Harmony Studios' Pro Studio Blog

Take it easy on yourself, Part 1.

Danny S. — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:06:00 GMT

Recording music can be a very stressful and time consuming endeavor. Doing takes over and over again to get it right, making minute changes in microphone positions or finding the right settings on amps, synths or other equipment can really make the process very tedious. Worst of all, it can be even more tedious when the the artist you are recording is you and the music is your own! It's hard enough being an engineer and/or producer. But having to engineer and produce yourself can just make you want to quit and give up! Here are some helpful tips that can make it easier, less stressful, and most of all, fun to record yourself.

1. Use templates. If you are using a computer based DAW, then the first thing to do is create one or two templates that you can open up and be ready to go. A template allows you to have al the tracks, effects, plug-ins and settings saved so you can just hit record and be on your way. Having a template set up can save you anywhere from 15 minutes to and hour before you even play or sing one note. Take the time to do it once and then you'll never have to again. Then, when your muse comes along and you feel inspired to record, you won't lose that feeling while your spending time setting up a session. Trust me, it's worth it.

2. Organize your recording space. Make sure the place where you record is organized and set up in the most convenient, ergonomic and sensible way and keep it neat. It can be frustrating having to run around or be across the room from something when you need it right next to you. Figure out how you normally record and what you need in order to play your instrument. Then place it so that it's close enough to where you are controlling your recording equipment is. Don't make it hard for yourself. Make it easier. That way, all you need to focus on is playing your parts right and getting a good sound. Keeping things clean with as little clutter as possible also makes for a better environment to work in.

3. Know your equipment. Spend time getting to know how your instruments, gear and ancillary equipment works and sounds. That way, when you're ready to record you don't need to spend 20 minutes trying to find the right sound to dial in to your amp or look for the right preset on an EQ plug-in. You already will know what to do and take just a minute or two to make sure it's right. Then you can rock out with no interruptions.

4. Take breaks. When you're recording someone else you need to break every so often. It's work, and just like at any other job you need to get up and stretch every once in while. Well, it's no different when you're the artist too. Wearing more than one hat can take even more of a toll on you. By not taking breaks you can be diminishing your productivity and creativity. Give your mind ad your ears a chance to breath and relax. You'll be able to come back in the studio and tackle all your parts at ease and with much better results. Believe me, it works.

I'll elaborate on some more tips in the next posting. For now give these a shot on your next personal session and see how it goes. I'd love to hear your thoughts on making sessions where you're the artist as well as engineer/producer easier and more productive. Can't wait to hear 'em.

Get more with less

Danny S. — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:36:00 GMT

When you're working on a mix, sometimes we want a little bit more low or high end of one instrument or voice. It's our natural inclination to go straight to the EQ and boost some frequency or other in order to get "more of that sound." What may surprise you is that you can probably get what you're looking for by actually cutting those frequencies on another track. And in the process you'll be cleaning up your mix and giving it a lot more definition and clarity.

Every sound is made up of a combination of frequencies (except for a sine wave of course). So it's not surprise that the frequency range of different tracks in your mix will overlap. But very often a lot of frequency content in some tracks is not necessary in order for the listener to identify it and for it to fit well in the mix. For example, a guitar track may have a lot of low end to it. But the bassist is actually covering that area. The two tracks are now actually competing and possibly muddying up your mix. THrow a high pass filter on your guitar track set to anywhere from 200-250 Hz. You may hear that the sound of the guitar didn't change all that much but your mix sounds a little cleaner. That's because the low frequency content while part of the sound of the guitar by itself, was not essential within the context of the mix. Now the bass will sound more defined and you didn't even touch it!

Try doing the same thing when you want a vocal to stand out more. It may not need any more compression or EQing. Sometimes cutting out 2.5-3.5 kHz on somethingt else that's sitting right in the center along with vocal will open it right up.

GIve it a shot. You never know what results you may end up with!

Harmony Studios, Danny S.

Miking Drums - Unorthodox but effective techniques

Danny S. — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:20:00 GMT

Everyone agrees that recording a live drum set can be one of the most challenging things. Dealing with phase issues, bleed, SPL levels and all that can be tough. For that reason some people take a minimalistic approach with just overheads and a kick mic. Others will still mic up up the whole kit. Here are some unorthodox techniques that you may not have tried, but can yield some very interesting and good sounding results.

Toms. Pain in the butt. "There's too much ring!" "I keep hitting the mics with my sticks!" "The cymbals are bleeding in and the gate settings just aren't working!" These are just a few things you might here drummers and engineers saying during a session. Here's an interesting idea: We like to stick a mic all the way in to the kick drum to get the sound of the beater on the head along with the sound of the drum inside. Why not do the same with toms? Remove the bottom skins and stick the mic up inside of the drum. If there's too much ring you can take some small spare pieces of foam and mount them inside the drum. This sill definitely keep you from hitting the mics with your sticks (you can't!), and bleed will be lessened considerably since now the mics are inside the drums. Give it a shot.

What about miking the bottom skins on a drum? It's common practice to mike the underside of the snare and sometimes even the beater side of the kick drum. But sticking mics under there can get bulky and the drummer may not like it. How about killing two birds with one stone? This is a great trick I've used many times and it works great as long as the mic is placed correctly.
Grab a mic with a Figure-8 pattern on it and place it halfway between the bottom of the snare and where the beater hits the kick drum and have each side of the mic pattern facing those points. Record that mic to one track, but make sure you flip the phase on it (either use a phase flipped cable or do it within your DAW or o your console) because on each of those drums there is another mic capturing the air moving in the oppposite direction. Voila! You've captured both sounds with one mic effectively. Now if you want to you can go and separate each hit into two tracks so you can process the snare and kick separately. Or you can leave it as is and just compress it a little and some flavor to the kit in general.

Lastly, here's the most minimalistic technique I've ever heard of. Place a stereo mic (or two mics set to XY or MS) about 5-9 feet out in front of the drum kit, and set it to be no higher than teh height of your rack toms. That's it! Obviously there many factors are involved. Mic placement is critical. The type and size of room you are in will have an effect on where you want to palce the mic and also may effect whether you use a cardioid or omni mics. For an even more minimalistic approach use a single mono mic instead of a stereo mic. It just may be the sound you're looking for!

Have you ever tried any "different" techniques when recording drums? I'd love to hear about it. Good luck, and remember as I always say, the only rule in recording is, there are no rules!

Harmony Studios Inc., Danny S.,

Welcome to the Harmony Studios Pro Studio Blog! First up, guitar amp recording tips.

Danny S. — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:20:00 GMT

Welcome to the first installment of the Harmony Studios Pro Studio Blog! Here I hope to give you all kinds of fun tips, tricks, stories and advice in the world of studio and location recording, audio and music technology and music in general

For this first installment I'm going to use a posting that I actually wrote on a different blog a while back. I think it is very useful and is worth repeating here.

While there are dozens of different roles one can play within the music industry, these days more and more people are finding themselves playing more than one role, especially with the explosion of the home studio market. We’d like to offer some tips to help facilitate efficient and great sounding sessions in your home studio.

Many home studio owners find themselves limited by the small space their studios are situated in. Whether its a bedroom, a basement or a garage we can feel limited by the lack of space afforded to us. The most important thing to remember though is that while our studios may be situated in one area, that doesn’t mean we can’t use ALL of our surroundings to our benefit. It just may require some longer cables. Here are some suggestions with regards to tracking guitar amps.

1. Need an echo chamber? Want some natural short reverb? Your bathroom is all tiled up and ready to go! When recording your next guitar track try this: Place your guitar amp in the bath tub and tilt it upwards. Place one mic right on the grill and place one up in the air. For the close mic using a directional dynamic mic like the Shure SM57 or the Sennheiser MD421 II will allow you to capture the amp without a lot of the room sound in it. For the room mic a condenser mic will get all the sound bouncing off all those tiles. Experiment with using both a directional and an omni mic. Once you get that perfect take, go ahead and blend the two tracks together to taste! Another option is to throw a ribbon mic (which are incredibly popular on guitar amps) like the CAD Trion 7000 close to the amp. A ribbon mic is bi-directional so one side will face the amp and get that direct sound while the other side will be pointing upward and capturing the room sound. Just be sure to listen first and get the placement right as you won’t be able to separate these two signals later on.

2. What if you’re looking for the opposite? Lets say you want a really dead and dry guitar track but you don’t have a vocal booth or small isolation chamber. Make use of what you do have. Go into your living room or den and grab the cushions off of your sofa. Build a little room around your guitar amp or cabinet and place the mic inside of it. Voila! Instant isolation! There are other methods too which can prove useful. Products like sE Electronics Reflexion Filter are normally set up on a mic stand in order to deaden a vocal track and take the room out of the recording. But there’s no reason why you couldn’t take it off the stand and set it on the floor in front of your amp. A real fun one is using a hardshell case as a gobo. Usually a hard case has a hard reflective outside but inside its lined with a plush, more absorptive material. Open up the case and stand it in front of your amp. If you want to deaden the sound a little face the the inside of the case towards the amp. If you want to increase the reflectivity of the sound in the room, face the outside of the case towards the amp. Be creative!

3. Lastly, hallways can be very useful. Sometimes we want to capture the sound the of the guitar amp as if it were in a very large room. But what if your house has low ceilings and no really large rooms? Place your amp at one end of the hallway and a mic all the way at the other end, up in the air. While you may not have a large room, the length of the hallway may add some distance and surface area to give that “large room” sound. Experiment with putting the amp in the middle of the hallway and a mic at each end. If it’s an open-back amp place a mic behind the speaker. It will pick up a little different sound and the two tracks can be blended together. Just make sure to adjust the mics to eliminate any phase issues, or see if swapping the phase of one mic will help.

I hope this first installment has been informative and fun! Don’t be afraid to experiment with what you’ve got available to you. Of course, I would always love to hear your thoughts an opinions on anything you read hear. Feel free to share. What have you done to make that guitar lick stand out? Remember, the first rule of recording is: There are no rules! Be sure to check back often for more tips and features.

Harmony Studios Inc., Danny S.,