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Matthew Cloutier
Hey there guys!
I'm steadily moving along through the last half of my education in Pro Tools live tracking. These last few weeks we have taken time to follow the book and dive into the basics of mixing. We began by going through EQ, an audio concept I think I'm pretty good at when you place a parametric EQ plug-in in front of me, but not so much on a hardware unit, or exactly what I could be adding to a recording instead of just cutting what I don't like. We EQ'd cratch vocals that I recorded throug the API, and learned the difference between graphic EQ and a program EQ.
When we moved into compression, a concept I've ALWAYS had troubles with, we went around the studio and put the same vocal track through an optical, VCA, and FET hardware units. I personally fell in love with the warm, natural sounds of optical compressors i.e. the Joe Meek unit at our studio. I've been playing around with non-visual compresors in my Pro Tools practice since then.
Lastly our stint with time-based effects led me to a brand new understanding of delay; its pitfalls and uses. I never considered delay before this any more than an echo, instead of something that can enhance an audio signal, or change a sound's mood/spatial qualities. I've been using very short delays in my personal mixes to get a more fatter sound out of vocal recordings. I also learned the difference between all different types of reverb, as well as exactly what makes a "plate" reverb. We played around with a reverb hardware unit as well to get a feel for preset reverb units.
Our shadwoing sessions have been a little dry but that's also due to my own time restraints. Two weeks ago we had a large group of rappers come in and record three songs together, and I was able to help my co-mentor Matt with the API's EQ for one of the takes, to good results. Overall a very standard audio based day. Last week we had a more interesting client come in who sang Indian music. She had an amazing voice, and me and Matt worked together on getting the best sound out of her high range combined with our hardware reverb unit and the same optical compressor of MY choice! Overall, I'm feeling much more involved and useful to the studio the more I learn and shadowing time I get.
I had trouble with my Pro Tol's MIDI functions, and couldnt get my MPK Mini II to respond after only two minutes of use with no issue. Will attempt to repair for the MIDI assignment, and I'll be interested what I can produce in Pro Tools.
