Vincenzo LarichSan Diego Recording Connection

Catching Up, Part 1 Posted on 2015-02-16 by Vincenzo Larich

So I will admit, I have not been keeping up on my blogs like I should have been, so these next few posts will be all about catching up on what I've been up to at Track Star Studio. Working with Josquin and his engineer Thomas over these past weeks have been incredible. So much knowledge and real time studio work has come my way so quickly, and I can't be more grateful for all their help.

To start, I've gone through pretty much every lesson through the online book and throughout the passing weeks, have been able to apply every aspect of Pro Tools in real sessions at the studio. I've gone from learning the key command to open a new session all the way to putting in some EQ and Compression into a full mix. Going all the way back to the tracking lesson, I learned how to correctly plan for a session of my own. Every detail counts, from the basic notes of what the session will consist of, the plot map of how the session will be set up (preferably before the artist / band arrives), down to what mics will be used during the session that you have auditioned previously.

Move forward a few weeks, and within that time I learned to do a basic mix of finding levels and panning, which gives me a better stereo image and setting for doing more in depth mixing and editing. That would lead me to my first encounter with equalization, or EQ. I went through some of the basic intruments and learned how to EQ them in such a way that is pleasing to most and can be used as a guideline, because of course there is no right or wrong in this career, just what sounds good in the end. Along with EQ, I learned ways of digital signal processing, or compression. I found that in audio engineering, the dynamic range refers to the loudest possible sound and quietest possible sound. Again here, I found some basic guidelines on how to use compression through different plugins, such as compressors/limiters, expanders, gates, etc. All the different parameters came into play, like the ratio, threshold, attack, release, all of which may change the dynamics of the track drastically or in a very subtle way. Put both EQ and compression together, and you can end up with a very pleasant result.

« Return to Vincenzo Larich's Blog

More Blog Entries from Vincenzo Larich