- Joined
- Dec 31, 2017
- Messages
- 1,197
- Karma
- 1,346
- Gear owned
- DP-24/40-4MTR/M30
I recently completed a recording project of original songs for a talented songwriting duo. We hope you find it enjoyable. The SoundCloud link has the songwriting and artist credits. I've written some production notes below.
PRODUCTION NOTES
For small projects I prefer to multitrack in analog rather than to my DP-24 portastudio, so the session was tracked using a small vintage TASCAM analog console and a TASCAM 4-track reel-to-reel analog MTR at 15 IPS with dbx Type I encoding (S/N Ratio: 90db).
Tracking
I encouraged the group to rehearse, rehearse, rehearse before coming in, and it paid off. All tracking was done live, without punches or overdubs. Most songs were captured live on the first take, the rest on a second or third take. Were all the songs perfect? No. But the goal was to capture the feel of a live performance, so the group decided to let minor performance slips pass if they didn't distract from the song overall.
Tracking Setup (Four Analog Tracks)
2 cardioid condenser microphones (one for each acoustic guitar).
1 cardioid dynamic microphone (shared vocal mic).
Electric Bass DI to console.
Physical Placement
Both vocalists also played acoustic guitars. I set them in the center of the room facing each other, spaced apart, with the vocal mic in between and pointed straight up. Small microphone isolation baffles helped isolate the mics from each other. Making use of the opposing null areas at the rear of the three directional mics, along with the baffles, helped control bleed.
Mixing
The analog multitrack tape was converted to digital using my TASCAM DP-24 portastudio, and then ported over to HarrisonConsole's Mixbus D.A.W. on my computer.
Vocal tracks were panned center; each guitar generally panned left and right; electric bass just left of center. Adjustments were made as needed for each song's sound stage imaging, accomplished with judicious use of phase inversion, EQ, an expander, compression, gating, level balance, and multiple stereo reverbs and delays.
This is a zoomable screenshot of the mixer settings.
Mastering
Mastering was done using TC-Electronic's Finalizer program. I applied gentle 5 band EQ, Dynamic EQ, and mild limiting.
Mixing and Mastering Levels
The songs were mixed at about -20 LUFS and mastered to -14 LUFS. Keeping the levels in this ballpark can help assure maximum fidelity if the songs might be converted later to a lossy format such as MP3.
PRODUCTION NOTES
For small projects I prefer to multitrack in analog rather than to my DP-24 portastudio, so the session was tracked using a small vintage TASCAM analog console and a TASCAM 4-track reel-to-reel analog MTR at 15 IPS with dbx Type I encoding (S/N Ratio: 90db).
Tracking
I encouraged the group to rehearse, rehearse, rehearse before coming in, and it paid off. All tracking was done live, without punches or overdubs. Most songs were captured live on the first take, the rest on a second or third take. Were all the songs perfect? No. But the goal was to capture the feel of a live performance, so the group decided to let minor performance slips pass if they didn't distract from the song overall.
Tracking Setup (Four Analog Tracks)
2 cardioid condenser microphones (one for each acoustic guitar).
1 cardioid dynamic microphone (shared vocal mic).
Electric Bass DI to console.
Physical Placement
Both vocalists also played acoustic guitars. I set them in the center of the room facing each other, spaced apart, with the vocal mic in between and pointed straight up. Small microphone isolation baffles helped isolate the mics from each other. Making use of the opposing null areas at the rear of the three directional mics, along with the baffles, helped control bleed.
Mixing
The analog multitrack tape was converted to digital using my TASCAM DP-24 portastudio, and then ported over to HarrisonConsole's Mixbus D.A.W. on my computer.
Vocal tracks were panned center; each guitar generally panned left and right; electric bass just left of center. Adjustments were made as needed for each song's sound stage imaging, accomplished with judicious use of phase inversion, EQ, an expander, compression, gating, level balance, and multiple stereo reverbs and delays.
This is a zoomable screenshot of the mixer settings.
Mastering
Mastering was done using TC-Electronic's Finalizer program. I applied gentle 5 band EQ, Dynamic EQ, and mild limiting.
Mixing and Mastering Levels
The songs were mixed at about -20 LUFS and mastered to -14 LUFS. Keeping the levels in this ballpark can help assure maximum fidelity if the songs might be converted later to a lossy format such as MP3.
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