Here’s another reader question:

I have run into a problem – I seem to lose the energy of a live performance when I record with a metronome, but my rhythm is pretty awful (I tend to speed up). Any ideas as to how I can maintain the energy in the recordings without getting sloppy?

Thanks! Harrison

Ooooo…good question.

There are a lot of benefits to recording with a metronome (a.k.a. “click track”). I’ll get into that on a future post, but I highly recommend recording to a metronome of some sort. It makes overdubs, editing, and even mixing go much more smoothly.

Here are 4 suggestions for maintaining energy while recording to a click track:

1. Record and play at the same time.

As a musician, we typically play and sing when performing in public. Sometimes playing and singing separately in the studio can be a bit dull.

You’re used to rocking out on guitar while belting out the lyrics, and it’s hard to get a good performance doing one at a time.

Try recording them simultaneously. Use a dynamic mic on the vocals (to help control bleed a bit), and just do it. There will be bleed, but who cares? If the performance is incredible, the bleed won’t matter at all.

2. Practice with a metronome/click

As a musician, you really should develop the skill of being able to play with a click AND maintain energy.

Just like anything worthwhile, it takes time and practice. One of the main reasons I can play well with a click (both live and in the studio) is that I made myself do it.

Was it awkward and uncomfortable at first? Yep, but it got better. Now I don’t even really hear the click anymore.

3. Use a drum loop instead

I still do this quite a lot. Nobody said you have to use the standard Pro Tools “marimba” click track when you record. Pick something more musical.

You could use Xpand! (or some other virtual instrument) as your click track.

Or drag a drum loop into your session, or use one of the many grooves inside EZDrummer.

Now you can play along to a steady beat…without it feeling lifeless an sterile.

4. Don’t Use a Click Track

I list this option last because, while I highly prefer using a click track, it is certainly valid to NOT use one an a particular song. The tempo of the song may need to “breathe.” Or perhaps the musicians simply perform better without a click track.

As always, do what’s best for the song.

What about you?

How would you answer Harrison’s question? Leave a comment below.

[Photo Credit]

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1. Should I Use a Click Track?
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Got this question today from Alex:

Is it a good idead to add an expander plugin on my vocal track? Could I make an AUX track and use it as a send for my vocals?

I notice how it kills the background noise in my headphones and just really pick up my vocals.

Thanks Alex.

If you’ve listened to my podcast, watched any of my YouTube videos, or bought any of my tutorial products, you’ve heard me using an expander/gate on vocals.

For all tutorial videos I shoot, I use a gate to help cut back on any extra noise in the system. I’ve used both a hardware gate and software expanders, both work pretty well.

What’s the point? If you’re recording vocals in a home studio, chances are your tracks have some noise on them (computer fan noise, hard drives, lawnmowers, etc.). You might actually be considering building a vocal booth to combat some of this noise. Before you do, though, spend some time playing with an expander.

With a little work, you can make your recordings sound like they were tracked in a vocal booth. Granted, if the noise is SUPER loud, you’ll still hear it while the vocalist is singing, but if it’s really just background noise, a gate/expander will essentially get rid of it.

How does it work? Essentially, a gate/expander turns the signal down whenever it drops below a certain level. If you’re not familiar with gates/expanders, go watch this video: Intro to Gates/Expanders.

Let’s say you’re mixing a lead vocal, and you need to use a lot of compression to get the tone you want. But now (since compression turns up quiet sources), there’s more room noise on the track, and you hear it during the sections when the singer’s not singing.

Enter the expander. Set up an expander/gate plug-in on the track, and set it so that it turns the vocal down by 6 dB or so whenever he’s not singing. BAM. Cleaner vocal.

Will it work every time? Nope. But it’s definitely worth adding to your toolbox.

Leave a comment below and tell us how YOU deal with noise in your recordings.

If you enjoyed this, you may also like...

1. Intro to Gates/Expanders
2. 4 Ways to Deal with Noise in a Mix
3. Processing Vocals Part 5 – Compression

Over the weekend, I got this email from Alan:

Hi Joe, Just purchased your Understanding Editing Tutorials. And I have a question. On the 3rd video, “Drum Editing,” you are discussing about overlapping the wav forms so that the cymbals continue to ring out. Wouldn’t it be easier, if instead of grouping the cymbals with the other tracks to be edited, that you leave them alone? Or am I missing the point? If you are grouping all the tracks together, for editing purposes on the kick or the snare, why include the cymbals?  I am confused as to why one would include the cymbals for a group editing, and take the risk that they don’t continue to ring out as originally played.

Thanks, Alan

This is a GREAT question, Alan.

For those of you who haven’t ordered Understanding Editing, let me recap what Alan’s talking about. When I do drum editing, I group all the drum tracks together. So when I’m adjusting a snare hit, ALL the drum tracks are moved at the same time.

The problem you run into occasionally is that you need to do an edit on the snare hit after a big cymbal crash. It’s not uncommon for the edit to interrupt the “ring” of the cymbals, which can be fairly noticeable. With a little patience, you can make it work.

Back to Alan’s question. He’s asking why I don’t just leave the overhead tracks alone and NOT group them with the rest of the tracks.

One word – phase.

“What is phase?” you might ask. Phase is a measurement of time between two or more sources. If two signals areout of phase with each other, the result is a very thin, weird sound. (Think phaser guitar pedal.)

If drums have been recorded properly, then all the tracks should be in phase with one another. As soon as you take some of those tracks and move them forward or backwards, by even a few milliseconds, your drums are now out of phase.

Your kick drum will suddenly lack punch and low end. The snare will lose its definition.

The overhead mics are arguably the most important parts of recording a drum kit. They capture the entire kit, not just the cymbals. So if you move the snare drum without moving the overhead track as well, the snare will be hitting at slightly different moments in time, resulting in phase issues.

Nerd Alert

I know, I know. this is getting a bit nerdy…but it’s important stuff.

Still not sure what I’m talking about? Here’s a bit of homework for you:

1. Open up your DAW (Pro Tools, Logic…it doesn’t matter.)
2. Import a song onto a stereo track.
3. Duplicate that song onto a SECOND stereo track.
4. Zoom in and move one of the tracks to the right by a few milliseconds.
5. LISTEN to what it does. Pretty weird, eh?

THAT is why I always group ALL of the drum tracks when drum editing. Phase issues can ruin a mix. Grouping your drum tracks will keep you out of trouble.

Leave a comment.

What phase problems do you run into when working on a song? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Also, if you want an easy-to-understand, in-depth tutorial on editing everything from vocals to drums to acoustic guitar, check out Understanding Editing. As always, there’s a 100% money-back guarantee. Give it a shot!

If you enjoyed this, you may also like...

1. Mixing Drums Part 2 – EQ
2. Mixing Drums Part 1
3. Mixing Drums Part 3 – Compression

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bef3Htkqec8

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2. EZDrummer Review [Video]
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Here’s a question I get fairly often. Do you have digital connections on your interface? Not sure? You may have more inputs and outputs available than you realized.

Josh wrote:

Hey Joe,

I hope you had an awesome new year. I have a question about using S/PDIF inputs. I have S/PDIF I/O on my fast track pro and I was wondering if  could use these to add more recording channels for drums. I have heard they function similar to ADAT ports but I wasn’t totally sure. If you could explain to me or refer me to an article about how i could use these to expand my input channels that would be great. Maybe I have bad info and the S/PDIf have a totally different purpose but any help would be awesome.

Thanks for all your help I’ve learned so much from your posts and my acoustic guitar no longer sounds muddy thanks to your help with basic EQ.

Josh

Great question, Josh.

Here’s the “skinny.” Everything you record into your computer at some point gets converted from an analog audio signal to a digital one.

If you’re just starting out with recording, that conversion probably happens inside your audio interface. In other words, you plug your microphone or guitar directly into the interface, set the gain, and record.

But what if you had a piece of gear that converted the signal FOR you? Something like a preamp with digital outputs. What do you do with that?

That’s where digital inputs come in handy.

Most audio interfaces have some sort of digital i/o. The majority of these are one of two connections – a coaxial S/PDIF connector and an optical connector.

S/PDIF

If you see what looks like an RCA connector on the back of your interface, chances are it’s a digital S/PDIF connection. (See picture above.)

What’s S/PDIF? It’s simply a 2-channel digital format. What does that mean? It means a single S/PDIF cable carries two channels of audio.

In Josh’s rig, he has an M-Audio Fast Track Pro. The FTP has two analog mic inputs on the front, and that’s it. What if Josh wants to use more mics? Is he stuck with two inputs? Does he have to buy a new interface if he wants more channels? No.

The Fast Track Pro has a S/PDIF input. That means Josh can buy a 2-channel preamp with a stereo S/PDIF output and record FOUR channels of audio! [*Disclaimer: I didn't check the Fast Track Pro manual to make sure it supports 4 channels of simultaneous audio, but that's typically how this works.]

Josh can get something like the the ART Digital MPA II. It’s a stereo preamp with S/PDIF outputs. Go look at the picture at Sweetwater’s website. You’ll see it’s got a S/PDIF output.

Josh can take a S/PDIF cable (which looks like an RCA cable) and run that from the ART to the Fast Track Pro, and BAM! he’s got 2 more mic inputs.

Optical Inputs

If you take a second look at that ART preamp. You’ll see there are also optical outputs. You may recognize these from other places. Sometimes they’re called fiber-optical connections or “lightpipe.”

Optical connections are normally one of two things – S/PDIF or ADAT. While S/PDIF is normally on a coaxial (RCA) connector, it CAN be on an optical connector. It will almost always be labeled.

If the optical connection is an ADAT signal, it can carry not two but eightchannels of audio (at 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz).

If your interface has an ADAT optical input, you can add an additional eight channels of inputs into your system (with something like a Presonus Digimax). Pretty awesome.

Mix it All Together

Now, let’s put all of this together. If you’ve got something like a 003 interface, you may think you can only record 8 inputs, since it only has 4 mic inputs and 4 line inputs.

Nope! You’ll notice it also has S/PDIF AND ADAT inputs on the back, meaning it can record 8 (analog) + 8 (ADAT) + 2 (S/PDIF) = 18 channels of audio.

This may not be new for some of you, but for those of you who don’t know about ADAT and S/PDIF, this is AWESOME stuff to know.

Question

What digital inputs do you have on your interface? Do you even know? Take a look, leave a comment, and let us know.

What ways could you expand your input count digitally?

Big thanks to @StianSylta and @scherbi for the pics!

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1. ADAT, Clocking, and a Lifesaver
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3. How Should I Connect My Preamp to My Interface?

Ever heard someone (like me) tell you to use offline processing to your audio? Not sure what that means? Let me show you how to do it in ProTools with AudioSuite plug-ins.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztatQDop3Nk

Want more Pro Tools training? Check out Understanding Pro Tools.

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Mark your calendars. Next Monday night, September 20, I’m hosting a free Q&A webinar. This will be a fun, casual event where you can come ask me any and all recording questions you may have.

I try to answer reader questions here on the site, but sometimes it’s helpful to answer them in realtime. And…it’s a lot of fun.

If you’ve been a part of the HSC Production Club in the past, then you’ve likely been on one of these live Q&A sessions with me before, and you know how fun and valuable they are.

For those of you who don’t know, the Production Club is a live 12-week training course. Members receive weekly video downloads from me, where I walk them through the recording process from start to finish. We start with just a song, and by week 12 we have a finished, fully-produced recording.

During the Q&A session on Monday, I’ll be briefly explaining what the Production Club is all about, and I’ll be opening the doors for new members. This will most likely be the last Production Club class of 2010, so if you’re thinking about joining, clear out your schedule for Monday evening, and I’ll answer any questions you may have.

Even if you decide that the Production Club isn’t right for you, please join us for the Q&A session. It’s a free event, and I’m happy to answer as many questions as I can.

Click here to register.

And tell your friends.

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It’s been a while since I’ve answered a reader question. I hope to do more of that in the coming weeks and months, either via blog posts or the podcast. If you have a question you’d like me to cover, click here.

Today’s question comes from Angela. She writes:

Hey Joe,

My mom can’t find a reason to sign my school loans for IPR. I want to get my Pro Tools Certification and my 2-year degree. How much on average does a person with those qualifications make?

This is a GREAT question. In fact, Fathomless Regression (a guest writer here on HSC) wrote about this in his article Do I Have to Go to College to Learn to Be a Recording Engineer? I’d recommend giving that a read. He makes some great points.

For a lot of aspiring engineers, going to college for engineering might not be a viable option. Some might opt for a Pro Tools Certification course. These can still cost quite a bit of money. I did some Googling, and it looks like it could potentially be a couple thousand dollars, depending on the school.

So, is it worth it? Well, I’m not a Pro Tools-Certified engineer, but I have some thoughts on the matter. (Also, see this interesting article I found: Pro Tools Certification – Is it Worth the Money?)

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

What are your goals?

This may seem obvious, but if you don’t know specifically what you’re wanting to do as an engineer, it’s hard to answer the question, “Should I get a Pro Tools Certification?”

Is this a hobby or a career?

Another fairly obvious question, but are you wanting to make a living at this, or are you simply wanting to have the coolest hobby in the world.

Do you want to work for yourself or someone else?

If you’re wanting to work for a major recording studio, TV station, movie studio, etc., then having a Pro Tools Certification might give you a certain edge over the 800 other engineers who are applying for that same job.

I would ask around. Call a few studios (or a place you want to work), and simply ask them, “Do you require/prefer that applicants have a Pro Tools Certification?” If they say yes, then there’s your answer.

Let’s pretend I’m hiring an assistant engineer. I’ve narrowed it down to two applicants. One has his PT certification. The other has a high school diploma and a portfolio of 20 different album projects he’s worked on independently. Who do you think I’m going to hire? The guy who takes initiative and gets things done.

It’s just like any other industry. If you’re an accounting firm, do you hire the CPA with a 4.0 GPA fresh out of college with no work experience? Or do you hire the one with a 2.4 GPA who took 6 years to graduate college because he was working full-time as an assistant at a local accounting firm?

It’s all about what you bring to the table. Whether or not you get a certificate is really irrelevant. That’s just ONE piece of the puzzle.

Let’s say you want to work for yourself as a freelance engineer. Well, in that case a PT certification may not make as much sense, but only if you are committed to learning Pro Tools on your own or through other means (such as tutorial videos like my Understanding Pro Tools series). You can’t just have a passing knowledge of Pro Tools and hope to impress clients.

Conversely, knowing every Pro Tools shortcut in the entire system won’t help you make better recordings or get more clients. As with most things, it’s a balancing act.

Be an Entrepreneur

Whether you want to work for someone or work for yourself, you need to have an entrepreneurial spirit. Read business books, make yourself a valuable commodity. Don’t just do the bare minimum. Get out there and start recording someone this weekend.

The best way I know to find the job you love is to already be doing the things you love (recording, mixing, etc.) on your own initiative.

Can I guarantee you’ll get a job? Nope. But the worst case scenario is that you become an awesome engineer while you’re looking for that dream job. Mission: accomplished.

To answer your question, Angela, “How much does the average engineer make?” It really depends on the engineer. Some never get a job as an engineer. Some make millions. In a lot of ways, it’s up to you.

[Photo by anyjazz65]

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2. Pro Tools Resources
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Welcome to another podcast!! I didn’t get one up this week, due to some crazy misfortunes in my studio (I explain in the podcast.)

This podcast features two of my family members, my dad and my baby nephew.

Topics on this podcast:

• Piracy – in honor of my piracy post
• Using a distortion pedal to spice up vocals – featuring the Tech21 SansAmp Character Series Blonde Pedal
• Attack settings on a compressor – See my Intro to Compression video.
• Links from Ask Joe
  • Ian Shepherd’s post on TT Dynamic Range Meter

———————–

Subscribe to the HSC Podcast in iTunes.

Podcast RSS Feed.

If you enjoyed this, you may also like...

1. Ask Joe #27 – Multi-Band Compression, Headphones, and more [HSC Podcast]
2. Ask Joe #25 – DI Boxes and Uses a Car as a Vocal Booth [Podcast]
3. Ask Joe #28 – HSC Production Club, Home Studios, and more [HSC Podcast]

You may have caught wind of this in the last few days or so, but it’s time for me to re-open the doors to the HSC Production Club!! Listen to the first part of this podcast, where I talk through the Club and discuss some new features.

Links from the show:

• Sign up to the HSC Production Club interest list
• Info for Monday’s webinar
• Planet Waves Clip-on Tuner Review (via Beards & Gear)
• Editing Post #1
• Editing Post #2

Got a question for the podcast? Leave a message in the official HSC voicemail. The number is: (615) 852-8472.

Subscribe to the HSC Podcast in iTunes.

Podcast RSS Feed.

If you enjoyed this, you may also like...

1. Ask Joe #25 – DI Boxes and Uses a Car as a Vocal Booth [Podcast]
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