What makes a pro recording pro? What is "sound" that the pros get and how to make your recordings sound more professional?
The answer is simple - there is no simple answer. But with careful listening and a little experience, you can create excellent results with modest equipment.
A good start mixing the ear
The first and most important article of equipment is - who knows? Anyone? It's your ears! And I'm sorry to tell you to listen, but ten hours Rave do 110dBnothing for them and you might also groped the mixture is a turtle with a mix ears abused.
Listen to commercial recordings of mixes you like, analyze it, learn to feel the effects and to know what kind of sound for you.
Mixing secrets
There is no hidden secret of a good sound, but if it adds to the mystery of the mixture in two words, it would be this - EQ and compression. Okay, three words.
These are probably the two most importantimportant tools for commercial producers. But like any tool, if you do not know how to use them will be carving Habitat tables instead of Chippendale chairs.
That's where your ears and experience come in here are some ideas of production, hints, tips and tricks put together, but purely indicative and can be adapted to fit your material. There are default settings you can play well to go to a bad reception. And if the original material was badlyeven Abbey Road recorded your mix could be saved. But the following suggestions and see how much better your mix.
Getting the right level
You can not push the levels when recording digitally as you can when recording to tape, but want to preserve as much signal into the system as possible. This means that only at very carefully for clipping, and recording on a uniform and constant.
Some recording software lets you monitor and adjust the input level from within. A bit 'ofExpect to use the sound card mixer, while others have no way to expect to adapt the internal level of entry and that you set this at source.
Monitor
The ears are only as good as the monitor they want to hear. Do not expect a good mix Pro to create small computer speakers. May also on a computer, audio system test, but on a HELLO fi, in a discotheque and a car stereo.
Strangely, no one has the most expensive Mic. Many top artists use whatsome might call "average" Mics, because working well and get the job done. You can create a package on a large-diaphragm condenser microphone to spend (yes, they are good) for the items when you use the lollipop, but check dynamic microphones, which are much cheaper and tasks are rotated.
MIDI and audio mixing
One of the great advantages of computer-based recording is that the parts can be changed easily be changed and transformed. It 'also so easy to combine MIDI and audio tracks, and manyThe musicians use a combination of sample loops, pieces of audio recording and MIDI.
Audio recordings are generally guitar and acoustic instruments like the saxophone and vocals. By the way, talking about the best way to record guitars, sticking a microphone in front, they. You can DI them and process them later and this could be cleaner, but for a natural-sounding guitar amp Miced is hard to beat.
It is not necessary to collect drums live and, in fact, it is difficult to make and maintain a modern sound.You can buy off-the-shelf MIDI drum riffs and audio drum loops, or create your own. The quality of gear, the drum makes a noise, and these days, so you can sound with a riff as good as a true professional.
Mixing MIDI
Appear as a MIDI and audio components on the same screen in modern sequencers, it is very easy to organize in a song. However, when you get to keep everything down there is another contribution to the mix. If you are shooting DAT you can simply use the audio and MIDI RouteOutputs through a mixer and DAT machine.
However, if you want to convert to a CD, you must first parts of Audio MIDI data to create. The entire song can be mixed on the hard drive and burned to CD. Convert MIDI to audio can have another benefit, and that the ability to process the MIDI tracks with digital effects.
Effects
There are three positions for effects known as Master, Send and Insert. Apply, use the Master for effects you want the entire mixture.These will often be EQ, compression and reverb.
While there, each channel its own Insert effects is a sort of Nice, used each with a corresponding amount of CPU power. So, if your computer is struggling, and the same effect if you use more than one channel, the effect of a send effect, and the road to the channels.
Many parts of the software, you can have a pre-or post-fader. With post-fader, sent the amount of sound effects is controlled by the governor. With PreFader is sent, the total level of the signal. Post fader is the usual standard and that you will benefit more.
EQ
EQ is the favorite and the over-used effect. Yes, it can be used to groped "to set a mix, but can not be a silk purse from a sow's ear as me Gran used to say and what they could not know the mixing is a book written in the margins of the politicians honest.
But before messing with EQ - or any other implications for that matter - make sureThey have a full set of speakers. We have already said? Oh, must be important, then.
There are plug-in effects such as MaxxBass psychoacoustic increase the low frequencies, so that it sounds better on smaller speakers can. But this is not the same as a good bass sound first by the principles of good recording quality.
EQ can add a mix to improve the gloss, fairy dust, shimmer, shine, or as a sweetener is called the lastProduction. Can be done with enhancers and Spectralis, although those with harmonics, some manufacturers tend to not like chaos. But no, do not dismiss out of hand.
General EQ Lore says that you should increase rather than cut. When a sound is top-heavy, is the temptation to increase the mid and low ranges. But then what usually happens is initiated for promotion to the top to compensate, and you can easily and to promote anything and you are, where you started - onlystronger!
The reason why the cut is preferable that the promotion also increases the noise in the signal that is not what you want. Try it out. Boost every frequency and listen to the result. If you think that sounds good, good. What do we know?
But if you play the violin, keep an eye on the meter output. Promoting EQ inevitably means increasing the gain and is so-ooo easy to distort the output that does not sound good clip.
Finally, check EQ changes to single tracks duringPlay the whole piece. In other words, you hear the title in relation to all other tracks. It may sound good in isolation, but some frequencies may influence the other tracks making the piece frequency rich in some places and frequency poor in others they overlap.
Reverb
Reverb creates space. Gives the impression that a recorded sound in a hall or canyon instead of the closet. Lore of registration that is proposed on all dry, no reverb, so you canExperiment with a subsequent election. You can not reverb a track once recorded.
The more reverb you apply, as far away sound will seem. As an up-front vowel, should be sufficient to remove the dryness Hall. Item not want to muddy (the text can be muddy), so use a bright reverb.
A common beginner mistake, all with different types of reverb swamp. - Does not seem terrible!
Mixdown
They have all the shots, the changes implemented and enforced, withoutthe impact and now it's time to mix everything into a Big Number One Hit! Before doing this, go home and have a good sleep. Have two. In fact, sleep for a week.
Yes, we know hot and raring to go, but the ears are tired. It is going to sleep. Listen carefully to hear, and you may then snore!
This is a phenomenon that makes the sound known as ear fatigue and subsequent exposure, above all, the same frequency, our ears, rather than over it. It goes back to somethingSpending your life in a Rave club - you'll never be a producer of master. If you are trying to organize one days of mixing, the ears do not react, do a favor, and the mix, as we expect at least a day.
Now, go ahead and mix! And do not forget - to get better with practice. For more information about the mixing, take a free copy of creating the perfect mix of www.making-music.com.
