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VoodooRadio · Location: USA

I often receive "personal" email from folks asking for advise/suggestions towards giving their mixes a more professional sound. Here more recently, my mailbox hath runneth over. Now, firstly... I'm not claiming to know everything there is to know about the matter, in fact I would say no one has ALL the answers. Here are some things that have been stressed to me over the years and most of them crop up nearly every session.
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What is it that makes a recording sound professional? Is it the quality of the gear. Sure, that can play a major role in the final outcome. However, IMO the results have more to do with the quality of WHAT is put into the recording equipment used, than it does with the actual quality of the equipment. I'm not saying that the Pro's don't use some really great quality equipment. Most of us have accumulated enough good equipment to get a "professional" sound as long as we use good solid engineering practices and manage our signals "going into" the equipment. Taking equipment for granted, I would offer the following suggestions....
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1. Good song structure. Most every hit song follows an organized song format. This ensures that the song is of tolerable length, good dynamics, singable (and memorable) choruses... you know, a HOOK! It is not uncommon for professional musicians/songwriters to spend months in "pre-production", working out arrangements, lyrics, solos and hooks.
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2. Practice. A well rehearsed performance sounds professional. A poorly played performance sounds just like that... poor. A musician can inject dynamics and emotion into a song much better when they are familiar and comfortable with it. Believe me... this factor (or the lack of) is very apparant in a recording. A bad performance sucks!
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3. A good sound source. Each instrument presents it's own challenge when trying to capture a "good" sound when recording. Things as simple as; changing to "new" strings, checking for squeaks and rattles, and a very commonly overlooked matter... tuning. If an instrument is out of tune, it sucks. Stop and tune your instrument. There are of course other variables such as... mic type, mic placement, moving the player (or amp) into a different place in the room. Take the time to get it right before pushing the "record" button. Experimentation is the mother of invention!
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4. Optimized recording levels. These are the best defense against noise and distortion. Consistently low recording levels result in audible noise; high recording levels result in distortion. Digital distortion is not "our friend", in fact... it sucks! Really listen close when preparing to record and try to identify any noise that can be "rectified" before pushing the "record" button. Sure, Cool Edit has noise reduction capabilities, but even as good as they are... if you have to get "wild" with them to eliminate a noise, the final outcome WILL suffer. In fact, if your having to use that much processing to "clean up" your signal, then you need to go back to the drawing board and get a handle on your procedure.
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5. Great (or really, really good) performances. Once a signal (whatever it may be) is recorded, it's "immortalized". Make it a good one. This suggestion has a direct correlation with #2 (practice). Professionals don't dump out some garbage and hope that the engineer can "fix it in the mix" (which is a horrible clique). A great performance requires practice, persistence and timing. If you manage to get a great performance recorded, you'll often find it doesn't require alot of attention at mixing time.
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6. Vocals. The vocal performance is without a doubt the most important aspect of a good song (I know.. some songs are instrumental... bear with me). Vocals will be the first thing that the majority of listeners hear. People can be ruthless on a bad vocalist. Bad vocalist suck! Professional recordings spend more time and devote more patience to the vocals than any other instrument. Why? Because, whether you like it or not... it matters the most!
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7. Simplicity. The easiest way to create an uncluttered mix is not to clutter it up. Simple! If a performance or instrument just isn't working out... consider simplifying the part, or drop it completely. It is really easy with 64 tracks (CEP 1.2/a) or 128 tracks (CEP 2.0) to keep piling things on. Why? Are they benefitting the production of the song? Probably not. Don't use an effect just because you can. If it has/makes a direct impact that "betters" the song, then sure you probably should find a place for it. If it's there just because you had another guitar "laying around" and "some more tracks to burn", then it's not necessarily there for the right reasons. Sometimes... less IS more.
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8. Have a Professional attitude. Not just an "attitude", but a professional attitude. While you might not be recording the next "biggest selling" hit, your attitude should be no different than if you were. Stop and question every track, every step of the way. Would that mistake that your about to "let slide", bother you if you knew that your recording was going to be heard "industry wide"? Fix it! Use whatever scenario you have to, to motivate yourself to GET IT RIGHT! Be honest with yourself. If you've come this far (your recording yourself or others) then, you probably know the difference between what's good and what sucks!
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No recording equipment can produce professional results, unless it has a capable person "managing" what is going into it. Whenever the recording equipment seems to be the culprit in a bad recording, the problem can usually be traced back to one of the points listed above. These things (whether you choose to believe it or not) are critical. Please bear in mind.. these's suggestions are not the Holy Grail to great product, but adhering to the majority of points I've mentioned WILL greatly simplify the whole process.

post78 · Location: USA

I, too, have been getting loads of e-mail from people who want these types of answers. I even get a few for specific hardware or software problems, that I've never used. Why me, I don't know, but I just delete it and move on. If someone has contacted me through these forums with those types of questions, than they can ask them on the forum.
Now, don't get me wrong, regulars here can contact me personally to chat, or whatever, which is why I keep my address listed, but I'd rather technical questions be asked on the forums. Of course, I know as most here, that I'm the smartest person on earth, and I look pretty damn good [t:ff8818831e]to[/t:ff8818831e] [t:ff8818831e]two[/t:ff8818831e] [t:ff8818831e]tu[/t:ff8818831e] too, but still. ;)

Oh yeah, and I agree with Voodoo.

VoodooRadio · Location: USA

post78 · Location: USA

SteveG · Location: United Kingdom

I got fed up with the emails... hence no public email address any more.

ozpeter · Location: Australia

VoodooRadio, that's another excellent page of advice to be pinned to the forum wall - thank you!

- Ozpeter

VoodooRadio · Location: USA

Mark T · Location: Norway

post78 · Location: USA

Yes, that's what I'm greatest at; I'm very humble. I'm better than anyone else at it, obviously.

trueangerandchaos · Location: USA

Thats good advice voo doo. I have recently just finished recording another band. The quality has came out better than anything I have done. Me and my co worker spent over 2 hours determening a final determination as far as EQ and mixing levels. Lots of people are interested in my studio now that I have showed them this new recording. Here in San antonio texas we have quite a few studios, but most dont allow the bands really any say so as far as mix and eq goes. When ever I mix stuff, I bring the band over and make sure they are happy with what I have done. I just got a new Roland SI-24 mixing console for my PC. Now I have the power to rule the world, ha ha ha! I actually think some one my recordings come out better now than most studios located here that have like 5 billion channel mixing boards. Heh, now all I need to do is master the mastering process, but most of my products seem nice without mastering invloved, but I bet it wouldn't hurt any. ;-)

doctor_b · Location: USA

Well, you'll want to leave yourself some room for improvement, trueangerandchaos. :D

On a serious note, I downloaded the latest track you have posted ("Negative in my Life") and it does sound like an improved effort. It sure helps when the band is tight. My hat's off to the drummer -- some nice foot work!

I'm guessing these are live performances, with everyone playing at the same time and in the same room, perhap with a lot of mic bleed from instrument to instrument? I suspect the tracks could become better defined and you could have more freedom to manipulate the mix, and perhaps bring some intruments more up front as necessary, if you could better isolate the different instruments and microphones. But I'm just guessing here. However, I am curious about how much isolation you have between the various mics/instruments. In any case, it sounds like things are coming along nicely. Cool.

trueangerandchaos · Location: USA

The first round knockout was recorded live, except the vocals which were done on cool edit. They only wanted it that way because they felt tighter. Everything else I have recorded was recorded seperate. I havent recorded anything yet on my Roland SI-24, but I know with its 24/96 khz quality, its going to sound SICK. the most recent recording I have done I havent uploaded yet because I have not done the bass tracks yet, but I will today, or soon. thanks for everyones honest opinion. I have only been doing this recording thing for about 5 months, so I think I am improving quickly.

the3jsgrve · Location: USA

Excellent advice Voodoo. People write guys like you and Post78 because it is obvious that you really have some experience and know what you're talking about. Without the "regulars" the whole Syntrillium Forum would be pretty darn useless.

Isolation is certainly a major plus... There is mcuh that can be achieved in that direction using the graphic interface of CEP2's compression in combination with with Graphic EQ and noise filters if you can't isolate the instruments in the first place (which is always the best option of course). For example, when you're recording a drummer, you can isolate the tom and kick mics using compression by pulling all sounds below a certain dB level down to zero, and you can pull annoying "tom ring" out of the snare mic by dropping levels around 200 Hz in the graphic EQ. Be sure if you do this to leave a pretty clean signal in your overheads and hi-hat mics to help fill in the gaps and make your finished sound flow better. With other instruments, though, the best policy is to record them completely isolated, even if that means taking longer and recording each instrument one at a time.

BTW, it will almost always be to your advantage business-wise to be a sound facilitator rather than a producer when you're being contracted by an artist to record their music. Generally speaking, the artist has a sound in his/her head, and the best way to get it is to listen to them. In these situations, I do almost all of the mixing with that artist in the room so that they get the sound they were looking for in the first place. This doesn't mean that I don't strongly suggest things sometimes. After all, my name is going on that album too. In the end, though, if the CD sucks, it will reflect on them, and that's their problem.

If, however, someone asks me to truly produce a song or if I am recording an artist on a percentage-of-sales basis, I do almost none of the mixing alone. In these cases, my profitability will come directly from the sound of the album, and it is necessary to have that control. I make sure the artist knows this up front, and I still make sure that he/she approves of the final product before I press it.

Make your customer feel truly important, and you'll already have a major selling advantage over the majority of studios around.

Josh

the3jsgrve · Location: USA

ozpeter · Location: Australia

You can edit a post, after posting, if it's your own, by clicking on the middle one of the group of little icons immediately above your post.

- Ozpeter

.... and when you've edited it, it will say at the bottom,

alofoz · Location: Australia

Hmmmm..... I couldn't get it to say that at all. When I edited it said:-

jonrose · Location: USA

heh! :D

Hey Voodoo - good stuff. Glad someone has time to type all that stuff - I just haven't had much, lately. And sadly, I too had to remove my mail link...

What really bothers me the most is that folks don't realize how much more help they'll get by asking questions here and not in email.
Go figure...

SteveG · Location: United Kingdom

the3jsgrve · Location: USA

Thanks for the advice.

Edited by - ozpeter on Mar 24 2003 4:42:13 PM Approve

Cal · Location: USA

post78 · Location: USA

I suppose you want something like this?

trueangerandchaos · Location: USA

Yeah, when ever I record a band, I make sure that they are happy with things and make suggestions as far as guitar parts or vocal patterns go. I mix things down with my friend that also is part owner of the studio, he knows alot about good guitar tone and bass presence, while i am pretty much a drummer and vocals. So it all comes together. We mix things down together, bring the whole band in, and then ask them what they feel needs to be raised or EQed. I make sure to tell the bands not to be afraid to speak up. Check out the new song I have uploaded on my studio website, it's AUDIO. Tell me you opinion on it.

VoodooRadio · Location: USA

ozpeter · Location: Australia

All those years of therapy for my identity crisis, wiped out by my fellow forum members in a few brief posts......

From now on, I'll stick to Cool edits only. :)

- Ozpeter (for it is he).

groucho · Posted - Tue Mar 25, 2003 7:03 pm

trueangerandchaos · Location: USA

Why spank you very much Chris, that means alot. That really encourages my to do better in my work. I am recording 3 bands this week end, so hopefully that will go well. I am going to do the double guitar track thing. I hear that is a good way to get a nice "meaty" guitar sound. Well, wish me luck , lol8)

alofoz · Location: Australia

Gee, you start something & get upstaged!

Now, what day is it??

Cheers,
Alan

Edited by - the phantom of the phorum on Mar 31 2003 4:42:13 PM

SteveG · Location: United Kingdom

Mark T · Location: Norway

VoodooRadio · Location: USA

Actually, my skills are waning. I took typing courses in both High School and College and at one time could type @ 115-120 WPM without mistakes. Of course, that and $0.35 will get me a cuppa a MacDonalds! Wink

post78 · Location: USA

And an "accidental" spill might just land you $3 million. Shock

VoodooRadio · Location: USA

Only if I burn my genitals! Shock