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Andrew Tintle
June 18th, 2013
Time In: 5:00 PM
Time Out: 7:00 PM
Lesson #: 10
This weeks reading was not nearly as intensive as readings from previous weeks. It focused mostly on a general history of Digidesign and AVID. Up until reading this material I hadn't realized how huge AVID is! They have several brands under their umbrella (Including Sibelius which specializes in making software for creating sheet music).
I am still waiting on Pro Tools and my interface so I wasn't able to complete most of the assignments for the week. We still made good use of the time at the Studio and as usual I learned a whole lot.
A session had been tracked earlier in the day with David's band, so he used their song as an example to show me different types of Compression and Range Meter plug-ins for Pro Tools. Some can be downloaded for free, others (such as the PSP VU-2) can be downloaded for a nominal fee. He gave me a really detailed breakdown of how to read each meter and gave me some really valuable advice for how to use these meters to improve my recording quality. One particular piece of advice stands out - Do not ride the faders while monitoring: Faders are for the mix phase, not the monitor phase.
He also gave me another useful rule of thumb to follow when it comes to dB levels for a track - when mixing, if you can reduce the dB of a track by 4 dB and still hear the track at about the same level, then it was tracked too loud to begin with. If on the other hand the track almost disapears from the track completely, then it was tracked exactly where it needed to be. It is also really important to leave enough headroom on the track for the mixing + mastering phase of the recording process. If the music is recorded at too high of a dB level, then clipping can occur and will make it difficult for the mastering engineer to finish the track well.
Since I just recently moved, David is helping to guide me in the setup of my music room which will be used for practicing, recording, and mixing. We discussed different types of studio foam and diffusers that I can setup. I am going to be spending the next couple of weeks building an isolation box for my guitar cabinet in addition to a special diffuser for the back wall. Here is a link to the diffuser I will be building:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFeM2uWuMZI&list=WLUCQ38nYdVFlZmQID6GPxSml5XB7Bm90u
I will post photos and more information about my projects as I get closer to completing them.
My interface and Pro Tools software were supposed to have shipped last week, so hopefully I will have them by my next session so I can start practicing at home!
