Once again, i feel incredibly sorry for not keeping things up. But this is my last final ever. Last. Ever. And i shall try and study although it feels like i do everything in my power to fail. Anyway. Wish me luck.
Olga
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
Recording guitars
The real reason i even wanted to learn how to record is to be able to make my songs as good as i can on a tight budget. I can't pay anyone to do that. I can't depend on my engineers to help me. That would take for ever. Busy people.
Today i recorded a guitarist for one of my songs. Several things i can say.
First of all, http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=41hGopVuCbs4LM:&imgrefurl=http://www.l2pnet.com/blogs/recording-acoustic-guitar-07072010&docid=tgu3iMFsDpnPdM&imgurl=http://www.l2pnet.com/sites/default/files/guitar%252520miking.jpg&w=800&h=470&ei=YbEcUKqgK8nviQKKtoHADg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=169&vpy=139&dur=5052&hovh=172&hovw=293&tx=198&ty=149&sig=107509497233358524213&page=1&tbnh=112&tbnw=191&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0,i:95
oh man. But if you look at picture C, you'd know what miking technique i used. Neumann KM 184. Vintech pre amp, and distressor compressor. But instead of putting the mikes at exactly 90 degrees from the guitar, i set them up at a 30 degree angle. That is how Dave showed me.
I forgot to check the tempo of the song, so had to make a guitarist wait while i was running back n forth finding the right tempo to set in pro tools.
Lets see...
I also used an amazing fx box for an electric guitar. Forgot to check what kind. I'll right it down next time.
As a producer, I have to say that got exactly what i asked for. Thats the deal with good musicians. They play exactly what you say. Therefore, i'm afraid that if after a while of mixing, the track isn't good, i have noone to blame but myself.
One thing i did realize was that i didn't like the sound of the 12 string guitar for that song. I love its tone. But it feels so dense, that it just didn't fit. It took me a while to understand this, but i did. Sometimes instruments are great by themselves and in concept. But in reality, they might have to live another life.
Oh... and i lied. Or in fact Jim lied. the phasing meter shouldn't be showing 0. It should be showing 1 - be in phase. Sorry lol
:)
Oh n yeah. Tomorrow, i am going to see Aerosmith. Hope you are jealous. If anybody is out there.
Today i recorded a guitarist for one of my songs. Several things i can say.
First of all, http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=41hGopVuCbs4LM:&imgrefurl=http://www.l2pnet.com/blogs/recording-acoustic-guitar-07072010&docid=tgu3iMFsDpnPdM&imgurl=http://www.l2pnet.com/sites/default/files/guitar%252520miking.jpg&w=800&h=470&ei=YbEcUKqgK8nviQKKtoHADg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=169&vpy=139&dur=5052&hovh=172&hovw=293&tx=198&ty=149&sig=107509497233358524213&page=1&tbnh=112&tbnw=191&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0,i:95
oh man. But if you look at picture C, you'd know what miking technique i used. Neumann KM 184. Vintech pre amp, and distressor compressor. But instead of putting the mikes at exactly 90 degrees from the guitar, i set them up at a 30 degree angle. That is how Dave showed me.
I forgot to check the tempo of the song, so had to make a guitarist wait while i was running back n forth finding the right tempo to set in pro tools.
Lets see...
I also used an amazing fx box for an electric guitar. Forgot to check what kind. I'll right it down next time.
As a producer, I have to say that got exactly what i asked for. Thats the deal with good musicians. They play exactly what you say. Therefore, i'm afraid that if after a while of mixing, the track isn't good, i have noone to blame but myself.
One thing i did realize was that i didn't like the sound of the 12 string guitar for that song. I love its tone. But it feels so dense, that it just didn't fit. It took me a while to understand this, but i did. Sometimes instruments are great by themselves and in concept. But in reality, they might have to live another life.
Oh... and i lied. Or in fact Jim lied. the phasing meter shouldn't be showing 0. It should be showing 1 - be in phase. Sorry lol
:)
Oh n yeah. Tomorrow, i am going to see Aerosmith. Hope you are jealous. If anybody is out there.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Day 8
I realized its not comfortable for me to write things down every day. Yesterday i had to get my sister to amtrak at 6, so by the end of the day i was too tired to type a single word. But continuing my previous conversation with Sammy:
Sammy:
electric or acoustic?
If everything has gone perfectly and there are no weird
things, all of the levels in protools would be at 0 and I am mixing on the
board except for volume automation or any sort of pan automation.
You could use all of the protools faders, and leave the
board faders at 0. But you do get a different sound when u r using amplifiers
and the console.
The thing about mixing on any analogue consoles is that it
sounds awesome, but your mix only exists on this exact console. The other
thing, if you want to turn just one track down, you have to reset everything.
On this board, if you come to recall the mix, to make all of
the faders jump up to exactly where they supposed to be, you have to use “set
all” function after you selected a needed total recall.
Whats cool about our console, is that we have a project
called 0. and if you do set all, it helps a lot with normaling the console.
0 on vu meter is around – 18 in protools. VUs are averaging
meters. There are not telling you the pick, they are giving you an average
volume. It’s a good reference point, cause I ears hear more of an average
volume. So that being said, when its going smashing into the read on the meter,
its not necessarily peaking in protools.
The way I approach recording, I try to do a lot of the tones
and sound scoping on the way in.
“follow mon” is like here is your monitor source and that’s
just whatever you chose for your monitor source. See how it changes when I go
to a stereo mix. You only ever going to use mix a. Follow mon has 5.1 option,
so if you ever going to mix in 5.1, that’s what u’ll use.
Pan to rack. The only thing I can think of what it is. =>
they call these the busses, the 24 track busses. (16 for headphones). Normally
you have pan control up here (cue st, blue knob). The only reason you would
ever decide to use the pan, rather than put it in the center, is lets say I put
on 1 and 2 in the headphones, I put a drum mix, left and right, like a stereo
mix.
SO I imagine that what pan to track does, is that instead of
pannin the cue st, it reflectively pans the pan to track in the pan section of
the board.
Miscl is just a whole bunch of
random things. Set up utility function.
External b will never fuck u up
as long as you don’t choose external b.
Mix a doesn’t always light up on
our board.
Channel meters is where the
source of what you are hearing on the meters. Input is whats coming in to the
channel.
______________________________________________________________________
Also i should post our facebook conversation on Sammy's favorite way to record guitars.
Me:
o
hm.... i want to record a guitarist for my song. Any chance you
could show me what you like to do in this case?
Sammy:
electric or acoustic?
o
idk. both? just in case
o
i mean i could try and experiment myself, but i just want
recording to be very good
· Sammy:
o
Well, either way, you should try other things if you don't like
the way I do it
· Me:
o
yeah, thats for sure
· Sammy:
o
I like the C24
o
and point one of the capsules at the body of the guitar, and one
at the neck around the 12th fret
o
Its a stereo mic
· Me:
o
12th fret?
· Sammy:
o
yeah, like close to where the neck meets the body of the guitar
o
thats for acoustic
· Me:
o
ok.
o
hey is it really 12000 mic?
o
cause thats what it says for amazon
· Sammy:
o
For electric, I like to mic the amp with an SM57 and MD421
o
haha
o
yeah prolly more than that
o
its vintage
· Me:
o
ok. so where do you place the mic for amp?
· Sammy:
o
I would place them about an inch from the grill, the 421
straight dead on in the center, the 57 as close as possible to the 421, but
angled slightly to the left
o
so its a bit off axis
· Me:
o
ok. ill try that. what does it mean that the mic is vintage
· Sammy:
o
its really OLD
· Me:
o
so it gives an old sound?
· Sammy:
o
an original moel
· Sammy:
o
Old GOOD sound
· Me:
o
ok. so what kind of gear do u use
· Sammy:
o
Try putting them through the VIntech preamps
· Me:
o
ok. any compressors?
· Sammy:
o
those have EQ on them
o
I wouldnt compress at first
o
Maybe later
· Me:
o
ok. what kind of eq do you do on them?
o
sorry
o
if thats too specific
o
i know i should just try n listen
· Sammy:
o
Just us the EQ on the preamp
o
if you need more, use the console EQ
o
If you still need something else, try the API
· Me:
o
no, i mean do you eq mids, highs, lows? or that depends on the
specific guitar?
· Sammy:
o
Oh I dunno
o
would have to hear it
· Me:
o
lol ok.
o
hm.... im goin to try the set up today or tomorrow. An specific
pedal? or thats the guitarist job to know that\
· Sammy:
o
yeah they'll deal with that
· Me:
o
n so u said to use only 1 c 24? not 2
well, its a stereo mic
2 mics in one
use both
Me:
oh yeah right
Sammy:
Its a tube mic so make
sure to plug it in REAL good before turning it on
and make sure its OFF
before unplugging it
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