Category Archives: Process

How and why

Song for Smash

This weekend Bekah Kelso was in recording a song for a special cause.

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PAY WHAT YOU LIKE FOR THIS TRACK – ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO THE FAMILY OF ASHLYNN SPENCER TO HELP COVER THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH HER ONGOING CARE. For more information on Transverse Myeletis and Smash’s journey, visit and join www.facebook.com/hugsforsmash …MORE

Set up was simple, AKG 414 for the Acoustic (Martin) and Pearlman TM-1 for the vocal. Both were running through Universal Audio’s 4110 into UA Apollo. I used a UAD Fatso for monitoring, recording the clean signal at 24-bit 96k. Equalization was minimal. I used a healthy dose of Slate’s VTM on every track.

Magic is in the performance

Check out www.bekahkelso.com for more music.

Thanks for listening!

Eyeless Equalization

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This is no surprise to experienced audio engineers. Mixing with our ears should be the only method. Like I tell students,”…nobody watches music.” However, with DAWs, it’s difficult to ignore all the visual data that potentially influences one’s mix decisions.This can be especially overwhelming to amateurs in regards to equalization. Solutions range from closing your eyes to mixing in the analog domain. Digital control surfaces offer compromise. Of course making a conscious decision to acknowledge, sift through, utilize pertinent visual data is possible and should be encouraged.

It applies to equalization because of the proportional properties of frequencies. Once you get passed recognizing Low/Mid/Hi and get into frequencies there’s harmonics. Harmonics are multiples of a fundamental frequency and give instruments their timbre. Timbre is why the same note(fundamental frequency) played on a piano sounds different than on a trumpet, guitar, etc

1. Piano Without EQ

2. Piano with EQ

In this example I used four mics to record this live piano at Windmill Valley Recording played by Ricky Hernandez on Bekah Kelso‘s new album Within the Shifting Shade.

I did some fine EQing on the individual tracks then routed the four tracks to a stereo bus. This is where this equalizer come in.The goal here was to clean up the piano’s midrange to improve clarity. This all happened intuitively while I avoided looking at the EQ while tweaking. I would bump the gain about 4db and sweep left or right after looking at the band’s original position. So I did not set out to mathematically equalize this track. I did the math after I was satisfied with my eq decisions.

I found 645hz (yellow)for the fundamental. Here’s where the proportional part of frequencies and harmonics are useful and visual data can be helpful. I went to the 213hz (orange) below the fundamental. After cleaning the mids I used 1.23k(green) to tame the “honky” high mids.

The Math:

Fundamental 645hz.

645hz divided by 3 gets you 215hz. I landed on 213hz

645hz multiplied by 2 gets you to 1.29khz. I landed on 1.23khz

There are many ways to understand and utilize equalizers. An Equalizer can be a scalpel or a machete.The most important one is listening to real instruments in person, listen to a lot of music and build your sonic vocabulary.

Happy frequency hunting!

M/S Mic’ing for Drums

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With a simple kit set up, a simple mic set-up can be the most rewarding come mix time. The purpose here was to have these drums sound like a cohesive unit. The pattern was simple and as you can see so was the kit.

For the remainder of Bekah Kelso‘s new project I decided to go with a M/S set-up on Ryan Kelso’s great sounding Gretsch kit. A Nuemann TLM 193 cardioid(Mid) and a AKG 414 B-XLS in a figure 8(Side) I added Kick(AKG D112), Snare(Earthworks SR 30HC), Tom(Audix D4) for a little more definition.

This is the sum of all tracks. With a touch of EQ and Compression. The MS was decoded using Waves MS Matrix.

1. Mid Side Ryan

Stay tuned for more music…

Forced Rewire

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My current studio set up will get a rethink/rewire. So as it took me a long time to get here, I will take advantage of this opportunity to maximize my set up.
What will get disconnected? 16 channels I/O, 1 patchbay, 10 channels of mic pres, 6 side-chain connections, 4 channels of compression, and lots of monitors.
The biggest challenge will be hiding the cabling.

Looking forward to it and the new floors!

I’m In the Studio

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I totally get a kick from some first time “artists” in the studio. The room is excited. Everyone has done their homework. We are in the process of setting up; making sure the environment is at it’s best. Inevitably, someone’s phone will ring and I’ll hear,”… yeah, I’m in the studio.” Big smirk and a nod of approval. Before I remind everyone to turn off their phones, I remind myself I was once in the studio for the first time and remember my synapses having their own rave party as I walked around trying to take it all in. The idea the energy an artist is putting forth will permanently be captured either on magnetic tape(analog) or a 0’s and 1’s (digital) can seem magical yet daunting. Don’t be scared my friends. Here are a few tips to make your studio experience a positive one.

Do your homework. It’s a recording studio not a practice studio. Knowing what needs to be done allows one to better explore other possibilities efficiently and effectively.

Be on time. Sounds simple enough. In most cases, the studio is paying for the engineers time with or without the artist there.

Respect the control room. The engineer’s job to listen and capture is a critical process. While the engineer is recording, listening, editing he/she is focused and trying to get the best possible sound for you. Talking or noise that has nothing to do with the task at hand can go to the lounge area or another room. It’s like getting in front of a camera while the photographer is taking a picture of something else. It’s your time, your money and I’m sure you want the best for that.

No such thing as a stupid question. Most of us are happy to share our knowledge with anyone who asks. If you want to know more about the process you are undergoing, make a list of questions, wait for a break, and fire away. You might be surprised. We might not shut up.

Have a good time. You’re capturing a moment. Make that moment beautiful and you’ll end up with beautiful music. This is easier said than done. Maintaining positive relationship between two people is difficult enough. I’m sure a five piece band can provide a deterrent for polygamy.

The studio can seem like a microscope exposing all the imperfections. One should use that to improve and grow as an artist. What happens in the studio, stays in the studio… until the CD comes out.

Happy New Year and thanks for listening!

What’s In A Great Recording?

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The best recording of a bad song is never as good as the worst recording of a great song.

Keep that in mind as I talk about gear(equipment), production, and the one part this process can’t work without, the song. Gear is everything at an engineer’s disposal to make the project work. The room in which the sound is captured, equipment like microphones, preamplifiers, compressors, equalizers, spatial effects, etc. What’s a good microphone? At the very least, a good mic should capture an accurate representation of its source. Preamplifiers magnify the sound the mic captures. Preamps have become an obsession to those who can hear differences in characteristics(engineers, audiophiles).The rest of the gear is used by the engineer to shape, control, disintegrate, re-integrate, smooth, and polish. What’s a good engineer? A good engineer will know the best applications for the available gear. This might be vague and confusing, but bear with me. There is no one way to record anything. A good engineer has experienced various situations, building a mental index of sounds and characteristics not only of the sounds that are being captured but the equipment as well. Talking to an engineer, one would think inanimate objects have personality.

Production can sometimes be a mysterious and abstract event seemingly pulled out of thin air. This is where the “magic” is created assuming the producer has a vision and knows how to achieve the sound he/she wants. Production is when the decisions of instrumentation, arrangement, and performance are finalized and captured. Although some of the best captured performances are serendipitous, there is a skill that an experienced producer can bring to a project. What’s a good producer? A good producer is resourceful and creative. Has ability to communicate ideas with musicians on their level for an efficient workflow. Employs a basic grasp of psychology to coax artists performances. I mean that in an honest, artistic, creative, loving, respectful sense.

“I wrote a song, I’m an artist”…”I made a sand castle, I’m an architect”

The craft of songwriting has driven many to insanity. There are naturals but even they had to hone their skill. The best never stop. What is a good song? A good song sticks to you, takes you away. A good song will show you something new maybe even about yourself. A good song puts you in the shoes the artist wanted you to wear. This applies to any genre. Take your favorite song and imagine it in a different style. You’ll find the great songs can be shape shifters and fit in any genre. That’s magic. A great engineer and a great producer can definitely make a song sound better. Just like a great photographer and a great camera can photograph any object, you still need a worthy object.

I’d like to hear what makes your favorite song.

Thanks for listening!