Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

This week's Knowledge Wednesday tip is on drum editing, particularly in pro tools but the principal can be applied to all DAWs.

When using beat detective or other similar quantizing tools, keep in mind that the best results are achieved when applied to drums that are slightly late or behind the beat. 

Another important tip when quantizing drums is to focus your attention on the overheads after you have quantized them as these will show the audio artefacts, if any and then you can apply appropriate crossfades.

Check back next week for more tips!

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

Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

This week's Knowledge Wednesday tip is to always check phase coherence on your drum tracks.

Not checking phase can be a common cause for loss of low end and punch on drum tracks, but the good news is that it can be rectified quite easily.

Firstly, you can ensure the transients from the kick and snare line up with the overheads. 

Also, check the bottom snare mic is phase coherent with the snare too mic and this can be done by inserting a plugin with a phase switch and toggling between between the two sounds. One should sound immediately different because the low end and punch will become clear.

Phase can be a complex topic but by following the two simple steps above, you will be well on your way to achieving a punchy a low end full drum mix which may have been lacking before without careful attention to the phase coherency.

Check back next week for more tips!

Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

This week's tip is to utilise manual editing of gain on tracks to avoid time consuming automation on elements such as compression and EQ.

Manually editing gain on an audio track to reduce abnormal peaks or generally louder sections in a performance can enable you to commit to your chosen compression and EQ settings without having to use automation to compensate for changes like this. Doing this means that you will find it easier to set your compression and EQ because you will have achieved a more consistent level for your plugins or hardware to work with.

Although editing can be a time consuming and laborious task, it's the one thing after the recording stage that helps you set up for a successful mix.

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

Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

Always use fades on audio files when you are editing.

This is particularly important when comping because using fades is a way of smoothing out any audio artefacts that might appear between the takes. If it is just one audio file on its own, then a simple fade-in and fade-out will be perfect, but when it's multiple audio files that need gluing together, it's worth applying a good cross-fade to ensure a smooth transition and to minimise the audible differences as much as possible. This will become much easier if the quality and consistency of the performance is high.

Clean and accurate editing is a major factor in setting up for a solid mix so never neglect it!