Mixing vocals in your home studio can be one of the more exciting stages in the recording process, and it can also be a complex challenge. Work to construct the instruments around the vocal so that everything gets to shine. Read More.
Our March 15th Disc Makers Twitter Chat focused on home studio recording tips featuring recording artist, producer, recording engineer, and “The Recording Solution” founder Scott Wiggins. See what Scott had to say in this #DMchat. Read more.
To get a great vocal sound in your home studio, you need to concentrate on these five technical elements – assuming you’ve got a vocalist who can deliver and a space ready to set the mood capture the mood. Check out this video for a high-impact, commonsense recording tutorial. Read more.
If you focus too much of your work on a single instrument in a complex arrangement, you likely will miss the fact that even if you have improved the sound of that one instrument, everything else may have been impacted negatively. Get the mix you want, mix down to a stereo file, and then perform mastering as a separate last step. Read more.
If you record audio in a place where the same noises are often around, and you are not able to prevent them, then you’ve probably found yourself removing them from your audio recordings using noise reduction software. Unless you’ve built or purchased a sound-proof recording booth, there WILL be noise. Read more.
You’ve finished the audio mix for your latest song. Your audio mix sounds pretty good in your home studio, but when you play the song on your iPod or in the car, you notice one or two bass notes always sound super loud, even though you’ve applied compression on the bass track to try and prevent this very problem. Read more.
If the music program is sibilant overall, the audio can be cut at a lower amplitude, which can help with the distortion caused by the high frequency information. The result, though, is a vinyl record that’s at a lower level, and the surface noise will be more prominent – not to mention, it’s not going to be comparable to other vinyl albums. Read more.
Microphones are among the most important things in a studio’s arsenal – but don’t get caught up in the “more money equals better quality” syndrome when purchasing a home studio microphone. Like a camera lens, there are microphones that are good for wide angles, others for narrow focus, and there are those that have a vintage feel to them. No mic/pattern combination works for everything. Read more.
Recording vocals in your home studio can be somewhat tricky, especially if the quality of your recording space doesn’t contend with a professional studio environment. However, there are plenty of solutions that can improve the quality of your vocal recordings. The room in which you record in will be as much a part of the recording as the singers voice. This can work in your favor and can also work against you. Read more.
Whether as a front-of-house live performance mixer, a remote broadcast/recording engineer working in a church or club, a recording engineer working on a studio session, or simply recording instruments in your modest one-room home recording studio, being isolated from your audio sound source is essential to producing a quality finished product. In order to make the best decisions about levels, EQs, dynamics, or effects, it’s necessary to hear the uncolored sound on its own. Read more.
The Home Studio Handbook includes material from our popular home recording studio guides – plus we’ve added a wealth of additional recording tips. Our new guide starts with vital information on how to make your own home recording studio – whether it’s a professional A-room or a budget-conscious home recording studio setup – and ends with creating a great mix. The 40-page Home Studio Handbook is free and available for download now! Read more.
The primary goal of audio mastering is fairly simple: prepare a recording for distribution and ensure it sounds better going out than it did coming in. Read more.
When my co-producer came in for day one of the session, I was surprised to see him carrying a gallon container of hot coffee in one hand and a bag full of bagels and donuts in the other. His explanation was simple but memorable: “When you’re producing a session, the $50 you spend on food for the musicians and engineer will be the best $50 you spend on the entire project.” Read more.
What is dithering?
In your English class, to "dither" means to act nervously or indecisively. When we’re talking about digital audio and home studio recording, dithering is the process of adding noise to the audio signal. Adding noise, you say? Why would you want add noise? Basically, it’s a trade — low-level hiss in exchange for a reduction in distortion when you convert 24 bit to 16 bit audio to transfer to a CD. Read more.
Depending on the genre of music, if you’re doing a live performance, or you’re recording the entire band or ensemble simultaneously, sometimes you can get away without a click – especially if you have a really solid drummer. But 80% of the time in a studio recording – especially if we’re just cutting drums and bass – we’re playing to a click. Read more.