I am in love with Cockos Reaper. It's performance is outstanding. I used cubase first and really enjoyed it, then i switched to pro tools and was super frustrated. The plugins were great but the performance, load times and instability were a complete desaster. Maybe it's because i have a windows system, but now with reaper it's a complete new level. Reaper is insanely fast, powerful, stable and comes without any limitations and crazy customization possibilities. It is the daw i recommend to everyone who starts recording, mixing or mastering. Actually there is nothing bad i can find about reaper except that it comes with no virtual instruments. But that is reasonable. The best things are, that it is for free if you want, it works on any system and it is super light weight.
For the person who asked about books, I recommend Home Recording Handbook. Its quite long in the tooth now but all the principles are there and its very straightforward. I still dip back into it after 15 years.
Just to offer my view on the stock plugins question, I recently moved away from using the Waves SSL E channel as my go to eq and dynamics (inserted on every channel in my template) to using the channel strip built into Cubase, and I find I am getting better mixes faster. Stock plugins are great!
Couldn't agree more, stock plugins are great! Knowing how to use the plugins that come with your DAW is an easy way to save money and I think it would be better in a lot of cases since it's more integrated with the DAW. For example, In FL Studio you get pitch bend notes that you can use with stock synths.
I am just moving from tape to computer recording. I'm working on learning Cake Walk and Reaper . Cake Walk has more free VSTs. And levels of learning. Reaper is more stable but seems to me less beginner friendly. As I'm learning the more Cubase and FL Studio looks interesting . I thank Warren , Produce like a Pro Academy and Glenn Fricker of SMG for teaching me most of what I know so far .
This man can literally answer any PT question you will ever have. I cant imagine a more qualified candidate to be teaching this stuff. I really enjoyed the video. Thanks
I really like these guest faq videos. I used to mix live recordings all the time and encountered swishy bleed from highly animated singers all the time. Best method for me was to work the vocals first and the bring everything else in to work with the vocals, not the other way around. Otherwise you’ll spend an eternity trying to fix every individual thing. Also for books I recommend the Yamaha sound reinforcement handbook, even if you’re not into live sound there is lots of really good info from basic physics, to microphones and even speaker design.
Great Warren and Jon. I think every time I get to hear from or meet with Jon ( he's one of my teachers currently), I always come away with more nuggets of wisdom than I do questions. I'm sure this new course is well worth the investment. I will be getting in on it. As always Warren, great information! Thank you both for a marvelous session.
Cool book to read for philosophy of recording and mixing as well as technical stuff: 'Musician's Survival Guide to a Killer Record' by Mixerman. I have it on Kindle but it is also available in hard copy.
The first DAW I used was Tracktion 7, which came free with my I/O, and its stock plugin list is pretty limited and weak, so I started looking for third-party plugins right away, but I didn't want to start spending lots of money, being that I was a total novice-and I'm a thrifty guy. But I soon found the KVR website, where you can find links to lots of good 100%-free third-party plugins.
Hi Warren, Jon, great FAQ Friday, excellent advice especially about instrument bleed, spent ages the other day trying to get rid of it, thanks for all the info, all the best, Darren.
I would love to see a video that goes more in depth on phase issues. How to tell when phase is happening and ways that it can be corrected. Thanks for all of these great videos sir!
My humble experience, for voluntary beginners, the free Tracktion version can easily process 80+ tracks e.g. on a gaming PC with 6 kernels. Instead of stock plugins, I have another recommendation. Melda EQ, TinyQ, Overtone GEQ, and the BootEQmkII (kind of channel strip EQ) and a few more (TDR VOS Slick EQ, Ignite PTEq-X..), are free, and the secret here is to avoid usage of the same EQ for every channel because it will get a digital "smell". But with a little experimentation and educated guess, it is possible to know which one to use for what instrument, so the sound becomes richer and more balanced, and possibly, less boring than using the same EQ always. (it is the same idea like some commercial plugins that emulate component aging, so you have it on 50 tracks but it sounds a little bit different for every track.) Some success will be possible already with such a system, and then it will be time to invest in commercial software or upgrades. Because what Warren tells is important, modern plugins are very smart and can speed up the workflow, but it is good to learn the basics with simple plugins, that do one or two things only.
Great episode. Question for a future episode: is there a difference in the way you gain stage/set levels for different types of sounds? For example, the difference in a snare drum (loud peak, but little sustain) and a distorted electric guitar (sustain with not very loud peaks). What do you consider a “healthy level” for each source? Thanks.
5 лет назад
I must say some thirdparty plugins visualise soo good what they actually do that they are amazing to learn what they do. It is often hard to hear the differencies especially as a beginner, having a visual representation of what happens helps sooooo much
Thank you, I’m going to get that course !!! In the meantime, do you have any idea if I can bring up the Transport bar with a quick key/shortcut ? I’m on a laptop so ‘COMM / 1’ doesn’t work. I’m basically only using the “Count off” on/off button, so perhaps there’s another way to access that? Thank you, Steve
Question: When mixing a song/album for release, do you personally print multiple takes until you get the right one? If so, how do you document the changes? Slate the takes (like the intro of Steve Vai's "Greasy Kid Stuff")? Notebook? Computer-based note taker app or word processor? Thanks. Great video, as always. Thanks so much for your time, enthusiasm, information, and insights.
When mixing a large number of backing vocal tracks, can you get good results by bouncing them down to one WAV file in order to save processing? I have like 20 chorus/harmony tracks that take a huge amount of processing power, and want to keep my computer from catching on fire 🔥
James so let me ask you this; Is it wiser to bounce dry, or bounce compressed, and equalized? I bounced these tracks- saving the originals in a copied folder- with compression, some slight tuning, and eq engaged, but no delay, reverb, etc. which i have bussed. I seem to have gotten a good result, only i do wonder if dry would be better. My concern is, even though i have good pitch, a subtle vocal tuning on big choir chorus sections seem to help lock in all the harmonies, and i was concerned a gang vocal would present challenges if i tried to tune the bounced version after the fact. Thoughts?
nick that’s true. Since i rebuilt my studio this year, i have become an endless tweaked of tones and effects. Most of it is making myself a better engineer, but, there are sometimes i will refuse to finish, and end up adding more vocals, more harmonies, layering more guitars, and then tweaking tones endlessly!!!
Reaper has by far the most powerful sounding name of any DAW, "Ableton Live": sounds like a daytime talk show, "Studio One" sounds like a yoga mat brand, "Bitwig"?!?!?!
Warren- "Modern Recording Techniques" by Huber & Runstein is in it's 9th edition. A very affordable & comprehensive easy read. (Also a book used at universities with RIM programs) If someone needs "basics", including up-to-date digital platforms, it's an awesome guide. This is just a recommendation, I have no affiliation.
Can you please do like a series of videos that explain the absolute basics of Compression and EQ. Everyone explains do this on a compressor do do that, you know like threshold does this, ratio does that. That's great but as a beginner it's difficult to listen to those minor changes. Maybe take just a snare track and apply compression to it and explain what every knob does , if there's just one track, say a snare or a guitar or a vocal, it's easier to focus. Say take a snare and change the attack, this way we'll be able to train our ears better i think.
Warren, I was curious if you've ever recorded using a mobile studio, like what the Stones and Ronnie Lane had. I was reading an article about those mobile studios a month or two ago, and I found it pretty interesting.
Question: Which is better, Investing a lot of money to build a high end studio or Just having a basic semi Home Studio Setup? do Small Artists need to go to Pro Studios at all?
Not sure what Warren would say, but why not get the best of both worlds? I can tell you that UAD-2 plugins and Apollo interfaces with their Unison technology give you more than you could ever possibly afford if you went the hardware route if you could even find the hardware at any price. I decided to take that leap instead of investing in hardware, and couldn't be happier. I ended up with a huge list of UAD-2 plugins for 50 USD after all the deals that came with the hardware, specials, and coupon codes that they gave me. It's so close to the analogue gear now that no one could tell the difference after it's been distributed through whatever streaming service the end user is using. I actually prefer some of the plugins to a lot of the gear now. If it's not well maintained or just an attempt at making something like an 1176-type compressor, the UAD software/hardware combo beats the quality and the convenience is incomparable. This is why more studios are starting to buy Apollos instead of maintaining the hardware with their budget.
Hi.. I have a question, how do you go about finding clients? I'm someone who is mixing from home and am unsure of how to do this as I'm just recently trying to make this a way of earning money on the side. Is it even viable?
Awesome FAQ Friday's video! On Coursera, Berkeley has an intro to Pro Tools for free. I went through the course and it was hands on. I would recommend it to anyone who is just starting out.
Another great video Warren many thanks! :D I would like for you to bring in some producer that makes music in the box. Especially a session that focuses on working with busses. I feel like this take the longest time to understand. Some people send me sessions with the same reverb on every channel. Working with busses as parallel compression. Delay, reverb and special effect for the tracks. Thanks for the great videos! You should host a meetup with fans and other producers in London since many of us cannot afford to travel to LA :)
Hello Warren. Another marvelous episode. You regularly talk about your preference to double mic the Hi-Hat with a SM57 and Small Diaphram Condenser. During a mix what aspects of each microphone do you highlight ? Do you often use both together in a mix, or is just so you have both options and choose one during mixing?
Love your channel!!! Could you please go more into depth regarding panning in instrumental, guitar-based songs and songs with only 2-3 elements? Keep up the good work!
As a musician(the $5000 gear into $500 car 100 miles to $50 gig variety) I fear the producer hat set includes $50000 gear into $5000 computer recording $50 tracks heard by 5 pairs of ears. Of course I also do RUclips now so I simply put on my 10 Hollywood hats, 5 Nashville Stetsons, 3 producer ball caps grab a bass then record a drum part add some acoustic rhythms and fingerpicking under my electric lead with some killer vocals for background in videos. What system would you recommend for that? I’m getting ready to upgrade!
While the benefits of tracking through hardware are pretty obvious, are there really any benefits to tracking through plugins when you can simply add plugins to the recorded track after the fact?
@@Producelikeapro It's super confusing here in the LA music scene because there are tons of Berklee alumni as well as UC Berkeley alumni and they spell their school's names differently. Great video as always!
Question: When Mixing four string bass, acoustic kick and 808 Kick sounds in one track, what eq and comp methods might you use to manage all that low end?
hey, Im making a living from mixing, but please take my advice with a pinch of salt as I am anonymous here :) I just mixed a similar track, three kick samples and synth bass and acoustic bass. The arrangement was a little confused, so we as mixers have to figure it out! -The first and most important thing is to take off all the plugins and play with the levels. I can't stress this enough. Does the bass need to be sit just behind the acoustic kick, with the 808 adding weight behind that, or is it the other way around. This is the key. Make sure the client /collaborators agrees with your decision then enhance that relationship with EQ/compression and other effects. Here is an idea of what I did in my case. This might not work with the song you are doing, but might be some inspiration: -once you have a balance you like, where you have made some actual decisions about what is most important for the song with volume, you might want to start gently eqing based on those decisions. Make the more important kick sound full and close, Give it some welly around 60 and some point at 2-6k. Then fit the other kick around it. So if you are boosting some 60 on the main kick, maybe high pass the less important kick a little bit etc. I would then bus the two kicks together and compress slightly with a slow attack and fast release by a few db. Also, I would take out some of the boxyness of having two kicks at 200-400 cycles by taking an eq and cutting around there by 2-5 db before the compression. Sidechain the sub in the bass with a multiband compressor to the "main" kick, only effecting below 200 or so. Now try again to touch the volumes, are there any improvements to be made by level. Hey presto!
@@GingerDrums Thanks dude for the detailed response. Im definetley gonna attempt the side chaining with the bass and 808. Its my own song so I re-did the bass part to play the fith of each chord once the 808 comes in, as previously both parts were doing the same thing. Now they are competing way less for the sub freq's and the song gets this clean down tuned guitar sound (through the 808+bass 5th = power chord) that makes the song get darker and more aggressive: I'm liking it. side chaining would still be helpful to maintain clarity between the two. I'll probably start playing around with the eq treatment you suggested for the acoustic kick.
If you're on analogue tape them mixing is often not much more than raising the faders and panning. The recording sounds "right" coming off tape often with no effects or EQ needed if you set the mics up right and got a good sound recorded. That never seems to work coming off a digital multitrack.
I have a FAQ Friday question that I would Really love answered. This also involves "Phase" issues. Does Phase only happen with incorrect mic placement, or can it still happen if instruments are recorded direct into the interface (without a mic); and can it occur with virtual instruments such as organs, piano, bass, etc? Thanks.
Question: What is your opinion on stereo matched microphones, does it even matter or is it all just a hoax? Question 2: Which converters do you use and what is your recommendation for more than 16 in's and out's simultaneously? (no limit on price)
Hello mate, what's your take on summing mixers? (provided tracking all done via audio interface - i use a midrange clarett 8prex - no external preamps) - typical garage studio tracking setup Thanks and best wishes
Great video as always! Question: Can you advise on how to proceed with tracking & mixing brass instruments, specifically a Sousa phone/tuba.. I am in the regional Mexican industry and Alot of the music I work with is Sousa phone /tuba heavy.. I'd like to know how I can get a great sound from the tracking phase, to the mixing and mastering phase.. thanks!
Warren, You should give Studio One a go...Maybe do a Mix on it....Then get hooked on Drag and Drop and super quick sends and work flow...Your videos are superb but watching you setup up sends in protools is like pulling teeth :p ( Only Joking ) :) x
Hey guys , how do you get an old analog mixing board to hook up to your computer and control each individual channel and track through your mixer to communicate to your computer without having just two tracks to record on like a stereo master track
I know it's not his fault, but really can't understand why any beginner would go PT these days, unless you need PT for post work in tv/film. Avid is evil (well, not really but I do feel like that sometimes). Why anyone would voluntarily go into a subscription model where the standard model is crippled is just crazy. Learn on Reaper, Ableton, Studio One and Samplitude first.
Hi Warren, I wrote a complex drumbook: Progressive Licks & Beats For The 21st Century Drummer, I,m going to sell it on Amazon soon, but I want to give you a free copy, where can I sent it to ? (pdf file) Thanks for your reply!! Cheers, Jeroen.
Since there was no under-the-bus-throwing in this episode i'll just throw this bus out there on everybody: I've got a fully patched Pro Tools 12 running on a fully patched Windows 10 system. I've always been mounting a consumer NAS as X: to be able to retrieve samples and what not. Not to use as a project drive. Suddenly out of the blue Pro Tools doesn't see my X: any more. All other Windows programs see my mounted network drive. I can mount the drive as a network device, then Pro Tools sees it again, but I'd rather use the old style of mounting a drive, with the letter thingie, if possible. Any pointers?
Pro Tools is like Internet Explorer. An outdated product that is popular because it came bundled with a piece of hardware. Ableton Live > Reason > Cubase Pro > Logic Pro > Presonus Studio One Does Pro Tools even realize everything has been MIDI for years now?
Too bad i was huge fan of pro tools user while studying audio engineering at sae institute in amman jordan.. 2 years after graduation i switched to studio one .. i wish that avid new update they will fix their daw.. alot of missing features and issues with their daw
Great as usual! Any chance to interview Paul Frindle, legendary engineer who design SSL 4000 E channel strip, Sony Oxford digital console and Sonoxx plugins. In case you never heard of him, read this www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/542885-paul-frindle-truth-myth.html
they pulled the course! i waited too long trying to save up the bread, and now its not available anymore :v( I tried contacting Pro Mix Academy but no response yet...
Hi PBx2007x every week we do FAQ Friday. That stands for Frequently Asked Questions. This was a co hosting for that so we shared the responsibility of answering the questions. The ones he felt better qualities he answered, others I answered. I’m sorry it wasn’t to your satisfaction. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours in music! Many thanks Warren
I am in love with Cockos Reaper. It's performance is outstanding.
I used cubase first and really enjoyed it, then i switched to pro tools and was super frustrated. The plugins were great but the performance, load times and instability were a complete desaster. Maybe it's because i have a windows system, but now with reaper it's a complete new level. Reaper is insanely fast, powerful, stable and comes without any limitations and crazy customization possibilities. It is the daw i recommend to everyone who starts recording, mixing or mastering. Actually there is nothing bad i can find about reaper except that it comes with no virtual instruments. But that is reasonable. The best things are, that it is for free if you want, it works on any system and it is super light weight.
@Artem Kapustin never tried that. Will it get even better?😱
@@nickmathews6226 I never tried that🤷♂️ As i am super happy with reaper there is also no reason for me to switch again.🙂
Hi Warren. Can you please do a video on processing while tracking?
Marvellous idea my friend!!
pro trick: watch series at Flixzone. Been using them for watching lots of of movies during the lockdown.
@Raphael Zion Definitely, been watching on Flixzone for months myself :D
Good to see a fellow ex Avid guy. Jon was one that actually trained me when I was working with Avid.
bannerrecording yes, wonderful guy! Great talent indeed!
Another great FAQ Friday! Thank you Warren and Jon! I'm looking forward to picking up the course for a bit o' Pro Tools therapy (LOVE that phrase)!
Thanks ever so much Dave! Yes, you'll love the course I'm sure!
For the person who asked about books, I recommend Home Recording Handbook. Its quite long in the tooth now but all the principles are there and its very straightforward. I still dip back into it after 15 years.
Just to offer my view on the stock plugins question, I recently moved away from using the Waves SSL E channel as my go to eq and dynamics (inserted on every channel in my template) to using the channel strip built into Cubase, and I find I am getting better mixes faster. Stock plugins are great!
Couldn't agree more, stock plugins are great! Knowing how to use the plugins that come with your DAW is an easy way to save money and I think it would be better in a lot of cases since it's more integrated with the DAW. For example, In FL Studio you get pitch bend notes that you can use with stock synths.
Warren is to music production what Brian Cox is to Science and cosmology. Making it so accessible and easy to understand for the masses.
Brian is so good at explaining complex topics, I get your point.
Hi Philfy Phil wow!! Thanks ever so much my friend! I am so glad to be able to help!
`Transverse Audio Thanks ever so much!
I am just moving from tape to computer recording. I'm working on learning Cake Walk and Reaper . Cake Walk has more free VSTs. And levels of learning. Reaper is more stable but seems to me less beginner friendly. As I'm learning the more Cubase and FL Studio looks interesting . I thank Warren , Produce like a Pro Academy and Glenn Fricker of SMG for teaching me most of what I know so far .
Cubase has great plugins. I use Sonar now, pretty good as well
This is my instructor at berklee Online. Great guy.
Thanks Ricky! That's great to see!!
This man can literally answer any PT question you will ever have. I cant imagine a more qualified candidate to be teaching this stuff. I really enjoyed the video. Thanks
@@rickyhughes93 WOW! High praise indeed!
so cool
@@rickyhughes93 that's amazing to hear! And YES, I agree 100%!!
I really like these guest faq videos. I used to mix live recordings all the time and encountered swishy bleed from highly animated singers all the time. Best method for me was to work the vocals first and the bring everything else in to work with the vocals, not the other way around. Otherwise you’ll spend an eternity trying to fix every individual thing.
Also for books I recommend the Yamaha sound reinforcement handbook, even if you’re not into live sound there is lots of really good info from basic physics, to microphones and even speaker design.
Great Warren and Jon. I think every time I get to hear from or meet with Jon ( he's one of my teachers currently), I always come away with more nuggets of wisdom than I do questions. I'm sure this new course is well worth the investment. I will be getting in on it.
As always Warren, great information! Thank you both for a marvelous session.
That's great to hear Doug! Yes, Jon is a Pro Tools guru to so m any of us out here in LA!
Cool book to read for philosophy of recording and mixing as well as technical stuff: 'Musician's Survival Guide to a Killer Record' by Mixerman. I have it on Kindle but it is also available in hard copy.
The first DAW I used was Tracktion 7, which came free with my I/O, and its stock plugin list is pretty limited and weak, so I started looking for third-party plugins right away, but I didn't want to start spending lots of money, being that I was a total novice-and I'm a thrifty guy. But I soon found the KVR website, where you can find links to lots of good 100%-free third-party plugins.
Hi Warren, Jon, great FAQ Friday, excellent advice especially about instrument bleed, spent ages the other day trying to get rid of it, thanks for all the info, all the best, Darren.
Thanks ever so much my friend!! I really appreciate it!
Best short explanation of phase. Ill be using the mono solo more often. Thanks
I would love to see a video that goes more in depth on phase issues. How to tell when phase is happening and ways that it can be corrected. Thanks for all of these great videos sir!
greg essig marvellous idea!!
greg essig Thanks ever so much for your amazing comment!
My humble experience, for voluntary beginners, the free Tracktion version can easily process 80+ tracks e.g. on a gaming PC with 6 kernels. Instead of stock plugins, I have another recommendation.
Melda EQ, TinyQ, Overtone GEQ, and the BootEQmkII (kind of channel strip EQ) and a few more (TDR VOS Slick EQ, Ignite PTEq-X..), are free, and the secret here is to avoid usage of the same EQ for every channel because it will get a digital "smell". But with a little experimentation and educated guess, it is possible to know which one to use for what instrument, so the sound becomes richer and more balanced, and possibly, less boring than using the same EQ always.
(it is the same idea like some commercial plugins that emulate component aging, so you have it on 50 tracks but it sounds a little bit different for every track.)
Some success will be possible already with such a system, and then it will be time to invest in commercial software or upgrades. Because what Warren tells is important, modern plugins are very smart and can speed up the workflow, but it is good to learn the basics with simple plugins, that do one or two things only.
Great episode. Question for a future episode: is there a difference in the way you gain stage/set levels for different types of sounds? For example, the difference in a snare drum (loud peak, but little sustain) and a distorted electric guitar (sustain with not very loud peaks). What do you consider a “healthy level” for each source? Thanks.
I must say some thirdparty plugins visualise soo good what they actually do that they are amazing to learn what they do. It is often hard to hear the differencies especially as a beginner,
having a visual representation of what happens helps sooooo much
Thank you, I’m going to get that course !!! In the meantime, do you have any idea if I can bring up the Transport bar with a quick key/shortcut ? I’m on a laptop so ‘COMM / 1’ doesn’t work. I’m basically only using the “Count off” on/off button, so perhaps there’s another way to access that?
Thank you, Steve
Question: When mixing a song/album for release, do you personally print multiple takes until you get the right one? If so, how do you document the changes? Slate the takes (like the intro of Steve Vai's "Greasy Kid Stuff")? Notebook? Computer-based note taker app or word processor? Thanks.
Great video, as always. Thanks so much for your time, enthusiasm, information, and insights.
When mixing a large number of backing vocal tracks, can you get good results by bouncing them down to one WAV file in order to save processing?
I have like 20 chorus/harmony tracks that take a huge amount of processing power, and want to keep my computer from catching on fire 🔥
Sure! I do that all the time. CLA does this too
James so let me ask you this;
Is it wiser to bounce dry, or bounce compressed, and equalized?
I bounced these tracks- saving the originals in a copied folder- with compression, some slight tuning, and eq engaged, but no delay, reverb, etc. which i have bussed. I seem to have gotten a good result, only i do wonder if dry would be better. My concern is, even though i have good pitch, a subtle vocal tuning on big choir chorus sections seem to help lock in all the harmonies, and i was concerned a gang vocal would present challenges if i tried to tune the bounced version after the fact.
Thoughts?
nick that’s true. Since i rebuilt my studio this year, i have become an endless tweaked of tones and effects. Most of it is making myself a better engineer, but, there are sometimes i will refuse to finish, and end up adding more vocals, more harmonies, layering more guitars, and then tweaking tones endlessly!!!
Reaper has by far the most powerful sounding name of any DAW, "Ableton Live": sounds like a daytime talk show, "Studio One" sounds like a yoga mat brand, "Bitwig"?!?!?!
Haha If the name was the only thing we judged our DAW's on then maybe Reaper would work!! Conjures up the 'Grim Reaper'!
@@Producelikeapro True!, maybe not the most scientific way to choose a DAW, lol, love your channel!
Warren- "Modern Recording Techniques" by Huber & Runstein is in it's 9th edition. A very affordable & comprehensive easy read. (Also a book used at universities with RIM programs) If someone needs "basics", including up-to-date digital platforms, it's an awesome guide. This is just a recommendation, I have no affiliation.
Yes! It's a wonderful book that I've seen so many people use!!
Thanks for recommending this!
What is the best way to start getting mixing clients? How would you go about it now if you were just starting out?
This question has to be answered... been wondering the same thing!
I agree with the Waves RBass and MV2. They're very useful tools.
Agreed! Both amazing!!
Can you please do like a series of videos that explain the absolute basics of Compression and EQ. Everyone explains do this on a compressor do do that, you know like threshold does this, ratio does that. That's great but as a beginner it's difficult to listen to those minor changes. Maybe take just a snare track and apply compression to it and explain what every knob does , if there's just one track, say a snare or a guitar or a vocal, it's easier to focus. Say take a snare and change the attack, this way we'll be able to train our ears better i think.
Warren, I was curious if you've ever recorded using a mobile studio, like what the Stones and Ronnie Lane had. I was reading an article about those mobile studios a month or two ago, and I found it pretty interesting.
I was a bit disapointed he was not hoping we were doing marvellously well. For the other part, an excellent video!
Question: Which is better, Investing a lot of money to build a high end studio or Just having a basic semi Home Studio Setup? do Small Artists need to go to Pro Studios at all?
Not sure what Warren would say, but why not get the best of both worlds? I can tell you that UAD-2 plugins and Apollo interfaces with their Unison technology give you more than you could ever possibly afford if you went the hardware route if you could even find the hardware at any price. I decided to take that leap instead of investing in hardware, and couldn't be happier. I ended up with a huge list of UAD-2 plugins for 50 USD after all the deals that came with the hardware, specials, and coupon codes that they gave me. It's so close to the analogue gear now that no one could tell the difference after it's been distributed through whatever streaming service the end user is using. I actually prefer some of the plugins to a lot of the gear now. If it's not well maintained or just an attempt at making something like an 1176-type compressor, the UAD software/hardware combo beats the quality and the convenience is incomparable. This is why more studios are starting to buy Apollos instead of maintaining the hardware with their budget.
What are the Steely Dan tracks that everybody references?
Many Engineers use 'Aja' by Steely Dan, its considered an Engineering Masterpiece
Larry Green Music yes!! Anything from them! However certainly ‘Aja’ that is a masterpiece!!
Darlene Sheffield agreed! 100%!
Hi..
I have a question, how do you go about finding clients? I'm someone who is mixing from home and am unsure of how to do this as I'm just recently trying to make this a way of earning money on the side. Is it even viable?
Awesome FAQ Friday's video! On Coursera, Berkeley has an intro to Pro Tools for free. I went through the course and it was hands on. I would recommend it to anyone who is just starting out.
Another great video Warren many thanks! :D
I would like for you to bring in some producer that makes music in the box. Especially a session that focuses on working with busses. I feel like this take the longest time to understand. Some people send me sessions with the same reverb on every channel. Working with busses as parallel compression. Delay, reverb and special effect for the tracks.
Thanks for the great videos!
You should host a meetup with fans and other producers in London since many of us cannot afford to travel to LA :)
Thanks as always Warren!! I have really been enjoying the videos lately. Keep up the great content.
Keith Williams Thanks ever so much my friend!!
Hello Warren.
Another marvelous episode.
You regularly talk about your preference to double mic the Hi-Hat with a SM57 and Small Diaphram Condenser. During a mix what aspects of each microphone do you highlight ? Do you often use both together in a mix, or is just so you have both options and choose one during mixing?
Ha, all this time I've been worried about noise in my home studio, and there's a plane at 12:05.
here it's my neighbour with chainsaw :)
Love your channel!!! Could you please go more into depth regarding panning in instrumental, guitar-based songs and songs with only 2-3 elements? Keep up the good work!
Thanks Warren! great episode. Have a great weekend.
Hi Martin Luxen Thanks ever so much my friend!!
really thank you for answering all these
As a musician(the $5000 gear into $500 car 100 miles to $50 gig variety) I fear the producer hat set includes $50000 gear into $5000 computer recording $50 tracks heard by 5 pairs of ears. Of course I also do RUclips now so I simply put on my 10 Hollywood hats, 5 Nashville Stetsons, 3 producer ball caps grab a bass then record a drum part add some acoustic rhythms and fingerpicking under my electric lead with some killer vocals for background in videos. What system would you recommend for that? I’m getting ready to upgrade!
Great Content, really loving it. I´m just starting out with Homerecording and mixing. Keep going
Thank you Warren!! all the best
Hi Blue Matrix thanks ever so much!!
While the benefits of tracking through hardware are pretty obvious, are there really any benefits to tracking through plugins when you can simply add plugins to the recorded track after the fact?
Would you ever track a good rock drummer to a click, capture a great performance, and then chop it up and quantize it?
Unless it’s metal or a genre where things are expected to be unnaturally tight, no
*Berklee
Oops! Spellcheck strikes again!
@@Producelikeapro It's super confusing here in the LA music scene because there are tons of Berklee alumni as well as UC Berkeley alumni and they spell their school's names differently. Great video as always!
@@Therareoccasions Thanks ever so much! FYI it had been changed to the correct spelling already on the actual landing page!
What routing would cause the delay compensation in protools to not compensate accurately?
HI Ilan, marvellous question! Like anything it's rare and a restart usually remedies it!
Question: When Mixing four string bass, acoustic kick and 808 Kick sounds in one track, what eq and comp methods might you use to manage all that low end?
hey,
Im making a living from mixing, but please take my advice with a pinch of salt as I am anonymous here :)
I just mixed a similar track, three kick samples and synth bass and acoustic bass. The arrangement was a little confused, so we as mixers have to figure it out!
-The first and most important thing is to take off all the plugins and play with the levels. I can't stress this enough. Does the bass need to be sit just behind the acoustic kick, with the 808 adding weight behind that, or is it the other way around. This is the key. Make sure the client /collaborators agrees with your decision then enhance that relationship with EQ/compression and other effects.
Here is an idea of what I did in my case. This might not work with the song you are doing, but might be some inspiration:
-once you have a balance you like, where you have made some actual decisions about what is most important for the song with volume, you might want to start gently eqing based on those decisions. Make the more important kick sound full and close, Give it some welly around 60 and some point at 2-6k. Then fit the other kick around it. So if you are boosting some 60 on the main kick, maybe high pass the less important kick a little bit etc. I would then bus the two kicks together and compress slightly with a slow attack and fast release by a few db. Also, I would take out some of the boxyness of having two kicks at 200-400 cycles by taking an eq and cutting around there by 2-5 db before the compression.
Sidechain the sub in the bass with a multiband compressor to the "main" kick, only effecting below 200 or so.
Now try again to touch the volumes, are there any improvements to be made by level.
Hey presto!
@@GingerDrums Thanks dude for the detailed response. Im definetley gonna attempt the side chaining with the bass and 808. Its my own song so I re-did the bass part to play the fith of each chord once the 808 comes in, as previously both parts were doing the same thing. Now they are competing way less for the sub freq's and the song gets this clean down tuned guitar sound (through the 808+bass 5th = power chord) that makes the song get darker and more aggressive: I'm liking it. side chaining would still be helpful to maintain clarity between the two. I'll probably start playing around with the eq treatment you suggested for the acoustic kick.
Man. I need to save some money to buy this course.
Timmy Fazini graf stuff! You’ll really enjoy it! Jon did an amazing job!!
If you're on analogue tape them mixing is often not much more than raising the faders and panning. The recording sounds "right" coming off tape often with no effects or EQ needed if you set the mics up right and got a good sound recorded. That never seems to work coming off a digital multitrack.
I have a FAQ Friday question that I would Really love answered.
This also involves "Phase" issues. Does Phase only happen with incorrect mic placement, or can it still happen if instruments are recorded direct into the interface (without a mic); and can it occur with virtual instruments such as organs, piano, bass, etc?
Thanks.
Question: What is your opinion on stereo matched microphones, does it even matter or is it all just a hoax?
Question 2: Which converters do you use and what is your recommendation for more than 16 in's and out's simultaneously? (no limit on price)
Hi Warren, what was the best piece of mixing advice you were ever given?
Take frequent breaks!! The best advice ever! Save your ears! Keep your perspective!
Hello mate, what's your take on summing mixers? (provided tracking all done via audio interface - i use a midrange clarett 8prex - no external preamps) - typical garage studio tracking setup
Thanks and best wishes
Excellent interview
I still have my Digi002 rack but I’ve been out of touch a few years. Will it still work with recent releases of ProTools?
Steely Dan reference tracks.. Which ones?
The Album 'Aja' is a favourite for many people!
Hi Warren, how do you tackle a session that was not recorded with a click but really should of been!
Great video as always!
Question: Can you advise on how to proceed with tracking & mixing brass instruments, specifically a Sousa phone/tuba.. I am in the regional Mexican industry and Alot of the music I work with is Sousa phone /tuba heavy.. I'd like to know how I can get a great sound from the tracking phase, to the mixing and mastering phase.. thanks!
Warren, You should give Studio One a go...Maybe do a Mix on it....Then get hooked on Drag and Drop and super quick sends and work flow...Your videos are superb but watching you setup up sends in protools is like pulling teeth :p ( Only Joking ) :) x
Amazin vid very informative I Feelike mixing now
Thank u, I love it👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽
You're very welcome my friend!!
Hey guys , how do you get an old analog mixing board to hook up to your computer and control each individual channel and track through your mixer to communicate to your computer without having just two tracks to record on like a stereo master track
When Protools steps up there midi I might go back but Cubase and Logic and Studio One are killing them....
I know it's not his fault, but really can't understand why any beginner would go PT these days, unless you need PT for post work in tv/film. Avid is evil (well, not really but I do feel like that sometimes). Why anyone would voluntarily go into a subscription model where the standard model is crippled is just crazy. Learn on Reaper, Ableton, Studio One and Samplitude first.
Hey Warren! It would be great if you could interview Michael 'Elvis' Baskette, who recorded Slash's latest album!
Regarding books: I really like Mike Senior's "Recording Secrets" and "Mixing Secrets"...
Arnd Gronenberg thanks for the recommendations!
Hi Warren, I wrote a complex drumbook: Progressive Licks & Beats For The 21st Century Drummer, I,m going to sell it on Amazon soon, but I want to give you a free copy, where can I sent it to ? (pdf file) Thanks for your reply!! Cheers, Jeroen.
Berklee or Berkeley?
Since there was no under-the-bus-throwing in this episode i'll just throw this bus out there on everybody:
I've got a fully patched Pro Tools 12 running on a fully patched Windows 10 system. I've always been mounting a consumer NAS as X: to be able to retrieve samples and what not. Not to use as a project drive. Suddenly out of the blue Pro Tools doesn't see my X: any more. All other Windows programs see my mounted network drive. I can mount the drive as a network device, then Pro Tools sees it again, but I'd rather use the old style of mounting a drive, with the letter thingie, if possible. Any pointers?
Pro Tools is like Internet Explorer. An outdated product that is popular because it came bundled with a piece of hardware.
Ableton Live > Reason > Cubase Pro > Logic Pro > Presonus Studio One
Does Pro Tools even realize everything has been MIDI for years now?
Too bad i was huge fan of pro tools user while studying audio engineering at sae institute in amman jordan.. 2 years after graduation i switched to studio one .. i wish that avid new update they will fix their daw.. alot of missing features and issues with their daw
Great as usual! Any chance to interview Paul Frindle, legendary engineer who design SSL 4000 E channel strip, Sony Oxford digital console and Sonoxx plugins.
In case you never heard of him, read this
www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/542885-paul-frindle-truth-myth.html
Hi 👋
Thanks ever so much Adam!!
I understand what you mean about calling somebody an 'expert'... maybe Guru would be a better term? :)
Hi Mark Hoskins yes, agreed 100% my friend!
they pulled the course! i waited too long trying to save up the bread, and now its not available anymore :v( I tried contacting Pro Mix Academy but no response yet...
Which course? Let me know and I will make sure you get it!
Do you mean this:- ultimateguidetoprotools.com/ it’s still available
Pro Tools is a pain in the ass
Most powerful DAW.....Studio One. Pro Tools is just disappointing
They are ultimately all the same! If you are talking about “what daw” you are doing it wrong...
@@dingbatjack1234
I tend to agree, All modern DAW's do the same job ultimately.
Wish you let Jon talk and answer more than you
Hi PBx2007x every week we do FAQ Friday. That stands for Frequently Asked Questions. This was a co hosting for that so we shared the responsibility of answering the questions. The ones he felt better qualities he answered, others I answered. I’m sorry it wasn’t to your satisfaction. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours in music! Many thanks Warren
Produce Like A Pro Oh ok, thanks for the clarification. Thought it was a FAQ for the guest.