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: recording
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?”
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….”
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”
Two different approaches for pitching layered vocals…
We always have to know what style of music we are working on and what makes sense for that style. It may be surprising, but how you pitch correct vocal layers varies depending on what type of music you are working on. I’ll start with pop music. Pop music is a perfection type of music.Continue reading “Two different approaches for pitching layered vocals…”
Expensive tube microphones can be great…but watch out for this one thing!
I’m not sure I’ve heard anyone cover this topic but I’ve been doing a lot of recording at The Record Shop in Nashville and this always comes across my mind. Every time I use a really expensive tube microphone I notice there is an abundance of low mid frequencies! So much that it makes theContinue reading “Expensive tube microphones can be great…but watch out for this one thing!”
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?”
Why should all vocalists record themselves at home?
If you are a vocalist, I’m pretty sure you practice for your live shows right? Band rehearsals, stage moves, vocal warm ups etc. Do you practice recording your voice? This is an entire skill on its own! Recording and live are two different animals. You don’t know how many times someone has told me “IContinue reading “Why should all vocalists record themselves at home?”
Have trouble getting the vocal to sit “in” the mix?
I had a request to talk about getting the main vocal to sit “in” the mix and how to guarantee it’s “finalized” aka “album ready”. So first off, what makes it not sound finalized? Well, actually a lot of things. Pitch correction is huge, if it’s not pitched right then it will never seem toContinue reading “Have trouble getting the vocal to sit “in” the mix?”
Compression is cool, eq is too, but dynamic eq is awesome!
Vocals are unlike any instrument ever when it comes to mixing. I’ve heard problem frequencies in almost every area you can think of! Sometimes singers sound really muddy, or super harsh, or the sibilance on an “s” word can cut right through glass! Others sound chesty and don’t have any brightness in their voice. TheContinue reading “Compression is cool, eq is too, but dynamic eq is awesome!”
Perfect Vocals Academy 