It's interesting that you make the analogy with a recipe. I worked as a cook for ten years, and still enjoy cooking good meals at home for my wife and sometimes for my friends. I have tried many times to write recipes for the things that I cook, but every time I cook these things the recipes vary slightly. The reason is because I cook to taste. I enjoy trying new things when I cook the same dishes. I'm always looking for ways to make it better, or maybe just different. If I'm about to cook something that I haven't done before, I do a Google search and scan the first couple of pages of results. I really pay no mind to quantities in other people's recipes. More importantly, I look at their ingredients- the flavors. I choose the amounts to my taste, and what caters to the dish at hand.versuviusx wrote:i can't say that i've really gotten really good recipies to try out.
I think this is very important. When I mix, I don't call up the same presets from the last song. I might set up similar chains, but the details vary depending on the track I'm working on and the song as a whole. I may listen to music that is similar to what I am working on, try to figure out what is going on in their mix, and incorporate it into mine... but still, I mix to taste.
I've gotten more ideas from Tape Op mag and this forum than any other source I've probed for information. You ask where are the masters with their secrets on this forum? For me, there are a handful of posters who always make me stop and read what they have posted. I get plenty of ideas from the average poster here, but those certain few always make me stop and pay attention. I don't need them to draw out detail for detail... just the little bit they hint at is enough to get me experimenting on my own, and to think in ways I haven't thought before.
I do lots of reading on this board. I do searches, and many times my searches will spawn more searches. I picked up two great tips recently from this board that I'm using in my current mix. The first being proper gain staging when using analog pres and a DAW. It may seem obvious, but I always thought you were supposed to track rather hot into the DAW. On this current recording, I backed off a bit and wow it really has made a difference. There is a guideline for what dbfs to hit the DAW with, but setting the pre's dbvu varies from pre to pre, and also varies depending on what type of sound you want from the pre. That is only learned from experimenting with specific pres. The other tip I picked up was aligning drum tracks to the OH(s). I set up a couple delays and experimented with the drums solo'd and wow, I do hear a difference. Again, there aren't specific delay settings there because it will depend on how far away the mics are from the source, and what effect you want it to sound like in the end. There's no definite right answer.
Frankly, I don't want anyone to spell out exactly what it is they do. Part of my enjoyment of recording is doing this experimentation... learning what my gear and what my room(s) can offer me. It's like being told the end of the story when you haven't read the book yet.
