Tutorials and support for producers, podcasters and audio engineers
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What’s the problem with recording drums in a small room? Small rooms aren’t great for recording drums in. They don’t allow the drums to “breathe” i.e. you have early reflections arriving too quickly which in turn means your cymbal and drum hits can be muddy or muffled and lack sustain. There’s . . . Read more
There are some truly fantastic mix-worthy free plug-ins these days. if you’re just starting out, you probably don’t have a spare $100 here and there, let alone $300 plus for some of the industry standard bundles. I know I’m not alone in my appreciation for plug-in effect developers who offer their products . . . Read more
Some people will tell you that you can’t get a great sounding mix without using premium plugins. I can’t help but feel people who say that are mixing with their eyes – not their ears. Here’s how I’d tackle a lead vocal in Reaper without any of the premium/paid plugins . . . Read more
The microphone that’s always in your pocket. Why not use it? In all honesty, it’s a million times better than the first ever microphone I bought from my local guitar shop back in the 90’s and the iPhone has it’s own unique compression that you can use to your advantage. I’ve . . . Read more
The possibilities are essentially endless. But these three techniques will take you less than a minute to try out. If they don’t add some warmth or body to your mix, you can easily delete them and try something else. It’s best to use parallel processing here. So create a double of . . . Read more
If your vocals are flat and lifeless by comparison to the rest of your mix, there are a few things that could be causing this: 1. The vocals are over-compressed Try using more compression on a parallel bus instead of on the lead track itself to get more excitement out . . . Read more
Your guitar track is sounding a bit narrow and you want it command little more attention. Here’s three quick steps to achieving a wider guitar sound and filling out a bit more of the spectrum. Record the same guitar part with either a different amp or different mic’s on the . . . Read more
Gated reverbs were incredibly popular in the 1980’s but don’t let that fool you into thinking they’re not still a great tool to have up your sleeve today. A gated reverb on a snare drum is a fantastic way to get the snare to pop, without the reverb tail muddying up . . . Read more
When de-essing vocals it can be difficult to strike a balance between too little de-essing and too much de-essing. Too little and you leave the sibilance untamed. Too much can give the singer a lisp. Getting things just right and finding that subtle yet sufficient balance can be tough. When . . . Read more
The beauty of headphones is that they completely remove the issue of room acoustics. This means you get a much flatter frequency response. However, unlike listening to music on set of speakers, you loose the feeling or sense of being in a room. That’s because there’s no cross-talk i.e. in . . . Read more