Tips, Techniques & Opinionated Rants

Twitter Rant from 2010

A while back i was mixing a song that was horribly done.  Frustrated, I went on a twitter rant and dropped #23 jewels of knowledge.  I was asked to blog them in one place but never did.  In reverse order here they are thanks to www.allmytweets.com

• #23 vocalists. your headphone mix and volume is SUPER important to your performance. SPEAK UP. 287 days ago

• #22 working with artists you gotta be a psychologist. foster an environment that will keep them in the zone. 287 days ago

• @djmainevent lol, be my guest. ill copy yours when you do….lol 287 days ago

• @LateefDameer i own atleast 6k in mogami. get em anywhere but GC they wont give out price breaks on them 287 days ago

• #22 when you stop feelin it, take a break, go to sleep, smoke a joint, live your life. 287 days ago

• #21 you cant master everything, work with people who are better than you 287 days ago

• #21 use attack and release settings on your drums to perfect the pocket 287 days ago

• #20 dont quantize everything. 287 days ago

• #19 tune your drums to the track 287 days ago

• #18 tune your instruments to the sample. use your ears 287 days ago

• @JMoneyRed everytime i gotta wait on technology i think of something new. lol 287 days ago

• #18 use the expensive cable. spend that money. 287 days ago

• @ThisIsWitness not bad, i dont find myself going to them too often tho….i like eq better than the comp 287 days ago

• i am about to murder this guitar on this @slaveangelmusic track #thebase 287 days ago

• @idubl the rate varies, just hit me up when you are close to ready and well work something out. 287 days ago

• @idubl for final mixes to be released i urge my clients to use a real mastering engineer like dave kutch. 287 days ago

• @idubl im not a big fan of maximizers, if im doing a ruff mix may use a touch of psp xenon, or massey l2007— 287 days ago

• @idubl the net is your friend. send them my way next time you need one mixed. 287 days ago

• smaller and smaller.your movements in the mix at first will be broad, and they will get finer towards the end. usually till the 10th of a db 287 days ago

• think of mixing and creating a song like sculpting. you start with a big block, chipping away large pieces, as you move on, the pieces get 287 days ago

• fts in the mix. same for predelay. its not about numbers, its about massaging everything until it fits. 287 days ago

• one more thing about the reverb times—-you should use the bpm calulator as a starting point, and tweak slightly longer or shorter till it 287 days ago

• #17 its okay to push some analog gear into the red, this is what will give you character at times. digital in the red = harsh and distorted 287 days ago

• the length and type of verb you use depends on your taste and what the song is asking for. 287 days ago

• at 100bpm for a singer with a long verb of 2400ms, (whole note) try predelays of 75ms (64th note) or 150 ms (32nd note). 287 days ago

• it is very common to use longer predelays on singers. this is how you can put a HUGE verb on a singer and still keep them sounding close 287 days ago

• next use the same rule to calculate predelay. predelay is how long between the original sound and when the reverb begins. 287 days ago

• download this http://www.macmusic.org/software/share.php/lang/en/id/1536/Music-Math 287 days ago

• eighth note, quarter note, half note and whole note are your main reverb time choices. at 100bpm they are 300ms, 600ms, 1200ms and 2400ms 287 days ago

• #16 reverbs —- time to the song. thing in terms of beats and not Milliseconds. how long does the verb take to decay? 287 days ago

• but sometimes i will smash the shit outta something if needed. 287 days ago

• compression can be used as a tool or an effect. it is also a matter of taste. i tend to prefer a more open sound so i use it sparingly 287 days ago

• #15 compression is mostly misused. compress as little as possible and for the right reasons. —-this one is hard to explain. 288 days ago

• #14 use some dope drum such as these http://mikechav.myshopify.com lol. 288 days ago

• @idubl start mixing with only your vocal and the bass—or whatever the lowend anchor of the song is. then build everything around that 288 days ago

• @tundeolaniran about 8 yrs ago i forced @jayelectronica to stop punching and say that shit in one take and he hasnt looked back since. 288 days ago

• @L05_ good coice 288 days ago

• #13 plugin i personally love. Massenburg eq’s. anything by brainworx, sound toys—-the waves cla and maserati and puig plugins. 288 days ago

• chk this website for DIY studio constuction help, bass traps, panel absorbers, speaker placement http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php 288 days ago

• use this http://www.eco-buildingproducts.com/products-page/ultra%20touch/16-ultratouch-recycled-cotton-insulation-batts/ 288 days ago

• #12 build bass traps for your corners. the more the better. 288 days ago

• #11 great converters are very important. as well as a good clock. check lavry, apogee, black lion audio does mods of your existing equip 2 288 days ago

• @LateefDameer never used but heard great things from engineers i know and trust. worth the wait apparently. converters are hugely important 288 days ago

• @drummeraaron77 from hard because radio doesnt deal well with hard panning, it will change your mix. 288 days ago

• @drummeraaron77 inbetween to create an illusion of wide or big. if you want your bvs to be the widest thing than pan them in slightly 288 days ago

• @drummeraaron77 if everything is wide then nothing is wide. use your space like a canvas—-use that space wisely, and space everything 288 days ago

• @thisisMikeNa it is one of my main hangups in logic. the only workaround i know of is a plugin by brainworx called bx control 288 days ago

• @thisisMikeNa have control over left and right pans independently but in logic you dont and they include this wack as directional plugin 288 days ago

• @thisisMikeNa ah, i see—-not a rookie question, the panning in logic is fucked and makes no sense. on a stereo track or inst you should 288 days ago

• @thisisMikeNa what do you mean by directional mixing? 288 days ago

• @SincereCreative i dont have a lot of experience with them….just try them till you find one that fits. try vintage king or mercenary 288 days ago

• @TheBatmanOfRap also, radio doesnt deal well with hard panned sounds. your mix will change on the radio if you do alot of hard panning. 288 days ago

• @TheBatmanOfRap here is a deep thought, if everything is wide then nothing is wide. use your space like a canvas. 288 days ago

• @J_Werdz that creates more work for the mixer. 288 days ago

• #10 if you gotta work with something horrible sounding, make it sound like it sounds like that on purpose. 288 days ago

• #9 i learned this from one of the best mixers out there—— dont pan anything hard left or right, except maybe reverbs and certain fx. 288 days ago

• #8 heAdphones will trick your ass! lol 288 days ago

• @J_Werdz words btw 288 days ago

• @J_Werdz i find that the yeas and uh huhs need to be at different levels then the adlibs —in my circle, the adlibs mean doubling certain 288 days ago

• FYI this has all come about cuz im waiting on logic to bounce files. SMH. thank apple! 288 days ago

• @L05_ action tracks to me are random vocal noises, “yeas” “uh huhs” etc 288 days ago

• @Intrnational reverbs and fx 288 days ago

• @Intrnational the track, but you may need to carve out a little space for the vocal. cut dont boost. tie the vocal in w appropriate … 288 days ago

• @Intrnational thats a hard one, you will likely have to compress your vocal a bit to get it in the mix. i would try to avoid processing .. 288 days ago

• so do your lead, your like harmonies, ad libs, action tracks, all on their own track. this will avoid confusion and save time in mixing 288 days ago

• #9 if something doesnt need to be a “fill in” track….then just do it on your lead vocal track. group like parts on tracks. 288 days ago

• #8 this is just a pet peeve of mine—stop recording your lead vocal on a billion different tracks. punch in or sing/spit it in one take 288 days ago

• study classics, a great arrangment part and sound wise will mix itself. 288 days ago

• #7 create arrangements that work together freq wise. learn what instruments sit in what ranges, and use that to your advantage. 288 days ago

• # 5 or 6 —whatever ..lol. this is a no brainer. pick sounds that work together freq wise. if you gotta try to hard, pick another sound. 288 days ago

• @TOKZILLA if they are slightly out of phase—as in the kick drum example, you just gotta experiment with the timing, and zoom in on the wavs 288 days ago

• @TOKZILLA when things are 180 degrees out of phase they will sometimes sound hollow, artificial and lack a center. 288 days ago

• @Intrnational do you mean commercially released 2 tracks, or beats someone has put a “loud plugin” on? 288 days ago

• fans are bad. record at night if you have to. if you are in nyc good luck. haha 288 days ago

• your room will need to be QUIET for this to work. dead silent if possible. turn off the air conditioner, put your computer in another room 288 days ago

• your muddiness , and that general irritating sound we all hate goes away and you will have something a lot easier to mix. 288 days ago

• the further you are from the mic up untill a little over a foot, the more blanced it will sound. your sibilance probs dissapear 288 days ago

• in other words make your guerilla booth kinda big—like a box that is about 5 ft on all sides—- 288 days ago

• carpet on the floor, blankets over glass, reflective ceilings —-give the vocalist space as well as the mic 288 days ago

• if your room sounds like shit, this wont work, so you will need to do it guerilla stlye. make an absorbant vocal booth, 288 days ago

• #4 when you record vocals ideally you should be waaaaay further fromt he mic then you would think. preferably 1 foot or more. 288 days ago

• @TOKZILLA @subvader one trick is to add a little distortion to the subass to make it poke out. subs and booms together are tricky 288 days ago

• @subvader @TOKZILLA yessir. 1st fuk with the phase placement—-but also make sure the sounds themselves dont conflict. 288 days ago

• @TOKZILLA yessir. 1st fuk with the phase placement—-but also make sure the sounds themselves dont conflict. 288 days ago

• listen to as much music as possible thru your studio monitors. learn and memorize how they sound. 288 days ago

• most peoples will vary greatly, so experiment with different places, listen—-find the spot that they sound best in and work from there. 288 days ago

• some people like them wider. also, try to place them symetrically in your room if at all possible. (equal distance from walls.) 288 days ago

• # 3 set your monitors up at ear level. try setting up in an equilateral triangle, with the tweeters pointing directly behind your head. 288 days ago

• at any given point, if the wav of one kick is positive, (it pushes the speaker out). and the other kick is (cont) http://tl.gd/6f17ck 288 days ago

• in other words, nudging your kicks around by the millisecond or even sample until you hear a “lock” in the low (cont) http://tl.gd/6f16ob 288 days ago

• PSA# 2 phase is everything. this may be a concept some of yall dont get but here is a good way to learn what (cont) http://tl.gd/6f167g 288 days ago

• PSA # 1. red lights are usually bad.  (sometimes they are good:P tho)   don’t clip inputs, outputs or plugins…. if you think it sounds better like that, you are prob wrong 288 days ago

• Its production/engineering PSA night. If you are a producer you by default must also be an engineer. 288 days ago