What is automation? Nowadays young sound engineers and those wanting to start a career in sound engineering or simply those in the hobby of mixing music rely more on plug-ins rather than automation. Most of them fail to see and understand its process, how it works, and what it can do. They’re actually mixing one of the major areas of professional mixing.
In a recording certain parameters evolve through time and automation is what allows this process to happen. Today with DAW’s (Digital Audio Workstation) you can automate almost any setting, from volume to pan etc. Normally you will recognize these by graphical curves.
Read more here: http://en.audiofanzine.com/recording-mixing/editorial/articles/introduction-to-automation.html
Recording Tips and Techniques
Avoid These Useless Audio Questions
Björgvin Benediktsson of Audio-Issues discusses commonly asked questions about audio and came up with a list of useless questions we should avoid. He further discusses these as not stupid but only misguided questions.
Better gear does not equal best results, although you need to spend up to a certain amount to achieve quality equipment, it does not necessarily mean that the most expensive ones would produce better sound. It’s more about skills and not the mechanics of your gear. You can actually spend thousands of dollars for an equipment but if not combined with the proper skill and technique would still sound mediocre.
Read more here: http://www.audio-issues.com/music-mixing/useless-audio-questions/
PS4 Game Soundtrack Created With An Actual Human Skull
Known for its haunting theme Playdead creator o Limbo released yet another dark themed game for PS4 called “Inside”. Playdead collaborated with composer and sound designer Martin Stig Anderesen to create the perfect haunting experience for its players. Adersen went far enough to create this experience by using an actual human skull in recording the said soundtrack.
He used the human skull as he calls it as an “old school filter” although the initial results were actually bad Andersen used some post-processing tricks and came up with the games final track.
“Every time I start a new project I really want to find some kind of distinctive, original sound” – Andersen
Find out more here: https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/10/inside-game-soundtrack-human-skull/
The Ultimate Guide to In-The-Box Mastering
Through the years technology has really advanced and we have seen some radical change in the way mixing has been done. Mastering for the last few years has been under the brute power of mere loudness. Today we can say the battle has been won and mastering is now a matter of dynamics and has gone beyond volume.
Audio engineer and music technology journalist Mike Hillier recently came up with a list of tools and tricks for In-the-box mastering, it’s all one needs to know.
Mike Hillier’s ultimate mastering guide included understanding how to measure loudness based on EBU R128.
Find out more about it here: http://www.musictech.net/2016/10/mastering-guide-2016/
3 Rules For Using Saturation Effectively In Your Mix
When it comes to using saturation effectively in your mix there are three general rules for the particular aspect of it. These three particular rules for using saturation effectively in your mix include using the right type and take some time to tweak it, not being afraid of scrapping the effect entirely, and the last particular one is always being aware of gain-staging.
Key Takeaways:
- Saturation is the last plug-in Bjorgvin teaches in the Mixing With 5 Plug-ins course.
- The Kramer Tape also adds a cool delay element so you can create cool slap echo tones the Saturn doesn’t do.
- You’d be surprised how different they sound, especially if you take the time to get the settings just right.
Use the Right Saturation Type and Take Some Time to Tweak It