Tracking And Mixing Acoustic Music In The Home/Project Studio

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by drtedtan

Yeah, what I envision is more of an opportunity to gain some tools to put in the tool box rather than a one size fits all approach to recording. I've been recording informally since the 90s, but I still keep my eyes and ears open for other approaches that may come in handy.

Well of course everybody is at different positions along the path of recording, so there is that. Perhaps a kind of 101, 201, 301 series that gets more specific might work . I think I understand what you are saying but I also think that if you get a good layman's terminology based Basic's of recording and mixing audio in the home studio. What that will do is give you a fundamental "toolbox" of understanding in which to place any more specific techniques "tools" and in context. If I show you my garage, full of my specific carpenter tools but fail to say "the key is to build it level, square, and plumb", how far will you get building a quality gorgeous custom dream home?

The truth is while there can certainly be more efficient ways to learn, BUT without some fundamental basics using shortcuts will be of marginal help saying " use a condenser cardioid SDC 8" from 14 th fret thru a tube pre is going to of dubious long term help.

As rick-solo correctly pointed out "The specifics of their methods always breaks down when applied to your instruments, your playing, your room acoustics, your (fill in the blank)". don't take that as expert elitism or something , that's just the simple truth

for example the honest correct answers are : (p.s I am not being flippant)

Tracking Topics:
- Do we baffle the performer off with gobos or moving blankets to eliminate extraneous noise and reverb (think project studio rooms, not Abbey Road/Blackbird/Oceanway where you actually want the room tone)? Both Yes and No

- Do we use a good but not overly sensitive dynamic mic, perhaps a Sennheiser 441 or an SM7b? Yes and No

- Do we use SDCs with good off axis rejection (perhaps Beyer MC930 or the hyper cardioid equivalent)? Yes and no

- How do we mic an acoustic guitar (mic type and positions)? Multiple and Varied

- How do we mic a mandolin (mic type and positions)?Multiple and Varied

etc.etc.etc.

[Rudy4]

Arg! There are so many of these free and low cost alternatives available on the internet that it would be more an issue of finding what works in your particular situation and going with it. At this point in time asking someone else to "develop" a curriculum for recording and mixing acoustic-based music would no doubt be a dicey proposition.

Check out "The Recording Revolution" free "teaser" material as an example:

http://therecordingrevolution.com/

I'd say one would be better served by developing a plan for what you want to accomplish, pick a direction to go, start actually bringing your project to fruition, and putting in the work to overcome obstacles as they come up.

I once heard a minister say "There's no reason to be so heavenly-bound that you're no earthly good." I'm not religious, but I think it's wise advice that deserves to be seriously considered.

[MikeBmusic]

I use the forums at homerecording.com for advice, when needed. I wouldn't pay for a video.

[whitecloud]

Originally Posted by Luke_

I'm using cubase not sure how much daw's are similar but the micing and mixing would be interesting. How much $ how long is the video? For download?

I would just fork over 15 bucks for a month @ Groove 3. The problem though is time. Do you want to devote more time trying to learn recording and mixing techniques? There is so much there that is very useful info and for me Videos are so much easier than reading a book(Though I always read the manuals).
After that month is up and you feel there is a couple you may want to pay for Download they do have specials all the time. I bought 3 Downloads and in hindsight wished I just tried the 30 days for 15 as I may of picked other vids to purchase. I do still refer to the ones I did buy though. So I would just go there browse and they do have some examples in each category. Perhaps then you can decide if you want to go this route

[Luke_]

I'll prolly just keep wingin it

[drtedtan]

I realize this isn't for everyone, but so far we have close to 20 people interested in this video (I've posted the question on a couple of other sites, too). Sometime this coming week I'll communicate with Kenny and the guys with Groove 3 to see what they think about it.

Before I do that, though, I want to bump this one more time in case anyone has any more input - any and all comments welcome, especially constructive feedback.