Years ago while waiting for 2 maintenance engineers to be done with the studio so that I can start my session. (remember those days?) I began to feel intimidated listening to them talk about high-end sounding records and how to achieve it. I remember feeling that I might not ever understand how to get there. Then a few days later I dropped by the studio and heard one of those engineers' final mix being printed and thought that it sounded like sH">T to me.
My A-Ha lesson was to trust my own ears.
Had a wonderful A-HAA! moment when I bought a EMT 252 reverb and used it for the first time. I knew instantly what the real value of a great outboard verb is!
1.
Putting a lot more effort in pre-production with artists/acts and being brave enough to re-arrange/re-write songs with them.... A-HAA
2.
Putting more thought and effort into recording and experimenting different techniques before going for takes... AAA-HAAAAAA
3.
Realising how much less there is to do at the mixing stage and how much better it will sound for it once (1) and (2) have been carried out with the right amount of care, attention, and effort...
1) After using broken boxes and an amplifyer that had a resistor dead from the first party I threw with 14 , finally buying a pair of decent monitors and treating my room ....after 11 years of listening to stuff totally collored and distored by my sound system (which also destroyed my sense of good taste...probably the result of the very unique sound of the 240 mixes I have done so far)....but hey, if you can hear what compressors and stuff does on a totally destroyed system, you still can't imagine what I suddenly heared in my CD collection.... :D I can't truly tell which microphone was used , but at least I can distinguish some instruments (brands, genres) and hear the settings of the compressors, reverbs, limiters and ...
( but hey, I learned how to memorize how my stuff mixed on one pair of speakers will sound on the 5 different stereo systems at my parents house, how it sounds in 3 or more car systems from friends and how it sounds in cheap lounges and clubs in my area :P )
2) Phase, Stereoimaging and overall learning about theoretical stuff in sound engineering and applying my math and economics knowledge on the way I craft mixes. ^^
3) finding gear slutz
4) instead of working on a "mix", working on a cultural product . Meaning: choosing effects not only because I like them or they produce a good sound, but because the produce the sound I am trying to have in the mix for historical reasons (from beatle guitar sound, to jay z or timbo vocal processing, to detroit drum treatment or the good old philly sound to the synthies )
5) keeping notes . notes on what I hear in mixes from various genres, notes from what I know what I should do, notes of what I did and what I want to do to a mix, and "researching" on how I mix my stuff towards a standart and balanced sound while still colouring the instruments and vocals the way I want them. (it's like choosing a right sample to fit your message and vibe, you want the right sound on each instrument to represent a memory or atmosphere that the listenor might recognize)
6) project based mixing. Not simply working with an artist to get the sound he wants, but always keeping in mind who is supposed to listen to it, who the main competitors in the genre are and how everything the artist gives me fits into his plan. And also being able to convince an artist that he is going nowhere with a specific approach to his music (most people I came to work with being non-pros and copying others mainly)
8) Stopping to listen to people that don't know anything... not about what they want, how to get it and not that sometimes one may also just comply with someone elses ideas in order to get better. Stopping to work with people that simply don't want to progress.
9) having clear guidelines for the studio. No smoking, no drinking, no pot. Etc.
10) reading about and studying the gear I use. Technical stuff, experience sheets, knowing who used it where and what for in which mix.
11) Selling UAD and T-Raks
Maybe it is worth mentioning that despite 5 days of constant working with my new avalon and 6 different vocalists working with it, I have not yet had an aha effect comparing it to my good old and heavenly cheap art and behringer preamps .... I don't get it...
So yeah, using my mind besides my ears has been an advantage both for producing and mixing (or at least when delegating mixes)
__________________
Making good music
1) Be a good musician and kno what ur made 4
2) Have an idea what u want to achieve, which sound you want, where to get it (Beatles-> Abbey Road; Tupac->Death Row) Forget the gear, get the right place and engineer.
4) Don't record anything if you don't know how to handle the stage and have no presence
6) User your homestudio to find your music. For experiments, no more.
8) Don't think business, unless ur a businessman.
Location: The City Of Brotherly Love And Sisterly Affection
Posts: 8,261
Thread Starter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerrey
1) After using broken boxes and an amplifyer that had a resistor dead from the first party I threw with 14 , finally buying a pair of decent monitors and treating my room ....after 11 years of listening to stuff totally collored and distored by my sound system (which also destroyed my sense of good taste...probably the result of the very unique sound of the 240 mixes I have done so far)....but hey, if you can hear what compressors and stuff does on a totally destroyed system, you still can't imagine what I suddenly heared in my CD collection.... :D I can't truly tell which microphone was used , but at least I can distinguish some instruments (brands, genres) and hear the settings of the compressors, reverbs, limiters and ...
( but hey, I learned how to memorize how my stuff mixed on one pair of speakers will sound on the 5 different stereo systems at my parents house, how it sounds in 3 or more car systems from friends and how it sounds in cheap lounges and clubs in my area :P )
2) Phase, Stereoimaging and overall learning about theoretical stuff in sound engineering and applying my math and economics knowledge on the way I craft mixes. ^^
3) finding gear slutz
4) instead of working on a "mix", working on a cultural product . Meaning: choosing effects not only because I like them or they produce a good sound, but because the produce the sound I am trying to have in the mix for historical reasons (from beatle guitar sound, to jay z or timbo vocal processing, to detroit drum treatment or the good old philly sound to the synthies )
5) keeping notes . notes on what I hear in mixes from various genres, notes from what I know what I should do, notes of what I did and what I want to do to a mix, and "researching" on how I mix my stuff towards a standart and balanced sound while still colouring the instruments and vocals the way I want them. (it's like choosing a right sample to fit your message and vibe, you want the right sound on each instrument to represent a memory or atmosphere that the listenor might recognize)
6) project based mixing. Not simply working with an artist to get the sound he wants, but always keeping in mind who is supposed to listen to it, who the main competitors in the genre are and how everything the artist gives me fits into his plan. And also being able to convince an artist that he is going nowhere with a specific approach to his music (most people I came to work with being non-pros and copying others mainly)
8) Stopping to listen to people that don't know anything... not about what they want, how to get it and not that sometimes one may also just comply with someone elses ideas in order to get better. Stopping to work with people that simply don't want to progress.
9) having clear guidelines for the studio. No smoking, no drinking, no pot. Etc.
10) reading about and studying the gear I use. Technical stuff, experience sheets, knowing who used it where and what for in which mix.
11) Selling UAD and T-Raks
Maybe it is worth mentioning that despite 5 days of constant working with my new avalon and 6 different vocalists working with it, I have not yet had an aha effect comparing it to my good old and heavenly cheap art and behringer preamps .... I don't get it...
So yeah, using my mind besides my ears has been an advantage both for producing and mixing (or at least when delegating mixes)
Bro, how is things? If I was given an Avalon piece I would sell it straight away and get one of these instead, and I'd make do without the EQ/dynamics, with the change I'd buy a pizza or two...
When I close my eyes (or turn off the screen, etc) and simply listen.
Then and only then, can I really tell what's going on, and what needs to be worked on.
Nice thread to revive. Kinda miss PSM. Anyways - for me was using an external comp. Not because im an analog fan but because it all started to make sense. Sometimes being hands on and looking at something from a different point of view.
No more thinking in numbers and words.
And oldest Aha was chopping my first Amen break late 90's on a QY700 - That's how its done! AH HA!
I'm pretty sure philly is banned from the Rap forum.
My Ahh moment was the other day. I got a new set of monitors and finally did a mix on them. Eq and compression was finally like "Oooohhhh that's what this is suppose to sound like".
My old speakers are in my room mates room now, it almost makes me laugh when I go in his room and hear the difference between speakers.
that it was the musicians.. that made it happen.. and Sigma you need to show some class and respect..knowone needs your inherited bravado..
__________________
As for music being subjective, only an idiot could say such a thing. If it were true, it would mean that nobody is actually good at it. There has to be a standard. AL TAYLOR 1968
The first time I routed some ITB sounds Otb and back in after a little tube and tape.
When I took Psylocibin and locked myself in a room with a keyboard and figured the damn thing out.
Studying William Burroughs cut up method, reading some of his books and listening to some of his audio experiments that employed it
Also listening to records like David Bowie's Low, Coltranes whacked later stuff, and artists like Prince, Big Moe, Boogie Down Productions, Early Pink Floyd, and the Art of Noise really opened my head to further experiment within rap and production.
The moment I started experimenting, and forgot about boundaries.
The first time I routed some ITB sounds Otb and back in after a little tube and tape.
When I took Psylocibin and locked myself in a room with a keyboard and figured the damn thing out.
Studying William Burroughs cut up method, reading some of his books and listening to some of his audio experiments that employed it
Also listening to records like David Bowie's Low, Coltranes whacked later stuff, and artists like Prince, Big Moe, Boogie Down Productions, Early Pink Floyd, and the Art of Noise really opened my head to further experiment within rap and production.
The moment I started experimenting, and forgot about boundaries.
1) recording through my AHB System 8 2416, and finding it didn't hiss like a cobra as expected, just hiss's like a grass snake... a good reason for now not having space for a sofa in my living room
3) figuring out all the routing and cabling between the above mixer, a patchbay and a RME400 - a lot to think about for dumbo like me - and it all worked.
4) installing a CF drive working in my MPC 3000 without blowing it up. plus scoring 3.5os for it so I can edit points while sequence plays (wwoooooo high tech!!).
5) getting cheap rusty toggle switch Symetrix 501 and finding it actually works flawlessly!!
6) figuring out some synths less than £200 were worth having.
7) finding out a Yamaha FB-01 makes a good coaster.
8) working on first small soundtrack work, and discovering syncing audio to video wasn't as tough as I thought it would be.
9) learning to lust for gear less and make more music - actually... that hasn't happened yet! Man I want a Neve 512 + Transient Designer + Culture Vulture + OB-Xa SOOOOOOOO bad ha ha!!!
i second that but to add to that i found an ahh ah when i was over doing it and making my mixes sound thinner. Decreased my hpf's to give it some meat again.
-not being afraid to use a little more reverb
-subtractive eq
-sidechained gates and compressors
-interbus sends
-turning something up and then sweeping it down until i can't hear it distinctly- blend :D
been a lurker here for a long time and administer another site somewhere else that uses phbb (not music related). this is a great thread and convinced me to join. thanks for all the great responses, everyone!
This one day, when doing live sound monitors I had an epiphany, of sorts...
There was some feedback...
I just reached for the right freq on the graph and haven't missed since.
The other AH-HA was probably the day I noticed just how much pre-delay on a reverb can make a track move and dance, almost as much as everybody's favorite side-chained suck-wump compression. Add the two together...
1) recording through my AHB System 8 2416, and finding it didn't hiss like a cobra as expected, just hiss's like a grass snake... a good reason for now not having space for a sofa in my living room
3) figuring out all the routing and cabling between the above mixer, a patchbay and a RME400 - a lot to think about for dumbo like me - and it all worked.
4) installing a CF drive working in my MPC 3000 without blowing it up. plus scoring 3.5os for it so I can edit points while sequence plays (wwoooooo high tech!!).
5) getting cheap rusty toggle switch Symetrix 501 and finding it actually works flawlessly!!
6) figuring out some synths less than £200 were worth having.
7) finding out a Yamaha FB-01 makes a good coaster.
8) working on first small soundtrack work, and discovering syncing audio to video wasn't as tough as I thought it would be.
9) learning to lust for gear less and make more music - actually... that hasn't happened yet! Man I want a Neve 512 + Transient Designer + Culture Vulture + OB-Xa SOOOOOOOO bad ha ha!!!
Totally apprecaite this post! I'm lucky in that i have always had people around me who could hook up ish and then show me how to rock it. I recently moved and so am redesigning the pre production space. Got a new patch pay which isn't normalled etc. Suddenly im like 'how do i do this?!. Took some time and discussion but i think im gonna give it a go this weekend! I have no choice ..I miss my looptrotter monster!
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