Reverberation- the technical term for what we usually call echo- is a finicky creature. Most musicians have had this experience: you find a long tunnel, tall stairwell, or perhaps a huge church with vaulted ceilings, and you make some music just to experience the power of the reverberation in real-time. We love to sing in …
How to Reduce Echo in a Large Room with High Ceilings Read More »
If you’ve had external noise ruin your recordings, you know how frustrating it can be. Sound isolation is probably the number one reason people start to wonder how to build a soundproof room within a room. Your options when building a soundproof room within a room are traditional construction or a portable booth. For the …
There comes a time when someone walks into your studio or venue carrying an instrument that you haven’t recorded before. In this scenario, let’s say that the instrument is a melodica. The melodica is becoming a popular instrument, much like the ukulele has over the past decade or so. This is in part due to …
When it comes to microphone placement for voiceovers, some very important factors to consider are the following: proximity, polar pattern, and dynamics. Just want a quick answer on where to place the mic for voiceovers? For most mics, you’ll want to place the mic around 6 to 8 inches away from your mouth in order …
When you’re dealing with a vocal track, you ideally want the vocals and nothing else present on the track. In some recording circumstances, you cannot help but record alongside other instruments, which will introduce bleed into your vocal track. This is an especially big problem when it comes to drums which can bleed on both …
How to Remove Drum Bleed from a Vocal Track/Microphone Read More »
If you find yourself asking the best way to mic a marimba, then you are not fooling around. This is not a lighthearted, casual jam session. A marimba is an enormous and stately instrument, easily eight feet long and 200+ lbs. But the marimba is also known as one of the fussiest and most difficult …
Imagine a band you’re working with came in to record with you and their singer absolutely nailed the vocals for the band’s next track. Before they can drop it, though, it needs to be mixed, and you need to do it. So how loud should vocals be in a mix? There isn’t one answer to …
There are two types of people: People who love and appreciate the unique and versatile percussion instrument that is the cajón, and people who don’t yet know what a cajón is. Either way, any producer who is aware of this humble powerhouse, will sooner or later find themselves asking themselves how to mic a cajón …
In this modern day, most recording advice assumes a lot of things. Like an unlimited budget, and an ideal recording room, and all the time in the world to record instruments individually and perfectly. But as we all know, real life is a lot messier than these theoretical situations. There are many, many situations where …
When it comes to recording audio in a room, there are many factors that come into play that can affect the quality of the sound that is picked up. Echo is one of the main drawbacks of having a bad or non-treated room. In terms of recording, this will create unwanted artifacts, muddiness, and possibly …
