songfight recording reference guide

[deshead]

This thread on the Homerecording BBS shows a few iterations of a song as the artist incorporates feedback he's receiving from some resident experts: http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread ... ge=1&pp=25

(They also hold "public mix contests" every few months. I always learn something new, seeing what so many different people do with the same raw material.)

[the idiot king]

anything happening on this front?

[erik]

Wasn't it your idea to begin with? Aren't you the one running the whole thing?

[the idiot king]

sort of, i got the impression that it was going to be a somewhat more collaborative affair.

i'm in the process of graduating/moving/job hunting/working, so i'm not avoiding sf by choice. i'll be quite present here come mid-jan, when i get settled into the new place.

[boltoph]

Was just sent this link by someone, I think it's chock full of GREAT tips and tricks.

Everything from eq, to facts about preamps, signal processing, mic'ing, you name it!


www.record-producer.com


Bookmark it!

[nyjm]

www.record-producer.com

i dunno... there seems to be an excessively high noise to signal ratio for my tastes. granted, there's some interesting and useful information on the site (mic placement, when and how to EQ, mixing tips.)

... but i find it to be a pain in the ass to get to. and there's a piddly amount of information for all the ad-space and "news" (basically more ads and reviews). i mean, come on, this feature about mastering can be summed as "forget conventional wisdom: do whatever the hell you want!" how is that helpful?

maybe this site just isn't aimed at my curernt producing competence (hey, music is just my hobby). but for me, the "help and how to forums" here at songfight are just as useful. i don't see any kind of archives over there either.

- njm

[boltoph]

re: http://www.record-producer.com

I understand what you're saying about signal to noise, but i'd think that if a site is heavily sponsored, they probably have the $ to actually get resources and have more information available.

And quite a few songfighters would benefit from reading this blurb about clipping

I think it's best to take in all the info you can get, and this site is just part of the plethora of info. out there. Take it or leave it. I think it's easy to navigate via the left hand list of topics.

this feature about mastering can be summed as "forget conventional wisdom: do whatever the hell you want!" how is that helpful?

I hate to say it, but it's correct. The article is right. Talk to sound engineers, you'll get the same answer. It's one way of seeing things. Sure it's better in a way, to have some external professional guy master your songs, but the main reason is the second set of unbiased, professional ears. And as far as mastering on "pro monitors" this doesn't matter because the real test is to listen to your "masters" on as many systems and types of speakers as possible. There are a number of other articles that detail mastering procedures, and even suggests a benefit to hiring a separate mastering engineer...

Check out this page about mic techniques. In addition to having a bunch of articles on mic'ing technique, it also lists, describes, and gives pics and specs for a whole slew of mic's and what they're best for, and tells you how much they cost and provides links to full specs. It's like a music store that teaches, as well.

The site is full of noise, but it covers everything. There's so much signal that the noise doesn't matter. Not only that, but it combines a forum element, where people post followup comments to the articles. I think it's great. The whole point of the site is to give info. to "do it yourself". I like it...just my opinion.

I'd also say not to listen to anyone that says there is a "boiler plate" way of doing something. Consider mic'ing an acoustic guitar.

Also, I come to this site looking to kill time when I'm bored at work, so i guess i can appreciate both the signal and the noise...more...more...more...more...

[stueym]

I would like to give a shout-out for Sound on Sound. This is a UK magazine that has a terrific web-site and has a US subscription shipping model. i.e. they will send the US version (yes they change the pricing and address content and advertising for the US market) of the magazine to you...right into your mailbox.

http://www.soundonsound.com/

On the website, lots of reviews and other great articles are available free to browse, but the good stuff is part of the subscription package. The US subscription including access to the subscription only web content is $60 a year and in the last three months they have now started including the DVD in the US version (oh and by the way they publish the US prices for their reviews...very helpful)

So... on the point of mastering, in the March issue they have a terrific article and sample files where they blind tested the mastering output from 3 different on-line mastering services over three different songs. They also included their own home brew effort at mastering the files. Extremely interesting results with no where near as much difference as people might think from 3 seperate engineers other than an overall average 7db loudness "improvement". The nuances were much finer than they expected. Excellent article.

If anyone wants a copy I can make a PDF and email it. Just PM me.

Overall I love SOS and have learned a huge amount over the last 5 years I have been getting it.

[the idiot king]

i've actually written some content for this guy here...

[Kill Me Sarah]

Well I'd love to see this wiki go up. Anyone noticed the last 3 or 4 question topics in this forum have been mine? lol

I'm going to have questions galore once this next fight is made available, but I want to get impressions on my song before I spill my guts on what I'd like to fix on it.

[jb]

Anyone interested in contributing to this, PM me.