#tipsbyviklovin

A Good Headphone Mix

When recording someone's performance your job as an engineer is to provide them with a solid headphone mix. A proper mix in the headphones will not only provide a good reference to the musician, but it will also keep them on time, boos their confidence, save time, and help you achieve the desired performance for your recording.

This might seem very basic and you're probably saying "well duh!" but make sure you provide your musician with a good pair of headphones. More often than not producers and engineers will wear their favorite pair of high end monitoring headphones to themselves and supply the musician with a crappy pair. For example; if a singer is hearing a muddy mix and their voice sounds horrible, their confidence level might drop and thus affect what they sound like. When recording drummers, make sure to supply them with sound isolating headphones. Drummers tend to listen very loudly because of the inherent nature of their instrument. You don't want that click track leaking into your recording!

Take a few seconds and choose the right click track sound. Some people prefer a more natural sound rather than the default electronic click. Cycle through the different options in your DAW, pick one that best matches your song and satisfies your musician. Note that drummers usually prefer a different sound for the downbeat. As well as the click track sound, adjust the number of clicks for each bar. Depending on your tempo, someone might like 1/8th notes while 1/4 might be a more common choice for others.

To provide the proper mix make sure you set the bass and drums sounds first and louder than the rest of the mix. The drums keep the tempo and rhythm while the bass will provide the key so everyone else can stay on pitch. Add the rest of the instruments one by one (slightly lower than the drum and bass tracks) while making sure to turn off any effects that modulate the original sound. Heavy modulation can cause musicians to misinterpret pitch which will alter their performance.

When recording vocalists, add a bit of reverb and/or delay. That will provide them with a more natural feeling. The last thing you want is your singer losing confidence over a sterile sounding track. By adjusting the volume in a singer's headphones you can alter their performance. The louder they hear themselves the softer they sing and vice versa.

If you would like to take some of the load off, you can provide your musician(s) with a personal headphone mixer. Keep in mind that this can be very confusing for inexperienced musicians, so use your best judgement.

A last piece of advice, always ask for feedback from your musicians. Make sure they're comfortable and your sessions will be more pleasant!

Dealing With Audio Phase

What is phase? It's just audio waves. Imagine a continuous sine wave as a mono track. Now create that visual into a stereo track. Both waves are in unison, or in other words in phase. As the sine wave in the left channel goes up, so does the right channel. Then as the left channel wave goes down, so does the right. When a track is out of phase, however, the complete opposite happens. As one wave goes up the other goes down. In the case of the sine wave, the outputted sound would be completely cancelled out. If we only listened to sine waves, it would be pretty easy to find out when we have phase issues, but we don't. Since music is way more complex, each audio track is made up of many waves and harmonics so picking out a phase problem is a little bit trickier.

How do I find the problem? Most phase issues are easily heard in the slower moving low frequency waves. What you usually wind up hearing is a cancellation of the bass sound or thinness. Another issue would be the sound moving around the mix slightly, rather than sounding like it is coming from one place. Also, if you find that you hear more of a sound while it's panned rather than center you might be experiencing phase issue. The more instances you have of the same recording the more of a phase issue you're bound to experience.

How do I fix the problem? If you're recording a live instrument with multiple microphones, try adjusting the distance slightly. Your mic pre, whether it is hardware or software, usually has a phase invert switch. Try flipping the phase on one of the microphones (or on the second take of a recording if you're using only one mic). Let's say you've already recorded all of your tracks or are using layers of digital instruments (which most of the time won't give you phase problems if EQ'd properly), you can use plug-ins in your DAW to correct phase issues. Another simple solution is to split the stereo track (or in the case of doubled mono tracks) and nudge one of the waves slightly over, I'm talking milliseconds here. Try and prevent phase issues if possible or at least tackle the problems early so your mixing goes smoother.

Don't Overdo It

A huge mistake that we all usually go through as beginners is overcompensating. We hear a radio ready song and try to emulate that sound in our creations. The problem is, it doesn't sound as big, loud, full, whatever. In order to fix that, you add another synth, and another, and double the kick, then some more supporting sounds, and so on. You're ecstatic, it sounds crazy. Then you pause, compare, and the frustration sets in again. The reason your tracks don't sound like mainstream music is because you might lack the experience or hardware/software effects, or both. So you go out and buy more software sound packs, more effect plug-ins, an expensive rack compressor, but still your sound doesn't compare. The issue lies mostly in the lack of experience. An experienced producer can sit down with a fresh install of your favorite software and get an amazing sound out of an instrument preset. To get over the frustration I mentioned earlier follow these steps:

1. Know that your final mix down will sound different and much better than what you're hearing while you're making the track.

2. Because of step number one, you don't need to add tons of layers that sound very similar.

3. Instead of adding sounds to make your track fuller, take away as much as you can while still expressing your original intention.

4. Don't go crazy tweaking presets or trying to create your own unique sounds (For example; Rihanna's Umbrella, produced by The Dream and Tricky, can be created easily by going to your local Apple store and opening up GarageBand. Really!). Presets are made for a reason, because they sound great. Find a sound that matches what's in your head and take a minute or two at most to tweak it to your liking. This way you continue working without frustration and losing your inspiration. 

5. Mix your track down properly. If you can't do it (or have the proper equipment and room), get it done professionally, sit in, interact, and learn from your engineer. Avoid sending it off to someone through the internet, it's tough getting exactly what you want without face to face communication. Take a listen to Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. Every single sound in that song is placed correctly. The drum groove alone, in the beginning of the track, sounds full even though more sounds are added, magically, nothing conflicts. That's a great mix down.

Let all of this soak in and next time you are tempted to add a ton of sounds remember KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)!

Compression Basics

What is a compressor? It's basically an amplifier that is used to reduce dynamic range. It levels off loud parts of a sound to bring them closer to the parts lower in amplitude.

Why use a compressor? Whether you have a hardware or software plugin, a compressor is a very important and effective tool in all applications of music. A compressor will give you a well rounded and more "easy to swallow" sound (if used correctly). If you over-compress your music it will sound like it has no life to it and most likely certain parts will be distorted and unnatural sounding. Many compressors have a certain signature sound that they add to your mix. People might not realize the reason why they love some tracks is not entirely because of the artist and melodies but also the commonly used hardware and software signatures found in commercially successful music.

To help you better understand the basic parameters of a compressor let's just pay attention to the vocal track of Rihanna's "Where Have You Been" for the first minute and 15 seconds. As you can hear, the amplitude is pretty much at the same level even though she goes from a sensual "I've been everywhere..." to almost shouting "Where have you been..." To keep her vocals uniform, the engineer used compression. Let's say at the beginning of the song she was singing at -15 dB and by the chorus she reached 0 dB. Noting that difference, you want to turn on your compressor to narrow down this dynamic range.

The first parameter you should set is the THRESHOLD. The threshold tells the compressor when to engage the track and bring down the amplitude. If you set your threshold at -10 dB, everything above that range will be compressed.

Some compressors have a fixed KNEE, some let you choose between a soft or a hard knee, and some let you choose any position in between both. All the knee does is let you fine tune how drastic the change is between uncompressed and compressed sound. A hard knee is more drastic and immediate, think of turning a corner while driving. A soft knee is gradual, like taking that same turn but driving over a longer distance on a curved path.

Next we have ATTACK TIME and RELEASE TIME. Attack time refers to how quickly a sound gets compressed after going above the threshold level. The shorter your attack time the quicker the sound gets compressed. Release time is how quickly your sound goes from compressed back to non-compressed. The release time is usually longer than the attack time. Just be aware that the shorter your release time is the more chance you have of creating a pumping sound.

The most confusing and misunderstood part of compression is the COMPRESSION RATIO, and it works in decibels. Think of it as a fraction. If the ratio is 2:1 then the sound exceeding the threshold will be halved (as in 1/2). If the input is 6 dB above the specified threshold the output will be halved to 3 dB. The higher the compression ratio the more your sound will be attenuated. For example 10:1 is a very strong compression ratio. So a sound exceeding your threshold by 15 dB will be compressed to 1.5 dB. I know this might sound confusing at first but take your time and re-read it.

Lastly we have GAIN. Since compression brings down the overall volume of the sound the output gain in your compressor will make up for it. Think of it as a volume knob. First you level out the dynamic range of the recording then turn up the gain to make up for the attenuation.

Now that you know what each part of your compressor does, play around with it. I usually like to use gentle compression on an incoming sound or a raw recorded track to shape it as part of the creative process. I say gently because that sound will be compressed again either by itself or in a group during mix down and yet again during mastering. You want to let your track breathe, so don't squash the sounds by over-compressing them, unless, creatively, that is what you're trying to achieve. Be careful when compressing, as it can drastically alter your sound for the worse. Take your time and listen carefully to what you're compressing, start gently.

As always, feel free to ask here or hit me up on twitter @viklovin if you have any questions.

Play An Instrument

It doesn't matter what kind of music you produce, knowing how to play an instrument will always give you an edge. Pick up a guitar and learn the basics, take a few lessons, learn the instrument inside and out. The same goes for drums, bass, and whatever other instrument you might be interested in. In my opinion the piano is the first instrument you should learn how to play, it could be just the basics, but you must learn it. It is one of the most versatile and most recognizable instruments, its popularity transcends in all genres of music. Being able to play, or just knowing the basics, of several instruments will greatly impact your production skills. The knowledge and experience will enable new creative forces within you. Always be open to learning new instruments, try it!

Stay In Tune

When recording live instruments, staying in tune is one of the most important factors.  Instruments go out of tune when they're played, left alone, due to temperature and humidity fluctuations, etc. To keep your recording consistent you need to make sure you tune each time before recording. String instruments can never be tuned perfectly but by investing in a high quality chromatic tuner you can get close to perfect. This Korg or Peterson are two great, moderately priced tuners. When tuning guitar or bass, switch to the pick up closest to the neck and strum each string gently at the 12th fret. By strumming at the 12th fret you avoid the overtones that are inadvertently created when strumming over the pickups. 

Tuning drums is a little bit trickier. Depending on the track, some drummers and producers like to tune to the root note. Most drummers, however, prefer to tune their drum kit to itself. High-end drum kits will have their native resonant note stamped inside of the drum shell. When tuning drums, it is good practice to slightly detune the bottom drum head. Also be very careful when tuning the toms to avoid resonance transfer to the snare wire. It takes a little bit of experimentation but that is part of the recording process.

As always, don’t be afraid to ask a question here or on twitter.

Enjoy The Show

As a music producer you job is not only in the studio. Just because a song might sound great in your headphones, in your car, or at home doesn't mean that it will get crowds moving. One of my favorite things to do is go to shows. Whether there is a live band performing or a DJ, I love observing the crowd. Great songs get people involved in the music. The way a song is constructed is very important and could be easily visually represented when it is played live. Go out there, observe what the different elements of a song do to the crowd, and which parts people love most. Take that knowledge back to the studio with you and use it to create your own crowd-mover.

Layering Synths

The most important factor in layering is to find sounds that compliment each other. Think of a drummer playing a kit, all of the sounds combined do not fight or oppose each other, instead they are in harmony and fill up the frequency spectrum well. You can apply that analogy to layering synths. Ideally each sound should not be fighting with another for a certain frequency. If they are, you will experience muddy results with unwanted gain. It doesn't matter what kind of synths you're using or what you're using them for, just make sure they play well together. An easy way to separate two sounds that occupy the same frequency spectrum is to tweak each of their EQ parameters. Fundamentally, and my personal preference, you should change up the EQs and filters within the synth generators before you jump into adding EQs in the channel strip that each synth is in. There are a few good reasons for that practice:

a. Use the built in parameters of your synth to tweak it and make it yours

b. You can avoid adding additional load to your CPU by not adding redundant channel strip effects

c. Add an EQ to that channel strip and use it to clean up and place that sound after you have already modified it to your liking

Another great way to layer synths is to keep them separate by sequencing different notes in each one. Take the chords to your tune and break them down along different instruments. No need to play the same sequence with many instruments. By using this trick you will notice that your track sounds less muddy. You will also have more different patterns to play around with.

As always, don't be afraid to ask a question here or on twitter.