Newbie Tips

[Trauma]

Sup, Yall. I've been messin around with cakewalk, cool edit pro, and fruity loops for a while now, and i'm thinking about maybe gettin into things more.

I play guitar, and I've been just plugging it straight into my soundcard, with my mic, and making crappy simple drum loops in fruity loops, touchin all the sounds up with Cool Edit Pro, and then sequencing everythign in Cakewalk.

I'm trying to make westcoast beats, but I like to make Rock songs too for my girlfriend and stuff, LOL so basically i'm just trying to get decent sounding demos.

I just started using midi, so I'm doing a lot better with the drums (using the soundfonts I've downloaded for my Soundblaster Live), and I've got some decent bass tracks, etc. I don't want to sample (as in lift loops) so i'm trying to make everything original with the sounds on my keyboard, stuff I've downloaded, my guitar tracks, etc.

My question is, Does anybody have any tips on Reverb/EQ/Compression/Delay etc.? Basically, I don't know any tried and true tricks with this stuff... I always just mess around till I get somethin' that sounds decent. The only thing I've heard is that most final mixes get Reverbed and Compressed before mastering it. Since I won't be pressing pro cd's or anything, can yall give me some tips on for instance, what to use compression on, why, etc.? I'm just curious on how I can use effects to make my stuff sound better.. since I NEVER use Compression (i'm not even 100% straight on what it even is or does), and I just hunt and peck with Reverb, and EQ, I'm lookin' for some ideas on what goes on in a studio usually to make stuff sound better. Any help?

 

[SHOHEI BABA]

had a lot to write here to help but i don't feel like it anymore sorry

 

[HERESY]

ok this is what i do.


reverb: gets applied to pianos,strings,guitars, snare and whatever it sounds good on. reverb takes up SPACE in the mix. the more "verb" you have the less room you have. i sometimes EQ the reverb. it allows me to cut a lot of frequencies this way.

when you use the reverb it will push the instruments or tracks further away from you (thats the effect it has). you should experiment with a snare and a hall or plate reverb. when you apply it you shouldnt "drown" it (meaning dont over saturate it). that will make it sound like muddy crap. just apply a little bit so that you can barely hear the fx.

i also tend to use MORE fx on songs that DONT have a lot of notes. it fills out the mix.


compression:apply to the snare,kick drum, bass guitar, synth and electric or acoustic guitar and VOCALS. i dont like using compression on the MIX BUSS. in fact i think compression should NOT be applied to the mix until the mastering engineer does it (if he does it at all).

when your using metal guitars (like i do) you want the guitars to "CRUNCH" (think metallica "i disappear" or A.I.C "man in the box"). to get that you have to compress the hell out of teh guitars but you dont want them so compressed that they pump and breath (meaning they rise UP during one passage but go DOWN during the next).

when you HEAR the compression thats TOO MUCH. back off. depending on what instrument you are compressing you wanna have a slow RELEASE and FAST attack or vice versa. you can compress things to make them louder but LIMITING should be done to make the final mix louder. try compressing a piano and see how it kills the natural dynamics of the piano.

when i track guitars compression settings are based on the guitar,what kind of guitar ,fx units used and PLAYER. another factor is if im recording DIRECT or micing the cabinet and bass head. so i have no set compression ratio. start at 4:1 and experiment.

eq: i use this to remove certain frequencies from sounds/instruments. i CUT b4 i boost. with vocals i cut the area around 5-8khz or i run the vocals through a filter that allows me to cut those frequencies. say like you have a piano, guitar and string segment. lets say you pan them all but the guitar is over powering the piano. you can either boost frequencies on teh piano (add noise) or you can cut the frequencies on the guitar.

so what will you use to cut the frequencies? a GRAPHIC? maybe. a PARAGRAPHIC? maybe. or a PARAMETRIC? maybe. do you want a small "Q" range or a large "Q" range? you have to go by whats required for the job.

newbie mistake #1 tracking with fx

mistake #2 applying too much reverb or other fxs

mistake #3 over eq

i have made all of these mistakes in the past but remember that you SHOULD break the rules. BEFORE you start to apply this or that you should consider how it sounds WITHOUT it.

i dont eq much of anything anymore. i try to balance the mix out with panning and volume instead of eq. if you can get things to sit well within the mix by using volume faders and pan pots your on your way. dont forget to check teh mix in mono.

also burn 3-5 copies of each mix/version of the song. ab test them in EVERY car,home audio system and boom box you can find. take a note on how one version will sound bass heavy on one system but lack mids on the next system.


good luck and experiment.



:H:

ps stay away from engineers with BIG ass egos. theyw ill ruin your work and forget the recall settings if your using automation. im speaking from RECENT experience.

 

[Trauma]

Man, thanks for all the tips. I'll mess around with it a while and tell you what happens.

peace~

 

[Mr. D-Sane]

had a lot to write here to help but i don't feel like it anymore sorry

lol.....

I know what you mean though.

 

[Mr. Samos]

Heresy pretty much covered it, one tip i would give is, don't use the filters/effects/presets just because they are there, feel me. You don't put roller-blade wheels on a skateboard, and you don't eat toothpaste, see how these things don't mix... well mixing works the same way. Your best tool is your ear, what you should try to achieve when recording and mixing is to get as close as possible your natural tone, to give it that Smooth, fresh & crisp feel... you know.. If you got a decent condenser mic, mixer/preamp (mackie), soundcard, and logical knowledge on basic mixing, well then your set. Never over-use anything, example: EQ is great, if its needed! and even if it is needed.. you don't need much, same with compression, etc...

Just make sure you keep an open mind when your behind the boards mixing, don't be afraid to try new things, but don't over-due it, stick to the basics...


peace

 

[Trauma]

I think one problem might be I don't have a preamp. The 2 mics I have are decent enough for demos, but i'm gonna have to go with a nicer one, one mic gives everything a thin sound, and the other gives a slliiiiightly muddy sound to all the vocals. I need to invest a little more money and get a nice Mic and preamp.

 

[Trauma]

Alright, i'm back for more abuse, LOL

Like I said in my last post, I don't have a mic pre amp, I thought I could get away without using an external mixer, but I'm slowly discovering that ain't a good idea, lol. Can somebody with patience explain to me what the pre does? I'm guessing it amps the signal going in and allows you to put realtime effects and EQ while you're tracking vocals, but why am I not getting good sound out of plugging the mic straight into the soundcard? In other words, why do I need to do that during tracking instead of post? Also, I'm leary of these 1/8" jacks on the back of my Soundblaster Live, is their a signal degredation using those small jacks? Would USB be better to connect the mixer to the comp?

Any help appreciated as always, thanks in advance~