Studio "tricks"

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Your favorite rockstar
Member Since: Feb 03, 2003

I saw a thread like this on another recording message board.... but I like reading what you guys have to say better. :-) So, I thought, I should start a thread like this here, where the REAL experts hang out! ;-)


Anyway, what are some random studio "tricks" you like to use. That can include little tips you've discovered to make something sound better, some weird recording technique or effects that you've found to make weird or cool sounds, or just ways that you mix in certain things.

Reading about the reverse reverb here got me thinking... I had never really even considered trying something like that. I played around with it for a few minutes yesterday, and I loved it. It got me playing around with some reverse delay and some other reverse effects, and I got some weird results! They're awesome, but I haven't gotten a chance to put them into practice yet. I might try a little this weekend.

Another thing I do lately while I'm mixing... I make a copy of the kick drum track and the bass drum track. I put the two copies on a seperate bus that I label "Low End". I add a little gate, some parametric EQ to suck out anything over 1 KHz, then add some SUPER heavy compression (I make it compress 10+ dB). After I get a decent mix with all my other tracks, I ease in just a little bit of signal from this bus. Enough so that it's barely noticeable, but that it adds a little extra punch to the bass and kick... and because of the slight gate, it gives it an added bonus of making that low end rhythm sound even tighter. If you use it subtly,it's an awesome technique.

So I'm sure you guys all have your little tips and tricks. If you're not afraid to give away your secrets, dump them in here! :-)

It doesn't matter if they regard recording, mixing, or mastering... just start sharing!

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ILLbino - one of WA's finest
Member
Since: Feb 10, 2004

May 28, 2004 08:27 pm

Well, I thought I'd add some humor to the post and write 10 studid studio tricks.

10. Don't stand 10 yards away from your microphone and scream "Traitor" just because your not a good singer.

9. You cannot hit Control, Alt, Delete on a keyboard with black and white keys.

8. Headphones are made for the ears, not for the nostrils.

7. Do not try to blend carrots and lettuce in a studio "mixer".

6. "REC" does not stand for Rectum

5. If your a dj, don't try to scratch a floppy disk....it usually doesn't work.

4. When burning a cd, make sure the cd isn't a frisbee.

3. An equalizer can help make frequencies sound better: an equalizer ISN'T a mediator for marital issues.

2. When recording vocals, don't dropkick the mic when you hit a wrong note (even though it'd be kind of funny).

and....

1. When you make it famous, tell everyone that ILLbizzel gave you the best studio tips to make you famous!

ILLbino - one of WA's finest
Member
Since: Feb 10, 2004

May 28, 2004 11:23 pm

Well, i thought they were pretty funny and I wasn't drunk or anything, lol. I guess my sense of humor sucks, lol.

ILLbino - one of WA's finest
Member
Since: Feb 10, 2004

May 29, 2004 09:42 am

Maybe all of you can give your top 10 stupid studio tricks, lol.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

May 29, 2004 10:26 am

lol, theyre great!

ive not really got as far as doing any sepcial studio tricks, other than the obvious; double tracking, clever eqing and stuff like that...be interested to hear some ideas though

one jues once metioned was bout lining up a drum machine kick, real fat and low, under the kicks of an acoustic drum kit - been meaning to try that.

in fact, listen to any of jues's stuff for some cool ideas - always inspires me...

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Jun 01, 2004 04:02 am

anyone else got anything cool to add here? this could be a real interesting thread i think...

grrrrrrr
Member
Since: Mar 29, 2004

Jun 01, 2004 08:47 am

Here is mine: if you get buzz from a cheap guitar just attach a wire to the bridge and then ground it on your body. No buzz. Of course sometimes you want sort of weird buzz then the reverse is true. Do not do this while standing in a puddle.

I remember seing a lot of cool ones on another site. I will see if I can find the link.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Jun 01, 2004 12:27 pm

i did that buzz thing with my frankenstrat...

dig that link up mauz, id love to see that!

Member
Since: May 09, 2004

Jun 01, 2004 12:52 pm

Well, I'm nice and new to this whole biz, but here's something I tried the other day on a mix and it sounded really cool. I had a drum track, and I wanted a cool intro to a song, so I EQ'd the hell out of it, (boosted one slider of mids waaay up in a 30 band, cut the surrounding stuff, did other wierd things to the EQ, added some reverse reverb to some individual hits, and then layered that on top of the original drum loop. Gave it an awsome technoey metalish sound, plus provided a kick *** intro into the song when I looped it with some flanger and some cool panning effects with a fade in envelope. Funny, on this site, I never know when I'm actually giving a good tip, or when I'm just being stupid.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Jun 01, 2004 12:54 pm

that sounds cool...and remember, there are no stupid tips, just ermmm, you know...

Cone Poker
Member
Since: Apr 07, 2002

Jun 01, 2004 06:28 pm

For a cool vocal sound get into a long hall and put 4 mics about ten feet from each other set up in the hall in a straight line, each about a foot lower than the one before it. This will give you a cool ambient sound

Member
Since: Nov 21, 2002

Jun 01, 2004 07:15 pm

Well here's something i read in electornic musician's online magazine, i tried it on our newest track and it sounded pretty cool. On the drum track, Find a strategic Kick drum hit, wherever you feel could use it, and take that one hit, and amplify, add reverb, lower the pitch, make it huge, just that one huge hit to make it stand out and catch the listener's attention.

Pinnipedal Czar (: 3=
Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004

Jun 01, 2004 08:12 pm

I learned a cool trick on a site called "HRC", where you hook your graphic eq, to the side-chain of your compressor if you want to compress a certain frequency!

That, and I like to dreastically eq the reverb, on a different track for spacial-affect.

Nothing doesnt give me gas
Member
Since: May 25, 2004

Jun 01, 2004 11:15 pm

Dont let a "beer drinking golf ball" hang around your Mixer..LOL!!!!!!!!

Pinnipedal Czar (: 3=
Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004

Jun 01, 2004 11:40 pm

Bah !!!!

www.charlienaebeck.com
Member
Since: Apr 10, 2004

Jun 02, 2004 06:14 am

Lately I have been recording a lot more vocalists in the studio as I have been moving along and I found that a cool process for bringing out a nice vocal sound (if you have a good singer atleast) ;) is to:

1. Normalize the track
2. put a little bit of reverb on the track for warmth.
3. Normalize the track again
4. If it still doesn't sound warm enough repeat steps 2 and 3.
5. If its good, throw a good limiter on there to around 0db and you'll have a really in your face clean vocal that you can set in the mix very nicely.

If you are looking for more of an attack with the vocals from the singer directly for hard rock type stuff, just go with the compression and then limit at the last step which won't give you the warmth like the reverb. I usually find that about 3 layers of compression on a vocal sets it in nicely.

Another vocal trick that I tried that seemed to work cool was instead of having the vocalist do a second take for an overdub to double the vocals, I created a seperate audio track and copied the original take into the second audio track. Then I took the nudge tool in Pro Tools and placed it slightly behind the other track by anywhere from 1/32 of a second to 1 second and it gives you an "exact timed" double vocal effect almost like a reverb or slight delay that is cool for some songs for vocalists that cannot double their vocals very well. Mind you that it will sound like a machine did the second track being it is an exact copy only slightly off the original, but it sounds cool on some stuff. :)

Bass Cabs:

For bass cabs if you are looking for a very low bass sound, try putting your mic at a 45 degree angle from the left or right of the cab pointed in across the cone. This allows most of the highs to fly right by and the lows to pick up in the mic better. Adjust to your liking if you want more bass or more highs.

Also, you can also add a dynamic mic placed about a foot above the first mic and pointed 45 degrees in the opposite direction. Watch for phase cancellation on this one, but if you can get it right you can get a really phat punchy bass.

Third: sometimes it is cool to add a nice condenser to a bass mix in the back of the cab about 3-6ft back. This is like the old trick that you can use on guitar cabs, but it picks up some cool ambient room tones and some frequencies that you won't get in front of the cab that can be interesting for experimental mixes. :)



The fat one always watches us.
Member
Since: Nov 08, 2002

Jun 02, 2004 07:57 am

Dont be afraid to use that cheezy pc mic. velcro it to your vocal mic, just turned down low and eq'd and panned diffrently for both acoustic guitar, vocal, and even your electric from the cabinet. (I run it through my mixer before it hits the pc) As long as you have a quiet room it adds some depth, and most everyone has one.

Your favorite rockstar
Member
Since: Feb 03, 2003

Jun 02, 2004 11:28 am

Here's one...

I was playing around with a song that had 3 different guitar parts at one point. It wasn't a serious project, so I didn't want to take tons of time on the guitars, but I wanted them to all sound like they filled a ton of space.

Guitar 1, I ran a multi-tap delay set for stereo emulation. It's a plugin that came with my Sonic Foundry stuff. It sends a slightly different delay to the left and right channels.

Guitar 2, I copied the track, panned one hard right and the other hard left, and put a 30 millisecond delay on one of them, using only the delay signal and none of the dry signal. Basically doing this offsets a track by 30 milliseconds. I did this for a "fake" double track.

Guitar 3, I actually double tracked. It was a heavy distorted guitar track (the other two were clean), and I think sometimes the heavy distortion just sounds better doubled rather than using the fake stereo process. Oh yeah, and it was the easiest of the 3 tracks to lay down again! :-)

The multi-tap stereo emulation has a different feel than the fake doubling because of the way it keeps a dry signal in the middle. Then the actual doubling also has a different feel, because the two parts obviously aren't identical. The combination of the 3 different styles made each part sit in their own space pretty well, and the sound was huge. It's not one of those things that will work in every situation, and overuse of it would probably make things sound cluttered after a while, but I was really happy with the results for this song.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Jun 02, 2004 02:03 pm

these are all top - im gonna try these. good work guys!

ILLbino - one of WA's finest
Member
Since: Feb 10, 2004

Jun 02, 2004 02:19 pm

Those were pretty good tips. I'll try some of those. Now for some more humor to this thread:

The best tips you'll ever get!:

a. don't use shoe laces as strings for your guitar.

b. Why buy headphones? Take your computer speakers and attach a clothes hanger to them with some super glue and duct tape= instant headphones!

c. the red circle to record -> "O" This is not a target for your 12 guage.

d. and finally....do not call scooby doo and his gang to try to find who is the real "phantom" power.

Okay, yeah, those were pretty dumb, lol

Member
Since: May 09, 2004

Jun 02, 2004 04:34 pm

ILLbizzel, thank you. You make me feel really good about my sense of humor.

Cone Poker
Member
Since: Apr 07, 2002

Jun 02, 2004 05:47 pm

actually, one of the best ti[s I can give is kind of stupid... make sure you're recording... I don't know how many times I've had a great riff or sound and thought I was recording it only to find out the track wasn't armed..

Nothing doesnt give me gas
Member
Since: May 25, 2004

Jun 03, 2004 12:59 am

Yeah, why are those always the best takes?? An old friend who had a cool studio back in the day used to trick people by saying," ok lets do a dry run on this, I need to get levels" they would think they werent being recorded, and a great take would happen, but he WAS recording..... Thats actually a good trick to use, I tried it on myself a few times , and it never work. Seems I always knew what was up.

The fat one always watches us.
Member
Since: Nov 08, 2002

Jun 03, 2004 09:43 am

Loki i was just gonna say that. so many great musical moments only heard by me......

Member
Since: May 09, 2004

Jun 03, 2004 05:25 pm

lol, guitwizz, Honestly, I've used that trick (on other people) and it really does work great. They're a lot less nervous and they play better, resulting in a great take. Hey, that's a studio tip right there! That is, if you don't piss them off.

Nothing doesnt give me gas
Member
Since: May 25, 2004

Jun 04, 2004 12:10 pm

Great example, the solo in "Driven to tears" By the police. Its one of the coolest loose "off the cuff" solos you will ever hear, and that was a scratch track they werent even going to keep, but they did cuz it was so relaxed and "avant garde" so to speak.

Member
Since: May 24, 2004

Jun 06, 2004 11:11 pm

Hey Folks,
My tip is one in the form of a software recomendation. And best of all it is free. If you have never been to digital fish phones website you must visit and get some of their plugs. This one is a MUST if you want awesome sounding final mixes. It is called endorphin. You can get it here
www.digitalfishphones.com...2&subItem=3
enjoy,
Mark (phrygian)

Pinnipedal Czar (: 3=
Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004

Jun 06, 2004 11:44 pm

guitwizz : Cool Police factoid ! There's another one of their songs (same album ?) called "Does everyone stare ?" that has a piece of opera bleed through into their recording from a studio next to theirs that they decided to keep ... I love happy accidents . :)

phrygian : Thanks for the tip, and welcome to HRC ! I read your "intro" on the other thread, and you're quite right ! The people/aliens here are down-right nice !

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Jun 07, 2004 07:16 am

the oasis song 'do ya know what i mean' has a strawberry fields type morse code bit that if ya know morse code means "bugger all". quite funny i thought...

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Jun 07, 2004 07:17 am

not that thats anything to do with the topic, obviously...

Nothing doesnt give me gas
Member
Since: May 25, 2004

Jun 07, 2004 09:57 am

LOL!!!! They never did become "Bigger than the Beatles" did they? oops, not that that has anything to do with the topic either.........

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Jun 07, 2004 10:34 am

nah, but theyre gonna be labeled as one of the classic all time rock bands eventually i reckon...maybe...

Nothing doesnt give me gas
Member
Since: May 25, 2004

Jun 08, 2004 02:13 am

k......

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Jun 08, 2004 05:47 am

or not, obviously...

they got the moves though, i reckon...

grrrrrrr
Member
Since: Mar 29, 2004

Jun 08, 2004 05:54 am

How about this one: Set up two stereo mics. Condensors preferably. Maybe in a good acoustic space. Sing one track standing in the middle of the two mics. Then move a few feet left or right and sing again. Move around singing different tracks and you will be a one man (or woman) choir!

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Jun 08, 2004 05:56 am

ive multitracked myself singnig all round the stereo field before - give quite a cool effect when it works...

Nothing doesnt give me gas
Member
Since: May 25, 2004

Jun 08, 2004 11:19 am

check this one out: On Major Tom, David Bowie had like 7 mics in front of him, each with a noise gate on it. The gates were set differently on each one and when he sang, different mics would open up causing a cool effect.... Musta had a great noise gate.

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002

Jun 08, 2004 11:34 am

It's "A Space Oddity" as I recall, not "Major Tom" ;-)

Emerson's Transparent Eyeball
Member
Since: Jan 19, 2004

Jun 08, 2004 06:33 pm

Actually, I thought he pulled that trick on "Heroes".. saw a little blurb on VH1 on it I think, and if you listen closely when he sings the last verse you can almost hear all those other mics open up, really makes a huge sound.

Emerson's Transparent Eyeball
Member
Since: Jan 19, 2004

Jun 08, 2004 06:34 pm

And by the way, the Wallflowers added nothing to that song.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Jun 08, 2004 08:55 pm

Just a tidbit.

Bowie used that trick more then once. And I believe he exceeded the 7 mic's on occasion as well. I would love to have whatever hall he used for Space Oddity though. And yes I have used that trick several times as well, and it does work very well, with or without the gate. It is a very discrete delay when used properly.

And just for the record, I described that exact trick in one of my very first articles or tips on this website.

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Jun 08, 2004 09:04 pm

"check this one out: On Major Tom, David Bowie had like 7 mics in front of him, each with a noise gate on it. The gates were set differently on each one and when he sang, different mics would open up causing a cool effect.... Musta had a great noise gate."

dude... that's crazy! This, I never heard of. What a wild idea. I've got to check out the recording sometime. Thanks for the trivia.

The Quiet Minded
Member
Since: Jan 01, 2003

Jun 08, 2004 11:31 pm

i dont think this one is a trick, but here it goes. when recording acoustic guitar i put my MXL V69 a feet away in front of the guitar sound hole and my MXL 603S above the players head. Then I match the signals in the mixer. In the mix these two mix get separated in the panning(60-80%).

This cheap trick gives a clean ambient sound without too much work.

hope it was worthy! :S

Pinnipedal Czar (: 3=
Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004

Jun 09, 2004 12:17 am

A dirty 'lil trick I like to do ... (whispering)

is to trip 'thewent' on his way to the iso-booth

heh heh heh


Hey !... when did you become a 'peon' dB ?...

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Jun 09, 2004 02:10 pm

thewent?

Pinnipedal Czar (: 3=
Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004

Jun 09, 2004 10:51 pm

LOL

thewent is my co-writer... who's around here... somewhere.
It's actually The Great Went, a nick-name he picked up from the film Twin Peaks-Firewalk With Me : " I am the Great Went, I am as blank... as a fart ."

Oh, Thanks for puting that link up for jues' stuff, flame ! Way cool !

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Jun 10, 2004 03:48 am

top eh?

Pinnipedal Czar (: 3=
Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004

Jun 10, 2004 05:05 am

Quite top .

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