Search found 87 matches

by David Piper
Sat Mar 13, 2010 2:42 pm
Forum: People/Places/Things
Topic: Share Mix/Overdub Room in Somerville, MA
Replies: 1
Views: 955

Share Mix/Overdub Room in Somerville, MA

Looking for someone to split rent and share my little studio in Somerville, MA with. It's about 250 sq feet, in a stand alone all masonary building that I rent from a nearby restaurant. I outfitted it with a mini-split air conditioning and heat system, hung lots of acoustic panels, and put a window ...
by David Piper
Tue Sep 08, 2009 7:39 pm
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: Clarinet Mic Selection?
Replies: 24
Views: 6444

Last time I recorded clarinet it was with my Charter Oak 538, 12-16 inches away, aimed at the middle of the instrument. Did the trick for me! I was almost going to say that the same player prefers the more 'overhead' position Chris Garges mentioned, but then I remembered that was when I recorded him...
by David Piper
Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:15 pm
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: Trick: Using tuning to avoid having to use tuning :)
Replies: 9
Views: 3196

Sometimes,if intonation is getting hazey, I slam previously recorded tracks with Auto-tune in Auto Mode, using Audiosuite in PT. I'll go back later and finesses things, but it's a quick way to make sure that the singer has something solid as they lay down their part. Also helpful if a bass note is a...
by David Piper
Mon Jun 08, 2009 6:31 pm
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: Recording a leslie
Replies: 28
Views: 7506

I rather like two SM81's up top, and an RE20 on the bottom, although reading this thread has given me some new ideas to try, too.
by David Piper
Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:55 pm
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: The lure of 2-buss compression
Replies: 63
Views: 22155

Man, I feel like for so long people told me "don't compress the stereo mix, you'll only mess it up". And maybe it's decent advice to home recordists making their first record, and maybe even someone in audio school. But I spent the last two days doing final mixes for my bands record. This thread ins...
by David Piper
Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:38 pm
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: some pix from yesterday's session
Replies: 27
Views: 9359

Cool photos! I got to do a session with Dave Tronzo about two years ago, and it was a blast. I had no idea who he was at the time, we recorded in my friend's garage that had no heat, and it was only later I realized how well known he is in certain circles. I actually got a lot of work from that sess...
by David Piper
Thu Apr 23, 2009 4:57 am
Forum: People/Places/Things
Topic: General internship advice
Replies: 10
Views: 3127

Get an internship. At least for a little bit. Seeing how things were done at a big studio was an invaluable part of my education; probably more so than sitting in a classroom. Nowdays it probably won't lead to a job at that same studio. But by being in a place that's musically significant in your co...
by David Piper
Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:35 pm
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: when to use a limiter instead of compressor?
Replies: 20
Views: 7901

The original poster asked for examples, and these came to mind... Lately I've been recording lots of mandolin. I use a limiter with a high threshold, fast attack, and fast release times when I do this, because I want to get rid of all the spiky, sudden attacks that poke through the mix, but want it ...
by David Piper
Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:44 am
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: Making a studio better!
Replies: 36
Views: 9181

A second on track lights. I installed some last weekend, and they are great. I was turning off the ugly flourescents before because of the buzz, but it was a little too dark. Made sure to get track lights without a transformer, and they make everything look cooler.
by David Piper
Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:22 am
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: Why should I dither?
Replies: 9
Views: 3090

In my experience, dither is way, way low on the list of things that are going to affect the quality of your recording. Leave it to the mastering guys. And as I understand it, dither is mostly important to very quiet signals, near the noise floor. Like reverb tails or fade-outs. I can't hear the diff...
by David Piper
Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:59 am
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: recording quartet
Replies: 4
Views: 1886

Air organ, like air guitar, tends not to translate too well on audio recordings. I'd suggest a video recording of this instrument to capture the various pained expressions, jumping, posing, etc.
by David Piper
Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:52 am
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: Anyone ever intentionally clipped a converter?
Replies: 15
Views: 4813

Some dance music guys - BT and folks like that - will make one or two samples at the very loudest hits clip, coming into a new section. They want the speaker cone to move as far as it possibly can. Which also, I would think, risks breaking it. Good for people writing dance music. Bad for people owni...
by David Piper
Mon Feb 09, 2009 7:37 pm
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: how far left or right?
Replies: 43
Views: 13896

Float your mouse over your pan control, close your eyes, and listen while moving it around. Stop wherever it sounds good. Sometimes I'm surprised - I feel like panning is funny because it depends what else is in the mix and where it is. Sometimes things that sound really far L/R to me are only at 60...
by David Piper
Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:10 pm
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: where to put my studio?
Replies: 9
Views: 3255

I also started out in my parent's basement. Lots of people do. When I started to get down about it, I'd think about all those classic records Rudy Van Gelder made in his parent's living room. I spent about $1,000 building a vocal booth in one corner of my parent's basement, and it served me really w...
by David Piper
Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:52 am
Forum: Creative Recording
Topic: Is SM7b a feasible kick mic?
Replies: 28
Views: 13295

I've had my RE-20 sound awesome on really thud-y kick drums. I've also had it sound like it's inside a bouncing basketball on drums with more tone to them.