Are there "Magical Settings " for achieving "That sound " ?

[Silver]

Ok having been doing this recording mixing in a daw for about 6 years watching endless tutorials, webinars and youtubes how to's. I've now come to the conclusion "There are no magical settings for this and that " Indeed as a musician I was always taught "Play what the song needs" Surely we can apply this to recording/ mixing too . Hey we all need to know how to say " lay a bassline track down over a chord progression" if you are a bassist A guitar solo over chords etc .

My point being from a musical viewpoint that is learnt technical knowledge. So from that pov. Surely understanding What the ratio knob on a compressor is doing or when you subtract 150hz from a bassdrum track or if you exceed 0db on your master output bus and everything else in between is a must. Rather for example: should you compress before eq or eq before compression. I've seen loads of tutorials each one different The one common factor is These guys in the tutorials just "Know what they are doing with each knob/ slider/ etc
So my point is learn what everything does, first understand what you are doing ( I'm still doing it now !) oh and give the song what it needs.

Just for example I wonder how many bass players would have done some fancy licks over Prince's" Sign of the Times " What a bassline its beauty is its simplicity

Hopefully this will help people The realisation of learning what things do has helped me. Indeed a friend of mine who's done an audio engineering course loved one of my tracks its on his phone now. Me I'm self taught Its been hard and I'm still learning but its fun too and the best bit is "when the penny drops on something or another" When I UNDERSTAND What i'm doing to achieve a certain result !

take care one and all happy learning Silver

[EnSkorSang]

Ok having been doing this recording mixing in a daw for about 6 years watching endless tutorials, webinars and youtubes how to's. I've now come to the conclusion "There are no magical settings for this and that " Indeed as a musician I was always taught "Play what the song needs" Surely we can apply this to recording/ mixing too .

Yes - people do.

My point being from a musical viewpoint that is learnt technical knowledge. So from that pov. Surely understanding What the ratio knob on a compressor is doing or when you subtract 150hz from a bassdrum track or if you exceed 0db on your master output bus and everything else in between is a must.

Thats a given. Or rather, you need to know what it's effect will be.

Rather for example: should you compress before eq or eq before compression. I've seen loads of tutorials each one different The one common factor is These guys in the tutorials just "Know what they are doing with each knob/ slider/ etc
So my point is learn what everything does, first understand what you are doing ( I'm still doing it now !) oh and give the song what it needs.

Just for example I wonder how many bass players would have done some fancy licks over Prince's" Sign of the Times " What a bassline its beauty is its simplicity

Hopefully this will help people The realisation of learning what things do has helped me. Indeed a friend of mine who's done an audio engineering course loved one of my tracks its on his phone now. Me I'm self taught Its been hard and I'm still learning but its fun too and the best bit is "when the penny drops on something or another" When I UNDERSTAND What i'm doing to achieve a certain result !

take care one and all happy learning Silver

Yes......

??

[fHumble fHingaz]

There are no magical settings for this and that

Of course there are - Chris Lord-Alge has them all.

first understand what you are doing

Where's the magic in that?

...damn, & to think - you promised me magical settings - I want my magical settings!

[garageband]

Just for example I wonder how many bass players would have done some fancy licks over Prince's" Sign of the Times ".

Not me. More chances for mistakes. Unlike the studio guitarist in "Doonesbury", I don't get paid by the note. It's not like I'm trying to impress my girlfriend in the crowd at a show with my fancy playing.

[rook2c4]

There's great value in experimentation and remembering the results. Push the limits on this and that, and listen to what happens. Get a feel for how changing this effects parameter impacts the way something else sounds in the mix. Try stuff that normally doesn't make sense or fit the rules. And always listen critically.

Then "understanding" becomes "knowing", and you're less dependent on a 1-2-3 mixing guide book.

[paul999]

Not me. More chances for mistakes. Unlike the studio guitarist in "Doonesbury", I don't get paid by the note. It's not like I'm trying to impress my girlfriend in the crowd at a show with my fancy playing.

It's this type of thinking that gets the guitar player laid;-)

On a serious note the magic settings are clearly an accumulation of small decisions that make the right recipe.

[garww]

Ya, I like the recipe analogy. Something simple like a pineapple upside down cake can be more rewarding than getting fancy with stiff peaks.

""Magical Settings " for achieving "That sound "" implies you are talking about a manufactured sound. That's a choice that may move you forward, or hold you back.

Anyway, always mix thick so all the ingredients are blended, then thin to the desired consistency : )

[Firedance]

Anyway, always mix thick so all the ingredients are blended, then thin to the desired consistency : )

...and although you may have added something spicy at an early stage, you may need to adjust the seasoning once again prior to public consumption.

Don't forget: the freshest ingredients are often better than the "fanciest" ingredients.

(I can see endless mileage in the recipe analogies...)

[garww]

...and although you may have added something spicy at an early stage, you may need to adjust the seasoning once again prior to public consumption.

Don't forget: the freshest ingredients are often better than the "fanciest" ingredients.

(I can see endless mileage in the recipe analogies...)

No one was ever held in higher esteem than than the chuck wagon cook( the ones that weren't shot). Hmmm.... that sounds like a good practice.

Anyway, I have to struggled to not be overwhelmed with tools. I fell of the wagon yesterday, and bot loop producer software : ) Part of it was because a got a new set of plugs(shitload) for $70. (sigh)

[Silver]

What it was really was I was watching a webinar with Yoad Nevo Mixing Drums and it was the IMHO silly questions that were asked at him What he does is great But that's HIS way Another Producer/ Tutorial I've seen doesn't use any individual compression on the"sampled audio " but uses Group compression So my point is There is no right or wrong way to do things Its just what works for the song eh

[garageband]

It's this type of thinking that gets the guitar player laid;-)

I know. That's why I've switched to the drums. I'm a totally different as a drummer than as a bass player.

[Silver]

I needed to learn guitar A singing bass player at open mics just don't seem right Plus Its dam hard to pitch anyone else tried this ? sining your own songs with a drummer whilst playing bass with no guitar its hell lol

[garww]

I needed to learn guitar A singing bass player at open mics just don't seem right Plus Its dam hard to pitch anyone else tried this ? sining your own songs with a drummer whilst playing bass with no guitar its hell lol

Just have your print shop print up a life size Jimmy Page and stand him up on stage

[Silver]

And I thought this was a highbrow deep technical forum lmao

[brandondrury]

It's not like I'm trying to impress my girlfriend in the crowd at a show with my fancy playing.

Yeah, girlfriends are notoriously sticklers for virtuosity. I can't remember how many times I've been jammin to Ke$ha and a girl walks in the room and say, "Hey you heathen, put it back on the Dream Theater station."

I've been my usual amount of homework here lately.

I've noticed a handful of guys cranking out ASTONISHING recordings in both metal and electronic sides who are pretty terrible at the technical end. In other words, they really don't know much about EQ or compression. They won't listen to a recording and immediately know 160Hz from 200Hz yet they are cranking out full-blown pro stuff. These guys are notoriously anal about individual tracks and they also seem to have an awesome instinct for fitting the pieces of the puzzle together. What bass guitar will fit under these metal guitars just right? When you find the right one all you have to do is play it well. A simple DI will often due with zero EQ and maybe even no compression.

I'm at a point where I'm starting to feel that the tools to help with audio engineering are the wrong tools....or at least need to be deprecated.

Another thing I noticed. Last night I was doing my usual Tuesday night Jetface gig. They wanted the megaphone sound for a verse. No biggie. I decided to get it via hardware with a highly overworked Distressor and brutal usage with the Lil Freq. I've done this a zillion times. In this case I already had the EQ patched before the compressor. I killed most of the low end and really couldn't get the Distressor to distort heavily enough.

Other than being a hair on the thin side (which was intentional), this sounded like a pretty damn good vocal. How is I stumbled on a "radio sound" by using absurd amounts of analog EQ. I mean I'm making 12dB cuts at 220Hz and 350Hz and boosting 3.5k by 12dB. That SHOULD NOT sound good from a "pro vocal sound standpoint". It was not far off at all.

This is just more evidence that if you use your tools by intuition and just twist 'em until they give you something that's both interesting and fits into the puzzle, you win. I'm starting to think that the big boy engineers do not "engineer" in any way like I had thought in my head.

Brandon

[Silver]

There you go Brandon. You twiddled and tweaked and got what you needed ! What's a good motto ? If it sounds right with the song USE IT ! Ever wondered how they got Bono's voice so mangled up on "Zoo Station "

[m24p]

This is just more evidence that if you use your tools by intuition and just twist 'em until they give you something that's both interesting and fits into the puzzle, you win. I'm starting to think that the big boy engineers do not "engineer" in any way like I had thought in my head.

Yeah there's a couple types of engineering. I'm pretty sure that you don't typically use mathematical calculations to determine how to get the best emotional impact out of a song. Understanding the math behind some of the things can help a lot at times. But at times ignoring the math and just twisting knobs is the way to go. (To an extent.)

[Silver]

What I have statred to do though Is compress to "tape " well disk .I was at waves workshop with Eddie Kramer Jimi Hendrix Producer to name but one artist he worked with ! That's what he does He said " Be committed " Hey He used to do it all the Time For the all Jimi Hendrix's stuff sounds good to me. Also one of his pet peeves was calling the Bass Drum a " kick " as he said " You certainly don't kick the bass drum ! " Much like a blow job ain't nothin bout blowing lol

[brandondrury]

But at times ignoring the math and just twisting knobs is the way to go. (To an extent.)

I'm starting to wonder when thinking EVER helps. I'm trying to think of those times when the philosophers have a real advantage. I can name about a billion where they have a disadvantage. That's the mode I'm in this week, anyway.

Also one of his pet peeves was calling the Bass Drum a " kick "

I could TOTALLY see how a person would never mix up "bass drum" and "bass guitar". We have 3 instruments all colliding. How this guy avoids the confusion when you've got 6 sweaty guys in a room tracking live is beyond me. I'd be cool with calling the kick drum the "boom drum" as long as it doesn't have the word "bass" in it.

Brandon

[m24p]

I'm starting to wonder when thinking EVER helps. I'm trying to think of those times when the philosophers have a real advantage. I can name about a billion where they have a disadvantage. That's the mode I'm in this week, anyway.

Well, if you don't get why the two mics on one source sound like crap mixed together, you won't know which knobs to twist. That's all I meant. The knowledge is useful so long as you don't think it's a formula.

[garageband]

A more accurate solution might be the orchestral "Gran Cassa". That would make for sideways looks.