produce beats



    -Professional engineering tips (stolen from the pro's)


Here's a few tips from professional engineers and artists encompassing a wide range of music.



AL SCHMITT (RECORDING ENGINEER, CREDITS INCLUDE DIANA KRALL)


Use a good windscreen when recording vocals


Don't swallow the mic


Stick your thumb to your nose and stick your fingers out, no closer to the mic than that.


ELLIOT SCHNEINER (RECORD PRODUCER, CREDITS INCLUDE STING)


Work on axis, singer back about six to eight inches, facing straight on, keep the mic raised above lip level to cut down on plosives.


When recording strumming acoustic guitar parts, position the mic a little bit up towards the neck, but barley.


HUMBERTO GATICA (RECORD PRODUCER, CREDITS INCLUDE CELINE DION)


Gatica uses Ams rmx16 reverb on Celine Dion's vocals.


JOHN LENNON


Developed technique of pronouncing p's as b's and flashing his hand across his mouth to avoid pop's and sibilance.


ALAN PARSONS (RECORDING ENGINEER, CREDITS INCLUDE PINK FLOYD)


Limits vocals to tape rather than compresses to get more dynamic range on to tape.


Try lots of 10kHz shelving on snares to make them fizz.


JACK DOUGLAS (RECORD PRODUCER, CREDITS INCLUDE JOHN LENNON)


To get a breathing sound route a signal to a reverb and add compression to the source and reverb return channels, then feed through a tube, every time the signal dies it will lift the reverb and it will give a breathing effect - Set between 200ms-1sec reverb time.


Try letting your bass take up the most of your low end by cutting everything else up to 160Hz.


BOB KATZ (WORLD FAMOUS MASTERING ENGINEER)


Try bringing out your main vocal by boosting at 250Hz and 5kHz.


Counter harshness by dipping between 6-8khz and/or boosting at 250hz. Restore air by raising 15-20khz.


Deal with noise by applying 1-4db in a narrow band around 3-5kHz.


Lyle Lovett's Big band CD, is close to the dynamics of a raw pre-mastered mix and is a great way to set your monitor gains as you have to turn it up to hear all the low level parts.


STEVE CHURCHYARD (RECORD PRODUCER, CREDITS INCLUDE INXS)


Suggested EQ for DI'd bass, boost at 10kHz so you can hear the string and at 2.5kHz and 100hz.


Try a tiny bit of 10kHz when recording vocals, depending on the singer.


TONY VISCONTI (RECORD PRODUCER, CREDITS INCLUDE DAVID BOWIE)


This is a common technique, treat your bass and kick drum with a stereo compressor with the link pressed in. This is a way to tighten up low end.


Harmonic EQ - If your boosting at 60 cycles try boosting at 120Hz and 240Hz as well, this is sometimes where the definition lies.


Never uses a quick attack on anything, starts around 50 ms to let the initial attack through.


Uses audio-technica 4050 microphone on female vocals, this is an affordable mic compared to a Neuman U87.


Approaches mix by raising kick drum first, snare drum second and bass third, then builds rest of kit around that.

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Try rolling out 1k on snare drums to emphasise high and low ends.


If your looking to boost a kick drum try 100Hz and tweak the beater around 2kHz.


THOM PANUNZIO (RECORD PRODUCER CREDITS INCLUDE U2)


Try limiting bass a little when tracking and mixing to get punch and enable it to be mixed louder.


KEITH OLSEN (RECORD PRODUCER, CREDITS INCLUDE FLEETWOOD MAC)


Advice to home-studio buyer - get a couple of audio-technica mics and a Mackie mixer!


Recommends the Alesis midiverb and Yamaha spx90 for the home studio.


Recommends home studios use TC Electronic Finalizer, describes it as a 'phenomenal piece of gear'


FRANK FILIPETTI (RECORD PRODUCER, CREDITS INCLUDE JAMES TAYLOR)


Recorded an animated James Taylor's acoustic guitar by attaching a small drum mic to a Popsicle stick fastened to the body of the guitar, pointing at the neck.


Recommends the Audio-Technica 4050 as the best sub $1000 dollar mic.


MITCHELL FROOM (RECORD PRODUCER, CREDITS INCLUDE SHERYL CROWE)


Try running a keyboard through an old pedal, it might just be the buzz or fuzz from a pedal that gives you something different 


ARMAND VAN HELDEN


Gets gritty street compression by running finished tracks with the gains cranked up or through a DJ mixer and back to DAT.


MARK SPIKE STENT (TOP FLIGHT MIX ENGINEER,CREDITS INCLUDE MASSIVE ATTACK)


Try using a little EQ and compression on the stereo mix.


Remember that each section of a song has it's own atmosphere and function. Make a track grab your attention by subtly changing eq and fx for different sections of a song especially on vocals.


Recommends Lexicon mpx100 and Zoom 1201 for home studios.


TOM LORD-ALGE (TOP FLIGHT MIX ENGINEER, CREDITS INCLUDE MARILYN MANSUN)


Like Mark Stent, advises 1-2 db of stereo compression to pull a mix together.


PETE NORRIS (ENGINEERING CREDITS INCLUDE MORCHEEBA)


Stick to simple triads when using synth pads, if your pads are to big you'll have little room for anything else.


Uses digidesign's Lo-fi plug in to grunge up thing's like drum beats.


MR SCRUFF


This is an old hip hop technique, try pitching up your samples on you're turntables to plus 8%, then slowing them down again in the sampler, gives a kind of magic effect which is the sound of old skool hip hop beats.


Key bit of gear - Akai Mpc 60


DJ SHADOW


Try sampling from vinyl with a hi-fi needle which will provide less compression than a dj needle.


Key bit of gear - Roland VP-9000 sampler.


TODD TERRY


Uses multiple DAT recorders to create new sounds by recording sounds and re-sampling them, this technique is also used by Rob Playford (Goldie)


Key bit of gear - Emu Sp1200


ALAN BRANCH (ENGINEER FROM ROUNDHOUSE STUDIO'S LONDON)


You can achieve a 3D effect by using two identical choruses but with one at a slightly different modulation -

They put each other out of phase and give you a spatial effect.


CHUCK AINLAY (FAMOUS MIX ENGINEER FROM NASHVILLE)


Try getting a good balance between bass and kick drum by boosting the kick around 4.8khz and 10khz, then cutting at 450hz.


Try cutting at 60Hz and boosting at 15kHz when recording acoustic guitar.


RALPH SUTTON (PRODUCTION CREDITS INCLUDE RAKIM AND STEVIE WONDER)


Try boosting 3db at 10kHz 2db at 360Hz and 2db at 100Hz to get a cool Rhodes sound.


ARIF MARDIN (RECORD PRODUCER, CREDITS INCLUDE HOWARD JONES)


Try using 'subliminal' tempo changes


JOHN LECKIE (RECORD PRODUCER, CREDITS INCLUDE RADIOHEAD)


Mics up electric guitar amps with an sm58 opposed to the standard use of sm57