mm mmm mmmmm me hungry me love ssl console mm mm so crunchy so tasty me love the akai pads m rubber and me love drum sticks mm mm i lvoe eating my music gear

First I'd like to say things got out of hand after I left my post.

I started something I shouldn’t have and one thing turned into another, then another, and before long the whole place was flooded with confusion especially for those that just showed up to the mess I caused with the sub... I shouldn't have left my post. I set the tone and then just sorta left. I didn’t mean to just leave like that. I thought it would be a one off, instead it became this whole thing.

This started when I realized how much space it was taking up and I decided to take matters in to my own hands. The sub didn’t ask for that. It didn’t need it and I've been thinking about it a lot. My lack of self control has always been something I've struggled with in my life. How one decision snowballed until there was nothing left, especially since its for EVERYONE to share.

So yeah. I just wanted to share my story about how I once devoured an entire 10-foot Italian party sub at an event where I was working as FOH engineer. I was weak. And I made sound guys look bad...and fat. please forgive me.

okay i'll stop.

I’ve been in the industry for 20+ years. I started at the bottom with very little film knowledge and have worked my way up to owning every piece of Gere money can buy.

My Gere collection is stellar: Pretty Woman, An Officer and a Gentleman, Primal Fear, Internal Affairs, Unfaithful, Chicago, Arbitrage, etc. And for those that aren’t so green in the industry, the deep cuts. Yanks. The Cotton Club. King David.

Before owning the real things, I always bought clones. Costners. Michael Douglases. Occasionally a Dennis Quaid.

I’d be stoked for a while until my mixes started to suffer. Eventually, that one thing would snowball into “all I hear is Quaid,” and I’d be back in the market for more Gere.

My brain needed to consume as much Gere as possible if I wanted to be a grammy award winning engineer.

I decided I wouldn’t buy anything unless I could buy the real deal.

Boy does that shit rule.

My Pretty Woman is the best Gere ever. Primal Fear has a depth and dynamic range that you simply cannot get from a Michael Douglas. Unfaithful is so 3D it practically comes out of the television.

But you know what I found?
I could still fuck up a recording even with all this Gere.

That’s when it truly hit me: great engineering trumps great Gere.

I’ve got no excuses anymore.

I can’t blame my DVD of The Mothman Prophecies because it’s not Pretty Woman. I’m watching the real 1990 theatrical Pretty Woman now. Director’s cut.

That fact has made me up my game.

My brain thrives on the Gere. I’ve learned more about microphone placement, compression and EQ since buying all the classics than I ever did buying clones of Gere.

I’m sharing all this to say: you don’t need a 50-year-old U47.
You need Pretty Woman.
And once you own Pretty Woman, you realize you never needed the U47 in the first place.

TD;LR: Buying every Richard Gere movie made me realize I had no excuse for getting less-than-ideal sounds. I’ve learned more about engineering since acquiring all the classic Gere, and that is what has truly upped my game.

(I know there are many women engineers here, but as a male, I am only able to speak from my perspective. YMMV.)

I used to be a flabby, overweight, and sad man. My mixes always sounded muddy and dull over my monitors, but pretty okay over my headphones. After lots of research, I realized that my moobs were actually absorbing almost all of the higher frequencies during monitor playback. That's when I decided to pull the trigger and invest in some gear.

Now my pecs are shredded, so much so that they actually phase-align the higher frequencies and make monitor playback sound even brighter than I intended. An amateur gear-user would assume I had just created the opposite problem, but as we all know, as long as you are familiar with your listening environment, you don't need a truly flat frequency response to get a good mix.

The enhanced highs almost make my monitors sound like DT990 Pros, so it's been super beneficial in more accurately analyzing and taming sibilants as well as spicy synths, percs and cymbals.

I wouldn't recommend getting onto gear to just anyone, but if you are looking to level up your studio, it just might be something to consider. As long as you are open to dealing with the back pimples/disappearing testicles.

Edit: Yes, the gear is very expensive. But I have a vague and seemingly too-good-to-be-true live mixing gig I do on the weekends for bands like Weezer and Phish. So I can afford it.

Hal Emmerich here. I worked at a nuclear disposal facility on Shadow Moses island on a secret black project. Unbeknownst to me, I was actually developing a bipedal walking nuclear battle tank code-named Metal Gear. Although I don't appreciate being deceived in order to make weapons, my work on Metal Gear has made me an infinitely better engineer, and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.

But I don't have a mic, so I can't record it.

If an engineer engineers with no gear, dose he make a sound?

I'm aiming for that clear and punchy bass tone and have spending way too much time chasing it.

Listen to Green Day's Sassafras Roots for a good example of how the bass is clear behind the guitars.

Usually what happens is by the time the bass notes become clear, the lower bass dominates the mix.

The two closet methods I've found are 1) completely DI, low shelf -4dB at 150hz with a +12dB bell at 1.5k... And 2) duplicating the bass track into a single DI low pass at 200 and a single amp sim, high pass 300hz, and then adjusting the two tracks to taste. Both methods compressing with UAD Distressor.

How common are these two methods (yes I've googled them but I prefer interacting with humans) and is there anything I'm missing or could be overlooking?

I’ve been in the industry for nearly 20 years. I started with some gear and over time I ended up with more gear. In the beginning it wasn’t really that much. I had a few things, then I had some more things, and eventually there were quite a few things. Sometimes when I had money to spend I’d get some studio stuff, and sometimes I would just end up with studio stuff. Usually I was satisfied with having the stuff and I ended up with a functional studio. I learned to do basic fixes by myself like some easy soldering, or replacing knobs. At some point I had enough gear that I started keeping track of where some of it was, although this became harder as I acquired more gear. Eventually I had gear in several places, then I had gear in places where I had previously not had gear. Some of it I remembered getting and some of it I didn’t really remember getting, but it was all gear and I owned it.
In the end I realized something. I had reached an acceptable level of gear ownership, nothing out of the ordinary of course, but even without acquiring anything for a little while I still had quite a lot of gear. That’s when it truly hit me. I had gear. Then I had more gear. Then I had more gear than I had before. I’m satisfied with what I own and I continue to own it. I don’t make so many excuses even if I sometimes wish I had more gear, I realised I already have quite a bit of gear anyway. In good conditions, my gear isn’t too hard to keep around, and when I started to know which things were where I finally felt kind of capable. That’s how I started to have a decent amount of gear. With a good enough amount of gear that I knew well I could have the gear in the studio, and then eventually have more gear in the studio. This ain’t the largest collection still, but I could get more gear with time and my collection has steadily increased. Now, even if I’m confident with the amount of gear I own, I have reached a plateau, although the plateau itself has become increasingly covered in gear. I will prolly never own all of the gear, but I’m still acquiring around. I feel like I can’t ask for too much though, because I already have a lot of gear, and there is only so much gear one person can own before they start having to acquire additional places to keep the gear.
I’m sharing this to you not because i want you to skimp or anything, or bankrupt yourself either, just be reasonable with your wallet. At some point you can create a comfortable space for the gear you already have. If i could get more stuff for free, i don’t think i’d say no, tbh there is still room for more gear. But I still was able to acquire more and more gear, with what i have. Eventually I ran out of places to put it, so I started putting gear in the places where I had been putting other gear. Then I had to move some gear to make room for the other gear, which created a new place for more gear. Eventually the places that were supposed to hold the gear became gear themselves, at which point I had to find somewhere else to put the gear that was holding the gear. This worked for a while. Now I have some gear in the studio, some gear outside the studio, and some gear whose exact location I would describe as being somewhere in relation to the other gear. I don’t always know where everything is anymore, but I know that if I need to find something, there is probably gear in front of it.
TL;DR: I’ve acquired my fair share of gear (to an extent) since starting out and now I would say I own a considerable amount of gear. I will probably keep acquiring gear at that pace for a few years. Eventually I may have to acquire more shelves, then more rooms, then possibly another building. After that I suppose I could acquire another building for the gear that is currently in the first building, which would leave the first building available for more gear. I don’t know exactly how much gear I will end up with, but I imagine it will be more than I have now, which is already more than I had before. Eventually I may have to start keeping some of it in my car, then in other people’s cars, and eventually I assume there will just be a small warehouse somewhere that contains nothing but increasingly specific boxes of gear that I vaguely remember owning.

Mix can with gear good but haven't always and necessary? Maybe, but 60 years it's the way and been for two maybe three owning for renting subscription or no. High end too. Microphones listened but put up when holding out for anything better is likely to make time and efficiency. Bottom for days.

Music!

I’ve been in the industry for 40+ years. I started with decent stuff and somehow worked my way down to owning the absolute worst gear money...or the lack of it can buy. My mic collection is shit like i have random Amazon specials I find under 20 bucks, broken SM58s held together with tape I would steal from open mic nights, a studio condenser that hisses, a plastic USB mic that came free with a headset. Same story with everything else, $30 interfaces that clip if I do so much as scratch my nut sack, no real preamps, no outboard, just free plugins. Before fully embracing the garbage, I would occasionally upgrade to slightly less terrible clones or used junk. I’d be less miserable for a week until I started hearing one new problem. That one problem would snowball into “all I hear is how everything is broken,” and I’d either return it or just stop using it, losing money and motivation along the way. Eventually I decided I wouldn’t buy anything unless it was the cheapest, most compromised option available. I started collecting literal trash like toilet paper rolls and making mic diaphragms out of them, and boy does that shit suck. My no name dollar store 1 ply cardboard roll is the worst mic I’ve ever heard. A broken off xbox 360 headset mic is the only one I have now. Nothing sounds okay, everything sounds like it was recorded under a highway.

But you know what I found? I could still fuck up a recording even harder with the worst gear money can buy. That’s when it truly hit me. Bad gear actively makes bad engineering worse. I’m stuck with the gear and don’t get me wrong not just because it’s terrible, but because it’s made me realize that when I’m not getting the sound I want, it’s definitely the gear’s fault and never mine. I’ve got endless excuses now. I can always blame my $29 Amazon mic because it isn’t a real U47. That fact has destroyed my business. With the “this gear is actually unusable” excuse permanently available, it forced me to stop focusing on technique and instead just complain about the sound at the source. My engineering chops have gone downhill since getting all the worst gear, because I started focusing only on the gear part. Now, because I’m less confident in my engineering. I feel like I couldn’t get usable sounds even if someone handed me the good stuff.

I’m sharing all this to say I didn’t have to buy all the worst stuff. I was too focused on THAT being the thing holding me back and it turns out it was. I wouldn’t trade any of what I have for slightly better gear at this point its too late the damage is done, but I can also acknowledge it became the perfect copout excuse for never improving. Learn how to get the sounds you want with what you have… or don’t. Remember, plenty of people have made terrible sounding records on terrible gear in terrible rooms. Most of them stayed terrible.

TL;DR: Buying the most garbage gear made me realize I had infinite excuses for getting less than ideal sounds. I’ve learned nothing about technique since getting the shit tier stuff and that is what has truly ruined mixes and my spirit. I'm done. My best friend from high school hooked me up with a mixing job at Dairy Queen.... mixing blizzards. It isn't ideal but at least I'm mixing something...

Greetings, all, long time lurker here. Thank you in advance for the help you provide, I always appreciate the viewpoints, facts presented, and attitudes in this sub.

I have a question about rendering a song out of its project, putting the WAV file into another project, and rendering again. Will we have any generational loss, or any sort of negative side effects of 'double rendering' a song? Sample rate and bit depth are the same between projects.

Think I know the answer, but want to double check with fellow peeps, it's been ~25 years since I've been in school, and just want to be sure.

For more info, I have four songs in REAPER, all in their own projects. All songs are recorded at 16 bit, 44.1k. The WAV files get imported into another project (also at 44.1k/16 bit), transitional pieces are added, the whole thing gets cut into 9 tracks, and rendered again. The effect I am going for, is the songs flow into one another.

Yes, I know REAPER has a function where you can have the songs inside the 'main' project, clicking the wave form brings up the song project, and it re-renders in place, but I am too far along to try and figure that out for this project.

Thank you for your time!!!

Every now and then, I get a weird noise that I’ve singled out to be my Black Lion Audio Bluey that is the source of this noise. Anybody else have had to deal with this? It’s almost like a white noise kind of sound.

I recently received a Grammy Certificate for a project I worked on, 2 years ago. The artist won in their category of album of the year in 2024, but I wasn’t credited.

I did the outreach (for MONTHS) and finally got credited and received it.

I’m not here to flex, I’m here to ask how anyone else who received this implemented it to advance their career. Or even testimony of it ultimately meaning nothing in the grand scheme.

I’ve done this job for 7 years as a freelancer and 4 at a major studio. Funny how the Grammy winning recording was freelance work despite the major studio owners insisting I need them if I want to get anywhere in this field.

The problem is, I’m 30 years old and still broke as hell. What are some immediate things I can do from here to advance my career?

Leaving the record industry is an option tbh, I can’t guarantee that the gold or platinum recording that changes everything is going to happen. Hell, I know gold and platinum producers who can’t even afford the $400 to buy their plaque or straight up quit. So what now?

I’ve been in the industry for nearly 20 years. I started with mid range stuff and sticked with it because it's good enough. My mic collection average, like i have a rode nt1a, and some sm58 and 57's. Nothing else fancy, i have like a focusrite audio interface, some behringer mixers and a pair of krk monitors. Sometimes when i had money to spend i'd buy some more studio stuff in my price range, like cables, acoustic foam and so on. Usually im satisfied with my buys and i ended up having a functional no bullshit studio. I learned to do basic fixes by myself like some easy soldering, or replacing knobs. At some point i had a shure sm7b but I decided i prefered the Rode so i returned the shure, and im satisfied now. My recordings usually sound okay, and when i have to clean them up i can do it with some free or cheap software (melda production has a great free vst suite for example)

In the end i realized something. I had reached an acceptable level, nothing out of the ordinary of course, but even without top of the line gear i can usually make do with what i have! That’s when it truly hit me. Mid range gear can help you do some okay tier audio engineering. I’m satisfied with what i own and it helps me to record decent takes. I don't make so many excuses even if i sometimes wish i had top of the line gear, i realised i don't really need it that much. In good conditions, my 150€ mics and good listening gear aren't to hard to work with, and when i started to know them well i finally felt kind of capable. That's how i started to run a decent business. With the a good enough studio that i knew well i could start to work with musician friends and artists from the local scene. This ain't abbey road still, but i could get some practice with time and my skills have have steadily increased. Now, even if im confident with the craft, i have reached a plateau, i will prolly never work with international artists or stadium sound systems, but im still helping around. I feel like I can't ask for too much though, because i can't offer that much tbh, i'm a medium level sound engineer.

I’m sharing this to you not because i want you to skimp or anything, or bankrupt yourself either, just be reasonable with your wallet. At some point you can create a comfortable working space without breaking the bank. If i could get higher end stuff for free, i don't think i'd say no, tbh my studio has room for improvement. But i still was able to learn and get better, with what i have. Remember a good recording comes from the balance between the engineer and their studio, everything else is the icing on the cake. Don't forget many aftists started in modest home studios, some got huge, some didn't blew up and it's okay.

TL;DR: Building a moderately good studio overtime, without breaking the bank, was a reasonable choice. I’ve learned my fair share of technique (to an extent) since starting out and now i would say im feel contempt. I will probably keep working at that pace for a few years, or until i want to do something else with my life.

𝓘 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓰𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓰𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓮 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓶𝓵𝓲𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓽𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓸𝓼 𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓫𝓮 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓮𝔀 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓪𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓸𝔀𝓷𝓮𝓭. 𝓘𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓼𝓽𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓸 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓷 𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓲𝓭𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽, 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝓰𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓱 𝓲𝓼 𝓰𝓸𝓵𝓭𝓮𝓷 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓹𝓵𝓲𝓽 𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓪𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓶𝓲𝔁𝓮𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓸. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓮𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓪 𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓶𝓲𝔁 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓼𝓸𝓶 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓾𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓫𝓮𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓻 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓻, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓽 𝓭𝓮𝓬𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓸𝓻 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓸𝓷 𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓯𝓲𝓮𝓵𝓭𝓼, 𝓸𝓻 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓮𝓪 𝓸𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓪𝓲𝓻, 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓵, 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓵𝓮𝓭𝓰𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓰𝓮𝓪𝓻—𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓻𝓮𝓳𝓸𝓲𝓬𝓮, 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸 𝓼𝓲𝓷 𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀 𝓸𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓮𝓭𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓰𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓮. 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓲𝔁𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪 𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪 𝓶𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓱 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓼𝓸𝓶 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓯𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓼, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓽𝓱 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓯 𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝓰𝓮. 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓱 𝓸𝔀𝓷𝓼 𝓰𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓭𝓮𝓬𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓸𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓲𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓽 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝔀𝓪𝓵𝓴 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓷𝓸𝓽-𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓰. 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓪 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓰𝓮𝓪𝓻, 𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓯𝓵𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓬𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓻𝓮 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓹𝓲𝓮𝓬𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓰𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓼.

At the moment, I make faceless YouTube videos. It's all screen-recording tutorials, and I record the voiceover with a FIFINE AM8 dynamic mic on a boom arm, plugged straight into my PC via USB. It sounds great because the mic sits close to me and because of the audio settings in OBS.

However, I want to improve my content by adding talking-head intros and outros, with the tutorial in the middle still being a screen recording. The problem is the audio. For the talking-head parts, I'd like to be sitting 2-3 meters from the camera with no mic visible, so it would need to be hidden above or behind the camera. That is a very different setup from having the AM8 right in front of my face.

Here is a good example of what I'm aiming for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th1BnCUHPRg

The intro is a talking-head shot, then it cuts to the screen recording, and the audio sounds the same the whole way through. You'd never guess anything changed.

So my questions are:

1. Can I do this with the FIFINE AM8 I already have, or is a dynamic mic just wrong for recording at that distance?
2. Would a Shure SM7B solve it? I'm happy to invest if it actually works, but I don't want to buy one and find it has the same distance problem.
3. Is a shotgun mic the right tool for the talking-head sections instead?
4. If I do end up using two different mics, does the audio have to be treated afterward to match? For example, matching a shotgun mic to my AM8 with EQ or other processing, and if yes, HOW?

Mainly, I want to understand the process. What do YouTubers and video creators actually do to keep the sound consistent across a video like this? Is it mostly about choosing the right mic, mostly about post-production, or a bit of both?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone making tutorial content with this same intro and screen recording split, or just someone who knows how.

I have some really nice outboard gear that I’m proud of, but I can’t seem to get the sound I want out of it.

I have a Soyuz lakeside preamp, of which I really enjoy the brightly colored knobs. I also have a Distressor that I was told to get.

The problem is when I point a microphone at them, I’m not getting the results I want. I thought perhaps close-mic’ing the knobs with a 57 would be sufficient, but it sounds muddy.

I then tried an x-y arrangement with a couple of KM184s, pointed at the back of the gear where all the cables are connected. This was a little better, but I feel like I’m doing something wrong. Plus, I like to see the mic while it’s recording, and I can’t do that with this placement.

Should I have two of each and place them on each side of the room and try to capture a stereo image?
For context, everything is getting mixed down into a tascam portastudio but I’m out of cassette tapes.

Any insight is welcome 🙏

I have almost never gotten a session with parallel compression to mix, where making the parallel track inactive and gain matching the main one (and if needed compressing some more there as an insert) didnt sound pretty much the same. Definitely not worse.

I thought maybe the people that send me sessions just arent doing it right, so i took a leaked protools mix session of a billboard charting song mixed by a famous engineer whos work i adore, disabled all parallel tracks and just gain matched (no further compression added or changes), and i literally cant reliably tell the difference on studio monitors with hofa BlindTest.

Now this might be a me-issue (i remember john hanes saying on gearspace he and serban dont really parallel compress unless it comes with a session, so maybe im not the only one), but i honestly WANT to get it as i feel like im missing some crazy secret weapon.

CAN ANYBODY EXPLAIN? or teach? i feel like im missing this crazy thing

Note: im talking about individual parallel compression of tracks, new york compression or paralleling the whole mix with dynone3 i do get.

Hello everyone,

Can anybody recommend a good stem-extractor - Especially for vocal-stems. I’ve been using Fadr a couple of times, but I don’t think it is getting the job done right all the time.

Thank you!

I’m going to be brutally honest and open up about my situation.

I’m 20 years old and working in the film industry. I’ve had a camera in my hand since I was a child. I thought I’d be happy doing what I loved, and that having a talent for it would be enough. That’s not the case. The saying “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” is bullshit. I hate what I do now, and my life reflects that.

I’ve lost my girlfriend of three years, my friends, and my clients. I destroyed my car and picked up some habits that have put me in the hospital multiple times. I’m in rehab now for the second time. I’m at rock bottom and on the verge of giving up.

I’m sharing that because I have nothing anymore. So what’s the harm in trying something else?

I’m a musician and I love audio work. Over the past six years I’ve put down a lot of the musical side to focus on the technical side. I’ve even built mics, hardware, and guitars. I’ve recorded bands for friends and I love making the pieces come together. I guess that’s the same reason I love being behind the camera.

I originally wanted to start in this industry. I took classes, studied like crazy, and recorded as much as I could for years, but life took me somewhere else.

Is making it in the industry realistic? If so, what should my first steps be? An internship? College?

Or am I chasing something bigger than my work? If I can “make it” in this world, will I feel the same?

I’ve been in stasis on LV-223 for nearly 2000 years.  Mostly it was the gear…mostly

Hi all!

I've looked everywhere and have found no real discussion about using an internal mic in a violin to replace terrible sounding pickups/piezos and external mics. My situation is a loud folkrock band and my current system of mic+pic external system has served me well but is falling apart and my new case has no more room for it. I'd love to use a guitar-like jack and as far as I imagine, this shouldn't be an awful lot of engineering. Or is the internal sound so unlike a violin (AND worse than piezo) that nobody even discusses this kind of idea online? Halp!

I’ve been in the industry for 20+ years. I started at the bottom with very little, not so great gear, and have worked my way up to owning the best gear money can buy. My mic collection is stellar; a vintage 251 (250 actually for those that know), c12, c24, u47, u67s, c800, c37a, etc… Same story with outboard; vintage Neves, V76s, 1176, LA2As, Pultecs, etc…

Before owning the real things, I always bought clones when I had the money. I’d be stoked on a clone for a while till I started hearing one thing I didn’t like about it. That one thing would eventually snowball into “all I hear is the flaw,” and I’d be back in the market for a different clone, losing money along the way.

After some success, I decided I wouldn’t buy gear unless I could buy the real deal. I started picking up all the classics that all the clones are modeled after, and boy does that shit rule! My c12 is the best mic I’ve ever heard (even over the 250). My 1176 Rev D is the only vocal compressor I’d ever need (besides my LA2A). My Pultecs made sounds more 3D than I ever thought possible. I love it all.

But you know what I found? I could still fuck up a recording with the best gear money can buy. That’s when it truly hit me; great engineering trumps great gear. I’m happy I have the gear, don’t get me wrong, not just because it’s great- but because it’s made me realize that when I’m not getting the sound I want; it’s on me and my abilities not the gear. I’ve got no excuses anymore. I can’t blame my Peluso 2247LE because it’s not a real u47, I’m using a real 50’s era u47 now!!! That fact has made me up my game. With the “less than exemplary” gear excuse out of the way, it forced me to focus on technique and fixing the sound at the source. My engineering chops have gone up exponentially since getting all the best gear, because I stopped focusing on the gear part. Now, because I’m more confident in my engineering, I feel like I could’ve gotten sounds I liked with the lesser-than gear I had.

I’m sharing all this to say; I didn’t have to buy all the best stuff, I was too focused on THAT being the thing holding me back- when I realize now it wasn’t (necessarily). I wouldn’t trade any of what I have for the world, but I can also acknowledge it was a cop out excuse for poor engineering. Learn how to get the sounds you want with what you have. Remember, Tom Schultz made the Boston album on an 8 track recorder in a dirt floor basement in a time when home recording wasn’t a thing.. It went on to sell over 10 million records (and still sounds incredible).

TD;LR Buying the most sought after/talked about gear made me realize I had no excuse for getting less than ideal sounds. I’ve learned more about technique since getting the classic stuff and that is what has truly upped my game