Skip to main content

Plug-ins

plug-ins are pieces of  software that are used to process and manipulate audio tracks in a daw. a compressor is a popular example of a plug in. they set a decibel threshold to prevent level peaking and bring out quieter parts in the mix. knowing what they are and how to use them is a crucial part of being a recording musician. without plugins a mix can easily sound thin and weak. I learned this the hard way. my first EP was originally released with only a few reverb plugins. no serious mixing was done and as a result it sounded very unprofessional. I recently spent time learning about daws with my good buddy James McConnell and used the acquired information to remix the EP. The result was a much smoother and professional production. if you are at all interested in recording music do yourself a favor. learn from my mistake and learn about plugins before you start. if anyone is curious and wants to learn more just shoot me an email and I'd be happy to provide info and recommend some great free plugins. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Recording and Mixing notes

the most important part of recording music is getting good takes with instruments and vocals. getting good recordings is the first and highest priority in the recording process. Once good takes are made you want to begin mixing. to mix you apply plugins such as compression, reverb, panning and so on. it is a good idea to listen to music you like, that would be a good example for your mix. I tend to listen to Dave Matthews band for this purpose. last night while listening I came up with some notes that I later applied to a song im working on called Aesthetic. I Equalized the alternating down beat shaker (used as a snare) to the root note of the key the song is in. a minor touch but I think it adds a lot to the mix. I also noticed how Dave's vocals cut through the layer heavy song; there was minimal reverb and decay, so I rolled down both of these parameters which yeilded positive results. It is like Anne Lammot referencing authors she enjoyed, especially her father, you want to read

crazy time signatures and math

Alternate and odd time signatures are my bread and butter; working to make something so off beat resonate well with a listener is the most enjoyable challenge in my life. The above picture is a simple chart depicting a song I wrote for my band Beat Juice. The first line is the part I play and the one below is what Dal plays; as you can probably see, my part is divided irregularly making it nearly impossible to feel the pulse. to remedy this I wrote Dal's part in 4/5, this way both of us will play a total of 20 beats per phrase. by choosing common time emphasis to put over my part, the pulse of the song emerges. I like to compare this to Anne Lamott's experience with writing stories that may not have appealed to people and publishers, but she continued anyway, and that is the true nature of art in my opinion; push through the hate to create something you are proud of.

Frustration

Over this last summer I recorded an LP. As I listen to the finalized mixes I am a little frustrated with my performance, especially with vocals. It sucks to look back and realize that there is no way to fix it. Fortunately my producer Jame McConnell is a beast and is doing his best to fix some of my sloppiness. I know now that I was singing without my diaphragm and have since learned to do so. It has dis-heartened me but at the end of the day I'm proud of the music I produced, despite it's imperfections. It is a snapshot of where I was as a musician the summer of 2018, and if you look past some of the mistakes I believe it is a fun collection of unique songs that at the very least will be an interesting listen. Like Anne Lammot says, you might think something is perfect at the time only to realize later that it could've used more work, but perfection is impossible and as long as you're happy with what you've written, then it is great.