In this Quick Look Tutorial we take a brief look at the advantages of using send / return FX channels vs simply using insert effects. This specific tutorial applies reverb as a send effect and we look at the processing paths that open up when isolating the wet track, such as allowing you to equalize, compress and gate the 100% wet send effect alone.
In our latest video tutorial, we take a quick-look overview of using limiters in audio mixing, explaining what the separate sections of a limiter do (threshold, release, dithering, etc) as well as the exact changes it does to your audio when contrasted with ordinary compression.
We also look at the somewhat controversial technique of using a limiter on individual tracks and busses versus applying it only as a final stage mastering effect.
Spoiler alert: in mixing, don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do. Because what sounds good to your ears is what matters most.
♫ Doo Dee Doo Doooooooo ♫
Autotune Disaster
Most of us have heard of or seen what is known as a “Photoshop disaster.” You know what we’re talking about: a model with a missing hand, or an airbrush gone wrong. In other words, a completely un-natural and off-putting effect originally intended as an enhancement.
I would submit that the corollary in the world of music would have to be the misapplied Autotune, either as an overt effect, or a botched enhancement. Everyone knows about Autotune by now. It has become ubiquitous in all forms of pop music and is probably the most spammed effect in the modern music era. Just like previous signature sounds of an era – like gated snares in the 80’s, or overused guitar feedback in the 90’s – there will come a day when it becomes unofficially blacklisted for fear of sounding retro.
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I love vintage recording gear. I really do. Actually, to be precise, I have come to find I like the idea of vintage gear a lot more than actually hosting it in a studio environment. I’ve recently been cleaning house of all of my relic SCSI gear that went along with various hardware samplers and began to wonder what place hardware will have in arapidly software recording, and peforming, lanscape? There is no way around it, I have fallen in love with software. I have fallen in love with its many efficiencies, varieties, and cheap price tags. I have also fallen in love with a relatively uncluttered space which often makes my work easier. Still, there is a nostalgia for old hardware that I can’t seem to replace with software. I don’t have a warm place in my heart for Kontakt 1.0 the way I do for an old EMAX or Akai sampler. Memories and workflows are much more specifically attached to actual physical gear I owned far more so than any software I have used through the years. I don’t know why that is.
Hardware is currently available dirt cheap on eBay, local classifieds, ditches by the side of the highway… and I still sometimes get a flutter of excitement when I see an Akai S5000 for under $100. Kind of like how a guy in his 40’s or 50’s always idolizes that car he wanted when he was 17 but was so unattainable at the time. But, like the car analogy, I always come back down to earth and realize, sure I can now own many multiples of S5000’s but where exactly will I put these old dust boxes and would I really actually use any of them? I know I have tried to reclaim past glory only to get frustrated with slow transfer methods, SCSI errors and a whole host of annoyances I have since been conditioned to be impatient towards.
Ok, so you’ve decided to get serious about music recording and, naturally, your first major purchase is probably going to be a good soundcard or audio interface. But, there are so many options, how do you know which is the best to choose for your particular goals/setup? While its nearly impossible to anticipate the best possible piece of gear for each particular setup out there, its a good idea to be aware of some basics before going out and purchasing something as central to your studio as the actual recording console. Read ahead and you’ll likely have a better picture going forward.
