Comments on: 10 Techniques For Achieving Outstanding Music Mixes

By: JT Muller

JT Muller — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 09:26:31 +0000

Hi guys, I have read all of the above posts and found, That the artist recording should prepare before recording. And wont need much mixing should the vocals be recorded well first time. I record all my music at home and i have to let you know that, every new production i come up with sounds better than the previous one. Thanks guys for your input. One last thing. I use a demo version of Fruity Loops 10. A Sure mic, A four channel Behringer Mixer and crappy speakers.

By: Ian Shepherd

Ian Shepherd — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:10:54 +0000

That’s a bit too general to answer ! Take a look around the site and let me know if you have more specific questions ?

By: MoMo

MoMo — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:36:18 +0000

I need help recording sounds. I have no clue what to do.

By: David Rose

David Rose — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:50:18 +0000

Hi Ian, sorry must have missed that point! I’ve just posted the first article in the blog section as we’ve had the site re done, should be posting a few more soon.

By: Ian Shepherd

Ian Shepherd — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 22:20:45 +0000

Thanks David, although I thought I’d covered that in my discussion of point #5:

“The best way to make sure everything is audible in a mix is to make sure has it’s own space musically. If you can do this, sonically everything will fall into place too.”

It’s an important point though, so no harm in reinforcing !

I took a look at your site and couldn’t find any articles on recording or mixing, was I looking in the right place ?

Ian

By: David Rose

David Rose — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:30:29 +0000

11.....make sure the arrangment is good to start with. A good arrangement which gives the sounds their own space will produce a better mix than one where aall the sounds are fighting with each other to be heard. Check out my site for a few more articles

By: scott

scott — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:31:20 +0000

Great post. I like the fact that you say the best that you can afford or get you hands on. There are a ton of guys with great gear at home that don’t know how to use it. Prep and playing account for more than whether you mic it with a vintage Nueman or an Sm57.

By: Ian Shepherd

Ian Shepherd — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:58:24 +0000

Glad you liked the article ! You’re right, this isn’t really a “getting” started site. The trouble with all of this is, it’s such a huge subject.

Here’s an (in-progress) post from AudioGeekZine that covers some useful points:

http://www.audiogeekzine.com/getting-started-a-guide-to-home-recording/

But my best suggestion though is to check out Sound On Sound – have a search in the archives and you’ll find plenty of stuff on microphone techniques etc.

Ian

By: Estabanos!?

Estabanos!? — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:23:29 +0000

Great topic for an article. I am new, to both recording and subsequently all literature on it. I was wondering if there is somewhere I am suppose to start. A bible of sorts. Everyone here sounds up to date, happy with their jargon and more than capable, and I would like to be as well.

Any help would be an asset. Perhaps a primer on home recording practices. Such as microphone placement, types and leveling methods. USB audio interfaces, codecs, software tutorials, etc.

Basically, I am plugging in directly from an amp to an audio device that records directly to my computer via usb(firewire) and would like to switch to mic because it sounds like ass, and many people claim placing a mic near your amp is the better method, as opposed to directly plugging in.

Tube amp, semi-hollow body guitar, piano and acoustic guitars are what will be recorded.

Thank you.

By: Ian Shepherd

Ian Shepherd — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:12:22 +0000

Hi Mark,

Glad you liked the post !

Subwoofers can work fine provided they’re set up right. The downside is that this can be quite tricky – hm, maybe I should do a post on that…

The question is, are the extra lows you hear actually part of your mix, or because the playback system’s sub isn’t set up right ? Lots of “home cinema” setups come with a sub, and people just turn it up till the doors rattle on their favourite blockbusters – this doesn’t work so well for music !

The solution is either to set up a calibrated sub and then work on the treatment ’till the room can handle the extra bass (I have a post on acoustic treatment in the works, too!) – or, get it checked out by a friendly mastering engineer [grin].

Ian

PS. Thanks for reminding me about John’s forum, it’s a fantastic resource – I need to add it it to the links section here !