theviirus posted: YES!! YES!!! YES!!! And also... There's no "We can fix it in the mix" quick fix. (Try saying THAT fast five times after a few sherries!!) Take your time to get it right sound-wise first time (or as near to as poss). Use the pink sticky out things on the side of your head to source your desired sound and slap the mic (or two ...or ten!!) right there. Trust your ears. You will save HEAPS of time in mix session if the recording is great to start with. (I mix for TV mostly, so how I work is different to music mixers - but the basic principles are still that same: mix for the job that you are doing and not for the latest 'fashion')  | |
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Well first of all (i didn´t hear the music by the way) with the things you have there´s a certain top you can get. I mean, you´ll be able to do some things, but it you really want to sound good, at least buy a shure sm57 and a M-audio fast track pro. I mean... you´ll be spending around 300 dollars and you´ll get something decent to record. Also get Nuendo or Cubase or some cooler soft for your DAW, that way you can get plug ins like melodyne (wich to me, if you´re a singer it´s must. God you can do so much with it!).
But as i said before, i´m just a beginner. Wait to read what the pros have to say  | |
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Adding to what 2tom182 said, take a few CDs with you wherever you go for general reference purposes as well as to get an idea of what the monitoring system is like.
i.e. If you're mixing and have hit a metaphorical brickwall (e.g. "I don't like the way my guitars are sitting with the vocals and the drums sound poo!!" ) have a listen to a couple of tracks from your CDs and compare with what you have going on in your mix. You might have a brainwave/idea/nervous breakdown!! 
If you're completely stumped, pull all the faders down to their end stops and then just throw them upward randomly. (Well, it's as good a place to start as any!!) 
Also, if you're in a studio: BE NICE TO YOUR ASSISTANT ENGINEER/TAPE OP!!!! This person makes your tea and gets your sandwiches. Be nice to them and they'll be nice to you!! ...and won't spit in your tea/sandwiches if you do the reverse... | |
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Here's a DAW technique that I know is a point of contention between certain schools of audio engineers. Master bus compression.
Back in my earlier days, as can be expected, I was unhappy with the dynamics of my mixes.. So naturally turned to nasty master bus compression or maximisers after the fact, to try and beef things up.. Of course, this ended up breaking everything I was hoping to fix. Such is the plight of the rookie. Few can afford hardware master EQ's and compressors etc to get the job done properly. Many years later, I heard the following technique, initially writing it off as something I had already attempted. I forget where I happened upon this, but it essentially involves applying master bus compression (and if desired, some subtle maximisation) before you actually start the tracking process. What this actually accomplishes, (of course only to a certain degree) is that it eliminates what is one of the biggest problem mixing in a DAW environment. This is of course excessive hard clipping and proper headroom mangement. What you end up with is an analogue-esque environment, where the dynamics behave differently, and do not tend to run out of headroom with a nasty hard clip when you fall off of the digital cliff. The technique of course only really works with very carefull compressor selection, which you must know front to back, use as sparingly as possible, and most importantly know what sound you're going for to begin with. Just because a tool is called a master compressor, doesn't mean that it is good at that job. Personally, I tend towards nice warm response, with a degree of saturation. This is one technique, which I do not always employ, and use only when tending towards analogue colour. Other mixers I know extend this out to using identical setups on all tracks. This then emulates the kind of colour you would hear from using physical channel strips in an analogue mixer, in addition to summing bus colour. Those guys are into metal, and are forever chasing the classic Neve console sound on Behringer budgets
Overall this method can be very handy to keep in the toolbelt. It ends up slightly changing every decision you make on the project. You tend to use less compression on individual tracks, EQ only what is needed to keep the project on track, and basically fiddle less with unimportant decisions which can be detrimental. It must be said that I learned a lot through experimenting with this method. I doubt that I would recommend this for absolute beginners though, as it would be too easy to completely destroy mixes. Keep it in mind, and have a play. You may hate the sound, or way of working, but experimentation yields results, even if you have learned yet another thing you don't want to try ever again | |
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is there another plug in that can reverse reverb? a vst one maybe?
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of course... why didn´t i think of that.
That´s what you get when you depend to much on plug ins to do your own thinking. Idiot  | |
