Archives
February 2009
When miking instruments, it's easy to get into a rut, or to feel that the gear you have isn't adequate to the job at hand. Either way, your music just doesn't end up sounding as cool as you know it could be. Fortunately, RECORDING is here to help you out, with a whole issue full of cool and inventive miking tips and techniques to get your miking mojo risin'.
In this issue, you'll learn how to turn an old upright piano, even one that's beat-up and out of tune, into a valuable adjunct to your computer recording rig. You'll get tips on capturing the vibe of a live concert in the studio... and on getting studio-quality recordings from a live band at a show. You'll even learn the ups and downs of working with a USB microphone. We have articles on maximizing your vocal sessions, working with multiband dynamics on guitars, and more... even a fascinating glimpse into the world of East Indian Kirtan folk music, and how a famous Kirtan player is capturing world-class tracks in her home studio with affordable gear.
All this plus over a dozen great reviews, our monthly columns, Readers' Tapes with Marty Peters (now online), and much more. Turn your mics into magic with the help of the February RECORDING! Pick it up now on the newsstand... and so you get your next issue early (and save on cost), why not hit the big red Subscribe Now button on this page and have RECORDING delivered to your door each month?
Kirtan with Ragani
|
Interviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Kirtan with Ragani |
Interviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Ragani proves that it’s not what you use but how you use it. She produces stellar tracks of East Indian folk music with a pop flavor in her tiny home studio and shares her techniques with our readers.
Kirtan is a participatory call ......Expand
Ragani proves that it’s not what you use but how you use it. She produces stellar tracks of East Indian folk music with a pop flavor in her tiny home studio and shares her techniques with our readers.
Kirtan is a participatory call and response form of East Indian devotional folk music. It is sung primarily in Sanskrit, and while this sounds exotic, esoteric and rare, it is proving to be quite popular in the Western world. Kirtan is often found assimilated into Jazz, New Age, World and even Pop music; Madonna’s 2002 “Ray of Light” and Cher’s performance of “Gayatri Mantra” on her farewell tour are two prime examples.
Midwestern-based performer and Kirtan leader/singer Ragani (pronounced: RAH-gah-nee) is a prime exponent of Kirtan; her Kirtan Café albums are a hybrid fusion of traditional East Indian instruments, electric bass and guitars. This blend brings the traditional form gently into a modern pop realm without sacrificing its integrity.
The quality of the recordings is lush and full, yet spacious and defined. Assuming they were recorded in a professional studio, I was stunned to find out that it was all tracked by Ragani herself, layer by layer in a combination of retreat centers as well as in her living room, with a modest hand-picked arsenal of gear (see sidebar) centered around a Digi 001 Pro Tools LE system.
I sat with Ragani in her living room/studio to learn more about her journey...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
The Mixing Workshop: Part 2—Rock Guitars Rule
|
Written by
Sean Shannon
The Mixing Workshop: Part 2—Rock Guitars Rule |
Written by
Sean Shannon
Last time we set out the basics for building reliable mixes. Now we go deep with an example everyone can relate to—the electric guitar.
The electric guitar must have a million ‘good’ sounds. Different songs, different guitar sounds.......Expand
Last time we set out the basics for building reliable mixes. Now we go deep with an example everyone can relate to—the electric guitar.
The electric guitar must have a million ‘good’ sounds. Different songs, different guitar sounds. Different player, different guitar sound. Although that seems completely obvious, many clients want the same exact sound that ‘so-and-so’ got on his big-label record. Usually, that sound is not so much the result of simple eq settings or a particular piece of gear—more likely it is the product of the player’s overall approach, a combination of many sonic elements like personal playing technique, strings, guitar, amp, effects, used in combination.
This has got to be acknowledged when mixing, because, unless you have total creative freedom, you want to preserve as much of your client’s intended guitar sound in the mix as possible. Here are some tips for achieving the right balance and tone with electric guitars...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
Recording's Vocal Column
|
Written by
Eric Ferguson
Recording's Vocal Column |
Written by
Eric Ferguson
Big things, little things—they all add up when trying to capture a stellar vocal.
Early in my tenure as an assistant in a major studio, I learned that vocal sessions were often high-intensity and stressful. Why? One, because......Expand
Big things, little things—they all add up when trying to capture a stellar vocal.
Early in my tenure as an assistant in a major studio, I learned that vocal sessions were often high-intensity and stressful. Why? One, because vocals are the most important and obvious element in a song—you can’t afford to make mistakes. Two, because singers are often both the artist and the client, and engineers and producers who fail to impress their client can lose a gig.
The technical staff must ensure that every sung note is captured cleanly, or face the consequences of missing that one perfect moment. You don’t want to be the one to say: “I’m sorry, I was not in Record. Can you sing that again?” Here are my rules for smooth vocal sessions...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
Recording's Bass Column
|
Written by
Dave Martin
Recording's Bass Column |
Written by
Dave Martin
Into the Wayback Machine once more, for another look at a famous bass track: this time it’s the classic country tune “Crazy”.
There aren’t a lot of bass players whose credits include as many classic recordings as Bob Moore. ......Expand
Into the Wayback Machine once more, for another look at a famous bass track: this time it’s the classic country tune “Crazy”.
There aren’t a lot of bass players whose credits include as many classic recordings as Bob Moore. During the course of his career, Bob estimates that he played on close to 18,000 sessions, from Marty Robbins to Simon and Garfunkel, from Elvis Presley to Kenny Rogers. Today’s discussion centers on a single one of Moore’s most often heard bass performances—the one on Patsy Cline’s classic, “Crazy”...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
Getting Live Sound in your Studio (and vice versa)
|
Written by
Jon Bare
Getting Live Sound in your Studio (and vice versa) |
Written by
Jon Bare
The stage and the studio are very different places, but here are some cool tricks that let you swap live energy and studio clarity with good success.
Let’s pretend we’re children and play make-believe. Last time we were doct......Expand
The stage and the studio are very different places, but here are some cool tricks that let you swap live energy and studio clarity with good success.
Let’s pretend we’re children and play make-believe. Last time we were doctors or Indian chiefs but this time we’re going to be recording engineers! Whoopee! And let’s pretend that we just saw this fantastic band at a live show and they were awesome! So good that we had to go up to them after the show and tell them all about our home studio and how we could capture their live sound and deliver a great CD at a reasonable price...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
Re-Amplifying the Piano
|
Written by
D. Bruce Moore
Re-Amplifying the Piano |
Written by
D. Bruce Moore
Place a speaker and a mic inside a piano to enhance your piano samples? Sure! Here’s why, and how.
You just can’t beat a well-tuned, well-recorded piano! Now don’t get me wrong—there are some pretty good piano samples out th......Expand
Place a speaker and a mic inside a piano to enhance your piano samples? Sure! Here’s why, and how.
You just can’t beat a well-tuned, well-recorded piano! Now don’t get me wrong—there are some pretty good piano samples out there, and a good sample can often sound better than a poor authentic piano. But what if you don’t have the latest and greatest quarter-Terabyte piano module or you have a less-than-stellar piano? Here is a technique that can add an air of authenticity to your piano sequence...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
The Kontakt 2 Player: Origins and Advantages
|
Written by
Kevin Fletcher Tweedy
The Kontakt 2 Player: Origins and Advantages |
Written by
Kevin Fletcher Tweedy
Lots of sample libraries use Kontakt 2 Player for playback. Learn how one engine can create an entire universe of seemingly different virtual instruments.
The Kontakt 2 Player is everywhere—a very large proportion of the vir......Expand
Lots of sample libraries use Kontakt 2 Player for playback. Learn how one engine can create an entire universe of seemingly different virtual instruments.
The Kontakt 2 Player is everywhere—a very large proportion of the virtual instruments and sample libraries available today are based on this powerful sample-playback technology by Native Instruments. Products by different manufacturers can seem completely different in terms of what they let you do with them, yet all are based on this one engine. If you’re wondering how one product can do so many things, read on...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
Keeping Your Hand In: Part 2—Out In The World
|
Written by
Paul J. Stamler
Keeping Your Hand In: Part 2—Out In The World |
Written by
Paul J. Stamler
Okay, so you’ve done all you can to set up your studio to prevent crippling hand injuries. What about the world outside...?
Last month I talked about the perils of how computer use could permanently mess up your body. What y......Expand
Okay, so you’ve done all you can to set up your studio to prevent crippling hand injuries. What about the world outside...?
Last month I talked about the perils of how computer use could permanently mess up your body. What you do (and don’t do) at your computer is central to preventing repetitive motion injuries, but there are a few things in the rest of your life that also matter. (Yes, there is a rest of your life.)...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
DAW Details
|
Written by
Mike Metlay
DAW Details |
Written by
Mike Metlay
USB microphones are a mystery to some folks, and taken for granted by others. Here’s a look under the hood at what makes these marvelous devices work.
People who’ve been recording for a while often regard USB microphones as ......Expand
USB microphones are a mystery to some folks, and taken for granted by others. Here’s a look under the hood at what makes these marvelous devices work.
People who’ve been recording for a while often regard USB microphones as some form of black magic: mysterious, unfathomable, not entirely to be trusted. People who are very new to recording and used to the current generation of recording technology may take USB mics for granted, wondering, “What’s the big deal?” Both forms of ignorance can lead to trouble, so let’s fill in some gaps...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
Do It Yourself: Build Your Own Miniature Omni Mic
|
Written by
Scott Dorsey
Do It Yourself: Build Your Own Miniature Omni Mic |
Written by
Scott Dorsey
A tiny and useful mic that you can build for fifteen dollars... we’ll show you how.
A simple omni mic design by Joel Cameron, based on the inexpensive Panasonic electret capsule, has existed for some time, but it requires an......Expand
A tiny and useful mic that you can build for fifteen dollars... we’ll show you how.
A simple omni mic design by Joel Cameron, based on the inexpensive Panasonic electret capsule, has existed for some time, but it requires an external power supply and isn’t completely balanced. It did serve to get me thinking, and I eventually figured out a way to build an entirely new mic circuit based on this Panasonic capsule, one that uses phantom power—and fits entirely inside an XLR connector. Here’s how it works...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
Fade Out
|
Written by
Scott Dorsey
Fade Out |
Written by
Scott Dorsey
Why Is Phantom Power Called That?
When the telegraph was the dominant form of communication, it was operated over a single wire, with ground return. That is, one station had a battery and a key in series, with one end tied t......Expand
Why Is Phantom Power Called That?
When the telegraph was the dominant form of communication, it was operated over a single wire, with ground return. That is, one station had a battery and a key in series, with one end tied to a ground rod and the other end tied to the long wire that ran to the other station where a sounder would be wired between it and another ground rod, so the earth was being used as the return to complete the circuit. This worked well enough, at least in places with low ground resistance.
When the telephone became popular, early telephone circuits used a similar connection, but it was found to be extremely noisy and crosstalk between lines was high. By the late 1870s it was clear that the solution for this was differential signalling, what audio people call the balanced line....
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
Recording's Guitar Column
|
Reviewed by
Frank Gryner
Recording's Guitar Column |
Reviewed by
Frank Gryner
With this Part 1 we start a new look at multiband dynamics in guitar recordings—it’s a powerful tool, dangerous in inexperienced hands but capable of amazing tricks.
Up until the last decade, spectral dynamic processing or m......Expand
With this Part 1 we start a new look at multiband dynamics in guitar recordings—it’s a powerful tool, dangerous in inexperienced hands but capable of amazing tricks.
Up until the last decade, spectral dynamic processing or multiband compression was largely reserved for mastering and broadcast applications. The concept of allowing an engineer individual dynamic control over the separate sectors of the frequency spectrum is often looked upon as a corrective measure for an entire mix and less as a recording or mixing staple for separate instruments in the studio.
It doesn’t help that multiband limiting often gets implicated for crimes against audio in the ongoing Loudness War, and that condescending recording know-it-alls like to claim that multiband compression is too much power for our inferior minds to implement practically or tastefully.
Yes, there seem to be a lot of polarizing opinions on the use of multi-band compressors. Like a lot of tools out there, they can be misused and wreck a perfectly good recording. I contend that they can also be a cure for the most disorderly audio, and be instrumental in sculpting individual elements in unconventional ways. This month we’ll dive into one aspect of multiband compression as it relates to correcting anomalies in your guitar tracks...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
Euphonix MC Mix
|
Reviewed by
Justin Peacock
Euphonix MC Mix |
Reviewed by
Justin Peacock
This intelligent control surface has come of age. Check out the results of our extended tests.
I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of this mouse.
No, I’m not talking about the rodent variety, but the “compute......Expand
This intelligent control surface has come of age. Check out the results of our extended tests.
I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of this mouse.
No, I’m not talking about the rodent variety, but the “computer input device” variety (thanks Wikipedia). Some newer models are a little better with their scroll wheels, extra buttons and such. But it’s still a mouse, and trying to mix with the thing is about as musical and inspiring as a singular small piece of plastic can be.
Sitting down in front of a console (or, ahem, control surface) is another matter. When you have faders and knobs to touch, operations are faster and smoother. It’s my feeling that mixing is all about reacting to what you hear at any given moment, whether you have one instrument up or many.
Since your decisions with level, pan, eq and effects are all based on reacting to the moment, the way in which you execute these decisions is of particular importance. The faster and easier it is to try little adjustments, the more likely you are to try them in the first place. I’d even argue that one will mix differently with a mouse than with physical faders and knobs.
But there’s one other piece to this puzzle. It turns out that our brains are all wired differently. My method of working might seem totally nuts to you, so tools that are not only intuitive and fast, but also flexible and customizable, become really important. And that brings me to Euphonix...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
AKG C 214 Condenser Microphone
|
Reviewed by
Darwin Grosse
AKG C 214 Condenser Microphone |
Reviewed by
Darwin Grosse
A new, affordable sibling to the venerable and well-liked condenser C 414.
There once was a time when having a condenser microphone in a project studio was a rare occasion. Most condensers rivalled a decent used car in cost,......Expand
A new, affordable sibling to the venerable and well-liked condenser C 414.
There once was a time when having a condenser microphone in a project studio was a rare occasion. Most condensers rivalled a decent used car in cost, but having one of these mics represented the difference between a “professional” studio and an amateur one. At the time, one of the more affordable condenser mics was the AKG C 414; while still quite expensive, it was a versatile mic that worked well on many instruments and voices, and provided the high-frequency clarity that people desired.
The C 414—in its many incarnations, most recently the C 414 XLS and XLII reviewed in our November 2004 issue—is still widely used, but times have changed; condenser mics are plentiful, and cheap enough that most modest studios have several. The C 414 is now considered a high-end and rather expensive condenser, often beyond the budgets of many smaller studios. AKG is deflecting this concern by creating a lower-cost alternative, the C 214, that is a more affordable mic with much of the quality and versatility of its predecessor...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
IK Multimedia ARC
|
Reviewed by
Nick Casares
IK Multimedia ARC |
Reviewed by
Nick Casares
This room measurement/corrective processing system improves your mixes, and makes an excellent adjunct to acoustic treatment. But is it a cure-all?
How many times have you mixed a project only to play it back on another syst......Expand
This room measurement/corrective processing system improves your mixes, and makes an excellent adjunct to acoustic treatment. But is it a cure-all?
How many times have you mixed a project only to play it back on another system and find that it sounds nothing like the mix you thought you created? Bass is too loud, the midrange is muddy, or the mix just doesn’t “gel” like it did when you mixed it. Often, this is the result of poor room acoustics—those of us working outside the confines of a professional studio are surely familiar with this problem.
The problem of poor room acoustics drives engineers and musicians mad on a regular basis. The traditional remedy for poor acoustics involves correcting the room—that is, applying physical treatment to the room in various forms of bass trapping, absorption and diffusion. While this is a valid and accepted method, this solution requires time, expense and the necessary space to accommodate the treatment.
What if you don’t have the luxury of a dedicated room for your studio? Or, maybe physically treating your room is impractical (any apartment renters out there?). Are your mixes forever doomed to suffer from poor acoustics? Not if IK Multimedia has anything to say about it...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
Once Over—Reviews in Brief
|
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr. and Jim Combs
Once Over—Reviews in Brief |
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr. and Jim Combs
MXL V88 condenser mic and USB .006 and .007 mics; MacAudioLab video tutorial for MOTU Digital Performer 6.
The V88 is the newest addition to MXL’s line of budget-priced studio and broadcast microphones. It’s a solid-state, s......Expand
MXL V88 condenser mic and USB .006 and .007 mics; MacAudioLab video tutorial for MOTU Digital Performer 6.
The V88 is the newest addition to MXL’s line of budget-priced studio and broadcast microphones. It’s a solid-state, single-pattern cardioid condenser mic with a 32mm capsule and a 6-micron gold sputtered diaphragm. It has a listed 20 Hz–20 Khz frequency range, 150 ohm impedance, a 25mV/Pa sensitivity, a signal-to-noise ratio of 80 dB, and a max SPL level of 138 dB. It has a nickel-plated body, and like many of MXL’s microphones it is internally wired with Mogami cabling. The V88 comes as part of a kit that includes a shock mount and a foam-lined aluminum carrying case. I reviewed a pair...
Read more in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING, where you'll find Jim's review as well!
Collapse
Recording's Showcase of Sounds
|
Reviewed by
Gary Eskow, Devon Brent, Darwin Grosse, and Michael Nickolas
Recording's Showcase of Sounds |
Reviewed by
Gary Eskow, Devon Brent, Darwin Grosse, and Michael Nickolas
Synthogy Ivory Upright Pianos; U-He Zebra 2; SONiVOX Loopline MPC sample collections; Big Fish Audio Off The Hook Volume 3.
So let’s say your name is Paul, and you’re excited to play a new song for the rest of the band. They......Expand
Synthogy Ivory Upright Pianos; U-He Zebra 2; SONiVOX Loopline MPC sample collections; Big Fish Audio Off The Hook Volume 3.
So let’s say your name is Paul, and you’re excited to play a new song for the rest of the band. They love it but they think the title, “Hey Dude,” is lame. You slip in a different consonant, and boom, another smash hit for The Beatles!
Okay, so maybe you didn’t write “Hey Jude.” But if you’re looking to recreate the piano sound on that hit and many others of the era, including “Surf’s Up” by the Beach Boys (those lyrics still make no sense), or if you simply want a smaller piano sound than that delivered by some of the well sampled grand pianos on the market—including Synthogy’s first batch of Ivory pianos, which Richard Shore reviewed in our April 2007 issue—then you need to check out Ivory Upright Pianos...
Read more, and see our other great soundware reviews, in the February 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Collapse
