EQ TIPS! frequencies

Instrument Cutting Boosting Comments

Human voice

Scratchy at 2 KHz. Nasal at 1 KHz. Popping Ps below 80 Hz. Hot at 8 KHz. Clarity above 3 KHz. Body at 200-400 Hz. Aim for a thinner sound when blending many voices, especially if the backing track is full.

Piano
Tinny at 1-2 KHz. Boomy at 300 Hz. Presence at 5 KHz. Bottom at 100 Hz. Don't add too much bottom when mixing with a full rhythm section.

Electric Guitar
Muddy below 80 Hz. Clarity at 3 KHz. Bottom at 125 Hz.

Acoustic Guitar
Tinny at 2-3 KHz. Boomy at 200 Hz. Sparkle above 5 KHz. Full at 125 Hz.

Electric Bass
Thin at 1 KHz.Boomy at 125 Hz. Growl at 600 Hz. Bottom below 80 Hz. Sound varies greatly depending on the type of bass and brand of strings used.

String Bass
Hollow at 600 Hz. Boomy at 200 Hz. Slap at 2-5 KHz. Bottom below 125 Hz.

Snare Drum
Annoying at 1 KHz. Crisp above 2 KHz. Full at 150-200 Hz. Deep at 80 Hz. Also try adjusting the tightness of the snare wires.

Kick Drum
Floppy at 600 Hz. Boomy below 80 Hz. Slap at 2-5 KHz. Bottom at 60-125 Hz. For most pop music, remove the front head, then put a heavy blanket inside resting against the front head.

Toms
Boomy at 300 Hz. Slap at 2-5 KHz. Bottom at 80- 200 Hz. Tuning and adjusting the head tension makes a huge difference too!

Cymbals, bells, tambourines, etc.
Annoying at 1 KHz. Sparkle above 5 KHz. [Analog only:] Record these instruments at conservative levels, especially at slower tape speeds.

Horns and Strings
Scratchy at 3 KHz. Honky at 1 KHz. Muddy below 120 Hz. Hot at 8-12 KHz. Clarity above 2 KHz. Strings are lush at 400-600 Hz.

Old Meek Mill Footage

Just listen to these words

Old Meek Mill Footage

Nas Interview

Mixing Drums

JJP Mixing tips

Courtesy of Waves.com

SSL WAVES PLUG-INS

Developed under license from Solid State Logic,
The SSL 4000 Collection includes four meticulously modeled plug-ins based on the legendary SSL 4000 Series: the SSL E-Channel, the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor, the SSL G-Equalizer and the all-new G-Channel.

These plug-ins sound so close to the original
consoles, even experts who work with SSL
boards day in and day out can’t tell
the difference.

The loudness battle in Mixing

Compression, Mastering Stage

Compression is another tool the mastering engineer uses to bring out the flavor of audio. Used effectively, compression can smooth out the piece. It raises the volume of the softer sounds and reduces the level of the louder ones, to make them all more uniform to the ear. Setting the attack and release of the compressor can yield a pleasing sense of dynamics that can set the whole mix in motion where all the instruments sound like they are on the beat and surging forward in the groove (even when they may not be). The loudest element of the mix that the attack segment "captures" will trigger the subsequent gain reduction. The decay will determine how long that reduction will last and the audio will rise again in volume till the next loud trigger comes through and starts the cycle all over gain. Mastering engineers tend to love compressors as each has a different sonic imprint on material.

Another type of compression used at the mastering phase is a multi-band compressor. This is a processor that works to both tonally balance the piece by breaking up the audio bandwidth into 3 or more bands and having a separate compressor for each.

Using Track Groups in Pro Tools

How to fatten up a Guitar In Pro-Tools

Reverb...

Reverb Effects.

Before the widespread proliferation of television sets in the 1950s, reverb effects were already in use in studios making records. The early reverbs were based on microphone and transducer technology. Reverb was created naturally in good sounding rooms or "chambers" with highly reflective walls and movable baffles. Microphones were placed in the room at various location to pick up the ambient sound. These were large, expensive rooms of about 2000 square feet! Here's a pic of a great reverberant chamber. Few studios could afford to build a room this size, so quite quickly, plate and foil reverbs came about. The Plate reverb was really a large steel plate, held up inside a frame so it could vibrate freely. The plates were anywhere between 6 and 18 feet tall and had to be isolated in a room of its own. Imagine trying to do a home studio in those days! Amplified soundwaves would make the plate radiate, like a large gong does, and microphones would pick up these vibrations and send them back to the control room as an audio signal. So when you look at your digital FX box and see "plate reverb" and "chamber reverb" that's what these effects are tryng to emulate through digital mathematics. Lets move on. . The Spring reverb came about next and was quickly adopted by guitar amps. Inside these units was a metal spring, like a Slinky, that vibrated with the amplified audio. You may have seen guitarists bang on their amps to get the spring to distort, and many radio shows used this effect to simulate thunder and lightning. Here's a pic of how it worked.

Simple Signal Flow

Introduction to the Tracking and Mixing process with the Mixer/Soundcard Approach

What? You want me to draw you a picture? OK I will. Below you see a simple rig consisting of an entry level keyboard, a PCI soundcard, and a mixer with a recording bus with monitors. Add a decent Mic and you can get started. Yes it is that simple.

The basic setup with the Mixer/Soundcard approach: Follow the flow. MIDI DATA (not the sound of the keyboard!) from the keyboard goes to the computer via the soundcard's MIDI port. The MIDI data travels through the MIDI sequencer and is recorded as MIDI tracks. These midi tracks can be routed back to the keyboard (or to software synths), which makes sound and goes down the AUDIO cables to the mixer and the speakers. You can then loop channels of audio back to the soundcard's AUDIO inputs and record an audio track.

In the sequencer, in the box, you can tweak all these audio tracks into a stereo mix that can be burned to a CD, or written as a .WAV file.

C-24 Control Surface Specs

The newest control surface from Digidesign!
Pro Tools is powerful software, and adding a control surface takes that power to a whole new level. The C|24, the newest control surface from Digidesign, offers 24 bankable channel strips, each with a touch-sensitive, motorized fader, motion sensitive encoder and LED ring, and dedicated Mute, Solo, Select, Input, Record, EQ, Dynamics, Insert, Send, and Automation illuminated switches. High-quality analog components provide great sound on the front end along with outputs to handle tasks such as monitoring. Easy-to-read, dual-row LED scribble strip displays let you easily keep tabs on each channel.

The C|24 comes equipped with a 5.1 surround analog monitor section for post-production work, and a built-in talkback mic and inputs for remote talkback and listen-back simplify studio situations. This is the perfect solution for small- to medium-sized studios looking to equip themselves with a smaller Pro Tools|HD system or bolster the hands-on control of a Pro Tools LE rig. Plus, since it compatible with both LE and HD, LE users that are eyeing a move up to HD in the future can add the C|24 to their current setup, and seamlessly add HD when they're ready. It's time to take control with the C|24!

Digidesign C|24 Features:

* 24 bankable channel strips
* Touch-sensitive motorized faders
* Dedicated Mute, Solo, Select, Input, Record, EQ, Dynamics, Insert, Send and Automation illuminated switches
* Dual-row LED scribble strip displays
* 16 high-quality, low-noise mic/line/DI preamps
* 8 x 2 stereo line submixer
* 5.1 surround analog monitor section
* Built-in talkback mic and inputs for remote talkback and listen-back

Q- So So Def Artist

T.I- Whatever You Like

Mix House Video

PRESS PLAY

Must read for ALL Producers and Artist!

OK class, your assignment for today is to put your 2 favorite commercial CDs in the CD player along with your CD you have made. Now take out a sheet of paper and write down the differences you hear between a polished commercial track and yours. If you are a beginner to the craft this is an easy assignment--there may be so many differences that you might not know where to start. For the advanced home producer/engineer you may already be very close. Now it's time to take it the final mile. Here's my list of issues with my audio (see I get to participate in this too).

My list of issues:

Issues Novices Typically Face

Excessive bass at times, some inconsistency Not as smooth as commercial Mixes, especially in the mid range Not as punchy as commercial music Inconsistent imaging between different songs and sometimes in the same song Doesn't sound as good in the car as it does on studio monitors Vocals not as clear or sweet Mid range is harsher, more grainy Image is neither as wide or as 3 dimensional as some commercial mixes

Not as loud as commercial tracks even though it was compressed Track is noisy, harsh, hurts ears at high volumes Weak Bass, weak kick, disappearing kick, or it's too boomy and it drowns the rest out. Drums can't drive the track unless they are too loud One dimensional, flat sound, even though instruments were panned Everything runs together into a mushy, indistinct, sound Unintelligible, buried vocals Sounds "way different" on the car, boomy bass, no presence, muffled Balance between channels if off and it changes throughout the song

Must go to event

Current State of Hip-Hop

The music industry is dead, and the how come doesn't matter. The question now is what next? How does an artist eat in an environment like this where record sales have dropped 20% since last year?

For rock bands, touring and merchandising will become more important than ever. Eventually they will be begging you to download their music for free, as long as you promise to pay 50 in damage for the live show and cop a T-shirt on your way out.

Rap acts though don't tour too tough. However, compared to the rockers, emcees are better suited to survive this new industry fallout. Ever since Diddy declared that anyone who questions how a rapper makes money is a "player hater", it's been open season for even the most indie leaning emcee to appear in commercials and have his own sneaker. Muscicians in other genres have to walk a fine line of art and commerce so they don't offend their fanbase. However, in hip-hop, the number of endorsements you score is part of your marketing plan.

Now, some see this and think there is too much commercialism in hip-hop. Me? I don't think there is enough.

From Sprite to Scion I see corporate sponsors as the new (or the first?) patrons of hip-hop. Back in the day, before recorded music and record labels, musical masters relied on patrons to front them while they made their art. In return for their investment, the wealthy patrons gained a higher social status by being linked to the incredible artists they fronted. Also, they would retain the artist to perform at their parties and write special dedications for themselves or family.

Now, doesn't that sound like how Reebok paid for the pairing of 50 Cent and Jay-Z or how Boost Mobile did the same with Kanye, Ludacris, and The Game?

I'm not mad at any of those examples, because despite the money that's flowing I think hip-hop does a good job of holding to two rules that makes sure the commerce doesn't harm the art:

Rule # 1. Commercials are clearly commercials. Sprite has never tried to pass off one of their famous freestyle spots as an authentic, spontaneous, off-the-top endorsement by a rapper.

Rule # 2. Art is clearly art. When Busta told Pharrell to "Pass the Courvoisier", I don't think he was considering a deal with that liquor brand, even if one came after the fact. He name dropped because it sounded hot, and that's it.

The only pass a rapper can get on rule #2 is if he owns the product he's pushing. Self-promotion is straight hip-hop.

I'm impressed with emcees like 50 Cent who has been able to remain independent and relevant and dangerous with his left hand, yet snatch coin from corporate America with his right. As 50 himself admitted in a Vibe Magazine interview, when asked about declining music sales industry wide, he said he doesn't care if less people buy the record, as long as they buy his clothing, vitamin water, videos game, and movies. 50 is in the business of selling a lifestlye, with music as the bait, a trick that Diddy and Jay-Z learned long ago.

That's the future now of the music business, and I think hip-hop will prosper in it.