It's amazing how the two Tannoy's suddenly become eight or even twelve! On some recordings, each invisible speaker has it's own individual instrument (voice). Placement visualization has helped me immensely with my own mixes. Folks like Alan Parsons, throw a guitar out in mid right and then throw the melodic ringing overtones of the guitar strings bouncing between hard right and left. I love the way he uses hard panning for effect only and normally keeps everything else closer to the middle. It creates a certain openness. What I'm trying to say here, is if any newbie wants another newbie's advice- Good monitors are worth it! You don't have to choose the spiffy red Reveal's I did, but get some reccomended by some pro you trust! More advice-- If you do the tight two foot triangle for long sittings, watch the ears! Good monitors present highs that aren't brittle. In other words, you won't know what hit you until you wake up the next morning with an earache(OUCH!)
 
a couple...

1. (when I was first starting) Do not rely solely on headphones, use monitors.

2. Don't be afraid to leave it for a while and come back to it later (fatigue, fresh attitude, new ideas).

3. Don't over-record, after the first couple of takes you lose energy/interest/motivation- use your takes wisely.

4. Great mixing can't cover up a crappy song- don't sacrifice the creative process by obsessing about the next piece of gear that will revolutionize your sound. (I'm guilty, I'm guilty- that's why I'm here)
 
Late - but - my tip for Mixing and Mastering is take care of the frequencies below 1khz and the rest will follow.

Cheers
John ;)
 
ergonomics

work ergonomics ... make sure you make your studio a place you want to be in ? then you'll do more in lesser time.
 
Use band pass filter (high & low pass) 2 cut mud

Use a high pass filter to filter out unnecessary lows on vocals, guitars, cymbals, Keyboards (except keyboard bass sounds). (Below 75 - 100 Hz, sometimes up to 120/130 Hz, is usually unnecessary mud for many of these instruments)

Use a low pass filter to filter out unnecessary highs on low frequency instruments like bass and kick drum. (above 5kHz is unnecessary for low freq instruments in many cases) Filtering out unnecessary frequencies also allows instruments to take up less space in a mix, resulting in a more clear and detailed mix.

Another thing that has worked is when comparing two drastic EQ settings on the same part to play one setting then STOP playback, make the change and then play the comparison. You get a better version of the "sound in your head" rather than using a possibly incorrect model to base a decision off of.

Rev E
 
Sell all your gear NOW and take up painting by numbers.
 
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