Mixing Your Music

Ever since the music recording technology and the internet entered the lives of musicians and hobbyists, the way we engineers work on music production has changed.
Even the music industry itself has changed!

We used to record music in sonically treated rooms and studios with professional equipments which cost A LOT of money.
It wasn’t possible to think and work in a different way.
But now anyone with a powerful computer and some spare money, can record and produce his/her own music in  -less-than-ideal rooms.
The most of the times, too far from ideal rooms.

Although it might sound like I’m complaining, it is not so because I too, enjoy the benefits of this new age and technology. A lot actually. I don’t have to work only for 1 or 2 studios anymore, and my clients are usually from different parts of the World, creating different types of music.
Additionally, I don’t have to work with one of these things anymore:

:)
This is an old Fostex multitrack analog tape recorder.
Very similar to the one that I started to work with.

I can hear some of the gear enthusiasts saying:
- Good old days! *sigh*
Well, I won’t get into the never-ending discussion of  “Analog vs. Digital” debate, but I must say I can really live without the worn out tapes and lost sonic quality while working with analog tape recorders.

The maintanance issues aside, if you know how to simulate the tape saturation effect in the digital domain, it feels like a pain to work again with… at least this is how I feel.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter how I feel… the fact is obvious:
Right now, at least one of the essential parts of a sound recording studio is not in the shopping list for the musician on the go, or for the one who would like to produce music in his bedroom. Or in any other room at his/her home. :)
Actually these recorders became a rare sight in many professional studios either.

Because now it is the time of  sound cards / audio interfaces.
Funny thing is, the very first thing that confuses the “new comers”  are the things like microphone pre-amplifiers and MIDI which we couldn’t do anything without, back in the day. It feels like ages.

One way or another you learn what these things are and why you might need some additional hardwares. But:
“How to make this recording sound like a professional album mix?”

Welcome to the world of music production… it’s good to see you.
I’ve spent 15 years of my life in recording studios (which explains why I need to get a life), working on tens of professional albums and projects, and I still am asking a similar question to myself. “How to make this recording sound good?”.
If the recording is good, I feel lucky. If not, …
… well, still better than the crowd, because I’d learnt it in the studio. There was no other way, for me.

In this blog, I will share my knowledge and experience about music recording, while trying to make ‘less than ideal’ recordings sound good (OK, I sometimes work on great recordings too).

You will not only be able to read posts, but also hear and see what or how I’m doing to “recover” bad recordings. You might already be someone professional in the field of sound recording and mixing and you might feel the urge of objecting my techniques. All of your comments are welcome… and I’m sure you’ll all agree with this well-known and repeated statement:

“If it sounds good, it is good”

I hope you’ll have fun during your stay! :)