When I take on mixing work for clients, I want to give them my very best.
Something I’ve had to accept, though, is that the sound quality of what is sent through to me is not always the best.
I’m going to use a job that I took on last year as a case study to show the sorts of issues that can come up and the ways that a good engineer can go about handling them.
I mixed a five-track EP for an electronic RnB artist last year. They had recorded their vocals in their bedroom for each of the five tracks, as lockdown meant that they were unable to get into a studio.
They’d managed to do a pretty reasonable job of recording into Logic, given the restrictions. They also had very rough mixes of the tracks in Logic with the various vocal stems and component instrument tracks. When I listened through the vocals, it became clear that they didn’t have a pop shield so there were plosives on their tracks.
They didn’t have a reflection filter so there was natural room reverb. At times they were also running the mic input really hot, which was causing pops.
The simplest thing to do was to tell the artist to buy a pop shield as a bare minimum and re-record some lead vocal tracks. But for one track in particular, the artist wasn’t as happy with the re-recording as he had been for his original take. That’s when I had to do some serious creative thinking…
>Step by step 1. Case study
This story is from the January 2022 edition of Computer Music.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 2022 edition of Computer Music.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Sonuscore The Score $399 PC MAC
The Score comes up with a film soundtrack based on your stylistic choices, but that’s just the start of it. Andy Jones scores The Score
Baby Audio Humanoid $129 PC MAC
Humanoid brings the ‘extreme’ and ‘radical’ to the world of vocals, but is also one of the easiest plugins to use and abuse, says Andy Jones
The Synth Factory Horizen $129 PC MAC
A synth/sampler that packs in a lot of power at an almost silly price - despite its low profile, Andy Jones gazes at Horizen...
Flow Mastering Suite $15/month PC MAC
Mastering your music just got as easy or as complex as you want. But, Andy Jones asks, is it worth yet another monthly subscription?
Universal Audio LA-6176 $299 PC MAC
UA has bundled three of its classic emulations into one channel strip. Is this analogue dream your ideal plugin team? Andy Jones finds out
Rack'em up...
IK Multimedia has announced a comprehensive update to its mixing and mastering software, T-RackS, that brings some smart mastering additions
FX Collection 5 €499
Arturia's huge bundle of effects gets its regular update and it's still easily as essential as the company's V Collection
Make a pulsing bass with GForce Axxess
Get mechanical, with a garage-inspired bass patch, which gets right to the pulsing heart of the Axxess synthesiser
The software that shaped us
Computer Music has had a 25-year history, and over the life of this magazine, the technology behind music production has changed beyond recognition. Here are the products that set the stage for the modern world…
PERFECT VIRTUAL GUITAR!
Need a great guitar sound, but lacking any guitar-playing contacts, or the skills to play it yourself? Have no fear, your computer is here! With a few pointers, buying advice and hands-on tips, you and your PC or Mac can emulate the greatest guitarists in the world…