Time Based Effects - Posted on 2014-05-31 by Jin Huang

Yeah, so happy today! The new mixing console, 5088, was coming into the studio. It was also a great chance to meet Lionel’s brother Dave, who soldered all the connectors and tested everything to make the new console work. Lionel was very happy with the new console — less noise, strong bottom end, sounds huge and open, and also better functionalities. Finally, Lionel had a combination of the sound of the old SSL and the functionalities of the Ghost. This was the case where a right piece of equipment suddenly solved all the problems.

Date of Session: Apr 23, 2014

Time in: 13:45

Time out: 16:35

Lesson 15: Time Based Effects

After talking about the EQs and Compressions that takes place in the insert side of the signal chain, this time we are talking about the effects that are normally used in the aux sends. There is a saying that ‘Music is the art of time.’ Yes, in addition, time and space never fall apart. All the effects we are talking about in this chapter are just playing tricks around the tiny little timing issues, while all these little things add a sense of space to the music, to the stereo image, and make it three dimensional.

Delay is the key of all time based effects. Delay means that there is an original signal, and another delayed signal. With the tiny little milliseconds difference in delayed time, we achieve phasing, chorusing, flanging, all these kinds of effects. Repeated delays make it echo; a series of delays together result in reverb. We use all these kinds of time based effects to draw a 3D picture in the listener’s head. It’s not only panning with left and right, but also adds the depth into the image. Lionel said the best mix he would expect is that he closes his eyes just as if he can reach the artists. 

This was what I asked Lionel about the two reference tracks, and how to achieve that kind of results with my mix. What I love about the two songs are the clarity of each individual track, the details of the elements and effects, and also the way how the main vocal is so present in the mix. 

Like Lionel’s philosophy as usual, get your sound from the very beginning. It’s more a case of microphone choice and the way you are recording. If you want the main vocal to be clear and present, record it dry. Lionel showed me how he set up the absorbers in a isolation booth to keep reflections as minimum because the more reflections you have, the more background noise will be recorded. The key of keeping vocal present is to record more of the direct signal. By this way, you will have more control to process the effect afterwards since reverb itself tends to hide things more in the background. Also, clean vocals require the right gain staging; present vocal requires to be recorded with a large diaphragm cardioid microphone. If you want the vocal to be nice and warm, hopefully record with a tube condenser mic with a little compression, and even record it in tape will help to thicken the voice. 

On the other side, all the other instruments and effects will be pulled aside in the background, and leave the centre of the image for the main vocal. The way they do this to use stereo setups for keyboards to spread the image, and fill in the gaps with delays show up exactly in time. Keep the tracks simple; be picky about the quality of the main parts; fill in the sonic space with effects; clear the frequencies that make the background muddy; use drum samples. 

Using time based effects is a practice of creativity. Hope I will achieve the kind of sound that I like someday and be creative with the use of all these effects. I’m always getting closer to who I am, and it’s a fact.