Hello all people, hope you’re doing marvellously nicely. Welcome again to a different FAQ Friday, this time from our satellite tv for pc studio right here in London at Spitfire Studio London, SSL because it have been. Pale blue gray jumper, not massive, unhealthy, or wearing black, nonetheless we press on regardless.
We had an incredible set of questions this week, protecting all the pieces from actual guitar amps versus plug ins, to utilizing pedals in a combination, to vocal psychology and realizing when a combination is completed. Let’s dive in.
Actual Guitar Amps vs Plug In Simulations
The brief reply is, I like actual amps. I at all times have. Ninety 9 p.c of my life has been spent recording actual guitar amplifiers. Nevertheless amp modelling and emulation have been round for a really very long time, lengthy earlier than impulse responses turned a standard speaking level.
Again within the late nineties, my good good friend Dave Jordan labored on Americana by The Offspring, which featured huge guitar sounds that individuals nonetheless love at the moment. These tones have been created utilizing a mix of actual amps alongside Amp Farm, printing a DI and mixing the 2 collectively. This was nicely earlier than the business totally understood simply how a lot of the sound lives within the speaker and the cupboard.
If I’ve the time and the funds, I’ll at all times select actual amps for something that requires character. Each mixture of guitarist, guitar, amp, mic, mic pre, and efficiency provides you one thing distinctive. In a world the place AI and over standardisation are very actual considerations, uniqueness issues greater than ever.
That stated, don’t let dogma get in the way in which of creativity. If you happen to’re writing and inspiration strikes, plug straight right into a DI, pull up an amp sim, and get the concept down. The efficiency and the concept are way more essential than the purity of the sign chain.
Once we interviewed Steven Wilson, he talked about utilizing a small pedal for tough concepts and infrequently holding these sounds as a result of the efficiency was proper. If the emotion is there, why redo it?
Actual amps are distinctive and particular person. Plug ins are quick, sensible, and inventive. Use each. Mix away. Have enjoyable with it.
Mixing with Guitar Pedals and Pedal Compressors
That is certainly one of my favorite subjects. A few years in the past, within the early 2000s, I labored with Dave Sardy and Greg Gordon. Greg would report onto 4 observe cassette and use guitar pedals for compression, together with basic Boss compressor pedals just like the CS sequence.
These pedals created aggressive, explosive tones that have been utterly totally different from an 1176, an LA 2A, or a dbx 160. As a result of they have been designed for guitar, you might dial in assault and response in a means that felt rapid and musical.
At the moment, corporations like Radial make re amp and pedal interface options, together with 500 sequence modules, that allow you to run audio out of your DAW and thru pedals throughout a combination. Bob Horn makes use of this strategy as nicely.
Are pedal compressors technically totally different from outboard equivalents? Probably. Nevertheless the larger distinction is psychological. {Hardware}, particularly unfamiliar {hardware}, forces you to suppose otherwise. It pulls you out of muscle reminiscence and away from compressors you’ve used a thousand instances.
It’s like placing a guitar into an alternate tuning. You don’t attempt to play the identical shapes. You discover. You uncover new voicings, new melodies, and new concepts. That’s the actual worth of utilizing pedals in a combination. They’re artistic instruments first, not simply processors.
Making Individually Recorded Tracks Really feel Like a Dwell Efficiency
When all the pieces is recorded individually, the bottom line is shared house and motion.
One strategy is to make use of a single room impulse response and ship a number of devices to it very flippantly. One other is to bus teams, reminiscent of drums, right into a room reverb by way of a brief delay. By various the pre delay by a couple of milliseconds, you create the phantasm that devices are sitting at totally different depths within the room.
Pan devices inside that shared house, preserve the room refined, and let all the pieces bleed simply sufficient to really feel cohesive. Add bus compression to assist components transfer collectively, and all of a sudden the combination feels alive quite than assembled.
It doesn’t should be difficult. One room, used intelligently, goes a really great distance.
How Lengthy Is Too Lengthy to Spend on a Combine?
I strongly imagine in shifting rapidly. If you transfer quick, you make artistic selections as an alternative of getting misplaced in technical ones. That doesn’t imply being careless. It means staying centered.
The inspiration of a combination can typically be executed in 45 minutes to a few hours, typically as much as 4 hours relying on complexity. Modifying, automation, delay throws, reverse results, and superb element can take for much longer, and that’s completely superb.
I blended a observe lately the place the core combine was about 45 minutes. The polish took for much longer. That steadiness is essential. Get the emotional and musical image proper first, then spend time enhancing curiosity and element.
Getting the Finest from a Vocalist on an Off Day
This is likely to be a very powerful query of all.
Usually, a vocalist just isn’t struggling technically. They’re struggling emotionally. Anxiousness, stress, and overthinking can cripple even essentially the most skilled singers.
Step one is distraction. Make a cup of tea. Inform a joke. Discuss one thing unrelated. Take them out of their head.
When recording, don’t get overly detailed too rapidly. Run full takes. Discover moments you like, even when they’re imperfect. Play these moments again and say, “That factor you probably did there, that breath, that phrasing, that emotion, that was superb. Give me extra of that.”
That is the one most essential piece of vocal manufacturing recommendation I can provide you. Construct confidence by highlighting what works. Don’t tear singers down by itemizing what’s flawed.
I discovered this by watching nice producers like Jack Douglas and David Foster. David Foster as soon as informed me he has by no means executed greater than ten takes of a track with any singer. He is aware of when one thing is nice, and he is aware of the right way to encourage extra of it.
Nice manufacturing is saying, “I like this, let’s construct on it.” Dangerous manufacturing is saying, “That sucked, do it once more.”
Encourage your singer. Discover what you like. Get extra of that. Confidence unlocks performances in a means no plug in ever will.
Thanks ever a lot for studying and for watching. Please depart extra questions under, I like doing these. I hope you’re having fun with our new satellite tv for pc studio right here in London. We nonetheless haven’t chosen the screens.
Have a marvellous time recording and mixing.
