Okay, so I have been using ProTools for around a month now... and to be totally honest, I have to say I prefer Logic, it has such a more user friendly interface and it uses less physical memory which means you can use more plugins and still have little to no latency!
Don't get me wrong... I'm not going to uninstall ProTools any time soon, it is still an amazing program and one I would like to dabble more into so I can teach tutorials about it on here! Until then, I shall be giving tutorials on Logic :)
Stay Tuned!!
:)
Showing posts with label ProTools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ProTools. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Gear List (Everything Except Drums)
So, you have all seen my drums, and how they are all pieced together and miked up for recording! I do hope that helped some of you reading this! Now I am going to go into more detail on other parts of the recording process that I do from home...
To start with, after I have got my basic drums recorded, I move onto recording a very basic single guitar track. In one of my earlier posts I described the guitar gear that I use in a lot of our recordings, for those of you that didn't read it I use a Marshall MG HD100FX head and cabinet, I have used this combination in all of my recordings as you can hear in this song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsyjKoXSVd4 Please excuse the vocals in this recording, they are very very average! But listen to the guitar quality then compare my recording to the original recording here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtZWfGH7Tv4 There are some parts in my recording that have been missed out (most parts missed out were involving the synth) but the two recordings sound extremely similar in my mind, I should have done more mixing on the guitar, but overall, I got an extremely good sound out of a solid state amp. Below this is a picture of my amp and guitar that I used for the recording.
That is the amp that I have used in my bands recording of "Sweet December" considering at the time I only had one microphone the recording turned out pretty good in my opinion.
Since "Sweet December" I have invested some higher budget recording gear, namely, my M-Audio Fast Track Ultra USB Interface, I havent had it for a very long time unfortunately, although it sure has been used a lot! At the moment I am editing my bands most recent cover called "Counting The Stars"if I had done this using Logic, the song would probably be on YouTube by now, however I am using ProTools to mix and master it (By no means am I saying ProTools is harder!! I have just worked with Logic a lot in the past and know a lot of the ins and outs of Logic I am stil very new to ProTools) For me, using ProTools to mix and master this song, has been a big learning experience, to start with ProTools is a lot different to Logic even from the basic user interface, wait until you get into the EQ's. But any way, here is a picture of my M-Audio Fast Track Ultra USB Interface that I have been using. I highly recommend this product by the way, it is so easy to hook up and use, plus it is so portable.
So, thats a picture of my USB interface that I will recommend to just about anybody starting a home studio!
Next, I have my bass gear, this is fun to use, under this paragraph I will upload a photo of my bass, as well as my head and cabinet (Not that I use my cabinet for recording). In recordings with bass, there are two things that I like to do.. The first thing, is that I like to take a direct out, out of the back of my amp head into ProTools so I get the sound of the bass that I am hearing through the cabinet, coming out directly into the computer. My second way that I like to record bass is by simply a D.I. (Direct in) this means that basically I just take the lead from my bass, plug it into a track in my audio interface and in ProTools or Logic, I am getting the raw sound of the bass guitar I am using, this makes it more fun to mix as you have total control over the sound, and in ProTools, whats really cool is being able to add a guitar amp plug in over a bass guitar track, it can give you a very very unique sounding bass. In the picture below you can see both my bass (Squire Mike Dirnt Signiture Bass) as well as my bass amp and head (Rockit).
Thank you all for reading, I hope that was help for you all and if not leave your questions or comments in the section below!
:)
That is the amp that I have used in my bands recording of "Sweet December" considering at the time I only had one microphone the recording turned out pretty good in my opinion.
Since "Sweet December" I have invested some higher budget recording gear, namely, my M-Audio Fast Track Ultra USB Interface, I havent had it for a very long time unfortunately, although it sure has been used a lot! At the moment I am editing my bands most recent cover called "Counting The Stars"if I had done this using Logic, the song would probably be on YouTube by now, however I am using ProTools to mix and master it (By no means am I saying ProTools is harder!! I have just worked with Logic a lot in the past and know a lot of the ins and outs of Logic I am stil very new to ProTools) For me, using ProTools to mix and master this song, has been a big learning experience, to start with ProTools is a lot different to Logic even from the basic user interface, wait until you get into the EQ's. But any way, here is a picture of my M-Audio Fast Track Ultra USB Interface that I have been using. I highly recommend this product by the way, it is so easy to hook up and use, plus it is so portable.
So, thats a picture of my USB interface that I will recommend to just about anybody starting a home studio!
Next, I have my bass gear, this is fun to use, under this paragraph I will upload a photo of my bass, as well as my head and cabinet (Not that I use my cabinet for recording). In recordings with bass, there are two things that I like to do.. The first thing, is that I like to take a direct out, out of the back of my amp head into ProTools so I get the sound of the bass that I am hearing through the cabinet, coming out directly into the computer. My second way that I like to record bass is by simply a D.I. (Direct in) this means that basically I just take the lead from my bass, plug it into a track in my audio interface and in ProTools or Logic, I am getting the raw sound of the bass guitar I am using, this makes it more fun to mix as you have total control over the sound, and in ProTools, whats really cool is being able to add a guitar amp plug in over a bass guitar track, it can give you a very very unique sounding bass. In the picture below you can see both my bass (Squire Mike Dirnt Signiture Bass) as well as my bass amp and head (Rockit).
Thank you all for reading, I hope that was help for you all and if not leave your questions or comments in the section below!
:)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Gear List - Drums
I have already done a post about "Our Gear" although this is going to be a more detailed description.. with pictures and more information.
So I will do this in the order in which I record.
To start with, the drums.
I have a Mapex Pro M Series drum kit, it was originally a 6 piece drum kit I believe, I purchased it as a 5 piece drum kit, with a 20 inch kick, 14 inch snare, 10 inch tom tom, a 12 inch tom tom and a 14 inch tom tom. However, I play it as a 4 piece, using only my 10 inch and my 14 inch tom. I have had this drum kit for around 6 months now and only recently have I finally managed to get around to having a recording of it! I record my drums with 5 microphones (not ideal, but at the moment it is all I can afford) my mike setup is as follows:
So I will do this in the order in which I record.
To start with, the drums.
I have a Mapex Pro M Series drum kit, it was originally a 6 piece drum kit I believe, I purchased it as a 5 piece drum kit, with a 20 inch kick, 14 inch snare, 10 inch tom tom, a 12 inch tom tom and a 14 inch tom tom. However, I play it as a 4 piece, using only my 10 inch and my 14 inch tom. I have had this drum kit for around 6 months now and only recently have I finally managed to get around to having a recording of it! I record my drums with 5 microphones (not ideal, but at the moment it is all I can afford) my mike setup is as follows:
- Kick - Q Kick
- Snare - Q Snare
- Tom 1 - Q Tom
- Tom 2 - Q Tom
- Hi Hat - Sennheiser E840
My cymbal set up is extremely basic, and at the moment i dont actually have a crash cymbal! I have a Ride, and Hihats, (Again not ideal! But its all I have) My cymbal set up is Zildjan ZBT hihats and ride. I am looking at investing in a new crash! Below are some pictures of the drum kit miked up and ready to be recorded!
So there you go! You can now see the drum kit and the mikes on the kit and how they are miked up! I really hope that helped any future engineers that might be reading this!!
Pro Tools HD 9 or Logic Pro 9
So, I have read a lot of people asking questions around forums on weather to choose ProTools or Logic.
I have been working in both over the past month and there are many differences I suppose, the first obvious one is the ease of use, Logic has a much much easier interface as you can see in the screen shot below...
I have been working in both over the past month and there are many differences I suppose, the first obvious one is the ease of use, Logic has a much much easier interface as you can see in the screen shot below...
So the ease of use in Logic is much easier as opposed to the ease of use in ProTools HD 9 (Which is what I am using) here is a screen shot of ProTools HD 9's main user interface ...
As you can see from the two screenshots above, the user interface is much different, if you are just getting into music recording and music production, I would highly recommend Logic Pro 9 or even Logic Express! Logic is much much easier to use than ProTools.
Placing plugins into Logic is much much easier than placing plugins into ProTools. Ill show you a basic "Mixer" look at the two programs with plugins on the tracks as well as the pop out window to install the plugins...
Logic...
ProTools....
Open those two pictures into a larger window and compare the two, Im not to sure which one LOOKS easier but believe me, Logic Pro, in comparison is much much easier.
In the next week, I will try to remember to create two comparison videos of the two programs! stay updated!!
:)
Mixing: Before and After
Now, I can show you the after mix! It is still not a perfect example of mixing, but it shows the basics, and the basis of which mixing is built around.
I have created my own sort of EQ and by no means is it a professional, or recommended EQ although it sounds good for this recording and this style of song.
Attached is a screen recording of me showing you everything I have done in the mix to take it from very basic, to average, I am still working on it to get it sound as good as I can.
I hope you can learn from it. Any questions feel free to ask and I would love to answer or hear any feedback. I do however have two active gates on my snare channel.... Im not to sure why although it did help :P
Thanks!
:)
I have created my own sort of EQ and by no means is it a professional, or recommended EQ although it sounds good for this recording and this style of song.
Attached is a screen recording of me showing you everything I have done in the mix to take it from very basic, to average, I am still working on it to get it sound as good as I can.
Thanks!
:)
Monday, January 24, 2011
Mixing: Before and After
At the moment... I only have a before sound demo and a before screen shot. This is using ProTools HD 9 which I am very new to.
In this sound clip it is totally unmixed drums and you can hear quite a lot of bleeding into other mikes as well as feedback from one of my Tom Toms.
Please excuse the drumming!
As you can see from the above two screen shots, there are no plug ins at all involved in this snippet. If you listen throughout the whole thing there is also a clav on the snare.
Unfortunately, the sound file is located on the video which is just a video of a screenshot to show 0 Plugins.
Tonight I will take a picture of the drums, and how they are all miked up!
:)
In this sound clip it is totally unmixed drums and you can hear quite a lot of bleeding into other mikes as well as feedback from one of my Tom Toms.
As you can see from the above two screen shots, there are no plug ins at all involved in this snippet. If you listen throughout the whole thing there is also a clav on the snare.
Unfortunately, the sound file is located on the video which is just a video of a screenshot to show 0 Plugins.
Tonight I will take a picture of the drums, and how they are all miked up!
:)
Our Gear.
So at the moment, me and my band are more a "studio" band as we have more of a fanbase outside of our own country.
I am the guitarist of the band, at the moment I dont actually have a guitar, I sold it to invest in professional recording equipment. I usually play a Les Paul (I have played/owned both the studio and custom versions) and on recordings these guitars sound amazing (even the Epiphones!) I play these guitars through two different amps, so far, I have only used one of these amps in our recordings and the amp that is used in our recordings is a Marshall MG100HDFX with a Marshall MG-412A cab. I have used this Head a Cab combination in all of my bands YouTube recordings and the amp sounds amazing! The second amp that I am yet to record with is a Jansen 150W Invader Series head and a Fender FM412SL in Grey. I have only ever played this Head and Cab during band practises as this is really the bassists own amp (not for bass obviously!) but this amp sounds amazing! I am going to try and record with the Jansen head and Fender cab tomorrow and see what sort of sound I can get!
As I am getting more into recording than live shows just at the moment, I am looking at selling my Marshall cab and head, to invest into something called the Eleven Rack, this is a very very cool piece of guitar equipment. Gun's n' Roses guitarist Slash uses this both live and in the studio, it does carry a reasonably hefty price tag of $899.00 USD. The Eleven Rack is designed by the same people that have created ProTools, so Eleven Rack and ProTools basically work hand in hand together. I have never had the chance to play the Eleven Rack, I have played something called the Line 6 Pod, basically the same thing, although the Pod is a more entrance level sort of "Amp Designer".
For bass, we have a Rockit 120 Head and a Rockit 115 Cab, I got this off of TradeMe for $300 NZD which is just over $200 USD and I have never really used this for recording, just live gigs, and to be put in black and white, this amp kicks ass! it is insane, I believe that Rockit is a New Zealand brand, and these would be extremely hard to a quire overseas.
For vocals and recording guitar we use a sennheiser E845 and for vocals and guitar this microphone has handled extremely well, very little clipping with any performances. We have gigged with this microphone several times and it has never let us down, it always comes off with a perfect sound! To record drums we use a Drum Mike Set from Samson 5 Kit, I have only had these microphones for a short period of time, and tonight I will do a very basic drum demo with them to show their sound (Im no drummer!).
We record all of these instruments and mikes through a M-Audio Fast Track Ultra audio interface which is hooked up to my Macbook running ProTools HD 9.
Pros of the Marshal Head and Cab: It can handle loud sounds perfectly
It has built in effects
It is a head and cab so it looks awesome on stage!
Cons of the Marshall Head and Cab: It is a head and cab so it is extremely heavy to lug around
It does not have a noise gate in it so feedback is an issue
I hope that helped you! Any more questions, feel free to ask!
:)
I am the guitarist of the band, at the moment I dont actually have a guitar, I sold it to invest in professional recording equipment. I usually play a Les Paul (I have played/owned both the studio and custom versions) and on recordings these guitars sound amazing (even the Epiphones!) I play these guitars through two different amps, so far, I have only used one of these amps in our recordings and the amp that is used in our recordings is a Marshall MG100HDFX with a Marshall MG-412A cab. I have used this Head a Cab combination in all of my bands YouTube recordings and the amp sounds amazing! The second amp that I am yet to record with is a Jansen 150W Invader Series head and a Fender FM412SL in Grey. I have only ever played this Head and Cab during band practises as this is really the bassists own amp (not for bass obviously!) but this amp sounds amazing! I am going to try and record with the Jansen head and Fender cab tomorrow and see what sort of sound I can get!
As I am getting more into recording than live shows just at the moment, I am looking at selling my Marshall cab and head, to invest into something called the Eleven Rack, this is a very very cool piece of guitar equipment. Gun's n' Roses guitarist Slash uses this both live and in the studio, it does carry a reasonably hefty price tag of $899.00 USD. The Eleven Rack is designed by the same people that have created ProTools, so Eleven Rack and ProTools basically work hand in hand together. I have never had the chance to play the Eleven Rack, I have played something called the Line 6 Pod, basically the same thing, although the Pod is a more entrance level sort of "Amp Designer".
For bass, we have a Rockit 120 Head and a Rockit 115 Cab, I got this off of TradeMe for $300 NZD which is just over $200 USD and I have never really used this for recording, just live gigs, and to be put in black and white, this amp kicks ass! it is insane, I believe that Rockit is a New Zealand brand, and these would be extremely hard to a quire overseas.
For vocals and recording guitar we use a sennheiser E845 and for vocals and guitar this microphone has handled extremely well, very little clipping with any performances. We have gigged with this microphone several times and it has never let us down, it always comes off with a perfect sound! To record drums we use a Drum Mike Set from Samson 5 Kit, I have only had these microphones for a short period of time, and tonight I will do a very basic drum demo with them to show their sound (Im no drummer!).
We record all of these instruments and mikes through a M-Audio Fast Track Ultra audio interface which is hooked up to my Macbook running ProTools HD 9.
Pros of the Marshal Head and Cab: It can handle loud sounds perfectly
It has built in effects
It is a head and cab so it looks awesome on stage!
Cons of the Marshall Head and Cab: It is a head and cab so it is extremely heavy to lug around
It does not have a noise gate in it so feedback is an issue
I hope that helped you! Any more questions, feel free to ask!
:)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
ProTools HD 9
So my next song is done using ProTools HD 9 ProTools is a massive step up from Logic, thats for sure. Although ProTools does take longer to get the hang of... it also has many professional plugins that come in handy, one of my favourite plugins is called "Eleven Free" its basically a computer based Eleven Rack, and it pumps out some pretty realistic sounds, if you listen to my next cover, you will hear the Eleven Free being used on the guitar track.
So ProTools did take quite a while for me to learn how to use, and I admit to reading the manual! it was a lot of help. I also watched a large amount of YouTube tutorials, and they too were very helpful. So basically in the next week, I will set up a new project on ProTools, taking screen shots, and pictures of any gear I am using to hopefully explain how it all works.
I will show detailed pictures of how I am miking up my kit, I will upload audio files of my session before and after so you can really get a detailed idea of how it all works, how the EQ works and how the Gates work.
Stay tuned.
:)
So ProTools did take quite a while for me to learn how to use, and I admit to reading the manual! it was a lot of help. I also watched a large amount of YouTube tutorials, and they too were very helpful. So basically in the next week, I will set up a new project on ProTools, taking screen shots, and pictures of any gear I am using to hopefully explain how it all works.
I will show detailed pictures of how I am miking up my kit, I will upload audio files of my session before and after so you can really get a detailed idea of how it all works, how the EQ works and how the Gates work.
Stay tuned.
:)
Future Idiots
Future Idiots, who are they? They are a sweedish Pop/Punk band who are extremely well known on YouTube for their insane covers!
Who would think that you can turn a soft piano song like 1000 Miles into a modern Pop/Punk song?! Well Future Idiots did it, they recently released their first "album" to purchase on iTunes called Grand Theft Audio, and I bought it a few days ago, and I love it!
You have to check these guys out, totally amazing!!
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Futureidiots
:)
Who would think that you can turn a soft piano song like 1000 Miles into a modern Pop/Punk song?! Well Future Idiots did it, they recently released their first "album" to purchase on iTunes called Grand Theft Audio, and I bought it a few days ago, and I love it!
You have to check these guys out, totally amazing!!
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Futureidiots
:)
NO LYRICS :o
Sorry guys, I didn't get around to writing a lyric blog. however that will be up tonight!!
Today is my day for exploring new ProTools tips :) so stay tuned all producers!!
:)
Today is my day for exploring new ProTools tips :) so stay tuned all producers!!
:)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Lyrics and good lyrics
So, there is a big difference between just lyrics, and then good lyrics. And my goal for tonight, is to explore the differences and learn about them myself whilst trying to teach you :)
Lyrics are a very essential part to a song. Listen to just about any song, and you will notice lyrics weather these lyrics be "Like a G6" or "All the small things, Truth Care, Truth Brings" Lyrics are a very very key part to just about every song.
So tonight, we are both going to learn about lyrics, writing good lyrics, and what really makes a chart topper etc
:)
Lyrics are a very essential part to a song. Listen to just about any song, and you will notice lyrics weather these lyrics be "Like a G6" or "All the small things, Truth Care, Truth Brings" Lyrics are a very very key part to just about every song.
So tonight, we are both going to learn about lyrics, writing good lyrics, and what really makes a chart topper etc
:)
Dan Sweeto.
So he hasn't commented on my blog. he is a big star in Australia, he has earned his fame through covers of bands like Short Stack. He has one of the best voices I have ever heard. Although. What is letting him down, is his recordings.. dont get me wrong, I dont want to sound like a judgmental c#$* but if he spent another hour or two on mixing, and EQing the guitar a tiny tiny bit more, you would hear so much more of an improvement in his recordings, dont get me wrong, they already sound fantastic, but honestly, if he spent another hour or so on the EQ on some of his covers, there would be such a great change in the sound, it would be insane!
Who is he? Dan Sweeto is an Australian Singer, he was born on the 13th of August 1992 (almost 19) and he has dreams of opening for Short Stack. I believe he can do it as well as all of his thousands of teenybopper fans, and when I say thousands I do mean thousands, he has over three thousand friends on his personal Facebook page, he has over two thousand views on his Short Stack cover "Werewolves" and believe me, getting one thousand views on Youtube is hard enough!
Dan Sweeto is going to get far, he has done an amazing job with just about all of his covers, he has original songs and everything! I am waiting for a recording company to snatch him up!!
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DanSweeto
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001019520555
Who is he? Dan Sweeto is an Australian Singer, he was born on the 13th of August 1992 (almost 19) and he has dreams of opening for Short Stack. I believe he can do it as well as all of his thousands of teenybopper fans, and when I say thousands I do mean thousands, he has over three thousand friends on his personal Facebook page, he has over two thousand views on his Short Stack cover "Werewolves" and believe me, getting one thousand views on Youtube is hard enough!
Dan Sweeto is going to get far, he has done an amazing job with just about all of his covers, he has original songs and everything! I am waiting for a recording company to snatch him up!!
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DanSweeto
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001019520555
All The Small Things.
So, when you listen to your favourite band/artist what do you hear? I know before I started to get involved with the recording and production of music, all I heard was my favourite band playing a cool song. Now I understand all of the parts that go into it to make the song sound radio worthy.
After learning a bit more about music production and recording processes, and recording companies, you learn that there are so many more people involved in the production of a song than you really realize.
And for me, I still dream of being someones favourite band that they listen to, but realistically only a handful of people really can get that far, and for me, I still want to be a part of the music industry, weather that means that I am a record company executive, a producer or my personal dream, the band, or artist you physically listen to.
:)
After learning a bit more about music production and recording processes, and recording companies, you learn that there are so many more people involved in the production of a song than you really realize.
And for me, I still dream of being someones favourite band that they listen to, but realistically only a handful of people really can get that far, and for me, I still want to be a part of the music industry, weather that means that I am a record company executive, a producer or my personal dream, the band, or artist you physically listen to.
:)
Late Night Thoughts
so, do you ever sit at home, late at night listening to some bands, and thinking "I really really wish I had that life"?
I know I do, and I know a lot of other people do too, and believe me, you can get there, maybe not with as much fame, but definately with the same perks!
Since I am still attending high school, I have another few years until I really need to worry about getting a real career and until then, I am going to be working on music production and writing and recording my own stuff.
Anyway, back on topic. If you are reading this, you obviously like your music, correct? So why not, get in a band with a few mates, get a video camera, and upload it to YouTube, covers or originals. Do that, then post your video up here and I will comment it, review it and give you some help as well as give you advice on instrumentation (which instruments you have) and also new gear to invest in.
:)
I know I do, and I know a lot of other people do too, and believe me, you can get there, maybe not with as much fame, but definately with the same perks!
Since I am still attending high school, I have another few years until I really need to worry about getting a real career and until then, I am going to be working on music production and writing and recording my own stuff.
Anyway, back on topic. If you are reading this, you obviously like your music, correct? So why not, get in a band with a few mates, get a video camera, and upload it to YouTube, covers or originals. Do that, then post your video up here and I will comment it, review it and give you some help as well as give you advice on instrumentation (which instruments you have) and also new gear to invest in.
:)
Friday, January 21, 2011
New Gear
Although I just posted saying this site is for new bands and etc, I am also going to talk about some good recording techniques, recording programs and recording gear. I will let you in on some of my bands own demo recordings, none of the mastered songs that you hear on YouTube.
So to start with, I recently got myself a copy of ProTools HD 9, I am still only learning all of the ins and outs of it, as I have been using Logic a lot. But over the next few weeks, I will spend a lot of time in the studio, just making little drum tracks that I can then mix, and create "DIY" videos to help teach you about some of ProTools features.
At the moment, I am actually working on a cover of Short Stacks song, called "Counting The Stars" I will post a link up here as soon as the song is on YouTube.
If anyone reading this has a band that they would like to be commented on, reviewed, get more hits on YouTube or ANYTHING! just add a comment to this page, and I will definately do my best to help you !
So to start with, I recently got myself a copy of ProTools HD 9, I am still only learning all of the ins and outs of it, as I have been using Logic a lot. But over the next few weeks, I will spend a lot of time in the studio, just making little drum tracks that I can then mix, and create "DIY" videos to help teach you about some of ProTools features.
At the moment, I am actually working on a cover of Short Stacks song, called "Counting The Stars" I will post a link up here as soon as the song is on YouTube.
If anyone reading this has a band that they would like to be commented on, reviewed, get more hits on YouTube or ANYTHING! just add a comment to this page, and I will definately do my best to help you !
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