Recording and mixing tips

[blue4u]

Yes, it's time to share our experiences and knowledge with creating better mixes again. I compiled a master list of all the things I have been learning in the last few months. Thanks to Gator and a few others here for their contributions. I pulled some of these tips from this thread here: http://www.sonomawireworks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=3027 and others from Gator's tips on mixing in Riffworks: http://www.gator-studios.com. Check these out if you haven't already. They might answer a few questions for you.

Other tips I got from books, videos and the internet. This list is random but has a lot of great things for you to check out and try on your own mixes. It's not specific to RiffWorks but you can use RiffWorks effects and EQ to do most of these easily enough.

I hope you guys find these tips useful/helpful and will share with us some of your own tricks!! I know you have them too

This is in Microsoft Word format: www.blueskyvisions.com/music/rich/recording_tips.doc

Enjoy!
Rich

[davenz]

Awesome

Thanks for that.

Dave.

[scott]

Good job dude! You're obviously our new expert!

[blue4u]

Nah! I just stole from Gator and several other sources and put it all together for you guys in a summary format. You get to benefit from all of my tedious brain stuffing over the last several months This stuff REALLY works too!!

Rich

[Charvelguy]

Thank you Rich. I also was having trouble getting the mixes I wanted, went to the library, got books, browsed half of them and still was like..hmm. I shelved putting out alot of projects because because I felt I wasn't getting what I could or wanted to achieve out of RW. Not the fault of the program or the programs developers
(did anyone say anything about blame here?, not me)

I used to audio production back in my high school days so I'm not totally unfamiliar with how this should work. Lately its been alot of trial and error as the digital realm has similarities to but is also a little different than the analog realm.

[blue4u]

Here's another tip for mixing the drums:

If you have difficulty getting your drums mixed right, try this: Listen to a modern recording that's sonically similar to the track you're mixing, and slowly lower the volume. Notice, as the level approaches 0, which elements of the mix are the last to disappear. In contemporary music, it's usually the kick drum, snare drum, and lead vocal. Now, try to replicate this in your own mixes.

Taken from "10 Hallmarks of Amateur Recordings" here: http://www.hometracked.com/2006/12/22/10-hallmarks-of-amateur-recordings/

Anyone else?? Let's hear about some of your tricks!

Rich

[Charvelguy]

I notice the compression can be a dicey item sometimes, especially with drum mixes. I have tried to mix to presets and when playing back the drum track, it'll clip if I have release to fast or compression level to tight. Same with guitar.

I also find that the main mix often is better left uncompressed..to my ears and tastes at least but I do most my compression on the individual tracks and instruments themselves.

[Charvelguy]

First three things you mix in a live setting is kick, snare, remainder of drums, vocals... and in a good mix, those are typically the prominent elements, depends on the band and music of course but for rock that is usually the norm.

[fooks]

thanks rich! now i have this stuff in one place. i am always amazed at some mixes from people here. and the pros.
i have got alot from gator's pages too!
bass and vox have been a real pain for me, i am getting some new speakers that might help.

i never thought about the id's much except to add haydens pre-sets and sometimes discover that some id's can hurt the rest of the mix, like suck all the field up with certain guitar pre-sets together.
as for my personal tricks, i start with master vol set about 11o'clock. i don't know why, lol. i turn down the tv, and unplug the phone, when using the mic.

i'll also use the info line to reduce vol sometimes instead of the knob.
and recording dry really does make a difference.
and i need to explore what rw can really do, it's like a video game that you find more and more things in it that you can do. forget about rewire and rex files, that is sci-fi for me.

i also like the live vibe recording? maybe as an excuse to compensate for lack of skills to make it sound studio.
but i've been to concerts that sound better than the cd's, especially jazz.


i find stuffing brains, Clarice, not the least bit tedious.

[cwight]

Great advice all round guys. Thanks. Is there a way to record dry, but play it wet for the feel, if you see what I mean?

[pooterpatty]

If you play wet, you can't record that same signal dry, at least in the context of Riffworks. The best advice I can give is to record guitars with as few effects as possible, meaning just your required amount of compression, distortion, and EQ (although EQ can be tweaked after recording). It's best to add modulation effects (chorus, flange, delay, etc) after recording as well. That way you can always tweak, say, the reverb without changing your original recording. The more layers you add to a song, the more you'll need to adjust your modulation effects to compensate. When you're using Riffworks in this way, you're obviously limited to the effects it provides. Which isn't a bad thing, as RW's effects are halfway decent.

Speaking of reverb, use it sparingly. A canyon reverb with 20 seconds of decay might sound huge when you're just playing your guitar, but in the context of a song, much of that reverb tends to get lost in the mix with other instruments, and can even muddy up the mix. Many guitar players over-use reverb in an attempt to cover up bad meter (I know because I've done it). In my opinion the most ear-pleasing recordings tend to be the ones where the instruments are quite dry.

[blue4u]

To your point pooter, the more "dry" your sound is the better your timing will have to be and the more noticeable "mistakes" will be. The wet effects cover up a lot but they also diminish clarity. It's a trade off. Less is usually more to start with....

Rich

[pooterpatty]

Most definitely Rich. That's something I think every guitar player struggles with.

Recording the same guitar parts multiple times with different sounds is a great way to get a fat guitar sound without the mud, but your meter has to be dead nuts (that's the technical term for it I think). I may spend 2 hours on one riff, playing it both with no accompaniment, and with drums, bass and everything else, until I can nail it every time without thinking about it. Playing a riff without drums lets you focus on the timbre of each individual note, while playing with drums develops your sense of how the riff needs to be played rhythmically. For me it's a marriage between the two.

That may be getting a little too scientific for some, as I've found there are (among others) two very distinctive camps of guitar players - "feel players" and "technicians". I've found that by being a somewhat of a technician, you can more accurately convey your original emotional motivation for writing the song.

[blue4u]

Excellent feedback pooter!! Keep 'em comin' guys. Let's make each other better!

Rich

[Charvelguy]

Its the same way live as well. I used to play wet signal (delay, reverb, chorus) and I found or felt I was relying to much upon effect to color or 'crutch' myself. I often would use a mono chorus set almost off in depth and rate for a mid boost tho, much like EVH and others (Farner, Derringer) used a phaser. Slapback too was a crutch, some stages/rooms would be utterly sterile and I felt naked.


Then in the 80's I recall reading in GP about how Lynch preferred to record dry as it would "screw up my timing"

I started playing with more straight signal. I still like to use delay to get a better feel as I probably fall into a feel camp moreso than a technical one. Though, I have done the meticulous practice route as well and have alot of licks recorded so I could reference back to them as I likely only remember stuff I used within the past year more prominently than 20 years ago.