RRFC Advanced Audio Engineering Week 20 Mentor: Larry Goetz Studio: The Lair - Posted on 2016-09-01 by Justin Smith

      Last week was my last lesson with Larry. We went over my two songs and noted a few things I needed to finish up. He also talked to me about the business and basic aspects of what I am going to run in to in the future. He told me what kinds of contracts I should use and also recommended I read the Book "All about the Music Business" which I have now purchased. The two songs I have a to submit are one I recorded in my own apartment with all my gear. I figured I have been recording a lot at the studio with other clients and I know how to get a good sound there. I think it would show my knowledge better if I submitted a song I recorded and mixed at my house. The gear I used was a Blue "Baby Bottle" microphone through an Apogee Duet mic pre into Pro Tools.  I finally got a sound that I like once I switched to the Apogee. On the first song I made the beat in Native Instruments "Maschine 2". I like to use Kontakt, Massive, Spire, for my sounds as well. Once I have the beat made I record it into Pro Tools and mix it. My friend rapped and sang over it and I am working on finalizing and mastering it now. The second song is a song that got the stems from online at converse-music.com/rubbertracks. Its a Spanish Pop/Alternative song. I used Beat Detective in Pro Tools to line up the drums and I used Melodyne to tune up the vocals so they were spot on. The mix was challenging because there was 72 tracks. I started with the core of the song as Larry taught me. I always like to Level, EQ, and Pan first. After I had the core of the song sounding good I added each other part one by one. Larry always told me that minimal is the key and that you don't want one plug in doing too much. I added doubling to the vocals with a slight de tune and side chaining on the snare and kick. After I was finished with the mix I used Ozone to master it.

     I also ran 4 sessions this week for Larry. Three of them were vocal sessions. I just used the usual U87 through Neve 1272 mic pre, then the Summit Audio TLA compressor. I also got the opportunity to record Trumpet for my fourth session. That was fun! I have new photos on my Instagram. Instagram.com/thejuiced1