Members Tusks Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Can you guys help me figure this out. What should I do to improve my DAW technique? What techniques do you consider essential in recording, mixing and mastering in a DAW? What are the keys to making it a relatively effective and efficient process? So far, I have thought of maturing as knowledge (i.e. knowing how the frequency spectrum sounds would help someone in orchestration and mixing). But I realize there can process tricks/habits to improve effectiveness and efficiency. For example, the amount of pre-writing one does before tracking is something I have been wondering about ... You could write a piece out note for note before tracking, and define the sonic content of each instrument. Or you could let the tracking process help you re-arrange things to fit. One process being more exporatory and less efficient than another. Is there a toolkit of skills that one should aim at having? What items would be in that toolkit? If it simply a question of practice, what are some "required" projects that would constitute some of the required experience? I've done a dozen seriously multi-tracked tunes. Every single one of them felt like I was baking a cake without a recipe. Is that normal? Ideally I would go to Berklee for a couple of years, but I am married with kids, and wondering if there is a course of accelerated self study I should undertake. Advice? Thanks in advance, Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seaneldon Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 deep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alcohol Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 I think Berklee has online courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members where02190 Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Same way you get to Carnegie hall, practice!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Practice. Learn keystrokes, what works and what doesn't, use templates for some of your sessions so you don't have to recreate pathways, I/O or other things that you use for that particular session all the time, and think of ways that streamline your particular method of working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted December 31, 2005 Moderators Share Posted December 31, 2005 I like to have a picture in my mind of what I'm shooting for before I record. Then it's just a matter of making it real. For instance... I don't have to have the lyrics done or a bass line written, but I want something general like, "agressive funk rock based around this riff and beat I hear in my head with this particular lyric idea." As far as techniques, just decide what it is you want to hear and THEN figure how to get there, every step of the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members offramp Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Like a lot of the other responses: practice. Don't try to discover every feature at once. Discover a need, then find the feature. One thing that will help keep you focused is to establish templates. In my studio, I have templates for basic V.O., drum tracking, simple sketchbook, and full-bore. I also have a basic MIDI template, although I don't use it but a couple of times per year.In my drum tracking template, for example, I have eight tracks, pre-labelled and pre-input assigned for my 896; I take the Powerbook, 896, and an external HD down to the drum room, record, then take the whole mess back up to the main studio for mixing/embellishment. When I transfer the project over to the G4 tower, it comes pre-labelled and such; I can add tracks as I desire. Know your input habits. Is your guitar always in stereo? Then, in your template, create a dedicated stereo (or two dedicated mono tracks) assignment in your template. Keys? Same thing. Bass, ditto. The ultimate benefit to this is that you can develop the ability to think more about the music than trying to find a track to stick it on. Know your recording environment limitations. For example, in my drum space, there's not a lot of room for mic placement freedom, so I generally find the best spot, and leave it; that way, I can have a set batch of plug-ins/EQ's/whathaveyou at the ready and know what I have to do in order to achieve a certain sound. A lot of the way I work at home remains from my old-school days...drums on the first eight, bass on 9 and/or 10, keys, guitars, vocals, perc, etc.. left to right on the mixer. I'm not saying you HAVE to do it my way, just that you find a way, and stick with it. This goes quite far when mixing down; in my case, if I'm done with drums, I can then remove the mixer visuals from my screen, leaving more real estate for working on the other tracks. Using processes like I described above, I can usually afford to let the tracking process help me re-arrange things to fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tusks Posted January 1, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 1, 2006 Berklee courses look reall cool ... but not at the moment. I am using Pro Tools LE and they seems to have just the right classes. But they are not an insignificant investment. Your advice is very helpful. Especially the examples. I probably need to standardize the tracks to start with. I'll be using synths a lot so maybe some MIDI templates are in order as well as audio ones. Practice is the key, huh? Why am I not surprized? I think I'll do some covers. Isolate the production from the writing. See if that helps me to develop standard practices. Meanwhile, please keep the suggestions coming. So what standard practices/templates do you guys use? Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted January 1, 2006 Members Share Posted January 1, 2006 Originally posted by Tusks So what standard practices/templates do you guys use? Jerry I record or mix several days a week, sometimes every day of the week. I guess that's my practice? I generally learn something if I have to but don't try and learn everything at once. I also occasionally will read one of a couple of Pro Tools third-party books just to get some extra tips or figure out how to do something. I try and memorize keystrokes whenever possible. I guess that's the practice? I make my own templates based on particular needs. I first created the I/O based on what I do (in my case, I have an Apogee Rosetta 800 converter and a digital reverb connected to Digi001 via S/PDIF, so I changed the I/O in my Pro Tools/Digi001 rig to allow for that). I then create several templates based on what I do most often. In my case, I do lots of tape transfers from Akai MG1214 12-track to Pro Tools, and record a lot of bands, so I've got templates for both those things. I try and include as much stuff in the templates as possible, including labeling the tracks (kick, snare, overheads, etc.), inserts or whatever. What works for me may not work for other people because it's personalized. It's the way I work, and creating the template aids in my work flow. As my needs change, I'll either modify the templates (which I've done several times already, trying to get it better and more suited for what I do) or create more templates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tusks Posted January 3, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 3, 2006 Thanks Ken, That's very helpful. I'm just getting to know PT LE having used Acid/Cubase in the past. I guess once you've decided what bussing/efx/panning you typically use for each instrument you can template that. Never done that before. Having treated each piece as unique content, I've tended to treat them as a unique process also. BTW, I particularly enjoy Shegar on the KC Compilation. Very evocative. Cheers, Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.