EQ and Compression Techniques For Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
Compression
When I first started reading about compressors I was hopelessly lost. The terminology was technical in an almost mean-spirited way and I couldn’t make heads or tails of what was being written. To keep things simple, I think of compression as a way of evening out the loud and soft parts of any vocal or instrument so that its behavior is a bit more predictable. In other words, compression brings up the really soft spots and tames the really loud spots so that you’re not constantly reaching for the volume fader on your mixing board (or virtual mixing board on your DAW). In its simplest form, a compressor, whether a hardware unit or a plug-in, will squeeze the Read more
Mixing Music – 5 Tips For a Professional Mix
Mixing music can be an incredibly inspired process. It is my conviction that it is best to get all of the managerial work out of the way to help facilitate a far more inventive and exciting mixing experience. Use these steps as a guide, make them your own, and I promise you that your final mix will be far more productive. Read more
How to build a recording studio
Studio Considerations
The magic of the recording studio has often mystified even the most seasoned professionals. With all the knobs, switches and buttons on various gear and large format consoles, no wonder confusion sets in to most non-techies. Many people, especially artists, composers, producers, and engineers, will end up putting together their own studio for writing and pre-production, with some eventually deciding to take the plunge and create a full-fledged recording complex that is capable of Read more
Synthesis and Envelopes
Envelopes
ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release) Envelope
Envelopes can be used to modulate pitch, amplitude, filter cutoff and various other parameters in a sound. This is used to give the sound a varying character from the moment the key is pressed to the moment it is released. The classic synthesizer envelope has four parameters, Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release, and is therefore often referred to as an "ADSR-envelope".
When you press a key, the envelope is triggered. This means is starts rasing from zero to maximum level. How long this should take, depends on the Read more
Ducking to Get Low
Ever wondered how to get your low-end right in your mixes while keeping it crystal clear and punchy? You should try this:
Duck your bass guitar under the kick drum hit.
This lets the kick drum stand out in the mix and makes it punchier. This technique is great for metal music with a lot of low-end and demand for a non-muddy low and low-mid range sound.
All you need to do is use your Read more
