Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

If your goal is to reduce low frequencies, but not remove them completely, try using a low shelf cut instead of a high pass filter.

Low shelf cuts on an EQ can sound more musical and less drastic than a high pass filter particularly when you are removing a lot of the low frequency content from your audio signal. You can still use a high pass filter before a low shelf cut to get rid of the absolutely unecceassary frequencies such as 40Hz and below on certain instruments. 

Try a low shelf cut on your next mix and listen to how much smoother your audio track can be.

If you require any editing, mixing or mastering services, head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk and get in touch via the contact page.

Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

Remember that the pre-delay parameter on a reverb plugin is your best friend!

When your goal is to achieve definition and clarity whilst having a lush reverb effect engaged on your track, use the pre-delay setting to offset when the reverb kicks in. In the real world, this is exactly how reverb/echo behaves because there is always a delay before we actually hear the reflections and of course, this all depends on the dimensions, materials and obstacles within the room. 

In the mixing world, pre-delay is a very helpful parameter that can help you find a careful balance between a dry, clear audio track and a performance and character enhancing reverb effect.

Give the pre-delay trick a try and listen to your track become much more clear. I find it particularly useful on vocals and I start with the pre-delay set between 60-150ms. More extreme settings can produce a certain rhythmic effect which is sometimes desirable on drums depending on the type of music you are producing.

If you are looking for online editing, mixing or mastering, head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk and get in touch via the contact page.

Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

Drum samples are easily accessible today and there is a large amount of variety out there.  

Sample replacement is probably the most common association with drum samples but they have another very musical use and that is sample enhancement. 

Sample enhancement can be achieved by carefully choosing sounds to complement your source tones and add more content to the areas that the source might be lacking in. 

Sample enhancement can also be achieved with layering to create new sounds, sometimes more exaggerated than the original sound, but it might be just what the song needs.

Experiment with snare, kick, toms, other types of percussion and even reverse sounds to enhance your drum tracks on your next mix!

If you are looking for online editing, mixing and mastering, head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk and get in touch via the contact page.

A Great Video On Composing Drum Parts By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

This week I want to share content from an inspirational drummer and musician, Matt Halpern of Periphery.

His approach to playing, composing and business is truly inspiring and unique and this week he did an online session on writing drum parts both on the acoustic kit and with programmed drums. It's just over 30 minutes long but the amount of content in there is invaluable. I highly recommend you take the time to watch the video if you're looking to develop your drum writing skills. Click the link below...

Writing Drum Parts With Matt Halpern Of Periphery

If you are looking for online editing, mixing or mastering, head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co uk and get in touch via the contact page.

Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

Put your effects such as reverb and delay on aux channel or a buss.

This is quite a common practice in mixing but not everybody is aware of it so here are the key benefits of sending your audio tracks to effects on separate aux channels or busses.

1. It gives you independent control over the effect level

2. You can send multiple audio tracks to the same effect

3. You can automate the effect level and parameters independently

4. Sending to the aux or buss pre fader means you can have a fully processed dry signal and send the raw unprocessed signal to the effect where you can apply processing specific to that effect

5. It saves on computer processing power because you aren't loading multiple instances of the same effect

If you aren't already incorporating this into your work flow, try it out on your next mix and see the benefits for yourself.

Mix Buss Compression On or Off Before Mastering? By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

Don't be afraid to use mix buss compression even when you're about to send off to a mastering engineer.

Mix buss compression is a very common part of mixing and it is very useful for gluing everything together and accentuating the overall energy of a track. 

When preparing the audio to ship out to the mastering engineer you may wonder whether you should disable the mix buss compression or leave it on. Honestly, the vast majority of mixes that are mastered already have some amount of compression because it is used to pull everything together, create the desired feel and ultimately add extra musicality to the mix. 

The thing to generally avoid with using mix buss compression is relying on it to increase the level and achieve the loudness that is best left to the mastering engineer. 

If you are unsure on how much compression you can apply before sending to the mastering engineer, try a few versions with different amounts of compression and see which works best. If you're still unsure from there, the best thing to do is get in contact with the mastering engineer or studio you are going to use and ask what they expect from you or advise you to prepare the track in the best possible way for mastering. 

If you were contacting me regarding mastering then I would be happy to work with a mix that has buss compression on because this is what I'm used to, but should there be any issues I would always communicate with you as the client to ensure I am mastering the best version of your mix that you are certain to be happy with. 

If you have any current or upcoming projects that require editing, mixing or mastering, I would love to hear from you over at www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk. You can get in touch via the contact page. 

Treat virtual instruments and sample libraries as recorded audio By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

In most modern professional and home studios today, some amount of virtual instruments and sound libraries are present. They are very creative, detailed and convenient tools to musicians and engineers alike because they open up a world of sounds that are sometimes inaccessible or unaffordable. 

Whether it's drums, synths, pianos, choirs, strings or brass, remember to work with them like you would your own recorded audio. For me I use console emulation, EQ, compression and effects the same as I would on my own recorded audio. I also use techniques like side-chaining and parallel compression to achieve desired results.

The reason I'm talking about this is because when working with virtual instruments and sample libraries, it's very easy to assume that the preset sounds will automatically sound good and work in the mix and if not, you can keep tweaking the sounds without any limits. In truth, sometimes this might be the case, but most of the time they still need time and care spent on them to get them working in the mix. 

As well as this, there are certain virtual instruments and sample libraries that come with built in EQ's, compressors and effects which is a welcome addition because they can be useful and more convenient however, it's worth staying away from these especially whilst you are learning so that you can become more familiar and confident with processing these type of sounds like they were real instruments. I believe it's important because virtual instruments and sound libraries give you the option to tweak endlessly and even though this is a great benefit to you it can also prevent you from committing to the sound and achieving the best results with what you have.

A quick way of implementing this into your work is by bouncing your virtual instruments and sample libraries down to an audio track. This is basically taking all the midi information that is triggering the sounds and committing them to an audio track. The biggest benefit of this is that it will free up a lot of your CPU and RAM  and it will also force you (in a very positive way) to process the audio the same way that would any other recorded track.

Try this with your virtual instruments and sample libraries on your next mix and keep in mind that what you're doing will only benefit you and prepare you to work with other real instruments in future.

If you require editing, mixing or mastering, head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk and get in touch via the contact page.