Recording & Mixing

David Mellor discusses how to create custom effects in a DAW without relying on expensive plug-ins. Here he demonstrates his approach to creating a filter pan effect using an EQ with high-pass and low-pass filters, highlighting how custom effects can help give your music a unique edge.Chapters00:00 - Introduction02:05 - Pan Effect03:02 - Mono Pan04:30 - Static Pan06:21 - Music Track06:42 - Creative Pan Effect09:00 - Pan Effect Using A Low-Pass Filter 13:23 - Crossfading Using Filters17:15 - Effecting Individual Instruments #slatedigital #infinityeq #protoolsDavid Mellor BiogDavid Mellor got his start in pro audio through the Tonmeister course at Surrey University studying music, piano performance, acoustics, electronics, electro-acoustics and recording.He went on to work at London's Royal Opera House, with responsibilities including sound design, front-of-house operation, stage monitoring and electronic design satisfying the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Karlheinz Stockhausen. David has also had over 600 works published in the field of production music. Notable uses of his music include the BBC's Horizon, Fahrenheit 911, and the Oprah Winfrey Show.David has been actively involved in Audio Education since 1986, teaching students of City of Westminster College and Westminster University, also returning to guest lecture at Surrey University. From 2001 until recently David has offered courses in audio online with Audio Masterclass. David now enjoys making YouTube videos for his 84,000 subscribers and releasing music on streaming services and Bandcamp for his dozen or so listeners.YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@audiomasterclassSpotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/6OkaDx4vB4O2ssUA5p4M8gBandcamp - https://davidmellor.bandcamp.com/Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Paul White delves into the fun world of modelled guitars, amps and cabs, that cannot only make your songwriting and studio sessions more creative and unique, but can also greatly assist with streamlining live performances.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:12 - Techniques For Modelling Amps And Cabs04:22 - Amplifier Cloning05:49 - Compression To Improve Tonal Quality07:58 - Adding Room Ambience09:41 - Cleaning Up The Sound With EQ10:51 - Guitar Modelling Options13:05 - Why We Have Split Pickups16:24 - Non-Guitar Sounds At Your Fingertips18:12 - Modelled Bass Guitars#BossVG800 #MODOBass2Paul White BiogPaul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing. He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/

Paul White and Hugh Robjohns pick their software and hardware highlights from the gear they've reviewed in the last 12 months.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:24 - Lynx Hilo 202:49 - Blackstar Polar 2 / Polar 403:39 - AEA TRP 3 Preamp 05:40 - Logic Pro 1107:24 - RME Fireface UFX III09:57 - Dreamtonics Vocoflex 11:33 - Hum Audio LAAL Limiter13:43 - FireSonic FireSpacer14:54 - Crookwood VU Meter17:03 - Nektar Panorama CS1217:42 - IK Multimedia Tonex One18:23 - Sound Particles inDelay19:19 - Sonnect SoundWire InterfacePaul White BiogPaul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing. He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/Hugh Robjohns BiogHugh Robjohns has been Sound On Sound´s Technical Editor since 1997. Prior to that he worked in a variety of (mostly) sound-related roles in BBC Television, ending up as a Sound Operations Lecturer at the BBC´s technical training centre. He continues to provide audio consultancy and bespoke broadcast audio training services all over the world, lectures at professional and public conventions, and occasionally records and masters acoustic and classical music too!Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Paul White and Hugh Robjohns talk us through four essential studio effects that every music producer or mix engineer needs to know for creating an effective mix, placing them in order of importance and giving an insight into how they can be used effectively.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:21 - Effect 1: Reverb02:11 - Convolution Reverb04:28 - Reverb Controls05:53 - Using Aux Sends08:00 - Effect 2: EQ08:57 - EQ Filters11:44 - The Shelving Filter13:40 - Parametric EQ14:17 - Cutting Vs Boosting15:26 - Effect 3: Delay16:21 - Where To Use Delay17:40 - Effect 4: Compression18:43 - Setting Threshold and Ratio19:51 - Soft-Knee Compression20:33 - Tweaking Presets22:08 - Other Controls26:02 - Parallel Compression30:11 - Creative Modulation Effects30:58 - Using Effects SparinglyPaul White BiogPaul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing. He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/Hugh Robjohns BiogHugh Robjohns has been Sound On Sound´s Technical Editor since 1997. Prior to that he worked in a variety of (mostly) sound-related roles in BBC Television, ending up as a Sound Operations Lecturer at the BBC´s technical training centre. He continues to provide audio consultancy and bespoke broadcast audio training services all over the world, lectures at professional and public conventions, and occasionally records and masters acoustic and classical music too!Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Paul White and Hugh Robjohns discuss the basics of a good home studio setup, including choosing the right equipment and setting up your space correctly for achieving the best recording and mixing results.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:14 - Minimum Equipment00:54 - Audio Interfaces02:46 - Headphones and Speakers03:21 - Choosing A Microphone08:55 - Additional Accessories12:27 - Desks And Monitor Stands16:21 - Speakers And Acoustic Treatment21:06 - Choosing Studio Monitors22:35 - Subwoofers And Bass Traps26:16 - Cutting Reflections For Vocals28:48 - Recaphttps://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/studio-sos-making-small-room-sound-goodPaul White BiogPaul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing. He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/Hugh Robjohns BiogHugh Robjohns has been Sound On Sound´s Technical Editor since 1997. Prior to that he worked in a variety of (mostly) sound-related roles in BBC Television, ending up as a Sound Operations Lecturer at the BBC´s technical training centre. He continues to provide audio consultancy and bespoke broadcast audio training services all over the world, lectures at professional and public conventions, and occasionally records and masters acoustic and classical music too!Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Eddie Bazil gives us more pointers on constructing beats, incorporating useful tools such as Drum Replacement Software and pre-constructed Loops, then adding enhancements using timing, pitch and other processing tips.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:33 - Drum Replacement Software01:41 - Example 1: Using Hit'n'Mix RipX DAW 05:41 - Example 2: Making Loops Your Own11:36 - Example 3: Enhancing A Kick With Pitch And Timing Track credit for example 1: Ice Box featuring Omarion, produced by Timbaland - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Box_(song)Eddie Bazil BiogEddie Bazil launched his music industry career at the age of 17 as a synth programmer for a range of Electro / New Wave bands including Art of Noise, Spandau Ballet, Pet Shop Boys, Bobin, Paul Dee, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, Jets Orchestra. By his 20s he was working as a sound designer for Akai, Roland Emu/Ensoniq, eventually signing on exclusively with the latter. Later, due to a growing demand for software instruments and libraries, Eddie started to develop libraries for various software manufacturers, including Native Instruments, Kiesel, Sound Effects Library, Arturia and Propellerheads. A meeting with Phil Allen, a Capital Radio DJ, resulted in the company Samplecraze, which Eddie has spent 20 years developing as an educational resource. At this time he trained in music production and soon gained a number of prominent contracts working with some notable artistes such as Busta Rhymes, Greensleeves, 9 Bar, SFP, Sleeveless, Chris Campbell and Gam Productions. He contracted to Island Records and Chrysalis as a producer and remixer, plus was commissioned to write the score for Macbeth that ran at 2 Way Mirror at Alexander Palace for the Cambridge Shakespeare Company. His ongoing development of Samplecraze has led to him offering educational workshops and classes, releasing four books via PC Publishing and becoming a contributor and forum moderator for Sound On Sound. Recently he has established The Audio Production Hub for online education and been invited by the Recording Academy to become a Grammy judge.https://eddiebazil.co.uk/https://samplecraze.com/Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

In the first of a two-part series, Eddie Bazil explains how some simple adjustments in your DAW will help you to achieve more bounce in your drum beats, by adding syncopation, swing and dynamism.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:20 - A Quick History Of Beat Production01:07 - Early Programmable Drum Machines04:33 - Defining A Good Beat05:15 - Example 1: Shifting The Snare To Drive A Beat07:55 - Example 2: Altering Dynamics And Note Durations10:51 - Example 3: Adding Urgency With A Backbeat 12:37 - Example 4: Creating Swing With The Hi-Hats Eddie Bazil BiogEddie Bazil launched his music industry career at the age of 17 as a synth programmer for a range of Electro / New Wave bands including Art of Noise, Spandau Ballet, Pet Shop Boys, Bobin, Paul Dee, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, Jets Orchestra. By his 20s he was working as a sound designer for Akai, Roland Emu/Ensoniq, eventually signing on exclusively with the latter. Later, due to a growing demand for software instruments and libraries, Eddie started to develop libraries for various software manufacturers, including Native Instruments, Kiesel, Sound Effects Library, Arturia and Propellerheads. A meeting with Phil Allen, a Capital Radio DJ, resulted in the company Samplecraze, which Eddie has spent 20 years developing as an educational resource. At this time he trained in music production and soon gained a number of prominent contracts working with some notable artistes such as Busta Rhymes, Greensleeves, 9 Bar, SFP, Sleeveless, Chris Campbell and Gam Productions. He contracted to Island Records and Chrysalis as a producer and remixer, plus was commissioned to write the score for Macbeth that ran at 2 Way Mirror at Alexander Palace for the Cambridge Shakespeare Company. His ongoing development of Samplecraze has led to him offering educational workshops and classes, releasing four books via PC Publishing and becoming a contributor and forum moderator for Sound On Sound. Recently he has established The Audio Production Hub for online education and been invited by the Recording Academy to become a Grammy judge.https://eddiebazil.co.uk/https://samplecraze.com/Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

In the first of this two-part series, David Mellor gives us an introduction to mic polar patterns, explaining the best type of mic to use for various recording situations.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:43 - Influenced By The EMI Emiguide Tapes04:08 - What Is A Polar Pattern?06:46 - Omnidirectional and Figure Of 808:43 - Cardioid, Hypercardioid and Super-Cardioid11:14 - Pressure-Sensitive and Pressure Gradient11:58 - Imperfections In Higher And Lower Frequencies13:01 - The Decca Tree14:06 - Abbey Road Demonstration15:32 - 0 degree axis Figure Of 816:10 - 90 degree axis Figure Of 816:48 - 180 degree axis Figure Of 817:30 - 270 degree axis Figure Of 819:01 - Multi-Pattern Microphones19:58 - Best Usage24:26 - Interference Tube, Parabolic Reflector26:23 - Experimenting With Off-AxisDavid Mellor BiogDavid Mellor got his start in pro audio through the Tonmeister course at Surrey University studying music, piano performance, acoustics, electronics, electro-acoustics and recording.He went on to work at London's Royal Opera House, with responsibilities including sound design, front-of-house operation, stage monitoring and electronic design satisfying the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Karlheinz Stockhausen. He has also had over 600 works published in the field of production music, including the Chappell and Carlin music libraries (now combined into Universal Publishing Production Music). Notable uses of his music include the BBC's Horizon, Fahrenheit 911, and the Oprah Winfrey Show.David has been actively involved in Audio Education since 1986, teaching students of City of Westminster College and Westminster University, and also returning to lecture at Surrey University. He also worked with John Cage on the International Dance Course at the University of Surrey. David now specialises in online audio education and has been Course Director of Audio Masterclass since 2001.https://www.audiomasterclass.com/Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts