I love the movie What About Bob. One of my favorite parts is when Bob is encouraged to take “baby steps” when dealing with any potential issues that he faces.
It’s not bad advice, especially for you in your studio. What am I talking about? It’s easy to overdo things in the studio, especially if you’re new to recording or simply excited about a song.
I would encourage you to take it easy and take things one step at a time, rather than making big, dramatic adjustments that could, in the end, prove harmful to the music.
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As is my custom, I was listening to the Home Recording Show the other day. They mentioned a comment left on Episode 121 that I thought was awesome.
Here’s the comment, by Edward Mowinckel:
I used the steak analogy. You can burn a steak, but after you burn it, it’s burnt. You can cool it off, but it’s still burnt. If you cook it medium, you can still cook it more, or just enjoy a medium steak!
He was referring to the process of recording with levels too hot. Some people think you have to peg the meters to get a good recording. His point was that, when setting levels for recording, you don’t have to go in NEARLY as hot as you had to in the analog days.
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You’ve probably heard the phrase “carve out a space in the mix for each instrument” before.
It’s kind of a vague phrase, and I’ll admit I’ve used it quite a bit here on Home Studio Corner. So today, I want to explain it in a bit more detail, and give you three steps to actually use an EQ to carve out space in the mix for your instrument.
But first lets talk briefly about why that’s important.
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Do you use a LOT of EQ when you mix? Do your EQ curves look something like the picture to the right?
If they do, it’s okay. But what if there was a free EQ that worked much better than any plug-in ever could? Would you use it? Of course you would.
What is this free EQ? I’ll tell you.
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You’re sitting in front of a mix, and you know you need to use some EQ on the guitars to get rid of some of the muddy-ness. You grab your favorite EQ plug-in and get ready to wield your magic.
You use a high-Q boost to find that offending frequency. Now what? Cut it by 15 dB? Sounds like a plan!
Hold on. Easy there, tiger.
This past Saturday night I was hanging out with all of my brand new VIP Members at our very first live VIP Session. During the session I showed them how I would mix a live recording from a concert I played in a few months ago.
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Welcome to Day 25 of 31 Days to Better Recordings.
If you hang around recording circles for very long, you’ll inevitably hear someone talking about “carving out a place in the mix for each instrument.”
Sounds really smart and artsy, right?
But what does it MEAN?! That’s a fair question.
When you’re mixing a song, whether you’re dealing with a few tracks or several dozen, you are assigned with the task of somehow combining all of those tracks into a pretty, cohesive, smooth-sounding mix.
Consider baking a cake. Just because you throw flour, eggs, sugar, etc. into a bowl doesn’t mean you’re going to end up with a cake. You’ve got to know what proportions to use, or you’ll end up with something gross.
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Welcome to Day 16 of 31 Days to Better Recordings.
Here’s a question I get a lot from people:
Should I be using EQ and/or compression on the signal before it gets recorded?
This is usually followed by an “Is that wrong?” type of question.
It’s NOT Wrong!
There are no rules when it comes to recording, except for maybe “Make it sound good.”
Otherwise, you should always be experimenting and trying new things, unless the technique has the potential to physically harm an innocent bystander. 
If you’re not sure what I mean by using EQ or compression “on the way in,” I’m referring to using a physical outboard EQ or compressor, and actually running the signal from the preamp through the outboard gear before recording it.
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Yesterday, I announced a new tutorial series to my newsletter subscribers. (Subscribe if you’d like to be the first to know about stuff like this in the future.)
It’s called Understanding EQ.
Does EQ drive you crazy sometimes? Do you find yourself randomly twisting knobs, hoping for the best?
Yeah, I’ve been there. 
That’s why I created Understanding EQ. It’s a 2-hour tutorial series, and it’s packed with info that should clear up any confusion you have and help you become much more confident in your EQ-ing ability.
Rather than spend the next year guessing, let me show you what I’ve learned over the last 10 years about EQ…condensed down into 2 hours of videos.
I’m offering it at an introductory price. It’s a ridiculous value right now, and the price will go up to a more reasonable price soon, so grab your copy today.
Here’s the link:
Go grab it now before you forget and the price goes up.
I love the movie What About Bob. One of my favorite parts is when Bob is encouraged to take “baby steps” when dealing with any potential issues that he faces.
