I received a phone call yesterday from one of my clients. He hired me to mix and master a song a few days before. He was calling because he had a friend give him feedback about the song. Negative feedback….Now even though my client had lots of positive feedback from other friends, the only feedbackContinue reading “Don’t rely on other’s opinions”
Tag Archives: audio interface
Does your vocal eq sound balanced?
So what makes a vocal sound so good that it leaves you speechless? Well other than the performance which is up to the singer…. it’s the tone and quality of the vocal. What makes the tone and quality good is a well balanced vocal. The right amount of lows, low-mids, mids, high-mids, and highs. SoContinue reading “Does your vocal eq sound balanced?”
Taking a long time to mix vs a quick mix
So this is sort of a debate between audio engineers. When you ask people how long they take to mix a song, I have heard a variety of answers. Some say an 8 hour day. Others have said two 8 hour days, some say half a day. So what is technically correct or just aContinue reading “Taking a long time to mix vs a quick mix”
Does 1 de-esser plug in do the trick?
Today I want to write about something that I had to learn over the years. One of those things where when you know the rules….you can break them! I always thought that using 1 de-esser plug-in was some sort of rule. If I used more than one then it would hurt the audio. While thatContinue reading “Does 1 de-esser plug in do the trick?”
Don’t experiment during vocal sessions….
As an engineer, you should do your experimenting and playing with plug-ins in your off time or when mixing the song. During recording sessions, it’s best to put on some plug ins you know that will work for the time being and move forward. It can be a real vibe killer for an artist thatContinue reading “Don’t experiment during vocal sessions….”
Tuning the doubled vocals a little less than the main
So here is something that took years to finally figure out because no one teaches this….tuning the doubled vocal less than the main vocal. So obviously you want the main vocal to be pitched very tightly so that the listener isn’t turned off by a sour note here or there. This is a good mindsetContinue reading “Tuning the doubled vocals a little less than the main”
2 limiters can really achieve loudness for your final mix!
Have you ever pondered about why your mixes don’t sound quite as loud as other songs that you hear? That’s what is called professional mastering. The song was likely mastered by someone that understands frequency balance, how to control certain problem frequency areas, and knows how to get loudness without over-compressing. I know what you’reContinue reading “2 limiters can really achieve loudness for your final mix!”
Record your vocals with as much isolation as possible
Lately I have received a good amount of files to mix that have a lot of room sound to the vocals. While I can still make it work with some extra plug-ins that I will talk about soon, it is crucial to get an isolated sound. A dynamic microphone can be a great way toContinue reading “Record your vocals with as much isolation as possible”
So you want to start recording at home?
I figured I would give some suggestions for someone starting out in home recording! First off you will need a laptop or desktop computer. Windows or Mac is fine. The more current the operating system on the computer the better! Software developers seem to lack compatibility with older systems. How inconsiderate of them! Once youContinue reading “So you want to start recording at home?”
Performance vs Pitch
I wanted to talk about a very unique outlook on vocal recording. Many singers will hate almost every take that they record. Why is this? Simply because of pitch. It is extremely hard to stay close enough to perfect pitch that we are satisfied as humans. Our ears can sense if it’s off pitch, evenContinue reading “Performance vs Pitch”
Perfect Vocals Academy 