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Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Jan. 21 2006, 15:46 With my latest album already on its way to completion, I'm willing to try a few things on it as far as production goes. That's what I wanted to talk about it, not in a specific way. For the record, I'm using Cool Edit Pro for the recordings, which isn't a huge professional program, but it suits my needs. I decided that I want to avoid things like clipping and distortion as much as possible, so I'm being careful with the recording levels and such. Still, I have issues with excessively quiet music, and I intend on giving more body to the songs, understand? There's that odd, annoying beat in the middle of the song that's twice louder than everything else, even though you don't hear it. I considered using a bit of compression to boost the volume level without just pumping up the volume. In moderate dosages, can that do a whole lot of difference? Is there anything else that can be done in that aspect? Also, what sorts of things can I achieve with EQ? Can I use it to "shape" the sounds of the instruments, or is it more useful to give more brightness to the recording? -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

arron11196 Group: Members Posts: 826 Joined: April 2005 Posted: Jan. 21 2006, 18:19 Riiight, where to begin... First I'd like to start off by saying that compared to others, like Korgscrew, I'm a newbie, but Cool Edit is my predominant program too, so there's where I may be helpful. body - what an interesting term. Are you trying to describe a consistency across the frequency spectrum, more mid range response, or more high end bass? In terms of the sections which are louder than others, I'd consider using an amplification envelope (make sure Cool Edit is set up to process the audio in 32 bit - get it to convert the files first) that way you can pay respect to the sections before and after the louder section, and just minimise the effected samples. Equalisers can be used for many different purposes. One that I have recently used one for was to 'restore' the lacking high end bass to a recording of my voice, which made it sound closer to what I percieve. Be careful with equalisers - having dramatic changes in equalisation can produce interesting effects, but more often than not those effects can detract from the message of the music, unless that's what you want to achieve (like in some 'popular music' Another good thing to use an EQ for is for restoration as seen with these 'digitally remastered' versions, which actually just have a tailored EQ which takes into consideration the equipment that the original was recorded on (if done properly) just like me fiddling with the recording on my mic. -------------- Arron J Eagling Everyone's interpretation is different, and everyone has a right to that opinion. There is no "right" one, I am adding this post to communicate my thoughts to share them with like-minded souls who will be able to comment in good nature. (insert the last 5 mins of Crises here) Back to top

ktran Group: Members Posts: 156 Joined: May 2003 Posted: Jan. 21 2006, 18:25 With compression, you can try using a high threshold, and a high compression ratio, which will have the effect of knocking down the loud bursts, while leaving the rest of the recording relatively untouched. Of course, experimentation is the key. Start with a threshold of -12dB and a ratio of 7:1, and work from there. EQ is great for making individual instruments sound clearer in a mix, since often too much of a certain set of frequencies in too many tracks can muddy up the sound. Again, you need to take your mix, and take a note of what could sound better. Guitars can be emphasised by moving mids around (6k tends to do it for leads), vocals hang around 1k-3k, etc. By boosting and attenuating (subtly), you can push things back and move other things forward, etc. Don't worry about using Cool Edit. It's got some hardcore DSP algorithms going for it. The guy who designed it started it out as shareware in the 1990s when he was an electrical engineer. He knew what he was doing. ~k -------------- Khoa Tran www.suspendedseconds.ca Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Jan. 22 2006, 12:36 Thanks you all. When I talk about body, I'm talking mainly of giving a boost to those frequencies those sounds that are a bit "thin" on the mix, without just making the whole thing louder. It's mostly mid-range, I believe. The songs that I'm thinking are two songs from the album that I have posted here, in fact. They don't have "loud" and "quiet" parts. They have mostly the same volume level all the way through them. When I have the whole album recorded, I want all songs to be more or less in the same volume range without letting any samples clip and distort. Also, each song has its own particular sound. I want to benefit each song's personality instead of making the whole album sound the same. I'll try a bit of EQ experimentation when I have time, just to give these little "touches", I think, and see what else I can do. Thanks again for your tips. I'm sure they'll be handy. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

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