Commentary

Nathano provides some tips and tricks when it comes to recording snare and kick on a drum set. The techniques he provides allows you to not only maintain the quality of your drum recording, but allows you to use less microphones in the process. By placing the microphone in the right place, and using the right kind of mic, you can use one microphone to capture the snare and the kick drum easily with the same quality as using two microphones.

Key Takeaways:

• Not everyone has such an arrangement of mics, also the preamps, sound interface inputs, or even the links and mic stands required.
• So, in specific circumstances you may need or need to lessen the quantity of mics without giving up the nature of the final product.
• To incorporate this astute method, we utilized a top of the line dynamic, huge stomach cardioid mic, specifically the Electro-Voice RE20.

“You can replace the Kick In and Snare Bottom with a single microphone without too many negative effects”

Read more: http://en.audiofanzine.com/recording-mixing/editorial/articles/recording-the-snare-and-kick-at-the-same-time.html

The article is a continuation of the author’s step by step guide through the features of Drum Machine Designer. The steps are not in numerical order.
(Starting at Step 7) one accesses the macro controls by clicking on the machine’s interface at the top. To illustrate by clicking on “Mix” (mixers are managed by plug-ins) one can balance different sounds from main instruments in a kit by modifying the buses in six subsets (illustration or screenshot is provided).
(Step: Effects) With this you manage plug-ins for your whole kit. You can choose for a Bypass option or increase a mix or depth. One can alter the Bitcrusher plug-in features by increasing values for certain settings, like Crush (There is an illustration).
(Step: Sends) With this you can change the reverb effects in some mix or experiment to get other mixing and reverb effects in a kit (illustration or screenshot provided).
(Step) Accessing the right macros such as with Mix enables you to alter the sound effects of a mix, or to experiment with the blend of different synthesized instruments. You can change the time for reverbs or swap (illustration).
(Step: Channels) With these you can experiment with or redo the effects that Drum Machine Designer can create automatically (Screenshot provided).
(Steps: Ultrabeat) With Reverse, Playback and other options you can navigate through some of the controls (illustration).
(Step: NoteRepeat, Logic Pro X) One utilizes the features of Note Repeat through the toolbars. You can for example create different drum patterns (illustration, including of keyboard).
(Step:) With the logic set in Note Repeat one can change the Rate setting to retrigger some note (Screenshot provided).
(Step:) With MIDI controllers accessed also can be used to change the rate, along with the modulation wheel (for setting crescendo and diminuendo) and with min and max controls (Screenshot).
(Step: Note Repeat) Various controls let you change Gate Time and Velocity (Screenshot).
(Step:) The Gate Time can depend on the note duration. These can be changed at whim (Screenshot appears).
(Step: Spot Erase) This feature creates a reverse effect to Note Repeat. Hold down a MIDI key and some effect is erased.

Key Takeaways:

• Tapping on the highest point of Drum Machine Designer’s interface gives you a chance to get to the full scale controls.
• The Mix area, for instance, gives you a chance to adjust the pack utilizing six sub-bunch transports part between the fundamental instrument gatherings.
• The Effects segment controls modules embedded over the entire pack, expanding their profundity/blend or bypassing them.

“By understanding how the mixer integrates, you can start to adapt Drum Machine Designer’s sound to your own liking.”

Read more: http://www.musictech.net/2017/03/logic-drum-machine-step-by-step/

Björgvin Benediktsson gives a roaring critique on who’s really to blame for music being too loud these days. Just thought it was your parents complaining, wishing for the old days when tracks were listened to by scratchy gramophones? Think again. There’s a very specific and purposeful process to editing music so it’s deemed fit for mass consumption, at it involves a little known but often abused worker called a “limiter”. Using his own music know how and sense of humor, this blogger calls attention to the fact that the limiter might not be who we have to blame.

Key Takeaways:

• The forlorn limiter. He’s just there to make your music sound louder. It was never his expectation to murder it.
• He’s by and large dishonestly charged for violations he didn’t confer. He was utilized, and the killings went ahead at no blame of his own.
• In a current article he absolved the limiter of any wrongdoing. It’s not the limiter that squashes the living crap out of your music.

“The same happens if you abuse the limiter. If you push a limiter too hard he will bite back. Whereas once he loved the music that ran through him, now he ruins it by crushing the life out of it. If you care for him, he will care for your music.”

Read more: http://www.audio-issues.com/mastering/the-case-for-the-falsely-accused-limiter/

So far topics like Overhead tracks and the Mono Room were covered. Now the discussion moves to recording with the drum kit and close miking. The lesson starts with the snare drum.
Already it has been shown how close miking enables one to grab the strikes of the drum on the drumhead with the help of the Overheads to get the other important sounds. Use the classical snare for a paradigm; an Sm57 (HTTP link) for the snare position at the top (refers to accompanying pictures). John Leckie, Bob Clearmountain and Tony Visconti have exemplified the approached meant here (links to audio clips).
If one hears the recordings separately the mids predominate with sound (Screenshot). Here true brilliance and clarity are lacking; but on this track we need the attack here, which is the whole point. we have to add air, brilliance to it.
It looks simple here but subtlety lies within. Where does one place the mike? This is important. Listen to the drummer on the track during the recording. Place the mike closer if the drummer plays softly. If though it is loud move the mike farther away to avoid overloading. You also can change the mike angle if necessary to achieve balancing, so that the mike for example focuses on where the drumsticks fall for precision. On the other hand if you aim the mike, angling it to focus on the drumhead and rim center, you put emphasis on thickness. If the drummer instead is striking the rim you can focus on that.
One can add the Snare Bottom mike to the Snare Top mike if one needs to do so to enhance the sound of the snare drum (related audio clips provided).
One can then get a thin, bright sound with a twang (audio clip). You can mix this track with the previous one for better gain, timbre and brilliance. But look out for phase variances! Phase shifts between the Snare Top and Snare Bottom will cause unpleasant sound effects (samples in audio clips). Get the two phases in sync and you get a much better sound.
The right mix of Snare Top and Snare Bottom helps you to avoid compression (audio clip).

Key Takeaways:

• Recorded independently, the sound appears to have significantly more nearness in the mids.
• In spite of the clear effortlessness of this strategy, there are by and by a few nuances to consider while setting the mic.
• Keeping in mind the end goal to locate the ideal separation, you have to consider the playing of the drummer on the track you’re recording.

“For the snare I always recommend the most classical approach, which has proved its worth time and time again: an SM57 for the Snare Top position, just a couple of inches above the snare (look at the pictures).”

Read more: http://en.audiofanzine.com/recording-mixing/editorial/articles/recording-drums-the-snare-drum-part-one.html

Sidechain Compression is not something that I have ever heard of. Using these techniques has a seemingly positive effect on creating music popular with DJ’s and other music industry professionals. The type of music being created does not matter and it is available across all genres. It works with both vocals and instruments and the article explains in detail what Sidechain Compression is and how to utilize 4 useful or popular techniques. The article includes a link to download a free copy of ” The Quick and Easy Guide to Advanced Compression Tactics”.

Key Takeaways:

• This is my entire sidechain pressure instructional exercise, and will impart these 4 capable procedures to you at this moment.
• When you get a handle on the nuts and bolts of sidechaining and these 4 procedures, you can create blends that have more space, vitality, beat and partition.
• Basically, it’s a smart volume control. You are advising the compressor to turn something down once it goes over a specific level.

“This was the first time I heard about sidechain compression. It was a friend of mine, who was an aspiring dance music producer.”

Read more: http://www.homestudiocenter.com/sidechain-compression-guide/