demo recording/mastering?

R

Rayne

Guest
here's my thought: What I WANT to do is record myself mixing (for promotional use) the best recording gear I have..(without haveing it be a pain in the booty) is simply a home stereo. what I'll do is take my mix, record it through the stereo..(with teh Xtra bass on?.. I want a nice thump) once I get a good mix, I can take it to the drama center at ny collage. I have free use of this. there is soem NICE equipment. I'm not sure of the exact brands. But I'm thinking that what I coudl do, is put the tape in.. record through th emixing board..(So I can play with eq/levels/ etc...) that shoudl be able to make it sound nice enough. what I need to do after that is to get it into the computer: tehy have a G4 I think.. JUST fo rmusic.. nice programs on it too.. I can't remember the name though. If you'd like the name of the mixer OR the program, let me know, and next time I'm there I'll check it out. But I think I can record directly from the board into the computer..(sound right?) once there.. I can add compression to make it sound better..(what paramiters shoudl I use?) and do whatever else I might need to. than I can get it all to CD, and it should sound nice..... I have NEVER done anythign like this before. I"ve just gotten into this much audio: but I want to do this.. ANYthing you can let me knwo to help woudl be MUCh appreciated. I knwo that alot of peoepl here knwo ALOT more than I do. So I'm hopeing it will help me out. I'm just kinda playing it by ear, hopeing somethign good will come out. thanks alot..
Laugter, Luck, and Light
 
I wouldn't suggest using the extra bass on your stereo. Turn off all sound enhancements that your stereo system has - all they do is make you think the mix sounds good because it sounds good on your system - yet it may sound terrible on other systems. So you need to make your mix as neutral as possible.

When you go to your college, there will probably also be better monitoring speakers that will tell you the truth about your mix. Then, if you feel your mix lacks thump, add a little around 60-120hz with the EQ (or what sounds good). Not too much - if you're mixing commercial records, they are already mastered by professionals so you won't be able to make them sound much better (or probably just worse).

Same thing with compression - the records are probably already compressed but it might still be a good idea to use it as a limiter to match the levels throughout your mix - ie. use the highest ratio available (usually infinite to one), zero attack time and medium release (100-300ms. or what sounds good). Start the treshhold at maximum (no reduction), then lower it gradually until you see (or hear) it starts reducing the levels just a little, yet without distorting or making it sound unnatural.

Hope this helped. I'll be glad to answer any further questions.
:monkey:
Toni L.
www.mp3.com/NativeAlien
 
Is there no way you can get your decks into college? Just thinking that it seems a shame to lose all that quality going to tape at home. Also, might be worth trying to find someone who is doing a course which involves the gear in the drama centre, just 'cos all that electronic gadgetry has a pretty steep learning curve.

For more practical tips just post up what hardware and software they have.

KasioRoks
 
Thanks alot :) I tried recording a bit last night.. nothign that I want to use, just checking to see how it sounds.. on my stereo it sound kinda ehhh... but tapes always do! I brought it over to my friends room.. (he has amuch better system)...a nd it didn't sound that bad at all: and I'm using CDs not vinyl.. just so you know. So aot of the sounds are different: but I'm keeping the levels more or less nice and even. Actually there isnt'a sound course at thei collage. Next year they will haeva drama major, but it will still be abotu 2 years or so untill they actually get the sound course going. there are two peopel who knwo swhat thier doing. One is the theater director, the other is a senior at the collage. Which is why I can get into there, and use anything I want, they REALLY need peopel who can understand this stuff..(Even just alittle bit) but I've remembered what theirsoftwear was.. they haeva G4 with ProTools..(That can insert indivual tracks, right?) I havent played with thier protools yet, I'm still trying to figure out the board. But hey... all in good time! I didn't plan on this taking me a week.. lol I'm kinda shooting for halloween. althoguh it might take me longer, it at least gives me a goal/ deadline. They ahev pros in occasionally to design the sound for productions and what not... I might just have to fidn myself in the room wth tham next tiem thier here, huh? ;) I can get ahold of someone if I REALLY need to, they could show me what I need to do. But I want to try and do thi salone (for th emost part, I kwo that is simply not possible with my current knowlage) but this site, and yoru replies are helping me ALOT! Thank you !
 
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