Denver Recording Studio CCM

Mixing DJ Elements and Turntable Scratches

Mike — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:07:39 +0000

Mixing DJ Elements and turntable scratches is not a tricky task, but it is often overlooked in the creative mixing process.

Too often I hear a dry scratch solo recorded and left to sit in the mix without any more style than that already existing… This is fine for some situations, but with all the available tools nowadays, where is the experimentation with turntable-production? Here are a couple of my own techniques to spice up turntable takes:

1. If your DJ mixer has any onboard effects, experiment with the typical, and the more unconventional ways of using them. For instance, I have a Pioneer DJM-400 which has 7 effects, but no reverb… damn. Since everyone deserves reverb, I can create the sound of a reverb by using a fast echo with low wetness - changing the speed and wetness of the echo will make different kinds of reverb… This technique is GREAT for performing in live-band situations to fit the DJ signal in better with the other processed instruments - guitars in particular.

2. I really love to use drastic EQing and filtering to recreate the sound of an old recording. A nice vintage quality is sometimes really nice. SoundToys’, Filter Freak, is great for this.

3.Try using a rhythmic or ping-pong echo to emphasize a certain hit here and there, but bypass the fx for most of the remaining signal. The idea here is to have a tight solo that releases every now and again by using a spacey echo that can fade into the background while the solo continues over top. This creates an entertaining and organic dynamic from a stale and constant signal.

4. Experiment! Often times I am stuck and just start roaming through FX presets until something clicks. Of course, some direction and an idea in mind is always nice, but in a world of limitless processing power, you’d think something better sounding is just right around the corner.

An inspiring example of some of these mixing techniques can be found on my own ish (shameless plug for Broken Tongues, fresh album coming soon) but also on The Avalanches song, “Frontier Psychiatry” - the parrot scratch solo toward the end, in particular.

Hope this info gets you motivated!

— Mike with the Mic

Denver Recording Studio Blog.com

CCM Recording Studios - The HOTTEST Studio on the Fax!!!

Broken Tongues Music = Awesome = Soon-ish

Using Rewire

Mike — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:00:18 +0000

Incorporating ProTools or Logic, Cubase, etc. with Reason is made easy and efficient with Rewire. The process is like this

— Start by quitting all applications and beginning anew.

— Now open your host application (ProTools, Logic, Cubase, etc.) and next open Reason. This order is important to establish the Master-Slave relationship between softwares. Quitting is equally important and needs to be Reason first, then the host software - but that’s getting ahead.

— With your host software open, I will be using ProTools, create a new stereo audio track.

— In the track insert, select “Instruments” and choose “Reason”.

— When using a stereo track, ProTools will automatically route the Reason Hardware Output to “mix L R” and you are ready to start triggering your midi data or audio signals from Reason to your host software.

— If you want to have separate Reason tracks in your host app, you can do this by changing the Reason Hardware output to another channel. For instance, you have some synthetic drums and a bass line that you want Rewired into ProTools in separate tracks… At the top of your Reason song file there is the Hardware Interface with inputs 1 and 2 routed from the Mastering Combinator. Disconnect this connection and simply route the stereo, or mono, outputs of your devices into these hardware inputs. Now in your host application, change the Rewire “Instrument” insert output to match the corresponding hardware input for the device you want. e.g. In Reason, the stereo drum mix can be routed to the Hardware inputs 1 and 2, the stereo bass output routed to hardware inputs 3 and 4. After creating 2 new stereo audio tracks in ProTools, change the “instrument” insert on one track to 3 and 4. Sound foreign still? Don’t worry, we do tutorials. Call Mike at CCM Studios to set up a time: 720.941.6088

Once all your signals are routed as you’d like from Reason into ProTools, you can tweak the sound in Reason and then record the signal into ProTools to finish the mix.

— Mike with the Mic

Advice on placing vocals in a mix

Guitar Junkie — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:06:28 +0000

At CCM we record a lot of band projects and placement of the vocals is one of the most critical processes in creating a final mix. Place them too low and they will get masked by all the other instruments in the mix. Placing them to high will sound equally un-natural. First of start by making sure that your are making good use of panning with the rest of the band or ensemble so that there is a little space left down the center for the lead vocals to occupy. This avoids frequency build up, masking and a generally uninteresting mix. Next, lets now think about setting the volume of our mainvox. Here is a little gem of a tip I got from a great engineer named John Frissel, first set the vocals in the mix where your gut tells you is appropriate, then try gradually lowering the volume to zero, somewhere along the way should be a spot where all the other instruments drop out but the vocals. They will be faint but present, and all other instruments should be more or less not audible. This will let you know they are sitting on top without being too over bearing. Finally, experiment with reverbs and delays which will greatly affect how present the vocals are in the mix. For example, adding a very slight delay, say 15-35 milliseconds will make it sound much thicker like a doubled track, making the delay time a little longer, say 250-300 milliseconds will create a nice echo and can really help glue a mix together. As a generalization for this type of delay I start at 250 milliseconds and set the decay time and number of repeats very low then I tweak it until i get just what im after or until the client decides “hey thats the sweet spot”. After all the bottom line is weather or not the client is happy right.

Check Out Our “1st Time Client” SPECIAL!!!

Mike — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:26:42 +0000

To welcome our brand new clients to CCM Recording Studios, we are offering a halved-price first session… this means that you pay only $25 an hour during your first session at a professional studio! It’s the highest quality sound you need, at the bedroom studio price you want.

Featuring: Neumann U87 and matched KM184s, Grace and Oram Sonics pre-amps, Genelec monitors and sub woofer, ProTools HD system, etc.

And, as usual, you scratch our back and we’ll scratch yours… refer a friend and get free studio time for yourself!

Call the best studio in Denver anytime to talk more: 720.941.6088

Quick Organizational Tip with Aux Busing and Lots of Tracks

Mike — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:11:18 +0000

Quick Tip with Aux Busing: Good organization in your song files is essential when creating complex mixes with numerous routings. Forming consistent, repetitious habits is the key here to streamline your efficiencies in all the mixing work you do. For example, I like to leave all of my aux buses at the bottom of my session files, with the master track at the very bottom. I group the vocal, drums, instruments, etc. buses together and then all of the FX buses together below the instrument buses. In order to quickly recall their routings, I leave their inputs in their track title - e.g. “Drums Bus 2930″ or “Bright Verb 5″. Now I don’t have to stop playback or search through the I/O settings to know that the drums bus inputs are 29 and 30; it is already in the track title. This also alleviates numerous problems later of not being able to find which bus is doing what, going where, etc..

Another helpful tip, at least in ProTools, is to color code your tracks or buses into categories… Sort of like a color-coded legend in your mind, we use the same corresponding colors in every session (or written on a sheet of paper and taped to the monitor, as I do with my mixing partner). We chose colors for the audio tracks (guitars = kelly green, basses = olive green, vocals = violet, percussion = pink, etc.) and also different colors for the buses (FX buses = black, instrument or vocal buses = white). It may seem like too much effort in the front end, but trust that it will pay off when it’s crunch time and every second is precious.

These are just a couple ways to manage REALLY BIG mixes… hope it helps!
— Mike with the Mic

Denver Recording Studio Blog.com

Need Turntables on a Track?

Mike — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:50:25 +0000

If you are in need of any kind of DJ or turntable session work on your track or album, I can help!

Whether it’s a simple record stall or some “DJ Premier” scratches for a chorus, I can do that. Outside of the hip-hop and dance genres as well, turntable sound effects and techniques can create a more dynamic, spacial ambience, add textural and transitional elements, utilize analog pitch control, access numerous on-board mixer effects, and much, much more. By also incorporating Rane Serato with my setup, I am able to import virtually any digital media file to be scratching and manipulating that file in seconds.

So, if you wanna stand out a bit and add some smooth or spicy style to your mixes, or just a finishing touch, let me know and we can do work.

— Mike with the Mic

CCM Recording Studios

Denver Recording Studio Blog.com

Broken Tongues Music = Soon…

Recording Back-Up Vocals

Mike — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:31:00 +0000

Continuing from the end of my last post about creating a “macro” lead track, it’s time to stack the back-up vocals.

Back-up vocals are there to complement and add character to the leads. They can be prominent or textural in the background, but the main idea is to make sure that they sit snug with the leads. To do this there are plug-ins that can align the vocals using time-compression expansion, (VocAlign, etc.) or you can do some splicing manually. Personally, I prefer to do it manually because the digitization thats occurs with the TCE is sometimes too noticeable and I usually want the natural, unprocessed sound - sometimes not. Also, sometimes plug-ins like Vocalign are too accurate and cause some phase issues with the leads they are matched to - especially if the stacks are really thick

Once the vocals sit on each other nicely, you can get into the processing stage… next time… (actually posted 8/11/08 - before this post; my mistake…)

— Mike with the Mic

CCM Recording Studios.com

Avalon U5 Direct

Mike — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:38:54 +0000

The U5 high-voltage DI-preamp is a real piece of gold in the world of DIs. Not only does the U5 out perform regular DI boxes, it also provides a unique passive tone selector combined with a variable gain preamp and filter. The high input impedance accepts a wide variety of signal levels and instruments from acoustic guitars to high-output active bass guitars and keyboards. The U5 direct box is loaded with sonic character and user features professionals demand. Not only that, the U5 has a “speaker in” connection on the of the hardware to capture the true sound of a bass amp without miking. In more ways than one, the U5 is specifically designed for deep and controlled bass.

The U5 is ideal for bass guitar and acoustic instruments, electric guitars, keyboards, synthesizers and low output pickups.

More specs on the Avalon U5:
The U5 includes a variable gain Class A preamplifier to boost low level pickup signals and a high level speaker input for capturing the live sound of the instruments amplifier. Six passive tone-EQ curves are also included to enhance a variety of acoustic and electric instruments. A high-cut switch eliminates unwanted acoustic pickup and high frequency noise, while a headphone monitor amp has been included for personal listening. Twin DC coupled Class A output amplifiers drive both low level microphone preamp inputs and high level +4dB inputs for direct to tape recording or processing. The active-to-thru switch selects either the instrument input directly or sends the boosted-equalized signal to the amplifier via the front panel jack. A ground isolation switch eliminates any possible earth loop or AC buzz problems with complete safety.

— Mike with the Mic

CCM Recording Studios

Denver Recording Studio Blog.com

Creating a sonic sandwich

Guitar Junkie — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:01:19 +0000

When recording a full band or large ensemble of any style one of the most critical processes that needs to be handled with care is the stereo or spatial imaging done while in mix mode. So, youve just finished your recording session, things went well and youve got possibly many many trax to work with and find appropriate space for in a mix. As a general rule of thumb I think of a mix as a big sonic sandwich, what i mean by that is that things need to be layered in a way that everything has its appropriate place in the mix. Failing to do so results in problems like masking, phase cancellation, and unwanted build up of certain frequencies that becomes really noticeable when the whole mix is played together. Here is a couple of ideas to help you avoid such pitfalls. There are several ways to mix an ensemble and there are always exceptions to any given commonly used mix moves, I personally like to try and mix an ensemble as though you were looking at them playing on stage. One of the main things we want to avoid when mixing a band is a build up of sound right down the center. For example, if you have multiple guitar tracks experiment with panning them out, doesnt have to be hard right and left, maybe one is further out than the other. If you only have one guitar track consider doubling it inside your DAW panning them and then eq them differently to make it sound like separately recorded tracks. You can also nudge one of them back about 25-35 milliseconds, this will make the guitars sound huge, like you double tracked it. Just remember to check for phase issues when doing this as well. In addition to using our right and left field to create an space for all our tracks we can also utilize depth. Try adding a bit of reverb to a track you want to sound further back in a mix, like its at the back of the stage. The trick to a great mix is to find a little space for each of your instruments so that they are not competing with each other. Here is a short list of tools you can use when mixing to achieve this: panning, volume, EQ, and time based effects to do this. try doing a couple alternate mixes as well and finally give yourself time breaks and always mix with fresh ears whenever possible. -Andrew

Processing Vocals with Compression

Mike — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:42:03 +0000

Continuing from my last post about stacking vocals, it is now time to process them with compression.

To start, I must say that there are tons of ways to mix vocals based on infinite amounts of subjective tastes, so this posting is merely a sign post to get you going. Moreover, these general ideas will make your vocals sound better, or at least take them in a new direction.

Personally, I LOVE the sound of a little compressor overdrive with hints of distortion, so I like to really juice the LA-2A input and squash the lead vocals anywhere between 6 and 12 db. I allow the signal to run hard through the compressor and take the volume down to sit it in the mix. For the main back-up, I will squash this vocal even more to sort of, dull the sound so that is does not interfere with the lead’s sharp character, but rather sits under it smoothly. For this back-up, I crank the reduction until the compressor sounds like it’s pumping too hard, then I back off a bit.

After compressing the vocals, I will do some EQing, DeEssing, etc. to taste and then continue on to my final step. Note, I don’t usually EQ before my compression unless I am trying to use the compressor to over-squash an unwanted signal - i.e. sibilance.

Once the vocals are stacked, aligned and processed to your liking, the final step is to create a stereo audio track to record all of the vocals into. By doing this, the vocal composite exists on one track and you can save valuable DSP by making the single vocal tracks inactive, or by bypassing their plug-ins. This final step eliminates clutter, saves DSP and makes playback easier to control.

I hope this gets you started in the right direction.

— Mike with the Mic

CCM Recording Studios

Broken Tongues Music = Awesome.

Denver Recording Studio Blog.com