Nashville Flood

Last week Nashville saw its worst flood any residents had ever witnessed. After 18 inches of rain in just two days, the local rivers just couldn’t contain the massive amounts of water. I’m very thankful my home and family are safe, but many lost a great deal of priceless items and more than 20 people lost their lives as a result of the flooding. Though the damage to the music community’s items don’t come close to comparing to those who lost their homes and family members, many priceless instruments and an incredible amount of gear was lost during the flood.

Conversation with Jaebets

I sometimes receive questions about mixing, music, and audio; I do the best I can to answer these questions and help out other engineers and students. Jaebets Honore (pictured at bottom) is a young engineer in Montreal, Canada. He and I have been emailing sporadically. This blog posting is our stream of emails.

Jaebets works for IBM during the day, but at night, this multi-instrumentalist is working hard to make it in the music industry. He plays, records, and mixes gospel music, and studies at Musitechnic in Montreal. Like many from Montreal, his primary language is French, and his English is a little choppy, but his questions are very valid. This is an ongoing conversation: Remember.. read with French Accent!

Jaebets:

Hi

I’m a young musician and mixer from Montreal, somewhere in Canada, and

a fan of your work and want to learn from the best.

I listen a lot of your mixing and would like to know what is your

approach or how you dealing to mix a gospel song that you have to mix

from any one, other words, like the tye tribbett live album, or the

Israel one, did you take all the tracks from the live show or a lot of

the tracks are remake on studio...

and if you want to give something to encouragement me to never give

up... im here to learn...

thanks ...

Yosh:

Hi Jaebets,

The answer to the live recordings you are talking about is this:

They are usually a mixture of live tracks from the original recording and complimentary studio tracks that are recorded either before the live show or after.

For instance on Tye.. the drums, bass, many of the keys, guitars, lead vocals, and background vocals are from live.. But additional background vocals are rerecorded and blended with originals and certain lead vocals are repaired in the studio.. They also may have added more keyboard parts and guitars... There is no formula.. Just whatever needs to be bigger is made larger than life..

As far as encouragement ... If you love music there is no better way to enjoy it then by working in a studio.. So mix on my friend and have fun with it. Don't ever be too serious and miss the joy in the music!... And.. remember to take time to be with your family!

John

Jaebets:

Ya, i do read all your stuff, it wonderful!!! U a lucky guy to have

that chance to mix all those tracks and albums.

For my concern, the work on a good studio it so hard, or all the

studios are full of assistants, now i try to run some gospel and r&b

projects but the money running low and the quality of the singers are

poor in my entourage, they do not like to push themselves. but i know

God helps me.

How ever, more technical, I like the idea to blend the live with

studio, but after, that's mean you could finish with 40 tracks for the

vocals... WOW! but what are your favorite tools to make a good gospel live

sound, you use a neve console, api, plug ins and hardware?.... and the

reverbs? ..

ALSO, the presence of the PIANO!!!YES, WHY THE PIANOS ON ALL THE

GOSPEL TRACKS ARE THAT FAR IN THE MIX, AND I FEEL LIKE YO DO SOME

AUTOMATION TO LISTEN SOME MELODY NOTES...

AND FOR THE BRASS SECTION, EXAMPLE ON THE CLARK SISTER PROJECT, THE

BRASS SOUND COMPRESS TO THE MAX... AND ALL THE GOSPEL CD SOUND THE

SAME ON THAT POINT, IT IS THE CLIENT WHO ASK YOU TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE

THAT... FOR A GOOD EXaMPLE : LIFT HIM UP FROM HEZEKIAH WALKER...

Yosh:

Didn't mix the Clark sisters cd.. just tracked it.. Not my work

How do the horns sound on Kirk Franklin? Or Check out the horns on the latest Ken Reynolds cd " One World/one God" (Integrity). You might like..

But yes sometimes the producers do want things overly compressed and sometimes there can be problems with mastering after it leaves me.

About the track count....after you record the vocals bounce them in stereo pairs .. Tenor, alto, soprano to make them more manageable ..

Anytime you can make decisions like that ...the easier it is to mix..

John

Jaebets:

Nice Drum mix on the Ken Reynolds project; compress to the max ...

like that... and brass sound a little bit more musical... like that...

but you didn't answered about the gear that you like to use to mix

vocals or instruments for gospel... and the piano have to be always on

the back ...

Yosh:

Gear is not that important.. I use what's available.. As far as pianos.. In today's gospel there are way too many elements competing for each other.. I love the piano to be up front but can't always have it.. If there is just b3, piano and guitar then of course the piano will be prominent ..if people would go back to the roots then piano would be paramount again.. You should start a new trend and go back to minimalist gospel.. And as far as horns and strings are concerned they should be used minimally on a CD 1 maybe 2 songs ... Go listen to "Oh Happy Day".. That's minimalism at it's best.. Your comments have nothing to do with mixing ..no disrespect .. What I mean is that the things that bother you about gospel mixes are the arrangements .. If one is going to use all those instruments there must be a sense of arrangement.. A good example of how to use all those instruments if one chooses to do so is by listening to any Sinatra tune.. Listen to how everything falls into place.. There are moments when instruments are featured.. And when the vocalist sings.. Nothing competes.. If you want a great mix find a way to blend a great Gospel song with a great arrangement and the mix will mix itself.

Jaebets:

wow this was good, u right... sorry for my misunderstanding, i forget

the arrangement part. like jazz big bands...

Just to clarify, the arranger is with you when you do the mix, right.

Sorry but i taught that we have to do the in and out of every

instrument that we want to be hear at a specific moment, like

movies...

I will do some good mix with the material that i have and tried to

push me more and listen more music ( i already listen on repeat

tracks). but my mix for now will never sound like yours... i have to

practice more and try to fine a good studio to accept me has an

assistant...

I like the example that you give me to pay attention; could you give

me some more... to learn...

thanks.

Jaebets:

Hi,

I did a arrangement for next week and i use the same approach that you

told me, and it's good, for it's so hard to influence people to be

that professional, but it's a good start for them.

Just like that, i read something about the LA-2A; that machine could

boost you sound about 40 DB!!! My question is : Did you use a lot of

compression on your mix?

Did you like hardware compression module or Computer like the Waves

plug ins? (I know that you told me you use what's available, but be

precise)

And give a example of somehing that you compress a lot and something

that you don't have a lot, and your point of view.

Yosh:

Bravo on trying to make the arrangement better..

About the LA - 2A. I doubt that it would boost your mix 40 db ... But it is a great compressor/ limiter.. Used mostly on vocals and bass.. There's a switch on the back that goes from compression to limiting.. I use it mostly on compression for tracking vocals.. It is very smooth.. Have never used two on the two mix, though..

As far as mixing in the box I use McDsp compressors and Mcdsp Filterbank eq's and some waves stuff including the SSL strips and two-mix compressor.

I also use some plug-ins from a company called PSP audio;

Vintage Warmer, and some of their other eq's and compressors

For efx... I use all the stuff from Sound toys.. Echboy, tremolator, filterfreak, etc...

Verbs... I rely on TLspace and Waves Rverb..

Hope this helps..

John

Jaebets:

this will help...

This week end i will rec a church service with the 003 plus and

externable device to have 16 inputs, I am limited but i told my self if

in the past people were able to record with a 4 tracks... i could do

it ... and i will do my best to make this sound good...

What that i learn from you, it's that's you trying stuff, you not

stuck to one plug ins, but you use everything that you could have in

the hand.

For now i will buy a APA32 from waves to run the RTAS from them and

also I have a UAD-1 from UA. And I like the sound of the Pultec on

drums and some instrument.

But the Best Plug ins made for me it's the Waves Plug ins, With the

Vintage and the SSL ( but I never tried the API but people said they

sound good.)

And also Im trying to Buy a TC Electronics M-One XL for the RVB and

Delay, for my live sound and Studio...

I think with all i got now i could do a good Job, and practice.

Jaebets:

BY THE WAY, WHEN YOU LISTEN SOME THING BEFORE YOU MIX WHAT DO YOU PAY

ATTENTION OF... THE CHEMISTRY AND WHAT ELSE...

AND I READ FOR THE BASS AND THE KICK, WE HAVE TO PUT A GATE ... HOW

WILL YOU DO IT?

THANKS FOR THE ATTENTION YOU GIVE ME.

Yosh:

I pay attention to the song and the vocal performance to see where it leads me.. Once I understand the structure I tear down the structure and build it back up.. Most times that means starting with drums and bass and making that foundation solid.... Then add the rest of the instruments.. But you have to put the vocal in soon after to make sure there is space for it..

Not a fan of gating bass.. Kik sometimes.. Depends on what you are going for.. You could use the SSL plugs for gating if you wanted to experiment.

John

Jaebets:

Now I’m working on a mix, and never satisfy with the sound but i have

waves plug ins ( V comp, SSL... ) I trying to make it sound good. My

question is:

how many hours you could put on a mix... To be satisfy, and when you

feel like you finish to mix that song.

Yosh:

As far as your question about how long to spend on a song..

To start it is best to try to do the initial mix as quickly as possible. I generally am able to get the basics of the mix together in 3 to 4 hours or faster.. Then I take a break and rest my ears and then dig into the details.. Usually my first mix instincts are the best and the rest is just "icing in the cake." if I spend too much time in the first part of the mix I could miss the whole point of the song..

The whole process should take 8 to 12 hours spread out over a day and a half.. But you have to know when to stop.. Sometimes it may only take a few hours..

Spring Mixer 2010

April 15^th is more than just tax day here in Nashville; it’s also the date for the AES sponsored annual event known as the Spring Mixer, a mixing competition for audio engineering students. The participating students will be given the multi-track for a professionally recorded song, a studio at MTV’s downtown Nashville facilities, and eight hours to mix the track. They’ll then anonymously submit their mix to a panel of industry professionals, volunteering their time to support these students by offering their critiques and advice, and by judging the competition.

This year the students will mix a song entitled “Wall” by the hip-hop artist Da’ T.R.U.T.H. from their Grammy nominated album Big Picture, originally mixed by John Jaszcz and produced by Freddy Washington Jr. They will be judged by a great lineup of judges: Chris Stevensn (Carrie Underwood, Matt Kearny), Otto Price (Natalie Grant, Barlow Girl), Ken Love (Switchfoot, Toby Keith), Brett Teegarden (Veggie Tales, DC Talk), and James Waddell (Vickie Winans, Donald Lawrence). A big thanks to all of these Nashville engineers for their time and holding the responsibility of awarding the coveted “Top Mixer” trophy for the school who’s representatives create the best mix.

Schools participating this year will include Belmont, MTSU, SAE Institute, International Academy of Design and Technology, and the Art Institute of Nashville. The goal of this competition is education. It is an invaluable experience for these students to work and be taught by some of Nashville’s finest engineers. Thank you to these recording schools for facilitating their student’s educations and allowing them to participate in the event.

You can go listen to the mixes and hear the judging at 7:00 p.m. after a 6:30 social. More information is available at http://www.aesnashville.org. It’s a great opportunity to support the engineering students of Nashville and is a great AES event.

Studio Monitor Controllers

Home studios are growing hugely in popularity. Smaller budgets for projects and far cheaper professional equipment are making the home studio more and more appealing for many engineers today. We do quite a bit of Yosh mixes at home. We wanted to talk about one important component of a studio: the monitor control section.

The monitor controller has a number of important jobs in a DAW based studio. It allows the engineer to control the volume at which he listens, select reference monitors, select inputs, provide talkback, cut the speakers, listen in mono, and (maybe most importantly) convert the audio to the analog realm.

An engineer’s ears are his greatest tools and he has to be able to trust what he hears. This is why engineers buy very high quality monitors and keep them around for years after they “get used” to them. It is also why high quality processing is key. A signal path is only as good as it’s weakest component. Here at French Beach Studio, we use the PreSonus Central Station. One of the main reasons for this choice is its completely passive circuitry. It provides a very clean signal path, allowing the listener to trust the mix being heard is the actual mix, not the mix through another box.

The Central Station also allows flexibility to use powered monitors, a power amp with passive monitors, a cue system …whatever the studio requirements are. We use their digital input and high quality converters to feed our powered Adam A7 monitors.

Before we get too carried away selling one particular unit, however, there is one issue with it. We have used the Central Station in many studios, including our own, and have been very pleased with it. Nevertheless, we recently purchased a second unit, and found the folks at PreSonus made a change. The “dim” feature, and single button to pad the output, now attenuates the monitors by a whopping 20dB, rendering it pretty useless. It’s very convenient to listen on dim and then press one button to listen loud for a while, and go back to the previous level, without moving the knob. With a 20dB attenuation though, there’s just no use for it. If you start at a reasonable volume it’s practically inaudible when engaged, or blasts your ears if you disengage it. It is a severe disappointment in the unit, and PreSonus was less than helpful with the issue.

When shopping for a control section, it’s important to find a product that you can trust to process your audio and has all the functionality and flexibility that you need in your studio. Thankfully, there are many great products available today. Besides the PreSonus we have, there is the ever popular Mackie Big Knob, JBL makes a handy little desktop model with built in “room mode correction technology,” and there are even really affordable models such as the Samson C-Control. Whatever you choose, the unit has to work for you and aid in how you work, have the right inputs and outputs, be easy to use, etc. We’re mostly happy with the PreSonus, except for the new one. It doesn’t adequately aid in how we mix music, in the workflow.

Nashville Recording Workshop and Expo

I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Nashville Recording Workshop and Expo hosted by the Audio Engineering Society last weekend at Belmont University. The two-day event featured panels, master classes, and demonstrations with some of the industry’s dominant professionals, and during any downtime between these events several companies and organizations were represented to exhibit their products.

NRW+E was kicked off in great fashion by renowned artist and producer Ben Folds. He delivered the keynote address; discussing the making of his new album he is just finishing now. From the recording techniques he and his engineer, Joe Costa, used for the strings, to his process for writing some of the songs, and struggles he had to complete his first major album without record label deadlines, Folds captivated the audience with humor and great insight.

From the moment the keynote ended, the cast of amazing music professionals began delivering information rich presentations. The list is too long to give credit to everyone deserving, but to name a few: Nathan Chapman (Taylor Swift, Jewel), Lynn Fuston (DC Talk, Michael W. Smith), Trina Shoemaker (Sheryl Crow, Iggy Pop), Mills Logan (Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts) Bob Bullock (George Strait, Reba) … I feel bad leaving so many out, but the list goes on.

The discussions covered a lot of ground. There were panels to discuss mixing, recording electric guitar, long distance collaboration, and developing a song in addition to several others. John Mayfield, well-known Nashville mastering engineer gave a master class on the basics of mastering. John Storyk, internationally known, New York based studio designer gave a presentation of practical acoustics. AES Nashville’s own Mike Poston gave a master class with Michael Fleming on home studio tech essentials.

Several retailers attended the NRW+E to exhibit their products and services as well as many manufacturers. AEA Microphones, Mackie, Endless Analog’s C.L.A.S.P., CAAB Audio, Whisper Room … Harrison, the legendary console manufacturer was there to demonstrate their audio editing and mixing software Mixbus. All in all there was a fairly decent turnout of exhibitors supporting the workshop.

For engineers it was a great opportunity to network with other professionals and catch little tips and tricks that may be of use. So often people in the same line of work don’t have the chance to talk with one another very often because they’re working at different places, but the benefit of seeing others work and hearing other’s viewpoints is undeniable. For students it was a huge learning experience. The wealth of knowledge represented was staggering and information was freely given.

I and the community owe the Audio Engineering Society Nashville Section a huge thank you and a round of applause for their highly successful second annual NRW+E. I would encourage you all to attend the 2011 edition. -Jon Blass