studio people..i have a question again

[Guest]

i wanna know how if i listen a track from cd the whole instruments sounds so big and clear, i have all kind of tings to make a beat but it sound flat, what is it what makes it sound so loud? is it only a compressor or is the anything else i dont know off yet cause i only know compressor

[greg]

besides compression, you need to record at loud enough volumes, the instruments can be a little loud as long as you record at unity levels, once the music is recorded you go through and add the right amount of compression to each track. then during mixdown you adjust all your vol levels and effects that you want to use.

ps. having decent microphones helps alot

[Guest]

ok, thanx i will take dat advise when my musicians will be ready for the live recording.

but thers still some i wanna know,
for the digitl riddim.. i have samples from drum machines like linn, yamaha x-whateva, oberhiem, etc
they sound very unspectacular when i comepare them to for example to king jammys digital stuff, i recognize dats the same rimshot or snare but it sound little and thin and so, nawmean.

bless

[greg]

its hard to say with digital music, it has alot to do with the programs you use. there is a software program my bredren uses that has all of the old beats effects and such that were used by jammy,tubby,scientist etc etc, im not sure what the program is called but im sure you can find it online

[Guest]

yea i will look up but you ask him please next time you see him, its important to me i need a new ting, the one i use is too strange, or are you talking about protool? it is da hardest ting out i hear

[ITAL RAS]

Reverb & Delay

[donstrumental]

Don't forget a lot of digital riddims from the 80's were not purely digital.Many were played live to tape and not sequenced so digital to analogue conversion and soundcard quality was never a problem.If you want a big sound,after recording in your computer dump it all down to 2 inch tape

[MightyZ]

Don - just seen your post

I think you record things too clean - someone mentioned levels - pushing the levels so the sound is not actually distorted but is near the boundary can add a bit of 'dirt' to the sound - making it less flat.

EQ is crucial - each instrument has to be EQ'd carefully to boost the right parts of its sound, I watched a young reggae band last night - they were good but the mixer wasn't - the drums sounded like they had not been EQ'd at all and sounded thin. The bass had too much mid/treble and was too twangy and not boomy.

FX are also crucial - reverb and subtle echoes make the sound more full and dynamic. That's why I was a little concerned recently when you asked for that guitar part without the reverb. OK, I know sometimes I go over the top with FX (dub artist!), but that kind of guitar part should have reverb on it - it won't sound right otherwise.

Most of my stuff mixes analogue and digital instruments - this also helps. Automatic Dub on my Mighty Dub album is a fully digital and automated track (hence the name).
Have a listen to it by following the soundclick link in my signature.

I don't have a big studio - Just a PC with Reason 3, a 12 channel desk (cost me 100 quid so nothing flash), a couple of FX machines and my instruments - guitar, keys and bass. I record onto a digital multitracker (160 quid on ebay), and try to use it like an old analogue multitracker and make as much of it live as possible - I think this helps. People do seem quite impressed by the sound I get though and I put this down to careful EQ use, liberal FX use and not bothering to clean up the sound too much with stuff like Pro Tools (don't even have a copy).

What software do you use Don?

MightyZ