Recognizing the phase issues will take some practice but if you go step by step you should have no problems.

Before doing any processing or even setting levels, go through one mic at a time and check the polarity.
What you’re listening for is improved punch and low end.

• Starting with the overhead mics check, that those 2 mics are in phase. It’s rare but not unheard of.
• Next add the snare top mic. Bring up the volume and then try inverting the polarity, listen if the low frequencies change, decide which way it sounds best, with the most low end or punch and continue to the next mic.
• If you have a mic on the bottom of the snare pointing up it’s very likely it will need the opposite of the snare top mic.
• Add the kick mic, toms, room mics and close miked cymbals.
• Then you can move on to panning, balance and processing.

Here is an example of the kit before and after checking the polarity of each mic using this process.

Drums Example 1
Drums Example 2

In this case one of the kick drum mics and the snare top needed to be flipped.

There is no preset for this, every time you record or mix drums you’ll need to check this and compensate. You’re going to have to use your ears!

If you layer and blend samples you should check they’re all working together in phase as well.

Changing the timing of individual mics like you might do with multi-miked guitar amps is not something that I mess with when it comes to drums. It’s not something that you should need to do.

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Hi Jamie
I was wondering if you could share some info from the production side of things on the new record. What’s the progress?
We’re still at a writing stage in the record but we’re not too far off now. We’ve had two recording sessions so far. One for drums for a few tracks at a studio called Seamus Wong where I do some engineering and one for guitars for the single we’re putting out (To the skies from a hillside) at my home studio. On previous albums before I joined the band Maybeshewill have recorded everything themselves with whatever gear they could get their hands on and wherever they could. These sessions have been a bit of an explorative venture. I can record drums fine at my home studio but it’s pretty dry so tracking in a larger room was a bit of a no-brainer.

We’re doing more recording sessions in September. I think I’ll try a few more room mics on the drums this time see if I can bring out even more ambience.
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What’s the guitar tracking signal chain?

For the single we used mostly used John’s Gibson 335 into my friends Marshall JVM, into our toured-to-death Marshall AX cab. I miked it up with 2 (Shure) Beta 57′s one into my TLA C1 and one into my SSL X Logic Alpha Channel. One of these has much crisper high end and one has much fatter low end, no prizes for guessing which one’s which.

In the past the band have used distortion pedals into a Plexi and also Guitar Rig so the sound is a bit of a departure form the previous album’s guitar sounds. At the time I just thought “Lets get the best gear we have together and make it sound as rad as possible”, the tone is slicker but perhaps not as punk, a less gritty aesthetic than the pedal distortion on albums previous. We only had one day to get it done so there was no time for indecision. I don’t take D.I’s either, I like to make commitments.

How about Bass?

I don’t really have any decent bass gear so it was just Squire P-Bass into my SSL, then the SansAmp plugin. That thing sounds great but has a slightly boomy low mid so I find myself having to multiband it.

Any cool electronic stuff going into this record?

Yes I think this will be the most electronic sounding Maybeshewill record, some tracks are perhaps a little dreamier sounding. The single is probably the least electronic track on the album but that’s just how it fell.
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Any tips for recording post-rock in general?

Record your drums in a big or at least fairly reverberant room. I think having that air around the kit is essential in sparse atmospheric music and reverb just won’t really do it my opinion. Triggering room mics is nice but I can never find a decent kick room sample. The Slate snare room samples are sweet but there’s something odd about the kicks, I find them a bit plasticy and boomy. Adding these over an already nice room ambient sounding kit can make things sound really lush.

I think with a lot of post rock band it’s important to capture the band live as interaction and moments are very important, with Maybeshewill however there are a lot of electronic elements so we have to be fairly strict to the grid and record each part separately.

Do you have any studio upgrades planned? Any gear your lusting for?

I’d like to get a 1073 clone, maybe one of the Vintech ones, just to have one channel of super awesomeness. Spending all that money on something as plain as a preamp kind of bums me out a little though, for that money I could buy 2 synths or a different amp or something. Things like that are much more satisfying things to spend money on really. I think the quality of instruments/amps makes more difference to the sonics than things like preamps but It certainly doesn’t hurt your recordings to have a few nice pre’s.

What’s the post rock scene like? How are the fans?

I don’t really know how to answer this. Like with any scene there are a handful of great bands and a heap of imitators. Hopefully the Maybeshewill sound is identifiable enough for us not to be classed as imitators.
I think people who might be into post rock are looking for something challenging and unusual so I would say fans of the genre are open minded people. Meeting anyone who is into your band and has made an effort to come see you is always a humbling experience.

What bands are you guys into?

Between the band we listen to quite a wide range of music. I think we generally agree between bands we like and don’t which is quite important really when it comes to trying to write together. Band’s I’m really digging at the moment are Caribou, Arcade Fire, Four Tet and Codex Leicester.

Any bands you’d love to be on tour with?

I’d like to go on tour with And So I Watch You From Afar again. They’re good friends of ours so touring with them is pretty lively and they are totally amazing every night.

Excellent. Thank you good sir.

Find Maybeshewill online

Their site http://maybeshewill.net

Twitter http://twitter.com/mybshwll

Myspace http://www.myspace.com/maybeshewont

Here’s Jamie’s studio myspace (with gear list) http://www.myspace.com/parkfarmstudios

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What!? Why???
This is closer to the price it should have been from the start. Since it is a niche product I could have charged way more for it. I feel this is still a very fair price.
This price change does not affect previous purchases.

The details of the sample pack are here: http://www.audiogeekzine.com/toys-breaking-sample-cd/

“I can conduct the sh*t out of you!!!”

Found this incredibly funny Craigslist ad today, I can’t tell if it’s serious or not but I found it really funny. Reposting it here before it’s deleted. (click to embiggen)

via@Chris_Randall http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/muc/1894646334.html

What is up Dallas I am a classical orchestra conducter looking to conduct a GIGGING orchestra. No startups, I don’t care how rehearsed you are. Not looking to make it big, been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, just looking for a well trained professional orchestra that wants to jam on the weekends maybe play a few open mics or operas once in a while. NO ORIGINALS, just looking for covers. You know, Brahams, Mozart, Beethoven, maybe a little Rachmaninov for kicks. I can conduct the sh*t out of those! I have been conducting since I was 12. I have conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, The Philidelphia Opera Company, to name a few. Like I said, not looking to make it big again, but still want to work with PRO players with PRO attitudes. I have connections with the Myerson, and can get us booked there no problem. I have pro attitude and pro gear and pro transportation. My gear includes:

Newland Custom “Silhouette” Conductor’s Baton
Mollard Lanico 12″ Baton
Mollard Lanico 14″ GOLD series Baton
Manhasset M48 Symphony Music Stand (with podium light mod)
Perry Ellis Italian wool Tuxedo- regular Dinner Jacket or TAILS!
Patent Leather Shoes

YOU- Must have pro gear, tuxedos, shoes, 420 friendly, Hit me up and send me a sample of your orchestra-ing. I don’t care if it’s just a crappy demo your orchestra recorded in the garage. I’ll know if it’s good or not, and I’ll know if I can conduct the sh*t out of you!!!!!!!!

Meetup # 2 – Home Recording Basics

Covering the basic equipment required for the typical home recording studio.

Venue: Long & McQuade

When: August 21 2010, 3-6pm

RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/Vancouver-Home-Recording/calendar/14374928/

Meetup # 2 – Drum Recording

Learning how to record drums like the professionals do.

Venue: Nimbus School of Recording

When: September 25 2010, 5pm September 24 2010, 5:30pm

RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/Vancouver-Home-Recording/calendar/14416864/

Because it’s such a pain I’ve decided to share my template with you.

Installation instructions:

Download file: Steven Slate Drums Track Template

Open Reaper, go to the options menu and select “Show REAPER resource path in explorer/finder…”

Navigate to the “Track Templates folder”

Move the file into this folder. Close explorer/finder

Back in Reaper, go to the “Track” menu, select “Insert Track From Template”>Steven Slate Drums Multi-Out

Note- Whenever you load a new kit, you need to push the “Reset Out Map” in the Kontakt mixer section.

I also have a Pro Tools template for this.

Prior to the proliferation of independent recording studios that seem so familiar to us today, studios were owned by labels. EMI artists would record at EMI studios using equipment designed and manufactured privately by EMI engineers. The same went for Motown artists, Capitol records artists and so on. Some incredible equipment was designed this way (EMI TG consoles, Coles 4038s, Fairchild compressors, etc.) but as time progressed this vertically-integrated model began to make less sense. Recording artists were working stranger hours and desired more control over their recordings (old hat studios like EMI had strict rules for engineers). Independent studios began to pop up to fill this need.
Some of them (like London’s Trident Studios) had the budget and manpower to design their own equipment while others had to contract out to specialized engineers.

Like so many things in history, the legendary Neve 1073 preamp owes much of its fame to being in the right place at the right time. It was introduced in 1970 as a module in a console custom built for Wessex studios. In these days Rupert Neve ran around the independent studios of the world designing equipment for them on request. When Wessex was looking for a new console to satisfy it’s varied client’s needs, Mr Neve was asked to design what became the A88 console.

Rupert Neve designed a solid-state preamp with transformer balanced inputs and outputs (somewhat of a rarity for the time). This was done due to Neve’s history in broadcast and radio electronics where protecting the signal from degradation was critical. Also, because this was a console pre, the amp could not be source selective. It had to sound good on everything.

Wessex Studios was more than satisfied and news began to spread through the independent engineering world. Neve had developed a versatile console that was (brace yourself) affordable. The combination of versatile and cost-efficient resulted in Rupert Neve being a very busy man, installing consoles in virtually all of the independent studios. People began to connect the great sound they were hearing on records to the equipment that recorded them, and the 1073′s infamy grew.

Eventually Neve sold his company (which later merged with AMS) and started Focusrite (where he designed the ISA preamp). He seems to have settled for now at his own Rupert Neve Designs where he still designs extremely professional preamps. None of the amplifiers he has designed since the 1073 have been reached as much fame, except for maybe the 1081, which is a similar preamp to the 1073 with a more involved EQ section.

Recently Golden Age has issued a clone of the 1073 sans EQ (the PRE-73) which it sells for $299USD. Chameleon Labs makes a clone (7602) for it selling for $799USD. Brent Averill makes a clone for $3025USD (the 1028), while what became of the original Neve company (AMS-Neve) sells theirs for around $3000USD.  Original Neve modules can cost upwards of $5000USD.

Even though they aren’t so inexpensive anymore, very few people will deny that Neve made an incredible pre that has outlasted its peers of the same era. The 1073 can usually be assumed to be apart of at least one vocal chain on any major label release. Worth $5000 or more? It’s debatable, but it’s legacy is undeniable.

Lesson 1 went over the common components of a synthesizer, explained the functions of the Oscillators, and the mixer sections. Lesson 2 looked at the Envelope and filter sections of the synth. This time we’ll get into using the LFO and arpeggiator sections and polyphony options.

LFO

LFO stands for Low Frequency Oscillator. This oscillator typically functions in the 0 to 20Hz range, but this oscillator isn’t a tone generator but actually a control voltage to modulate the other parts of the synth.
There are just three basic controls for the LFO section
⁃    Rate (or speed)
⁃    Waveshape
⁃    Depth
Rate sets how many cycles per second the LFO operates at.
The Waveshape sets how it behaves. The waveshape options will be the same as in the tone generating Oscillators
Depth sets how much effect the LFO will have on the functions it’s assigned to
Often you’ll find the depth controls are on each of the other functions, like the Oscillators, and filter. In this case its very likely that the knob will be labeled LFO and pointing straight up is off. Turning the knob to the left or right will cycle that function down and up, or up and down.
Other synths will just have a single depth knob and some way to assign the LFO to just one parameter.
Enough talking about what it does, let’s here what it can do.
In this example there will be a tone with no LFO, then -50% modulation for oscillator 1, then 50% for the filter with a triangle waveshape.

LFO EXAMPLE

That’s a bit extreme but used more lightly you can add a nice movement to your patches.

Arpeggiator

An arpeggiator is a built-in sequencer for the synth. When you play note or chord it will play each note sequentially. Not all synths will have an arpeggiator.
An arpeggiator has three main controls
⁃    Pattern
⁃    Rate
⁃    Gate
The pattern control chooses how the sequence will be played. Upward, downward, and random are common but you’ll usually have several variations.
Rate is the speed the sequence is played back at. In a virtual synth you can lock it to the project tempo and choose something like 16th notes.
The gate control can shorten the length of each note independent of the release in the amplifier section.
Here is a simple C-Major chord going through the arpeggiator. First set to 1/4 notes, then 8th notes, then I’ll change the pattern from Upward to downward, then I’ll shorten the notes with the gate.

ARPEGGIATOR EXAMPLE

Polyphony

Many synths will have options to control the polyphony or how many notes can be played at once. Some synths are monophonic and can only play one note at a time. Other synths allow you to choose from one to hundreds of voices. The MiniMoog was monophonic and remains one of the greatest and most imitated synthesizers. It’s amazing what you can do with one note at a time.

Portamento

With monophonic synthesizers you can use the portamento function to quickly (or slowly) bend up or down in pitch to the next note without re-triggering the envelope.

Here is an example of that in action:

PORTAMENTO EXAMPLE

That’s it for part 3. We covered the LFO, Arpeggiator, Polyphony and Portamento. Start digging into these functions and try them out.
Have fun!