Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2013 14:38:02 GMT -6
svart this is why I want preamps in banks of eight and not an ADD lego collection of 500 series modules.
|
|
|
|
Post by gouge on Aug 8, 2013 16:48:06 GMT -6
templates make things so much faster.
I have all of my templates setup for reaper right down to individual channels or groups with all channels ready to be loaded. recently discovered copy paste of channels in reaper.
drums for eg.
I setup for the new session. say first track to be recorded. all of the channels on the console are half normalled to bays so kick ch1, snare ch2 etc. I use those channels every time. it's the naming of the tracks that takes the time. I name tracks as per their inputs. so ch1 is named. kick m380 ma-5 dbx160sl etc.
when it's time for track2 to be recorded I can copy paste the entire drum tracking setup from the track 1 session to the track 2 session and so on. it remembers the naming, the armed paths and plugins that may have been used etc. what used to take 15 minutes takes 10 sec.
|
|
|
|
Post by henge on Aug 8, 2013 17:34:58 GMT -6
templates make things so much faster. I have all of my templates setup for reaper right down to individual channels or groups with all channels ready to be loaded. recently discovered copy paste of channels in reaper. drums for eg. I setup for the new session. say first track to be recorded. all of the channels on the console are half normalled to bays so kick ch1, snare ch2 etc. I use those channels every time. it's the naming of the tracks that takes the time. I name tracks as per their inputs. so ch1 is named. kick m380 ma-5 dbx160sl etc. when it's time for track2 to be recorded I can copy paste the entire drum tracking setup from the track 1 session to the track 2 session and so on. it remembers the naming, the armed paths and plugins that may have been used etc. what used to take 15 minutes takes 10 sec. Absolutely!! Templates. I have whole templates for Kit with small, medium and large spaces with different verbs I can swap in and out with a click. Done! |
|
|
|
Post by cenafria on Aug 9, 2013 2:10:22 GMT -6
Well, I did say workhorse mics. I mean, if you do tenor sax a lot (which I've never done and don't know if I'll ever do) and the 4038 is known as a go-to mic in the tenor sax recording world, then by all means, use it! But that's what I mean. It's now your go-to mic. I can't tell you how often I've read threads at the-place-that-shall-not-be-named and other recording websites that has a daily/weekly/monthly new favorite esoteric snare/guitar/marimba mic and all the dudes that buy it and rave and 6 months later you see piles of them in the classifieds and the same dudes buying the newest mic-du-jour. It's the same thing I see with most other gear, lack of usage knowledge leads the person on a goose chase for tone, that a little practice could have solved without spending wild amounts of money on hype. Yeah, sessions with horn sections are pretty common here. It's always impressive to hear a good one. The room flatters them even more than strings or drums. Persistence with gear is important. It has taken me a while to find the use of certain pieces. As Gouge mentioned earlier, adding the new mic to the "go to" set up to learn how it sounds. That way you always have your tried and tested mics to provide results if your new mic doesnt quite work out. |
|
|
|
Post by cenafria on Aug 9, 2013 2:21:52 GMT -6
7. No serious drinking or doing drugs in the studio while on studio time. A shot or a beer or something to loosen up a tense player is cool, but that band member swilling a half bottle of JD before he's doing his parts isn't going to happen. Also, that dude that runs outside every 10 minutes for "fresh air" isn't happening either. If you are a cigarette smoker, you'll say that you're going for a "smoke". A person who goes for "fresh air" or "a break" is usually doing drugs. Chances are, they'll end up too fucked up to play or they'll end up fucking something in the studio up. If you want to hang out after a session and smoke some green and help me put everything up while talking about stuff, that's cool. If not, go home. If you are doing something harder than a little weed, I'm going to ask you to leave. Luckly, I'm 6'3" 250lbs so I can do that kinda thing and people usually do as I ask. On this point I guess every studio has a different policy. The band are, most of the time, not only my clients but also de facto producers for the session. And people are discreet. Haven't had any problems with this one. I feel that different persons need to do different things to relax and feel comfortable enough to record. I even let bands smoke in the studio's lounge/entrance/storage area and in the kitchen/stairwell if there aren't any condenser mics set up there. |
|
|
|
Post by cenafria on Aug 9, 2013 2:27:39 GMT -6
8. Keep the atmosphere light. Tell jokes, talk about stuff. Have plenty of reading material and games and stuff. Bored people who are sitting around with their heads in their phones/tablets/gizmos aren't going to inspire performances. Uninspired performances lead to retakes. Retakes lead to boredom. Boredom leads to uninspired retakes.. and the circle starts again. You are the leader of the session. Sit up and manage that session in all aspects. Keep things moving and keep people excited to be there as much as you can. You'll be amazed when you get word-of-mouth reviews where someone has told someone else to come to your studio because "you're awesome and inspiring" or stuff like that instead of just getting a good sound. A lot of people get good sounds these days. You gotta go above and beyond and make the people want to come back for the good experience. It makes people work harder and faster if nothing else. I've gotten better at this over the years. I think everybody is a hundred per cent focused on sound when they start. Well, I was anyway. |
|
|
|
Post by cenafria on Aug 9, 2013 3:04:45 GMT -6
I just realised... A big one for me, speakers that translate and not only sound good. It has taken me years to get this one right. Specially important if you mix with the band, do many mixes in one session and have an analog console with outboard.
|
|
|
|
Post by svart on Aug 9, 2013 7:19:37 GMT -6
RE the drugs. I only had one time where the dude kept going and smoking. He got waaaay too baked to remember his own lyrics and then wanted me to NOT charge him for the time because he "wasn't recording". I've gotten a lot better about watching out for folks who might do that and I've kept a few people on track. They've actually thanked me for it later.
RE studio boredom.. Yeah most folks are peppy and ready to go on the first day. Second day, a little less so. By about the 4th day, IF anyone other than the person recording bothers to show up, they are usually bored stiff and only showing up to "support" the others. If they fall asleep, I don't wake them up, but I try to keep them awake or engaged before that happens.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2013 7:32:41 GMT -6
- a good coffee machine
- a good assistant (who makes good coffee)
- less people in the CR
- keep the band's manager out the studio
- when working at other studios : make sure everything works before coming in
- fresh strings and skins on instruments
- work with qualified people
- clear communications with the production team (short emails are better)
Everything else has been said.
Not helping work faster :
- having porn play on the SSL Total Recall screen up in Morin Heights
|
|
|
|
Post by Johnkenn on Aug 9, 2013 7:37:31 GMT -6
Yeah - great monitoring...
|
|
|
|
Post by svart on Aug 9, 2013 8:51:33 GMT -6
Yeah - great monitoring... That almost goes without saying. I got flamed pretty hard on a FB thread when I suggested that people buy great monitors first, before spending money on effects and mics and stuff. I don't know how folks can hear what their new gadgets are doing if they have bad monitoring. I personally didn't listen to folks telling me to buy the most expensive monitors I could afford FIRST and I ended up spending way more money buying, trying and selling monitors over the years. I should have just listened to them and I was only passing this wisdom along to people who were obviously not experienced and just wanted to buy the next hyped chinese mic, you know, because it sounds "just like a U87, but for only 100$!!!!" or something. |
|
|
|
Post by jimwilliams on Aug 9, 2013 9:35:52 GMT -6
Savor the moment. Take your time.
Stop to smell the roses.
There is plenty of time if you don't make a mistake rushing.
|
|
|
|
Post by Johnkenn on Aug 9, 2013 9:38:38 GMT -6
Man, I'm beginning to think this too. How much gear have I had that I never really heard?
|
|
|
|
Post by svart on Aug 9, 2013 10:00:39 GMT -6
Exactly. First time I bought a *really expensive* mic and put it through my first *really expensive* preamp I was, ahem, "less than impressed". In fact, I was downright depressed. I had read all the raves and opinions and expected magic and angels singing and sonic bliss. Nope. What I got was almost the same bland sound I had been getting, maybe a little different. I kept on, bought new *really expensive* converters and things got marginally better. I wanted to give up. It wasn't until I took a mix to someone else's studio and put it through *really expensive* monitors that I started hearing things I hadn't heard. It was like.. I realized--like I was shot...like I was shot with a diamond...a diamond bullet right through my forehead that I couldn't hear WTF I was doing.
Frequency response be damned. Distortion specs be damned. Crossover frequency be damned. These selling points don't matter. What matters is DOES IT WORK? It could be the purest, cleanest and most analytical measurement results in the world, but does it actually work?
Why would I spend 2K on a mic, 2K+ on preamps, 3K for converters and monitor through 100$ monitors?
I did research and found the monitors for me. Something I wish I had done many years ago.
|
|
|
|
Post by cenafria on Aug 10, 2013 3:53:21 GMT -6
Savor the moment. Take your time. Stop to smell the roses. There is plenty of time if you don't make a mistake rushing. Of course, enjoying the session is important. I always do. There is always something to get excited about, from tuning drums to finding the right effect for the vocal. And part of the premise for the thread is "without affecting the quality of the results negatively". The great majority of the bands we work with here have very, very small budgets. I'm greatly motivated to deliver the best recording I can within that budget. Very little was taught to me about working fast from my mentors or the books and magazine I would study when starting out. A mix a day was considered a normal pace. For most of my clients this is just absolutely out of the question. Records finished in two to four days is the norm. And, over the years I've discovered that I enjoy the process of making records at a faster pace more than the three week records (although, obviously, I would never complain about these from a studio owner's point of view). |
|
|
|
Post by cenafria on Aug 10, 2013 3:57:31 GMT -6
Exactly. First time I bought a *really expensive* mic and put it through my first *really expensive* preamp I was, ahem, "less than impressed". In fact, I was downright depressed. I had read all the raves and opinions and expected magic and angels singing and sonic bliss. Nope. What I got was almost the same bland sound I had been getting, maybe a little different. I kept on, bought new *really expensive* converters and things got marginally better. I wanted to give up. It wasn't until I took a mix to someone else's studio and put it through *really expensive* monitors that I started hearing things I hadn't heard. It was like.. I realized--like I was shot...like I was shot with a diamond...a diamond bullet right through my forehead that I couldn't hear WTF I was doing. Frequency response be damned. Distortion specs be damned. Crossover frequency be damned. These selling points don't matter. What matters is DOES IT WORK? It could be the purest, cleanest and most analytical measurement results in the world, but does it actually work? Why would I spend 2K on a mic, 2K+ on preamps, 3K for converters and monitor through 100$ monitors? I did research and found the monitors for me. Something I wish I had done many years ago. Good monitors that work for you in a good room. And the whole system has to translate well enough that a band can make production decisions about their record. Absolutely. |
|
|
|
Post by cenafria on Aug 11, 2013 2:45:36 GMT -6
RE the drugs. I only had one time where the dude kept going and smoking. He got waaaay too baked to remember his own lyrics and then wanted me to NOT charge him for the time because he "wasn't recording". I've gotten a lot better about watching out for folks who might do that and I've kept a few people on track. They've actually thanked me for it later. I think you had bad luck with this client. I'm not sure there is any amount of weed that can make you that much of an a**hole. It looks like he had been practicing hard is whole life. The only time someone suggested that hours should start counting once the record button is hit, I was talking with a stone sober producer. I had to explain that I do my most important work before hitting record. It did feel a little bit like an attempt to scam me. A little bit. |
|
|
|
Post by cenafria on Aug 11, 2013 2:53:55 GMT -6
When I get a band in the studio that are not going to do any overdubs (a rare occurrence nowadays, I know), I set up to mix while the band are tracking. It is great if you can nail a mix while the band are actually playing. Even if none of the mixes are ok'd by the band, you've gotten a lot of work done, mixing will be a breeze. There's no "ah... I'll deal with that later".
|
|
|
|
Post by Ward on Aug 13, 2013 23:49:28 GMT -6
Progressing towards a mix during all overdub sessions can really save you time too.
|
|
|
|
Post by svart on Aug 14, 2013 9:38:32 GMT -6
Agreed. I've generally already got the drum sounds or the whole rhythm section sounds close by the time overdubs happen. Either I'm turning knobs on stuff while other instruments are tracking, or I've spent some time before/after a session to mess with the sounds.
However, I've been known to spend a day away from a mix and come in and reset everything and start again. Sometimes that takes less time than trying to make stuff fit if I'm not feeling that it's working as-is.
|
|
