Audio Recording

Someone asked me to review the quality of vocal mixing on one of their songs. This client is still new to audio mixing and constantly looking for the best vocal processing effects and reverb that can be used to the track. But, the client is not sure how to produce the best vocal sound out of the mix and need some guidance.

So the client sent me a sample mix of the original vocal mixing in mp3 format. The background instrumentation has been done entirely with a software (no live music instrumentation). That works well except that client is unsure how to mix the vocals particularly adding reverb to it.

This is a original sample of the vocal mix done by the client:

Quick comments on the original mix:

1.) Simple listening reveals that the vocal is too strong with respect to the background instrumentation.

2.) Too much reverb has been applied on the vocals. It does not match with the background instrumentation or the entire track as a whole.

3.) The vocal does not sit properly with the mix, indicating that it has not been applied with proper EQ and compression settings.

4.) Quick inspection when the sample mix is loaded in Reaper DAW reveals a clipping particularly associated with the vocals. See below (see the red on top of the level meters):

5.) The vocal quality and recording is good only that it needs more work in the mix to make it sound right.

Being conservative with reverb and processing could sound best

When I have original vocal recording wav file; I provide him a sample of what a vocal mix would sound good according to my ears.

This is what I did:
Read the rest of this entry »

This blog receives a lot of inquiries. I am interested to share my insights on them to you.

Burning a Audio Mixing Session to a CD

I’m taking a class and I’ve received a session to mix. Every time I burn the wav files using windows media player turns it to regular audio. The problem with that; it loads as audio so it’s a stereo file, can’t get around that. A single kick would load on track 1 and 2. Explain to me when I burn wav files to disc it stays as a wav file. I’m using windows vista.

Potential Issues

a.) Your CD burning software (Windows media player) creates an audio CD. This would automatically mean that even if the audio is mono (as what most tracks for mixing are) it would automatically be converted to stereo.

b.) If you burn the recorded tracks to audio CD, it would lose its original recording resolution since audio CD always has a 16-bit/44.1KHz. Most recording are done at a higher resolution such as 24-bit/48KHz.

Potential Solution

a.) Some CD burning software (like Nero) does include a data disc feature. In this case, you can burn the recorded tracks in its original form and they are not converted to audio CD format (16-bit/44.1KHz).

b.) If you want an open source solution, you can use Infra-recorder:

http://infrarecorder.org/

Then create a data disc. Since most mixing session file are rather big in file sizes, I would recommend creating a DVD Data Disc using Infra Recorder; see screenshot below:

Simply click the DVD button in the data disc options.
Read the rest of this entry »

If you are applying EQ in audio mixing, then as a beginner you should know these best practices. Take note that this applies to any genre whether it will be rock, pop, country or even classical. Try these EQ best practices in your mix, it will drastically improve the quality of your mix and make you become a better audio mixing engineer. If you are a beginner, this is a must-read article.

Never cut or boost more than 12dB

While it will not hurt to cut or boost 12dB, one of the best practices is to minimize EQ reduction and boosting as possible. It is because it will:

a.) Introduce more audible artifacts due to some extreme boosting/cutting. This can be phase related issues or errors related to digital summing/calculations made by your DAW or plugin.

Also this will tend to worsen if you are using a combination of bad EQ plug-in, poor quality DAW (digital audio workstation) and bad recorded sound.

b.) Introduce more problems in maintaining a good level. Cutting or boosting can introduce drastic changes in volume level. An EQ boost can increase the volume of the track while an EQ cut can decrease volume. These big changes in volume can take a lot of time to balance in the mix.

c.) Can either make your mix to sound too thin, too much bass or too much mid-range presence; which is usually not good if you want a more balanced mix.

What you will do if you really need to cut and boost more than 12dB?

1.) Listen to the track very carefully. Was it badly recorded? Sometimes a bad recording can introduce serious tonal problems. These are caused by a lot of factors, for example:

a.) Recording or tracking in an environment that does not have flat EQ response. Supposing you want a more mid-range sounding acoustic guitar but you are placing the guitar amplifier cabinet facing towards the corner of the room. Since corners can naturally boost the bass levels, you can hardly get that mid-range sounding guitar in the recording.
Read the rest of this entry »