{"tutorials":[{"id":"1ae115a1-703d-40cf-ac35-f26bf8c1c507","title":"Listening for a Lifetime ","slug":"listening-for-a-lifetime","subtitle":"Protecting Your Ears","issueNumber":171,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"I’ve spent the last decade mastering records every day. That means long hours of listening, plenty of late nights, and more than a few mornings where the world felt half a dB dimmer than it should. I used to treat that feeling as part of the job. It isn’t. The job is listening – and listening only works if we protect what makes all of this matter: Our ears. This isn’t a crusade or a lecture. It’s the quiet truth I wish someone had hammered into me when I started: Ears don’t grow back. You get a few thousand inner hair cells per ear – about the population of a small club – and they’re hired for life. Lose enough of them, or the synapses behind them, and the high end air you thought was “just the room today” never returns. Mix decisions start drifting. Masters get brittle. Translation slips. Eventually, you’re compensating for damage instead of hearing music. What follows is how I think about hearing now – as a mastering engineer who wants to do this for another 40 years, and as a human who would like to hear his partner whisper across a room at 70. It’s practical, not precious. I still love loud. I just want to love it longer.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Why Engineers are a Special Case","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Most safety guidelines were written to keep factory workers from becoming hard of hearing – not to preserve a mastering engineer’s ability to hear a 1 dB shelf at 12 kHz. OSHA’s “safe” daily exposures (eight hours at 90 dB, four at 95 dB, and so on) bake in losses that would wreck our work. If you want to keep a career-grade ear, treat those numbers as a floor, not a goal. And time matters. Hearing fatigue is cumulative. The venues, the rehearsals, and the train rides with leaky earbuds – they all count. Damage often begins as synapse loss (the hidden part of hidden hearing loss), so an audiogram can look “normal” while fine detail tracking is already slipping. You can pass a speech test and still fail at music. Musicians and engineers show up again and again in studies with roughly four times the risk of noise-induced hearing loss, as well as more than 50 percent higher rates of tinnitus. We earn those odds the same way we earn our credits – by showing up every day around loud sound.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Level, Duration, and the Real-Life Line","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Here’s the rule of thumb I use:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* 85 dB (busy traffic in the room): Fine for hours if your ears are fresh.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* 94 to 95 dB (amped rehearsal): Limit to about an hour without protection.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* 100 dB (small live room, drums nearby): 15 to 20 minutes is plenty.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* 110 dB (snare up close, PA sweet spot): One or two minutes, tops – then step back or get earplugs in.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"A phone with the NIOSH Sound Level Meter app** gets you surprisingly close to the truth. More important than the number is the habit: Measure, adjust, and leave when you planned to instead of when your ears beg. If you have to raise your voice to be heard at arm’s length, it’s already too loud to hang unprotected. If you step outside and the world sounds soft, or your ears ring, that’s an overdraft on tomorrow – pay it back with quiet.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"The Floyd Toole Lesson","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"If you’ve dug into loudspeaker research, you’ve met Dr. Floyd Toole. Working at the National Research Council of Canada and Harman International Industries, he showed that when you level match and blind listen to a set of monitors, sure thing favorites fall apart. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"The point wasn’t humiliation; it was how quickly we adapt to bias. Your ears do the same. That tiny, permanent 6 to 8 kHz notch? You’ll compensate without noticing. That smear of distortion you can’t quite place? You’ll adjust the top end and call it taste. Unless you measure and reset, you end up mixing into your own damage. The fix is the same discipline Toole asked of monitors: Check, compare, and recalibrate.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Get a proper audiogram (baseline, then annually) and ask for extended high frequency testing.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Keep notes on your listening: Do cymbals feel brittle? Do s sounds wander? Does translation sharpen after a quiet day?","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* If mix trends repeat across projects, assume your ear – not the world – moved.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"We level-match our converters and limiters. We can level-match ourselves. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Protection that Doesn’t Kill the Joy","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Foam earplugs are better than nothing, but they’re crude – they lop highs and shift balance. Better options are:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Universal musician earplugs ($15 to $30): Flat-ish filters, and they’re easy to keep everywhere.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Custom-molded earplugs ($115 to $200): The adult move. Swappable 9/15/25 dB filters, and comfortable for hours.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* IEMs [In-Ear Monitors] for stage: The quietest stage is the one you make. Try to run your IEMs as quietly as practically possible – they are better than stage level, but they’re still no friend to your hearing.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Technique matters. Seat earplugs deep – roll, lift the ear, relax jaw, and set them snug. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Redundancy helps: Keep customs in the studio, universals on the keychain, and foam in the travel kit. The best plug is the one you actually have.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Studio Hygiene that Keeps You Honest","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"A few unsexy habits changed everything about how long I can work and how consistent my next-day masters sound.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Work quieter than you think – around 78 to 82 dB C-weighted at the chair.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Short predictable breaks: Ten minutes of silence every hour beats pushing through.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Control the low end: Overhyped bass masks perception and accelerates fatigue.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Alternate references: Switch from speakers to headphones, loud to quiet, to catch ear drift.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Track exposure: Note “loud days” vs. “quiet days.” Reality checks itself.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"None of this is glamorous. However, all of this is cheaper and better than losing your top octave of hearing.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Recovery is Part of the Job","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Ears heal slowly – if you let them. After a heavy sound day, give yourself 18 to 24 hours of relative quiet. If you wake with a muffled tone or hiss in your head, that’s your system asking for a break. Sleep, hydrate, and breathe. You can’t hack your way out of damage, but you can set your body up to stop fighting itself. Quiet days aren’t indulgent; they’re the hidden half of consistency.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Talking to Bands and Clients","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Telling a band to wear earplugs can sound like a lecture. Making it about sound works better:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* “Let’s get everyone custom earplugs so we can hear the snare transient instead of the room shouting back.”","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* “Drop the stage SPL 6 dB and I can give you more detail in the vocal.”","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* “Try these earplugs for two songs – see if the groove tightens.”","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Engineers will do almost anything for better sound. Use that.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"A Quick Word on Tinnitus","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Tinnitus is common in our world, and the first big spike can feel catastrophic. It doesn’t have to be. The approach is the same as any other part of hearing care:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Don’t chase silence with more sound. Masking to “hide” a ring often deepens fatigue.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Respect stress – tinnitus and anxiety can reinforce each other. A small daily breathwork routine helps.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* See someone. A musician-minded audiologist can give you a plan instead of a shrug.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Most professionals will encounter some version of it across a career. The goal is to keep it boring – and keep your process consistent.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"What I measure (and what I ignore)","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Measure: average SPL at the chair, show levels, loud-day count, annual audiograms.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"* Ignore: online debates about exact limits for “creative” work. Everyone’s tolerance is different. Mine’s “hear 16 kHz when I’m old.”","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Set your line, write it down, stay on the right side.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Why this Belongs in ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]},{"text":"Tape Op","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"We talk about microphones and then treat the thing that actually turns air into music – the ear – as an afterthought. I’m a mastering engineer; I get paid to hear. If I lose that, there’s no plug-in that saves me, and there’s no model for the next generation if we glamorize damage over craft. Hearing protection isn’t a scold. It’s a craft choice. It’s how you hear whether that hi-hat needs half a dB or the chorus a breath more air. It’s how you keep loving loud music without pretending you don’t miss the fridge hum. Listening, at its core, is an ethic – precision, not sentiment. Protecting your ears keeps that ethic intact for decades. It’s the line between guessing and knowing, between working angry and working clear. Take care of the first instrument, and the rest of the rig makes sense.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Five Habits that Changed My Next-Day Masters","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"1. Custom earplugs in every pocket. Universals on the keychain. Foam in the glovebox.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"2. 78 to 82 dB default listening level. Short loud checks only.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"3. Ten minutes of silence each hour. No phone; just reset.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"4. Track my loud days. Two per week = the next day is quiet.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"5. Annual audiogram: Same clinic, same chain. Watch the trend, not the number.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"None of these are heroic. All of them are consistent. Consistency builds a career – and keeps one.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"If you’ve been putting off protecting your ears, start small. Order custom earplugs, download the NIOSH meter, set a calendar reminder for a hearing test, and take one quiet day after every loud one. You’ll ","type":"text"},{"text":"feel","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":" the difference in a week, but you'll ","type":"text"},{"text":"hear","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":" it in a month. I simply wish to be an old engineer who still loves cymbals. That’s the goal! ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"**National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health <","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"cdc.gov/niosh/noise/about/app.html","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"https://cdc.gov/niosh/noise/about/app.html","class":"text-blue-600 hover:underline dark:text-blue-400","target":"_blank"}},{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":">","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Alexander Wright is an independent mastering engineer and author based in Seattle, WA. <","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"alexanderwright.com","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"https://alexanderwright.com","class":"text-blue-600 hover:underline dark:text-blue-400","target":"_blank"}},{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":">","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":null,"primaryImage":{"id":"1ae115a1-703d-40cf-ac35-f26bf8c1c507-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/b04e82b9-c4b0-4839-aadf-b278d64a253a","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":2000,"height":1207,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2026-01-20T18:37:12.147Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/b04e82b9-c4b0-4839-aadf-b278d64a253a","excerpt":"<p>I’ve spent the last decade mastering records every day. That means long hours of listening, plenty of late nights, and more than a few mornings where the world felt half a dB dimmer than it should. I used to treat that feeling as part of the job. It isn’t. The job is listening – and...</p>","url":"/tutorials/171/listening-for-a-lifetime","authorName":"Alexander Wright","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"13bfea3d-9cf7-446d-a1b0-8b71d9d8ab6d","name":"Alexander Wright","role":"author","firstName":"Alexander","lastName":"Wright"}],"viewCount":2993,"showCoverImageIntro":false,"tiptapFooterJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"**National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health <","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"cdc.gov/niosh/noise/about/app.html","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"https://cdc.gov/niosh/noise/about/app.html","class":"text-blue-600 hover:underline dark:text-blue-400","target":"_blank"}},{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":">","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Alexander Wright is an independent mastering engineer and author based in Seattle, WA. <","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"alexanderwright.com","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"https://alexanderwright.com","class":"text-blue-600 hover:underline dark:text-blue-400","target":"_blank"}},{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":">","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]}]}]},"footerEnabled":true},{"id":"faf9062f-ddcd-4489-8577-4c14aa154480","title":"Top 12 Vocal Recording Mistakes","slug":"top-12-vocal-recording-mistakes","subtitle":null,"issueNumber":170,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"I get sent hundreds of tracks a year to mix, and in some of the songs people have shortchanged the vocal recordings in a variety of ways. I won't even mention a song's tempo and key choice, as those should be determined before one starts tracking a singer. Here's a list of the most common recording offenses that I come across:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"1. Singing Too Close to a Cardioid Mic","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"I'd say 75 percent of what I get sent has this issue. Proximity effect, that low end buildup from a cardioid pattern, is real, and it makes vocals sound boomy, dull, and nasally, plus they become much harder to place in a mix. I know you might be trying to sing closer to the mic to keep the sound of your room out, but you likely just made things worse.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/bd26eb76-bcaa-4f19-a241-e84d53b1462a","size":"small","float":"right","style":null,"title":null,"height":null,"caption":"Bad","imageId":"bd26eb76-bcaa-4f19-a241-e84d53b1462a","aspectRatio":null,"originalUrl":null,"variationUsed":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"2. Too Much Room Tone","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"The opposite of singing too close to a mic, it can smear and obscure the words and add a disorientating spatial sound that will likely not fit the music. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"3. No Pop Filter on the Vocal Mic","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"I've seen people on the internet claiming that pop filters are unnecessary and ruin the sound. Don't be stupid, use a filter. Not only will it help get rid of plosives, they can also help keep the mic's diaphragm clean. Maybe even use two filters; I often do. Buy a bunch – they're cheap! ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/cbe86ddb-8aad-43f5-b7bf-1e9a3f7ecab7","size":"large","float":"center","style":null,"title":null,"height":null,"caption":"Good","imageId":"cbe86ddb-8aad-43f5-b7bf-1e9a3f7ecab7","aspectRatio":null,"originalUrl":null,"variationUsed":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"4. Unintended Distortion","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"We all know an intentionally distorted vocals can be cool, but a clipped or fuzzed out word on an otherwise clean take jars the listener right out of the song. Listen closer to what you are doing. Take the mic's preamp gain down a click.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"5. Extreme Sibilance","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"This one can be difficult. Sometimes just a little extra distance between the vocalist and the mic helps. A slight tilt of the mic can help. But picking the mic that sounds balanced on that person's voice is the real key. Even a small mic locker can offer choices to fix this. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"6. Not Spending Time to Get Great Performances","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Take some time! It’s what you are there for. Let the singer do multiple attempts on different days. Don't cram the vocal sessions in at the end of a tracking day! Do vocal passes right after basic tracks are done, \"just for reference,\" and then do more on different days. Think about every word. And, if you're the recordist, listen closely and suggest changes that might help.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"7. Editing Everything Too Tight","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"At least half the tracks I'm sent have the vocals so tightly edited that ends of words are clipped off, breaths are cut off halfway, or there’re no breaths, and it all starts to sound unnatural. If I'm trying to remove background noise and there's no non-words spots to sample, I cannot get rid of it. Plus, since it's now so tightly edited, you'll hear the background noise come in and out of the mix. Oops.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"8. Reading Lyrics Off a Phone While Recording","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Once this crackling EMI (electromagnetic interference) gets on the vocal track, you're screwed. Print them out, use airplane mode, or memorize your lyrics. Just please don't hold your smart phone 2-inches from a mic full of tubes and transformers. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"9. Copying and Pasting Flawed Takes","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"If you're only going to use one version of the chorus vocals and repeat them every time they happen in the song, at least pick a take that is in pitch, in time, and has some emotion to it. But, then again, the best option is usually to just sing every chorus for real. It actually does sound a lot better to the listener, plus, if the engineer hears a flawed pass they can grab an alternate phrase to drop in. Maybe even change some words, inflections, or attitudes. All you have to do is solo and listen to what you plan to paste everywhere, and then you should determine if it's good enough.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"10. Background Noises","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Lately, I've had a number of tracks where the singer sang near an undamped acoustic guitar and it resonated along with the vocal. Take off your headphones and listen to the room before recording! Air conditioners, traffic, pets, extreme AC hum, and all sorts of crud gets picked up way too often. At least pets are cute, but other unnecessary and avoidable ambient noises are not. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"11: Bad Internal Edits","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Rendered Auto-Tune with bad entry/exit points, hard edit points that are not crossfaded, and vocal comps in the middle of held notes can create all sorts of garbled noise that takes away from the actual singing. Simply solo and listen before sending out for mixing.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"12. Not Editing ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]},{"text":"Anything","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":" Out","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Why is there 20 seconds of an open vocal mic under the guitar solo section? I'm sure you don't want that in the mix. Right? ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"textAlign":null},"content":[{"text":"Thanks to Aidan Powell for the mic technique photos!","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":null,"primaryImage":{"id":"faf9062f-ddcd-4489-8577-4c14aa154480-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/bd26eb76-bcaa-4f19-a241-e84d53b1462a","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":2000,"height":1500,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2025-11-19T02:06:06.926Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/bd26eb76-bcaa-4f19-a241-e84d53b1462a","excerpt":"<p>I get sent hundreds of tracks a year to mix, and in some of the songs people have shortchanged the vocal recordings in a variety of ways. I won&apos;t even mention a song&apos;s tempo and key choice, as those should be determined before one starts tracking a singer. Here&apos;s a list...</p>","url":"/tutorials/170/top-12-vocal-recording-mistakes","authorName":"Larry Crane","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"b8ecd2ed-95dd-4258-aba3-6ecf753995ae","name":"Larry Crane","role":"author","firstName":"Larry","lastName":"Crane"}],"viewCount":8544,"showCoverImageIntro":false,"tiptapFooterJson":null,"footerEnabled":false},{"id":"3aacef28-efd4-4a2c-90e3-c1ce66cd02e5","title":"The New (and Preferred) Decibel","slug":"new-and-preferred-decibel","subtitle":null,"issueNumber":108,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"The dB decibel is ubiquitous","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]},{"text":" in the field of audio technology, recording, broadcast, etc. However, a need for a better notation has arisen to avoid confusion on the dB usage for certain measurements. This article explains this new and preferred dB notation with selected examples.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"A Brief Evolution of the dB (decibel)","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"In the early 1920's telephone engineers needed a way to measure the loss in a standard one-mile long cable (1msc). This would allow the engineers to see if the telephone signal (voice) would need an amplifier or not to regenerate the signal strength. The development of the TU (Transmission Unit) in 1924 was created and used. The TU was defined by the following mathematical formula:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"$$TU = \\log_{10}\\left( P_o \\over P_i\\right) $$","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Where \\(P_o\\) is the power output in watts and \\(P_i\\) is the power input in watts.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Decibel Measurement Diagram","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/b3840ec7-f5bd-4d50-b1ed-93b23c6f57e1","size":"small","float":"center","style":null,"title":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"b3840ec7-f5bd-4d50-b1ed-93b23c6f57e1","aspectRatio":null,"originalUrl":null,"variationUsed":null}},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"$$TU = \\log_{10}\\left( P_o \\over P_i\\right) $$","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Where \\(P_o\\) is the power output in watts and \\(P_i\\) is the power input in watts.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"dB (deciBel): The Logarithmic Unit of Level","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"This TU worked out very well for several years. However as the telephone industry grew exponentially, so did the use of the TU for measurements. The TU was then decided to become the de facto standard unit at this time and then was renamed the Bel commemorating Alexander Graham Bell the inventor of the telephone. See formula:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"$$Bel = \\log_{10}\\left( P_o \\over P_i\\right) $$","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"The Bel was considered too large of a unit to use with upcoming telephone circuits and systems. In 1928 the Bel unit was replaced with the smaller unit called the decibel dB, meaning one tenth (1/10) of a Bel. This was now the birth of the dB (decibel) which is still being used in many technical areas of sound, light, electricity, fiber optics, audio/video and other technologies.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"In the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Dr. R.W. Young explained the Unit of Level in 1971. The dB unit had acquired some various appendages or suffixes. The idea of these appendages was to develop reliable measurements that would compare the measured quantity to a known reference quantity. In this way the readings of the levels would be more accurate and reliable with less confusion.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Using this in the field of audio technology the following table will show the concept of Levels in dB (decibels). Based on the following definition the capital letter L stands for level in dB. By adding a subscript to the letter L will represent the type of level.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":3},"content":[{"text":"dB Notation References","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"The below levels are considered to be electrical levels.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"L — Level in dB.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Lp — Power level in dBm; where dBm is referenced to 1mW of power.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Lv — Voltage level in dBu or dBV; where dBu is referenced to .775VRMS and dBV is referenced to 1VRMS.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"The below Lsp is considered to be an acoustic level.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Lsp — Sound pressure level in \\(dB_{Pa}\\) or \\(dB_{\\mu Bar}\\); where \\(dB_{Pa}\\) is referenced to a sound pressure of .00002Pa and \\(dB_{\\mu bar}\\) is referenced to a sound pressure of .0002µBar.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"We can use the following general formulas for any particular technical field. The unit shall be in \\(dB_x\\), where x is the appendage letter of the reference value chosen.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(L_x = 10 * log_{10}R_P\\)  →  \\(dB_x\\)","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(L_x = 20 * log_{10}R_V\\)  →  \\(dB_x\\)","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(L_x = 20 * log_{10}R_{SP}\\)  →  \\(dB_x\\)","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"On the other hand, level gains typically used for amplifiers/pre-amplifiers are in ","type":"text"},{"text":"absolute dB","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":" (no appendage letter) which designates no reference.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(R_P\\) = power ratio in watts, \\(R_P = P_O / P_R\\), where \\(P_O\\) is the power under test and \\(P_R\\) is the power reference.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(R_V\\) = voltage ratio in volts, \\(R_V = V_O/V_R\\), where \\(V_O\\) is the voltage under test and \\(V_R\\) is the voltage reference.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(R_{SP}\\) = sound pressure ratio in Pascals(Pa) or micro Bars(µBar), \\(R_{SP} = sp/sp_r\\), where \\(sp\\) is the sound pressure under test and \\(sp_r\\) is the sound pressure reference.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Here is a list of adapted audio formulas using the above notations:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Power","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"1. Power Level: \\(L_P = 10 * log \\left(P\\over 1mW\\right)\\) dBm","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"2. Power in watts: \\(P = .001(10)^{L_P\\over 10}\\) W","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"3. Power Gain Level: \\(L_{PG} = 10 * logG_P\\) dB","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"4. Power Gain Level: \\(L_{PG} = L_{P_o} - L_{P_i}\\) dB","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"5. Power Gain: \\(G_P = P_O / P_I\\)","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"6. Power Gain: \\(G_P = (10)^{L_{PG}\\over 10}\\)","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Voltage","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"7. Voltage Level: \\(L_V = 20 * log\\left(V\\over.775V\\right)\\) dBu","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"8. Voltage Level: \\(L_V = 20 * log\\left(V\\over 1V\\right)\\) dBV","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"9. Voltage in Volts: \\(V = V_R(10)^{L_V\\over 20}\\) V\n\n \\(V_R\\) is the voltage reference equal to .775V or 1V","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"10. Voltage Gain Level: \\(L_{VG} = 20 * logG_V\\) dB","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"11. Voltage Gain Level: \\(L_{VG} = L_{V_o} - L_{V_i}\\) dB","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"12. Voltage Gain: \\(G_V = V_O/V_I\\)","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"13. Voltage Gain: \\(G_V = (10)^{L_{VG}\\over20}\\)","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Sound Pressure (Acoustic)","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"14. Sound Pressure Level: \\(L_{SP} = 20 * log\\left(sp\\over sp_r\\right)\\) dB","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"15. Sound Pressure: \\(sp = sp_r(10)^{L_{sp}\\over 20}\\) Pa or µBar\n\n Sound Pressure References: spr = .00002 Pa ; spr = .0002 µBar","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Voltage Gain Level with Impedance dependance","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"16. \\(L_{VG} = 20 * log\\left(V_o\\over V_i\\right) + 10 * log\\left(Z_i\\over Z_o\\right)\\) dB","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"where\n\n \\(V_i\\) is the input voltage\n\n \\(V_o\\) is the output voltage\n\n \\(Z_i\\) is the input impedence\n\n \\(Z_o\\) is the output impedence","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Power Gain Level with Impedance dependance","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"17. Sound Pressure Level: \\(L_{PG} = 10 * log\\left(P_o\\over P_i\\right) + 10 * log\\left(Z_i\\over Z_o\\right)\\) dB","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"where\n\n \\(P_i\\) is the input power\n\n \\(P_o\\) is the output power\n\n \\(Z_i\\) is the input impedence\n\n \\(Z_o\\) is the output impedence","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Note:","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]},{"text":" voltage is in volts (V), power is in watts (W), impedance is in ohms (Ω).","type":"text"}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":3},"content":[{"text":"dB Examples","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Let me now show you a few examples on how we use these preferred formulas:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"1. A voltage of 1.23 V is given at the input of the console. What is the voltage level \\(L_V\\) in dBu? Using equation number 7:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(L_V = 20 * log\\left(V\\over.775V\\right)\\) dBu; you get","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(L_V = 20 * log\\left(1.23\\over.775V\\right) = 4.012 dBu\\)","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"2. Given a headphone with a maximum power of 100mW, what is the power level \\(L_P\\) in dBm? Using equation number 1:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(L_P = 10 * log \\left(P\\over 1mW\\right)\\) dBm; you get","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(L_P = 10 * log \\left(100mW\\over 1mW\\right)\\) = 20 dBm","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"3. Given a condenser microphone with a voltage level \\(L_V\\) = -34dBV, what is the voltage V? Using equation number 9:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(V = V_R(10)^{L_V\\over 20}\\) V; you get","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(V = 1(10)^{-34\\over 20}\\) 19.953mV","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"4. Given a sound pressure \\(sp = 4Pa\\), what is the sound pressure level \\(L_{SP}\\) in \\(dB_{PA}\\)? Using equation number 14:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(L_{SP} = 20 * log\\left(sp\\over sp_r\\right)\\) \\(dB_{PA}\\); you get","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"\\(L_{SP} = 20 * log\\left(4\\over .00002\\right)\\) = 106.021 \\(dB_{PA}\\)","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"This article was written in dedication to the late Albert B. Grundy, the founder of the Institute of Audio Research in New York City and a past president of the AES Audio Engineering Society. I had the pleasure to work for Al for many years in which he became a good friend and mentor on anything related to audio. The information in this article is now being used by my students which allows for less confusion on understanding the use of the dB.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"By Ronald G. Ajemian, Adjunct, Institute of Audio Research, New York, NY 10003\n\n AES Audio Engineering Society — Member","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"References:","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"1. R.V.L. Hartley, The Transmission Unit, Electrical Communications, New York, NY, pp. 34-42, (July 1924).","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"2. W.H. Martin: Decibel — The Name for the Transmission Unit, Bell System Technical Journal, New York, NY, pp. 1-2 (January 1929).","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"3. R.W. Young: Decibel, A Unit of Level, JAES Vol. 19 No. 6, 1971, pp. 512-516 (1971).","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"4. AES project report: For articles on professional audio and for equipment specifications and Notations for expressing levels refer to: # AES-R2-2004 Standards preprint, also IEC 60027-3 and IEC 60268-2 documents.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"5. Stop Using the Ambiguous dBm! by Herman A.O. Wilms, Paper Number: M01, AES Convention: 2ce (March 1972).","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"6. dB Formulas for Pro-Audio, by R.G. Ajemian, (March 2005). ","type":"text"}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":null,"primaryImage":{"id":"3aacef28-efd4-4a2c-90e3-c1ce66cd02e5-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/6ccdcc62-ca3c-4e59-abab-5b22af1d7005","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":795,"height":476,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2015-08-17T19:02:00.000Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/6ccdcc62-ca3c-4e59-abab-5b22af1d7005","excerpt":"<p><strong>The dB decibel is ubiquitous</strong> in the field of audio technology, recording, broadcast, etc. However, a need for a better notation has arisen to avoid confusion on the dB usage for certain measurements. This article explains this new and preferred dB notation with selected examples.</p><p><strong>A Brief...</strong></p>","url":"/tutorials/108/new-and-preferred-decibel","authorName":"Ronald Ajemian","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"f79ed148-b611-4b7f-830a-3050c3786e0a","name":"Ronald Ajemian","role":"author","firstName":"Ronald","lastName":"Ajemian"}],"viewCount":18046,"showCoverImageIntro":true,"tiptapFooterJson":null,"footerEnabled":false},{"id":"8478eed7-ff78-48eb-b374-0cce98cc19d9","title":"Water in the Air","slug":"water-air","subtitle":"How Humidity Screws with Instruments in Your Studio","issueNumber":108,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"From guitars to drums to cabinets, many of the instruments we record are made of wood. As an organic, porous substance, wood tries to equalize to the surrounding air in terms of temperature and humidity. Having a stable humidity level can help to avoid damage to expensive gear as well as keep engineers and artists comfortable. Most of the time, air has water floating around in it in the form of moisture vapor. You'll often hear weather forecasters talk about ","type":"text"},{"text":"relative humidity","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":". Relative humidity is the amount of moisture in the air compared to what the air can \"hold\" at that temperature. The water vapor is actually mixed with the air.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Hey, here's an equation:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Relative Humidity = actual water vapor density / saturation water vapor density × 100%","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"About 50% relative humidity is considered ideal for instruments and comfortable for humans. 40% relative humidity is ideal for storing magnetic tapes, but be aware that they prefer temperatures in the range of 15 ± 3° C (59 ± 5° F). Depending on your geographic area, your situation may change during the seasons. Portland, Oregon, for example, has a high average humidity, whereas Tucson, Arizona has a low average humidity. Other places have mixed situations. Madrid has high humidity in the winter and low humidity in the summer (which is the opposite of many U.S. cities like Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo).","type":"text"}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"text":"Typical Effects of Humidity on Guitars","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"60%+ — Visible symptoms include tarnished frets and strings, nickel corrosion, marring of chrome or gold plated materials, swelling of top and wood components, action raising and loose bridges.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"50% — Stable, environmentally-equalized instrument.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"40% — Problems such as sharp fret ends, fingerboard cracks that appear where there is body overlap (12th fret and higher).","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"30% — Guitars may begin to crack or peel. Tops of acoustics will sink, frets will buzz and a higher saddle adjustment will be necessary to tune instrument.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"25% — Multiple cracks, frets will require filing, loose binding and tuning problems.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"— courtesy of ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"Martin Guitars","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"http://www.martinguitar.com","target":"_blank"}}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"To address your humidity issues, it's a good idea to get a humidity sensor, sometimes called a hydrometer. This will let you know what the exact levels are in your studio. If you have guitars, drums or organs in house, consider keeping the hydrometer near them. Reliable digital models are available for about $20. In general, the ideal situation for instruments is 72° Fahrenheit with 50% relative humidity. However, you may achieve stable results with higher or lower thermostat settings. In hot months — if you live in an area with air conditioning, you probably know that your cooling unit chills the air while removing water vapor. This will help de-humidify your studio. Standalone dehumidifiers are also available (but they are noisy). In cooler months — if you need a furnace or boiler in the winter, you want to make sure that there is enough water vapor in the air. Check to see if you have a humidification attachment for your heating system. Readers with radiated heat (vs. forced air systems) might need to buy a standalone humidifier to introduce more water vapor in the air. Finally, if you're having trouble stabilizing your studio, you might look into various insulation improvements to your building. This will also help to conserve energy and reduce your monthly expenses! ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"text":"Pianos and Humidity","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Your upright or grand piano prefers constant humidity as well. If the humidity and temperature of your space is hard to control, a humidity control device can be installed in the piano to help stabilize it. The Piano Technicians Guild has a ","type":"text"},{"text":"great page of info on this subject","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"http://www.ptg.org/Scripts/4Disapi.dll/4DCGI/cms/review.html?Action=CMS_Document&DocID=61","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":". Covering the piano and keeping the panels on/top closed will help as well. Your piano will now stay in tune longer and last longer. -LC","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Having a good environment for engineers, artists and instruments is more than hanging some black light posters and setting out some candles. Creating a stable humidity level will make people more comfortable, and help keep instruments good sounding and long lasting. Once you know what you need to keep your temperature and humidity in line, you can move on toward other important tasks.","type":"text"}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":null,"primaryImage":{"id":"8478eed7-ff78-48eb-b374-0cce98cc19d9-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/8e79b038-3f6b-4c2d-aa66-7913676f76e7","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":1024,"height":616,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2015-08-15T17:59:00.000Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/8e79b038-3f6b-4c2d-aa66-7913676f76e7","excerpt":"<p>From guitars to drums to cabinets, many of the instruments we record are made of wood. As an organic, porous substance, wood tries to equalize to the surrounding air in terms of temperature and humidity. Having a stable humidity level can help to avoid damage to expensive gear as well...</p>","url":"/tutorials/108/water-air","authorName":"Garrett Haines","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"6632fe41-706e-4df1-b3ee-d99f57ee6ee1","name":"Garrett Haines","role":"author","firstName":"Garrett","lastName":"Haines"}],"viewCount":34087,"showCoverImageIntro":true,"tiptapFooterJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Garrett Haines is at ","type":"text"},{"text":"treelady.com","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"http://treelady.com","target":"_blank"}}]}]}]},"footerEnabled":true},{"id":"40f81ba9-ebab-4c83-902c-ab75b5be7753","title":"All About Wall Warts","slug":"all-about-wall-warts","subtitle":null,"issueNumber":108,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Wall Wart","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/842f87df-e9f7-43ed-ac7c-8c3665a9687f","size":"small","float":"right","width":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"842f87df-e9f7-43ed-ac7c-8c3665a9687f"}},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"I was reading a review in another recording magazine in which the writer opened up complaining about a device's external wall wart power supply. He went on and on about how irritating wall warts are and how he was miffed that anyone would even use them. My take was the reviewer was implying that the gear maker was screwing the public by using an external wall wart — the implication being the manufacturer was too stupid or lazy to \"do it right,\" or that they were intent to torture us when we try to plug these darn supplies into the wall. When something appears stupid at face value, there are probably economics or politics underneath the surface.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Of course, there are reasons wall warts are bothersome.","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]},{"text":" They take up too much space on power strips, blocking adjacent outlets. You're required to use that specific supply (or have a spare with the same voltage and amp ratings and the correct form factor plug — lose the wart and you're out of luck. Also, they continue to draw power even if when unit is switched off, something a lot of people don't know. The constant draw is a waste of electricity while doing nothing but generating heat. Finally, in some cases poor circuit design can generate interference that affects other audio gear. That said, let's review the reasons why a manufacturer might choose this type of power supply.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"There may not be room to include a power supply inside the device. This is often true with half-rack-sized and desktop devices. Moving the power supply out of the unit also removes a source of heat, keeping it further from sensitive electronic parts. Another benefit of the physical separation is increased noise isolation, or a reduction in the amount of shielding that must be included should the supply be inside the device. Dave Derr (","type":"text"},{"text":"of Empirical Labs and designer of the Distressor","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"/interviews/btg/33/dave-derr/","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":") points out, \"Power supplies almost inevitably cause some kind of noise (transformer induced or otherwise) when they are inside the unit. We go to great extremes to minimize this noise, using proper power supply positioning, toroidal transformers, and noise-cancelling mechanical designs. However, there is some high-end audio gear that uses external supplies (quasi wall wart), just so they don't have to deal with transformer shielding at all. George Massenburg Labs uses external supplies for some of their exquisite designs, and I would think this gives these devices, such as their legendary GML 8300 mic preamp, some extra immunity to hum and buzz from transformer fields.\"","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"When something appears stupid at face value, there are probably economics or politics underneath the surface.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"One of the most common reasons is economic. External supplies allow a manufacturer to sell hardware across the globe. By picking the correct external wall wart, the manufacturer can obtain certification from various government regulatory bodies without having to shoulder that cost for every territory. There is also a safety issue. One U.S. manufacturer confided, \"Some designers just aren't comfortable designing and testing their own power supplies. Instead of hiring an engineer, they find it easier to buy an Underwriters Laboratories [UL] approved unit and get their product to market. It's one less headache to deal with.\"","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Today, our increasingly energy conscious society is paying attention to the waste of keeping these supplies constantly plugged in. In a studio, one can have wall warts running off rack-mounted power distribution where they can easily be shut off when not in use, but advances in smart power distribution or something akin to the ","type":"text"},{"text":"seemingly mythical mPATHX products","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=54862523","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":" may eventually help out. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"I'm not saying you have to like wall warts, but at least now you may understand several reasons why they exist.","type":"text"}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":null,"primaryImage":{"id":"40f81ba9-ebab-4c83-902c-ab75b5be7753-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/842f87df-e9f7-43ed-ac7c-8c3665a9687f","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":600,"height":528,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2015-08-14T17:06:00.000Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/842f87df-e9f7-43ed-ac7c-8c3665a9687f","excerpt":"<p>I was reading a review in another recording magazine in which the writer opened up complaining about a device&apos;s external wall wart power supply. He went on and on about how irritating wall warts are and how he was miffed that anyone would even use them. My take was the reviewer was...</p>","url":"/tutorials/108/all-about-wall-warts","authorName":"Garrett Haines","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"6632fe41-706e-4df1-b3ee-d99f57ee6ee1","name":"Garrett Haines","role":"author","firstName":"Garrett","lastName":"Haines"}],"viewCount":19310,"showCoverImageIntro":false,"tiptapFooterJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Technical editing and quotes from Dave Derr","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Garrett Haines is at ","type":"text"},{"text":"treelady.com","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"http://treelady.com","target":"_blank"}}]}]}]},"footerEnabled":true},{"id":"ddf0ddc7-5046-4f94-98f8-90e20b3c6cd7","title":"Jamie Howarth bonus","slug":"jamie-howarth-bonus","subtitle":"Behind the Gear with Plangent Processes","issueNumber":94,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Jamie Howarth","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/7b2bf2a1-dcdc-4324-8b0f-02bdd2bd5d5a","size":"small","float":"right","width":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"7b2bf2a1-dcdc-4324-8b0f-02bdd2bd5d5a"}},{"type":"image","attrs":{"alt":"Plangent Process Diagram","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/207d09bb-51ac-4c39-9f59-f3b7e3d6bc29","imageId":"207d09bb-51ac-4c39-9f59-f3b7e3d6bc29"}},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Plangent Processes:","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"I guess everybody by now probably knows how our process works — it's a wide-band head, wide-band preamp, custom-made stuff that we're more than happy to sell, which tracks the bias on the tape, which is 150,000 cycles per second. Usually it was recorded with an oscillator that is way more stable than the transport was. When you get into the quartz oscillators that you see in the MCI, Studer, and later decks, it's pretty awesome how stable they are and how much worse the transport is. I don't think that people realized how much residual wow we were sensitive to. You go back and listen to these things, and it's actually pretty remarkable when one of them has been de-wowed/de-fluttered how much was actually there that we were willing to accept, and how much that we thought was inaudible. The history of audio is filled with things that were thought to be inaudible.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Early Digital Audio:","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"I remember Jim Keltner told me a great story about how he didn't like the way that the cymbals sounded, but the groove was tighter. I was like, \"How could you assert that the groove was tighter in the difference between analog and digital?\" Of course, he's listening in the time domain, while most of us are listening in the frequency/pitch domain. We went back and looked at the timing differentials of these machines, and they're actually throwing a tenth of a percent wow, which is considered to be a little bit high, but acceptable for most of the time and most of what these things were doing. Whether that was the spec or not, that was what most of these things were achieving. I did the math to see if a tenth of a percent of wow at a particular slow speed would drift that much, and it does. Keltner was absolutely right. It wasn't surprising that a lot of guys were hearing artifacts in different ways. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Transport Problems:","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"The thing that's really been the hardest sell is that you can use our process for triage — for stuff that's stretched or where the machine is in trouble — but listen to what it does on a well-made, hi-fi recording from the '60s or the '70s in terms of clearing out all the debris that was caused by the transport. Listen to how much better and fresher the imaging is, how much more depth there is. One of the things that we heard from one of the more famous producers in the world was, \"My reverb tails are longer, and that's what it sounded like in the control room. I've never heard that off tape.\"","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Reframing History:","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"It's not because we're changing the work or we claim that we're better than Bill Putnam. There are millions of guys out here that are way smarter than I am. But we did find one stupid pet trick that could be done that really does make a lot of difference! The thing that it does is that it does unmoor the historicity of it, if you will. Not the historic nature, because the historic nature is in the performance, but the antiqueness of it. If I want to hear a Sinatra playback, I want to hear Sinatra. I don't think that Rosemary Clooney in 1956 when she sang the stuff that she did, some of which sounds like it's got some fairly decent honk on it, is going to say, \"Wait a minute, that doesn't sound like my voice because it doesn't have honk on it.\" They were killing themselves trying to make the transfer function as flat and as clear as possible.","type":"text"}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"A while back I was working on a restoration process for an album that was long out of print. The only materials I had to work from were a ridiculously scratched vinyl LP and some 7-inch reference reels from the original session. When I played back the reels, I was horrified by the obvious pitch fluctuations on the tapes — it was enough to make me queasy. I recalled that I'd met Jamie Howarth, of Plangent Processes, some time before; given a basic understanding of his revolutionary technique, I assumed he could fix my problem. It worked. The process basically uses recovery of the bias tone off analog recordings to \"realign\" the audio to the state it was in while being tracked or mixed. Jamie's Plangent Process has helped restore recordings of Woody Guthrie, the Grateful Dead, and Neil Young, as well as solving many film audio problems. I had to learn more about this, and wanted others to know that this service is available, so I tracked down Jamie and picked his brain.","type":"text"}]}]},"primaryImage":{"id":"ddf0ddc7-5046-4f94-98f8-90e20b3c6cd7-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/7b2bf2a1-dcdc-4324-8b0f-02bdd2bd5d5a","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":300,"height":300,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2013-03-15T07:00:00.000Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/7b2bf2a1-dcdc-4324-8b0f-02bdd2bd5d5a","excerpt":"<p>A while back I was working on a restoration process for an album that was long out of print. The only materials I had to work from were a ridiculously scratched vinyl LP and some 7-inch reference reels from the original session. When I played back the reels, I was horrified by the...</p>","url":"/tutorials/94/jamie-howarth-bonus","authorName":"Larry Crane","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"b8ecd2ed-95dd-4258-aba3-6ecf753995ae","name":"Larry Crane","role":"author","firstName":"Larry","lastName":"Crane"}],"viewCount":13542,"showCoverImageIntro":false,"tiptapFooterJson":null,"footerEnabled":false},{"id":"04104b06-b14e-4bb9-9d19-023054949909","title":"Recordio","slug":"recordio","subtitle":"Home Recording in the 1930s","issueNumber":87,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"It started out as a favor to a friend. His father had died and left a collection of old records, stacked in cardboard boxes collecting dust on the back porch. My friend asked me, an audiophile, to sift through the old musty-smelling records and save anything I wanted before the rest went to the thrift store or the trash. I began separating them into two piles: broken and not broken.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"I delicately sorted through the records, stumbling upon a broad range of material. I saw Elvis, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, rag time piano hits, Charlie Pride, orchestral recordings of Vivaldi and the fox trot, and a Japanese version of the \"Tennessee Waltz\" to name a few. These records not only spanned the entire gamut of musical genres, but also the size and material of all records made. I found 45s, 33s, and 78s. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"The physical makeup of these records was just as broad. I sorted through vinyl, acetate, plastic, and even cardboard records with a plastic side that played. Then I happened upon a record that looked rather unusual. It was the size of a 78, but it was red and, oddly, the black and gold label had a space for someone to write a song's title, date, and speed. The manufacturer's name was Wilcox-Gay Recordio Disc. I set the record aside as one that I would keep and continued my search through the remaining sea of records.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Years later, I heard the name Recordio again.  I received a package from my brother that included a few microphones that my father had picked up at the local flea market in Northeast Tennessee. A small brown metal microphone about the size of a paperweight had the name Recordio written on it. I knew I had seen the name before and then remembered that it was on one of the old records I had picked up some years ago. Diving back into the record collection I retrieved the red Recordio disc and noticed something written on the record label: \"Bruce's 3rd Birthday March 13th, 1950.\" Intrigued to find a manufacturer that produced both records and microphones I ventured over to the record player to hear what this recording was exactly. Once the stylus hit the first groove of the record I heard what seemed to be a small child talking to birds. The birds chirped loudly, as you could make out a woman's voice saying, \"Talk to them\" and a man's voice saying, \"How old are you, Bruce?\" The recording was only a couple of minutes long, so I flipped the record over. On this side the same family was back. The birds continued to sing and a dog began to bark, as you can hear the mother saying, \"Let's sing 'Happy Birthday'.\" The voices came through the speaker as a muffled sound being played through the years of dirt and scratches. I pictured the recorder being turned on and left sitting on a table to capture the events taking place throughout the room. One could certainly not hear clear enough to make out a conversation. This home recording on vinyl began my search into the world of Recordio.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"The Recordio discs were a product of the Wilcox-Gay Corp., which began in 1910 as a small company creating radios and transcription recorders in Charlotte, Michigan. As their business grew so did the product line they carried and in 1939 they launched the Recordio. The Recordio device not only played records but also allowed the user to use a microphone that accompanied the player to record themselves onto a blank record — a \"Recordio Disc.\" The Recordio machine recorded at 78 rpm with decent fidelity. These machines also included an AM radio receiver. With this function you could record your favorite radio broadcasts to listen to time and time again. These machines were marketed to the middle class through such media outlets as ","type":"text"},{"text":"Ebony","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":" and ","type":"text"},{"text":"Life","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":" magazine. The player/recorder found its way into the hands of musicians, and Johnny Cash and Les Paul were known to use these devices. In its debut year the Recordio device sold 25,000 units, but with the Great Depression underway and the adoption of magnetic tape the Wilcox-Gay Corp. sales declined. In 1961 the company moved to Chicago and lasted two more years before finally declaring bankruptcy a second time and closing its doors for good in 1963. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"This piece of recording history has its place in the timeline of devices. I can only imagine the other discs floating around out there that may contain great music or have historical events on them. To this day I am not sure who Bruce is or how the record stumbled into the hands of my friend's father, but when listening I do clearly picture the old Recordio machine that Bruce's family had set up in the room to document his third birthday.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Timothy Kastner is the owner/engineer of Echotone Music in Nashville, TN","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"\n\n","type":"text"},{"text":"www.ehotonemusic.com","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"http://www.ehotonemusic.com","target":"_blank"}}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"References","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Morton, D., (1999). ","type":"text"},{"text":"Off the Record: The Technology and Culture of Sound Recording in America","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":". Piscataway, NJ: University.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Morton Jr. D. (2006). ","type":"text"},{"text":"Sound Recording: The Life Story of a Technology","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":". West Port, CT: Greenwood.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Welch, W., & Burt, L. (1995). ","type":"text"},{"text":"From Tinfoil to Stereo: The Acoustic Years of the Recording Industry, 1877-1929","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":". Gainesville, FL: University.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Wilcox-Gay Recordio Manual ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"(1958).","type":"text"}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":null,"primaryImage":{"id":"04104b06-b14e-4bb9-9d19-023054949909-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/437d0790-49ce-45bf-8e46-4700e675f11f","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":1000,"height":927,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2012-01-15T08:00:00.000Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/437d0790-49ce-45bf-8e46-4700e675f11f","excerpt":"<p>It started out as a favor to a friend. His father had died and left a collection of old records, stacked in cardboard boxes collecting dust on the back porch. My friend asked me, an audiophile, to sift through the old musty-smelling records and save anything I wanted before the rest...</p>","url":"/tutorials/87/recordio","authorName":"Timothy Kastner","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"94e8a60c-7615-4b98-a59b-d609a76b8585","name":"Timothy Kastner","role":"author","firstName":"Timothy","lastName":"Kastner"}],"viewCount":44795,"showCoverImageIntro":true,"tiptapFooterJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Timothy Kastner is the owner/engineer of Echotone Music in Nashville, TN","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"www.ehotonemusic.com","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"http://www.ehotonemusic.com","target":"_blank"}}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"References:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Morton, D., (1999). ","type":"text"},{"text":"Off the Record: The Technology and Culture of Sound Recording in America","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":". Piscataway, NJ: University.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Morton Jr. D. (2006). ","type":"text"},{"text":"Sound Recording: The Life Story of a Technology","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":". West Port, CT: Greenwood.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Welch, W., & Burt, L. (1995). ","type":"text"},{"text":"From Tinfoil to Stereo: The Acoustic Years of the Recording Industry, 1877-1929","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":". Gainesville, FL: University.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Wilcox-Gay Recordio Manual ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"(1958).","type":"text"}]}]},"footerEnabled":true},{"id":"a47a01d7-bf02-4372-afae-f535e4afe727","title":"Other Drum Tips","slug":"other-drum-tips","subtitle":null,"issueNumber":79,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":" Die cast hoops","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Die cast hoops give a drum more body, not \"crack.\" I totally think of triple-flanged hoops as giving a drum more crack without the substantial body that a die cast hoop adds.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Nylon washers","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Instead of replacing the metal washers between the tension rod and hoop, put nylon washers between the metal washers and the hoop. The combination will bind better and will help keep the drum's tuning a bit more stable.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Seating a new head","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Here's a good way to quickly seat a new drumhead (which allows the drum to better conform to the specific contour of the drum's bearing edge): Put the head on and tighten it slowly, making sure to maintain even tension around the head. When the head is fairly tight (and evenly-tensioned), take a heat gun or blow dryer and slowly work your way around the outer edge of the drumhead, just inside the hoop and along the bearing edge. Don't try to get the head hot, just warm to the touch. The heat will make the Mylar conform to the bearing edge almost instantly. Be careful not to get the head too warm, as too much heat buildup will deform the head in a destructive way.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Muffling","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Sometimes, you might get a bad drumhead (and Mylar ","type":"text"},{"text":"is ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"a variable product, so bad heads are not uncommon). Even with seemingly equal tension, you're still getting odd overtones. Or maybe you just want a little bit of that extra sustain in your drum reduced? If so, take your finger and lightly touch the edge of the drumhead while playing the drum in the center. Move your finger around the edge until you find the spot where the drum still \"speaks,\" but the nasty overtones are reduced. That's the spot where you may want to apply some muffling. Moongel is a wonderful, easy-to-apply, washable, and reusable product that works perfectly in this regard. Sometimes even half a piece of Moongel is enough. In a pinch, you can use gaffer's tape, but be sure to put a couple of wrinkles in it or roll it up inside-out (to make a wide loop). If you apply the tape flat, it will vibrate in sympathy with the head and will be less effective. Stewart Copeland and Jeff Porcaro used duct tape on their snares, and both Al Jackson and Danny Seraphine used a wallet. I recently saw a \"1970s legacy artist\" in concert with his original drummer, who on occasion put a T-shirt over the snare drum head to perfectly mimic the sound from the records. Brilliant! I say, \"Whatever works for the job at hand.\"","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Ah, bass drum sounds","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"You can certainly use a modern, two-ply, self-damping bass drum head, with some kind of minimal additional damping inside the drum and a front head, with a small hole in it and call it a day. But why limit yourself? Lots of great bass drum sounds have been recorded under a variety of circumstances. The coveted \"Bonham sound?\" Usually single-ply, coated heads with little or nothing in the drum. Many of those Tchad Blake records? A small bass drum with no front head and heavy muffling. Instant thump. Try some different stuff. Step out of the comfort zone. You might be surprised at what you find, and it might be more familiar than you think.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"A note on pedal noise","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Get some light-grade machine oil for your pedals. Over time and with lots of use, they'll start to squeak. Old pedals and new pedals, bass drum and hi-hat. These are fussy machines with lots of moving parts. When they start to make noise, put them on a safe spot (a bunch of paper towels, an old rug or towel, so as not to leave oil stains on your floor) and apply a couple of drops of oil to every moving part and every place with metal-on-metal contact. Work the pedals vigorously for a few minutes, then wipe off the excess oil. Voila! Quieter pedals! r","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Chris Garges is a recordist and drummer in North Carolina and moderates several forums for the Tape Op Message Board. www.chrisgarges.com","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":null,"primaryImage":{"id":"a47a01d7-bf02-4372-afae-f535e4afe727-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/079ba76b-797b-454d-8e1c-1ba2fd6212ea","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":800,"height":800,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2010-09-15T07:00:00.000Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/079ba76b-797b-454d-8e1c-1ba2fd6212ea","excerpt":"<p><strong> Die cast hoops</strong></p><p>Die cast hoops give a drum more body, not &quot;crack.&quot; I totally think of triple-flanged hoops as giving a drum more crack without the substantial body that a die cast hoop adds.</p><p><strong>Nylon washers</strong></p><p>Instead of replacing the metal washers between the tension rod and hoop...</p>","url":"/tutorials/79/other-drum-tips","authorName":"Chris Garges","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"ce9a079c-6311-47a8-bf5a-f93a78f31edc","name":"Chris Garges","role":"author","firstName":"Chris","lastName":"Garges"}],"viewCount":15760,"showCoverImageIntro":false,"tiptapFooterJson":null,"footerEnabled":false},{"id":"78a395eb-d654-4bd5-8af8-523ea2e1613b","title":"Prepping Drums","slug":"prepping-drums","subtitle":null,"issueNumber":79,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Most engineers would probably agree that recording a drum kit is one of the most challenging studio tasks. ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]},{"text":"The popularity of sampled drums and drum replacement software is a testament to the facts that: 1. Recording live drums may be a dying art, and 2. It can be a pain in the arse. Like any recording, success begins at the source — obtaining a high-quality recording is a struggle when you start with a source that sounds bad. Engineers obsess over mic selection and placement and which mic/preamp combination will deliver that magic kick or tom sound (and we should obsess), but the real difference in drum recordings happens before you plug in a single cable. What follows is a discussion of how you can tweak a drum kit for maximum performance so that you can start at a higher level and use your technology to capture and enhance the sound of a drum kit, as opposed to making attempts to correct deficiencies in an inferior instrument. In most cases these tweaks are inexpensive, so there's no excuse not to have a tricked-out kit in your studio.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Photo 1: Round bearing edge","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/bec6d927-ee17-493d-802a-b7c9c52af61f","size":"small","float":"right","width":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"bec6d927-ee17-493d-802a-b7c9c52af61f"}},{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Photo 2: Sharp bearing edge","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/d0a52a2f-1840-4181-897f-906bc3600182","size":"small","float":"right","width":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"d0a52a2f-1840-4181-897f-906bc3600182"}},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Perhaps the most important asset of any drum is its bearing edge. This is the part of the drum shell upon which the head rests. In the old days (let's say before the 1970s), bearing edges on wood shell drums were round and wide (see photo 1). Toward the end of the 1970s, bearing edges became \"sharper\" and narrower (see photo 2). The two approaches yield distinct sonic differences, yet both are critical to the health of the drum. The function of the bearing edge is akin to the bridge of a guitar or violin: Support a vibrating element without impeding motion of that element. If the bridge of a guitar does not support a string properly, you might hear a buzz or a rattle when that string is plucked. Defective bearing edges yield similar results, so it's extremely important to make sure that the bearing edges of each drum (top and bottom) are \"true,\" meaning that they are not deformed. You can check this quite easily. Remove the rims and heads and lay the drum on a flat piece of glass. Take a plain piece of writing paper and slide it against the edge of the drum. The bearing edge should stop the paper from passing between the drum and the glass (the exception is the bottom of some snare drums, which may have \"snare beds\" cut into them — areas where the edge is contoured to allow string or tape to pull the snares against the bottom head). If you find that the bearing edges are warped, dented or deformed you have two options: Replace the drum or take it to a shop that specializes in re-cutting the edges to make them true. In some cases truing the bearing edges of all of the toms in a set may make them sound more consistent. Also make sure that the drums are not \"out of round\" — meaning that they have not somehow become oval shaped, which will make tuning very difficult.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Once you are satisfied with the condition of the bearing edges, rub them gently with a household candle, leaving a thin deposit of wax on the edge. This will help the head vibrate a bit more easily, not unlike they way some guitarists put a bit of graphite in the nut.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Photo 3: Drum hardware","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/07b0e614-5f9c-4e62-b952-e745c1cb9f11","size":"small","float":"right","width":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"07b0e614-5f9c-4e62-b952-e745c1cb9f11"}},{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Photo 4: Drum hardware detail","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/4ca9c0c6-4f6b-43ac-8707-39ed8ad31af8","size":"small","float":"right","width":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"4ca9c0c6-4f6b-43ac-8707-39ed8ad31af8"}},{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Photo 5: Drum hardware detail","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/5e4a25c2-eaa0-411e-bdb3-34356b7ba11d","size":"small","float":"right","width":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"5e4a25c2-eaa0-411e-bdb3-34356b7ba11d"}},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"While the drum is open, it's a good time to check the general state of the hardware. All screws and bolts need to be tight to avoid rattle. If you have a vintage drum and you are unsure if the screws can take the torque, replace them with new equivalents and store the old ones in a safe place for collectability. You might want to add lock washers under the screws or bolts to make sure that they don't come loose. The lugs or tension casings are the metal fittings on the outside of a drum into which the tension rods are screwed to hold on the rim (see photo 3). In the old days lugs were threaded to accept the tension rods. Somewhere along the line someone realized that these threads can strip, rendering the lug useless — so the lug insert was developed. This is the small threaded retaining nut that lives inside the lug. If the retaining nut gets damaged, you can replace it without needing to replace the entire lug. Many older tension casings use a spring to force the retaining nut into position so that the tension rod can be screwed into it (see photo 4), and some newer designs use a plastic insert (see photo 5). The net result of either design is play and rattle. Here is where you can lower the \"signal-to-noise ratio\" of the drum by packing the lugs with cotton or foam rubber. This damps the rattle. Do this on every lug of every drum you own and do the same for fittings that hold tom arms and floor tom legs. Really. Then replace the hardware and tighten down the screws. At this point you might want to add a drop of lubricant to the retaining nuts, but not much — keeping the drum in tune relies upon a bit of friction. Make sure that all lugs and retaining nuts are present and accounted for, and while you are at it, inspect wood shells for cracks or damage that might cause audible problems.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Photo 6: Muffler/tone control","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/97b35454-a275-4c45-b432-864a78cd44e6","size":"small","float":"right","width":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"97b35454-a275-4c45-b432-864a78cd44e6"}},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Feel free to remove the device known as a muffler or tone control (photo 6). Mainly seen on older drums, this was intended as a means of reducing overtones (which it can do). Unfortunately the muffler changes the vibrational mode of the head by pushing the head up, while the stick strikes downward, altering the drum's fundamental. The muffler can rattle, so removing them is a good idea.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Now you're almost ready to replace the heads and rims on the drum. Check the rim to make sure that it is not deformed and that the head fits snugly underneath the rim. You may encounter a drum (my Noble & Cooley Alloy Classic comes to mind), where the tolerance of the rims is very tight, and you'll need to work the hoop of the head into the rim (the hoop is the round metal or plastic edge of the head). If you are looking to get more \"crack\" out of a snare drum, you can replace stamped metal rims with die cast rims, but be sure not to discard any part of a collectable drum.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"The tension rods pass through the holes of the rim's flange. Typically there is a metal washer that sits between the tension rod and the rim. Replace these metal washers with nylon or plastic equivalents (visible in photo 3). Metal-on-metal contact here can create noise and plastic or nylon washers will eliminate it. For snare drums you'll need a fairly thick washer, as most drummers torque down the rim of a snare down much harder than they would a tom or bass drum.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"While we are not going to dive into the subject of tuning with this article, it is worth mentioning head selection. There is no magic combination of top and bottom heads that works for every set of drums. I've had luck on toms with a coated Remo Emperor on the top and clear Remo Ambassador or Diplomat heads on the bottom, but this is only a starting point (we'll discuss the kick drum later). When you put a new head on a drum it will need to be stretched in one of two ways: 1. Put the head on and tune the drum to a very high pitch. Leave it there for an hour or so and then tune the drum the way you want to hear it; or 2. Set the head on the drum and push down on the head in the middle to stretch it. With some heads you will hear a cracking noise. This is normal and is nothing to worry about.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Photo 7: Snare wires","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/c6cbdce8-0cda-490e-9531-7b69306e4611","size":"small","float":"right","width":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"c6cbdce8-0cda-490e-9531-7b69306e4611"}},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Snares are the long springs stretched across the bottom head of a drum, differentiating a snare drum from other drums (photo 7). They are pulled against the bottom head with string or tape and the throwoff or strainer. It amazes me how many drummers don't have a clue how to adjust snares. First make sure that none of the snare wires are broken or bent, or they will rattle. Check that the snares are pulled evenly and are roughly centered within the diameter of the shell (unless you are dealing with extended snares which exceed the diameter of the drum). If the snares are so loose that they do not touch the bottom head, you get a tom or timbale sound. If the snares touch the bottom head loosely, they will rattle uncontrollably which can create a reverb-like effect (this can sometimes be cool). If the snares are pulled against the bottom head too tightly, then the drum will choke: The snare will not \"speak\" at softer volumes, and will sound like a tom until struck with a lot of force. Loosen the snares so that they respond to a light touch, but not so loose that they rattle all day long. If you find that the snare drum produces an annoying ping (especially snare drums with metal shells) place a small piece of Moongel or tape a small (2 x 2 inches) square of felt on the head next to the rim and away from the player's side.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"That brings us to the kick drum. Try a Remo Powerstroke 3 head on the beater side and a clear or black Ambassador on the front. I suggest leaving the front head on for several reasons. 1. The head and hoop help support any weight that might be loaded on the kick drum (such as the tom holder) and keeps the drum from deforming. 2. If you remove the front head, the drum will have little or no resonance. 3. It keeps the studio cat from nestling on the blanket that you are going to place inside. Ah, the blanket. Moving blanket? Forget it. Too thick and too much. Ditto for the pillow. What we need here is something to damp the head from ringing uncontrollably (unless you are aping a marching band bass drum), while letting the drum speak. Use the smallest blanket, bath towel, pillow or piece of foam that can press up against both heads without impeding motion.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"A 6 to 8-inch hole in the front head will allow you to get a microphone inside the drum, but still retain the tone that you need. How to cut the hole? There are products that can help guide your hand with a razor blade, heads pre-cut with holes in them, or you can use my tried and true hole-maker. Take the head into the kitchen and lay it flat (upside down) on a scrap piece of 3/4-inch plywood. Heat an empty coffee can over the burner (hold it with a pliers so you don't burn yourself). Once the can is hot, lay it on the head and push down. It will burn a perfect circle into the head and cauterize the edge in the process (Tape ","type":"text"},{"text":"Op ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"holds no responsibility for possible injury).","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Try tuning both heads to the same pitch, but do not put too much tension on the heads. The front head in particular should flop around a bit. When you place your hand in front of the hole and someone plays the drum you should feel air moving. If not, you've either stuffed the drum too much or tuned it too high — both of which reduce the amount of bottom end your microphone is going to hear. A trick you can use to drop the pitch a bit is to tape a quarter to either head approximately halfway between the beater and the rim. This will slow the vibration of the head, thus dropping the pitch. Do not confuse this with placing a quarter on the beater head at the point of impact, which is a trick intended to give you more smack attack when the beater hits the head. Felt beaters yield the least smack, while plastic and wood beaters yield more. If you'd like to protect the head from getting dented, use a Remo Falam Slam Kevlar pad on the head at the impact point.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"While you're at it, listen carefully to the bass drum pedal for noises or squeaks that could show up in a recording. Most pedals manufactured these days are fairly quiet, but if you run into a drummer who still has a Ludwig Speed King, good luck. You'll never get the squeak out of a Speed King. That squeak you hear on Led Zeppelin records (check the intro to \"All My Love\") was not an oversight. It was inherent in the pedal. The entire kit (or at the very least, the seat, kick drum, kick pedal and hi- hat) should be placed on a rug or carpet. The heel of a kick pedal and the hi-hat stand are constantly in motion and will produce a ton of noise on a hardwood floor.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Cymbals and cymbal stands can make your life miserable. The big offender here is metal hardware at the stem of the stand, upon which you place the cymbal. Take a look at photo 8. It shows a metal cup washer on the stand. On top of the cup washer is a felt, which isolates the washer from the cymbal, but this washer is probably going to rattle against the stem even after you place the felts on it. Furthermore, the motion of the cymbal against the stem is going to produce unwanted noises as well as creating excess wear on the cymbal's hole. Felts should be placed underneath and over the cymbal to constrain some motion, but do not put a lot of felts and then tighten the cymbal nut down so hard that it restricts motion. This is not only bad sonically, but it can result in the cymbal cracking at the hole or near the bell. At the very least cover the stem with something such as surgical tubing (which you can get cheap at a medical supply shop). This protects the cymbal and reduces noise. The next step is to use a plastic \"T\" top to replace the metal wing nut at the top of the stem (photo 9). If you want to step it up a notch, go with a combination cup washer/sleeve such as shown on photo 10. This eliminates all metal on metal contact and protects the cymbal as well.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Hi-hat hardware can also be guilty of creating noise, but it's a bit more difficult to cure. Lubricating moving parts so that they don't squeak is relatively easy, but negating metal-to-metal contact on the top cymbal is going to be difficult. The device that holds the top cymbal is known as the clutch. You can try heat shrink tubing over the clutch to keep it from scraping against the cymbal hole, but it tends to wear quickly. Hi-hat felts get smashed down easily, so you can replace them with rubber bushings, such as you might find in a skateboard shop, but beware: if the bushings don't have any give, you run the risk of cracking the cymbal, particularly if it is a thin weight.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"All of these techniques are designed to fine-tune the performance of your drum set. You may be surprised at the manner in which the noise floor drops once you've employed some of these suggestions. Perhaps more importantly, you'll find that you need less time to dial in a good drum sound. That's because you've improved the source, and when the source sounds good, making a successful recording becomes much easier. ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Steve La Cerra is an independent engineer based in the New York area. He is currently the front-of-house engineer for Blue Öyster Cult and may be reached at stevelacerra@verizon.net","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":null,"primaryImage":{"id":"78a395eb-d654-4bd5-8af8-523ea2e1613b-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/bec6d927-ee17-493d-802a-b7c9c52af61f","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":392,"height":572,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2010-09-15T07:00:00.000Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/bec6d927-ee17-493d-802a-b7c9c52af61f","excerpt":"<p><strong>Most engineers would probably agree that recording a drum kit is one of the most challenging studio tasks. </strong>The popularity of sampled drums and drum replacement software is a testament to the facts that: 1. Recording live drums may be a dying art, and 2. It can be a pain in the arse....</p>","url":"/tutorials/79/prepping-drums","authorName":"Steve  La Cerra","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"67f45ba8-3626-4834-b9f9-cbc8f05ba5aa","name":"Steve  La Cerra","role":"author","firstName":"Steve ","lastName":"La Cerra"}],"viewCount":31994,"showCoverImageIntro":false,"tiptapFooterJson":null,"footerEnabled":false},{"id":"2ffa2f68-0dea-4ea6-b495-458da46a125b","title":"A Brief Introduction to Contracts for Freelance Engineers, Mixers and Producers","slug":"intro-contracts","subtitle":"Protect Your Professional Self Without Being A Jerk","issueNumber":73,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Contract document illustration","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/9eaa3a9a-ff8f-489a-b6d2-485a318ad091","size":"small","float":"right","width":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"9eaa3a9a-ff8f-489a-b6d2-485a318ad091"}},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Over the course of making a recording we enter into a lot of agreements, often quite informally, and many without even a clear oral agreement. Examples from my own career include things like, \"If this record goes anywhere, we're totally going to cut you in on it.\" Or, \"That guitar part is kind of a big riff. You should get something for that.\" Or, \"When we make our next record you are going to produce it, no matter what.\" And my personal favorite, \"We aren't going to get too fussy with the mixes, so there won't be a lot of revisions.\" But it doesn't even have to be this overt, as we enter into far simpler and subtler agreements all the time. Example — you're hired to engineer a record, and you assume that you'll get paid at the end of the session, or you mixed a record and assume that your name will be credited as such. Perhaps your client assumes that you're responsible for the back up and archiving of the record. We make these kinds of assumptions all the time, and as long as the two (or more) parties have assumed the same things and everyone follows through on their promises, all is good in recording land. However, when we assume differently things can get a little tricky, sometimes leading to outright disputes — especially when money is involved.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Getting written agreements is a powerful way to make sure that the lines of communication are clear, and I'm writing this to encourage you to begin using written agreements right away (if you haven't already). There are a number of reasons why getting started now is a good idea. When you do end up landing that high-profile gig where the artist's manager is asking you about the terms of the contract, you'll already be familiar with the basic concepts, hopefully have your own standardized contract ready to go and you'll be able to stand your ground until you have landed a fair and solid deal. It's way cooler to have your first contracts be with your friends than with an industry wizard, as you'll have a chance to explore the terms without the risk of wasting someone's time, showing professional ineptitude or worse, being swindled. Once you have gone through contract negotiations a few times, you'll be far more prepared to deal with an industry veteran.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Another compelling reason to start getting things in writing now is that you are minimizing the possibility of misunderstandings around your projects. Misunderstandings are a real bummer and can directly affect the vibe of a project, which in turn can negatively impact the music and the possibility of working together down the road. By making sure things are clear on the business front, you can set business aside and focus on making a great record.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Some people, especially those who haven't previously worked with written agreements, operate under the notion that talking business isn't cool. It ruins the vibe. It shows a lack of trust. It's square. Because of this attitude, asking to put things in writing is often an awkward moment, especially with someone you've already worked with. But even if people remain resistant to this conversation at first, getting things in writing almost always results in an increased trust, a sense of professionalism and a more relaxed vibe when recording. If you do have a disagreement of terms, the written agreement will often serve as a common reference point for finding resolution. You may even want to consider turning down work with people that won't agree to put down the basic terms of your working relationship on paper. By working with contracts, it establishes you as a professional at the start of the relationship. Explain why having a clear agreement up front is important to you and offer to work with them to explain the terms and why certain aspects work in their favor. Creating mutual contract terms can and should be collaborative and non-confrontational.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"As recording continues to become a predominantly freelance profession and as more artists decide to operate without the aid of record labels, setting our various agreements into writing is even more important. These days there are fewer standard practices in place to guide us, and fewer people to put things into writing on our behalf. Where do you begin to get agreements that work? The easy answer is to get a lawyer. If you feel your career picking up momentum and don't have a attorney, it's a great idea to get someone you can trust on board at some point. Working with an attorney to craft a workable agreement that you can adapt for specific purposes should be viewed as a learning experience and an investment in your professional business dealings. Also, friends, colleagues and mentors might be willing to share their experiences and contracts with you. There are also a number of helpful books out there (see sidebar). But even the most cursory agreement you can cobble together on your own is better than nothing in many cases, and as I'll explain later, even an informal email correspondence can serve to help firm things up. Whether it's a twenty-page production contract or a quick email, the same idea applies — create a clear, readable document that you completely understand and can easily explain to others. Let's look at some examples.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Split Letter","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Perhaps the simplest and most potent contract is ","type":"text"},{"text":"the split letter","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"http://www.slideshare.net/imtanyathewriter/the-best-songwriter-split-sheet","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":". This is a single page that simply states who the writers of a song are and their corresponding percentages of the copyright. I have split letters at every session because I never know what's going to happen. I especially have them on hand at co-writing sessions — a must. There are two kinds of copyrights associated with recorded songs. There is a copyright in the composition (lyrics, chord changes and melody), symbolized with the ubiquitous ©. Then there is a separate, very distinct copyright for sound recordings, symbolized with (p), an old-school abbreviation for \"phonogram\". A split letter spells out the agreement on the division of ownership of the copyright © in the composition between the songwriters, and is independent of any copyright regarding the recording, which is often owned by a label. If anyone ever says that they want to share the ownership of a composition with me, I mention using a split letter and ask what percentage they had in mind. I've grown quite comfortable with this moment, as I know that it will be far easier once we put this in writing. It's also ","type":"text"},{"text":"a lot ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"more comfortable once royalties are generated from that copyright, as there's usually nothing left to discuss. This simple contract helps the writers clarify the copyright for any third parties, such as labels and publishing companies who may be involved with the song down the line. The split letter typically determines what percentage of the writer's share is registered with the performing rights societies (BMI, ASCAP, SESAC). Split letters can also be attached as an exhibit or addendum to agreements for production services.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Release Form","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Another common contract is ","type":"text"},{"text":"the release form","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"https://www.docracy.com/4834/work-for-hire-agreement","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":", essentially the opposite of a split letter. I sometimes joke about release forms, saying, \"Sign here to assure that you'll never make another penny from your involvement with this song.\" It's funny because it's true. A release form says the person signing was doing \"work for hire\" and has released ownership of the performance including any claim to copyright or future compensation. These forms often include the release of any ","type":"text"},{"text":"arranging, ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"a somewhat vague term that can wander across the fuzzy border into ","type":"text"},{"text":"composing. ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"As you can see, there's potential for murkiness here, yet it can usually be cleared up easily by using a standard release form. In the United States, federal law regarding \"work for hire\" agreements requires that such agreements be signed before a party renders services, so the best practice is be to get these signed before a session begins. If you're producing, it's a good idea to have standard \"Sideman\" or \"Sideperson\" release forms on hand for session players to sign, though I've signed them as an engineer as well (mixing is often understood legally as a performance, and I sometimes end up playing on sessions I'm engineering). The pros will know the routine, but among friends release forms are perhaps the most awkward to bring up, as they are the equivalent of saying, \"You'll get nothing for your friendly contribution.\" As a consolation of sorts, the compensation for \"work for hire\" agreements often includes credits, which are a way to add value to the agreement as well as giving props to creative egos. Let me stress that even among friends they're a good idea, especially if the artist is looking to sign a label deal down the road, as the label will want to know that all performances are \"free and clear.\" If you explain openly why you are asking them to sign a release form, friends will certainly understand, and you can always blame your request on your attorney who makes sure you get these things signed.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Sometimes you may have to decide whether to get out a split letter or a release form. Let's say someone has contributed to a song in a way that feels like he or she wrote a major hook (hooks are a notoriously murky subject). You can go two ways — get that release form signed pronto if you plan to share nothing, or crack out a split letter and decide just what percentage you want to share. Leaving it open until later only invites problems down the road. Many release forms include language that covers any \"incidental\" song composition contributions and transfers that ownership to the producer or artist (this depends in turn on the agreement between the artist and producer). Of course every case is different, and you may want a little time to consult with others or to just think it over, but let the session player know that you'll have something to sign either way ASAP.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Mixing Contract","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"I am often hired to mix records, so I have a contract that is designed just for mixing. I've worked with my lawyer to make this as short (just over three pages) and as free from legalese as possible. It covers the following topics:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":" how many songs will be mixed how many mix revisions per song (I try to offer two revisions for a total of three mixes per song, and then go hourly) each mix is for one recording of the song (i.e., they can't suddenly say, \"We want you to mix this acoustic version with the orchestra instead of that rock version you were working on all week.\") instrumental mixes will be provided (assuming there are vocals) whether stems are included or not (not part of my mixing rate and billed hourly) how much the client is paying, payment method and when that the client is responsible for studio rental (unless included in the rate), equipment rentals and any other extraneous expenses that the mixer is ","type":"text"},{"text":"not ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"responsible for archival back up of any project data other than the mixes that mixing services are \"work for hire\" and that the mixer has no claim in either the compositional © or sound recording (p) copyright, unless set out in another agreement (this protects the client) that the mixer has the right to attend and/or review the mastering of the mixes (turns out clients love this clause as it shows true concern for the whole project) how mixer's credits are to appear how and when mixer is to use the recordings on demo reels and websites as examples of their work that mixer has 30 days to respond to any disputes that the project is considered done when the client signs the included acceptance letter a clause determining the county in which disputes will be settled (I use my county of business), and that the loser in any legal action will pay all legal fees associated with the dispute (for example, you may need to bring a non-paying client into court) ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"As you can see this contract protects the mixer and the client, and for this reason it typically sets both parties at ease. Each of us will have our own preferences for how to arrange the terms of a mixing contract, and we can tweak them to meet the needs of individual projects. I encourage you to develop contracts that help you work the way you want to work.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Production Contract","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"These can be far more complicated. Among the many types of production contracts, two common ones are \"work for hire\" or \"front end deal\", with the producer making no claim beyond her or his rate (my version is usually about four pages long) and the \"backend deal\" in which the producer gets a percentage of record sales (mine are typically about fifteen to twenty pages long). The complexity of backend deals can't be explained within the confines of this article, so let's focus on that shorter \"work for hire\" production contract, as these are likely more relevant for those just coming into working on contract. A typical \"work for hire\" production contract covers almost exactly the same points as the mixing contract above, but it also spells out the following:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":" the producer is to deliver production masters ready for broadcast and duplication, meaning that s/he sees the project through mastering how many production masters the producer will be delivering (for example, an EP may range from 4 to 6, and an LP from 8 to 12) how much the client is paying, the payment method and time producer is doing \"work for hire,\" unless spelled out in another agreement (i.e., no backend deal) how and where producer's credits are to appear how producer is to use the recordings on demo reel and website producer has thirty days to respond to any disputes (sometimes this is shortened) any songs that the client wants to have produced again will cost the client a specified per-track rate the various costs of production (studio rental, hiring musicians, etc...) are assigned to the producer and/or the client (these allocations depend largely on whether the client is handing the producer a lump-sum budget or just his/her fee and covering the rest of the expenses as they arise) that the project is considered done when the client signs the acceptance letter and pays in full a clause stating that the producer essentially owns all of the sound recordings, outtakes and separate recorded tracks until the client has paid in full (this is key if you end up getting stiffed) ","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Let me stress that this is just a cursory glance at one version of a fairly stripped-down production contract that has been specifically tailored for the way I work. However, I hope it helps to show some of the things that can be covered in a freelancer's \"work for hire\" production contract. Of course, for any project the terms will vary. We will all bring different things to the table for negotiation (whether you have your own studio is an important factor to be considered), and our clients will require different arrangements as well.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"When looking at backend production deals, the variables increase considerably, and will include the terms of royalty payments on record sales, a \"buy out\" clause for the next record should the artist decide to work with a different producer and a slew of other complex matters. In short, you will need a lawyer to help negotiate and draft production contracts with a backend.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Smaller Situations","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"The above are relatively formal contracts that cover long- term projects where the roles are more clearly defined. But, as we all know, a lot of a recordist's work takes place less formally over shorter periods of time. Let's look at some of the less formal ways in which we can make written agreements.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Letter of Agreement","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"As an engineer there have been times when I have decided to get a simple letter of agreement signed by a client. This is usually in cases where there is a large amount of money involved, say for a longer lockout situation. I will also get a letter of agreement if the client has a tendency to try to squeeze a bit too much out of me and/or the studio on sessions, or if I get what one of my colleagues calls \"that feeling\" during conversations with the client (you probably know that feeling). These letters usually just state the basic terms of the work — my rates, a payment schedule, the hours (really important if you're doing a day rate) and sometimes the boundaries of miscellaneous variables (client provides hard drives, for example).","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Email","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"For shorter bookings — let's say a day of drum tracking — it's really not very common to get anything signed, but email can be a good way to confirm any oral agreements. My emails typically say something like, \"Just wanted to confirm that we're on for Friday at noon and we're going to track for ten hours at a rate of $X/hour (dinner breaks are billable). Remember to bring your checkbook and I'll bring an invoice so we can settle up when we're done.\" I suggest that you try to get some sort of confirmation response from the other party, acknowledging that the message was received and the terms are as you both understand them. Even a one-word reply (\"ok\") implies that they read your e-mail, understood the terms and, thereby, a valid contract understanding is cemented. At least once these emails have exposed a misunderstanding between me and a client.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"These emails are also a good opportunity to make known any deposit/cancellation policies you or your studio may have. A clear deposit/cancellation policy is a good idea. I don't always get a deposit as an engineer, but with new clients or clients from those whom I get \"that feeling,\" I often ask for a percentage up front with the rest to be paid at the end of the session. I also let them know that if they cancel within 24 hours, the deposit isn't refundable and that no-shows are billed in full. Of course, one can't always be totally strict about these things, and we have to consider that life happens and remain forgiving when appropriate. But in cases where someone is taking advantage of your time, it's important to uphold any policies you may have.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Other Studios","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"As a freelance engineer working in commercial studios, sometimes I have to communicate the studio's policies to my clients. While it is up to the studio to set their own policies, my clients' behavior vis-à-vis those policies can impact ","type":"text"},{"text":"my ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"relationship with the studio. I make sure my clients understand any studio policies, especially regarding deposits and cancellations. One studio where I do a bulk of my tracking work has a very clear deposit/cancellation policy, and I copy and paste that into my emails with clients once we have agreed on the session dates. This way my clients understand what's involved in renting the studio, whether I'm renting it on their behalf or they are paying the studio directly.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Ergo","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Now that we've looked at some examples, I want to return to the idea that getting things in writing can initially be rather awkward or may even backfire. In order to prevent a situation where asking for a written agreement backfires, the best advice I have is to be upfront and sincere about ","type":"text"},{"text":"why ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"you're asking. I recently had a client balk at my asking for a written agreement for a lockout. When I explained that I was hoping to avoid some logistical confusion like we'd had on the previous record together, my client said, \"Oh yeah. That's true. Good idea.\" I'm sure there are many stories of attempting to get things in writing backfiring, but in most cases a little awkwardness before sessions begin can prevent friction while recording (when you need it the least).","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"From emails to contracts, getting things in writing is about establishing and honoring trust so that the creative work that lies ahead can take place unhindered by logistical business complications. Simply put, contracts are a form of explicit communication. Regardless of how you end up arranging your contracts, keep in mind that the important thing is to have worked through the details to the point where each party is getting a fair deal and a clear understanding of the parameters of the relationship. And, again, if you're new to getting things in writing, now is a great time to jump in. There are good vibes on the other side, and good vibes are vital to great recording sessions.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Thanks to Peter Vaughan Shaver, Esq. (","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"pdxmusiclaw.com","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"http://pdxmusiclaw.com","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":") and Mike Caffrey (","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"www.monsterisland.com","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"http://www.monsterisland.com","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":") for editorial suggestions.","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"References:","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"For all aspects in detail: ","type":"text"},{"text":"All You Need to Know About the Music Business","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"http://www.amazon.com/Need-Know-About-Music-Business/dp/1451682468","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":" ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"by Donald S. Passman","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"For all aspects of music business agreements with great example contracts: ","type":"text"},{"text":"Get It In Writing","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"http://www.amazon.com/Get-It-Writing-Musicians-Business/dp/0793566991","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":" ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"by Brian McPherson, Esq.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"For sample contracts: ","type":"text"},{"text":"The Music Business Contract Library","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"http://www.amazon.com/Business-Contract-Library-Leonard-Guides/dp/1423454588","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":" ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"by Greg Forest","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"For publishing, copyright and split letters: ","type":"text"},{"text":"Making Music Make Money","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"http://www.amazon.com/Making-Music-Make-Money-Publisher/dp/0876390076","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":" ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"by Eric Beall","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"For production (and by extension mixing) contracts: ","type":"text"},{"text":"Confessions of a Record Producer","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"link","attrs":{"rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","href":"http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Record-Producer-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0879309482","target":"_blank"}}]},{"text":" ","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]},{"text":"by Moses Avalon","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Note that the music industry is constantly changing and that many reference materials can become swiftly outdated. Be sure to check publishing dates and use all references as points of departure and learning tools, rather than concrete resources.","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}]}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":null,"primaryImage":{"id":"2ffa2f68-0dea-4ea6-b495-458da46a125b-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/9eaa3a9a-ff8f-489a-b6d2-485a318ad091","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":273,"height":238,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2009-09-15T07:00:00.000Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/9eaa3a9a-ff8f-489a-b6d2-485a318ad091","excerpt":"<p>Over the course of making a recording we enter into a lot of agreements, often quite informally, and many without even a clear oral agreement. Examples from my own career include things like, &quot;If this record goes anywhere, we&apos;re totally going to cut you in on it.&quot; Or...</p>","url":"/tutorials/73/intro-contracts","authorName":"Allen Farmelo","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"50b18e5a-db31-4c9a-bca8-a519e3434c98","name":"Allen Farmelo","role":"author","firstName":"Allen","lastName":"Farmelo"}],"viewCount":102498,"showCoverImageIntro":false,"tiptapFooterJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"farmelo.com","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"},{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"http://www.farmelorecording.com","target":"_blank"}}]}]}]},"footerEnabled":true},{"id":"1ee2be5a-4f93-4eaa-8d45-0048f76a30fc","title":"Fixing It Before the Mix #4","slug":"fixing-it-mix-4","subtitle":"Drums: Simple Recipes for Mixing Happiness ","issueNumber":66,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"One of the biggest stumbling blocks for first-time recordists is tracking ","type":"text"},{"text":"overhead drums.","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]},{"text":" When I get a song to mix I usually solo these tracks first, and it's always a relief to hear simple, clear sounds that conjure up an aural image of one person playing one instrument — but this rarely happens. There are many ways to mic drums, and also many ways to go astray. Good mic preamps and good mics are important, but having the mics in the right places is the most important.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"In a live situation, such as a loud electric band in a club or small room, close mic'ing of the drum kit is probably necessary if you want to do any modifications to the sound later, due to the sound from the other instruments oozing into the drum mics. You might be used to the live thing if you have a history of playing in clubs. If you can't find a place to stand near the drummer where the kit alone sounds great and clear without a guitar amp blowing you away, then close mic'ing may be the only way to go. But when it's only the drums that the mics will hear, with the drummer in a separate room or playing alone, your mic'ing style should be different. Let's consider an ideal scenario: 1) The room sounds good (big enough in all three dimensions, with good acoustic proportions and without a lot of honks and resonances and reflections); 2) The drum kit sounds good, cymbals included; and 3) The drummer plays well, in a balanced, dynamic way. You should be able to capture the kit with two identical model cardioid condenser microphones overhead (two for some stereo imaging and because drum kits are \"wide\" instruments) and maybe a kick mic as well, to catch the \"ground floor.\" Add in a touch of close snare mic, close floor tom mic and maybe a room mic, and you should be good to go. When overhead mics become just a way to document cymbal crashes, it's much more laborious (and expensive) during mixing to create that coherent, glued- together sound out of a bunch of disjointed smacks and thuds, and the time-delay phase problems from all those mics can easily add up to mush. The sound is in the air, not in the wood.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"If you are recording in your square spare bedroom, with a low ceiling and lots of windows, those close mics might help a lot. But the image of that single instrument, \"the drum kit,\" should still be there when you solo the overheads.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Regardless of whether your situation is ideal or funky, you want to avoid the blurry, muddled sound you get when the mics are \"close but no cigar.\" If the mics are positioned badly it's really hard — if not impossible — to rectify this later in mixing. You want to be able to pan both the overheads to the center and still hear a clear, full sound without the \"phasey\" sound of slight time delays between mics. This can be especially evident on \"centered\" sounds like snare hits.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"For all these recipes, keep in mind that you might need to have the mic pads (\"-10 dB\" or \"-15 dB\") switched on, as drums can get pretty loud and can sometimes overload the mic's electronics.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Overheads Recipe 1:","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]},{"text":" Keep it simple. Go buy an X/Y metal stereo bar attachment and put your two matched mics on it. Bring the front of the mics to a point, without letting them quite touch, then tilt them slightly. Attach the bar to the end of a boom stand with a good weight on the end (or a sandbag). Put it over the drums looking down. You can put the stand in front of the kit and place the mic array so it looks down on the kit above the snare. Move it around little by little until you can hear all the different drums clearly and balanced (except the kick, which is further away). Another good option (I learned from producer Mark Williams) is to put the stand behind the kit and \"record the drummer's spine.\" This gives you a bit more hi-hat but is more like what the drummer hears, as it's above his or her ears. You also get more of the beater head of the kick. Either way, listen and move it higher or lower, and make sure you are capturing the cymbals enough. When you put an X/Y pair in mono, it will always sound good since the mics are in phase.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Now add a kick and snare mic — it's the 21st century after all. Add a floor tom mic, rack tom mic, a compressed dynamic mic behind the seat is cool, room mics can be great or even a hi-hat mic. But remember, these are to supplement the overheads not the other way around.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Overheads Recipe 2:","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]},{"text":" Sometimes a mono overhead, centered over the top of the kit and high enough to hear the width of the kit, will catch a great sound. You can make the mix dance by panning the other rhythmic instruments hard left and right and keeping the drum imaging in the center. One mic is as phase- coherent as it gets! I like ribbon mics for mono overheads, but only if the ceiling isn't too low or reflective. A mix with mono drums can be very exciting and punchy.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Overheads Recipe 3:","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}]},{"text":" This three mic — top, side and kick — technique is by far my favorite, but it may be an acquired taste. It was described to me years ago (by Don Dixon) as a variation on the \"Glyn Johns\" overheads. Large diaphragm condensers are best here, but those skinny mics will work too. First, put one mic facing down above the snare, a bit toward the rack toms, high enough to \"see\" the cymbals — maybe three to five feet up. The higher it is the roomier the drums will sound — a traditional measurement was two drumstick lengths. Next, measure exactly the distance from the center of the snare to the front of the mic. Now the fun begins. Put the other mic in back of the drummer, on the floor tom side, looking to the side of and just a bit lower than his shoulder and angled down at the top snare head. (The Johns' technique reportedly had the mic on the side, looking right over the floor tom, pointed at the snare. I like the sound higher and from the back better, you can try both.) Measure and move it until it is exactly as far from the center of the snare as the first (overhead) mic. Note that the drummer's body will hide the sound of the hi-hat a bit from this mic This is the cool part: Pan them left and right, with the top one on the hi-hat side and the back one on the floor tom side. I usually only put them 50 percent wide, but you can play around with it. Add a kick drum mic into the center and you not only have the sound of the drum kit in that room, you have the recognizable vibe of a hundred classic records. The four mic version of this adds a close snare mic, usually a good thing to have just in case.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"There are many other cool ways to position overhead mics, but when you aren't sure if you can trust your monitoring speakers, you should consider keeping it simple by going with one of the above.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"There is no one right way to record drums. But if you are recording for the first time, you can bring a smile to your mixing engineer's face later by starting out with the above recipes. ","type":"text"}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":null,"primaryImage":{"id":"1ee2be5a-4f93-4eaa-8d45-0048f76a30fc-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/34e1d7be-bb0d-46f4-9fe0-c72bb962725d","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":800,"height":1005,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2008-07-15T07:00:00.000Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/34e1d7be-bb0d-46f4-9fe0-c72bb962725d","excerpt":"<p>One of the biggest stumbling blocks for first-time recordists is tracking <strong>overhead drums.</strong> When I get a song to mix I usually solo these tracks first, and it&apos;s always a relief to hear simple, clear sounds that conjure up an aural image of one person playing one instrument — but this...</p>","url":"/tutorials/66/fixing-it-mix-4","authorName":"Chris Stamey","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"f3256fd5-fead-406a-8747-f8f77a8450a7","name":"Chris Stamey","role":"author","firstName":"Chris","lastName":"Stamey"}],"viewCount":18206,"showCoverImageIntro":true,"tiptapFooterJson":null,"footerEnabled":false},{"id":"9a713004-6264-40cb-842e-b09642149c32","title":"Clarinet Variations?","slug":"clarinet-variations","subtitle":"Recording Solo Clarinet","issueNumber":64,"tiptapJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"In April of 2007 I began work on a solo project entitled In Memory of The Labyrinth System. To be released on John Zorn's label, Tzadik, in April 2008, the CD was to be comprised entirely of my solo clarinet music that would then be processed by me on my computer. Like many readers of this magazine, I have been recording all of my own music since the age of 14 on everything from synced-up boom boxes, to 4-tracks, to digital 8- tracks, and most recently on my Mac PowerBook using Pro Tools LE software. In doing so I have reached a point where I can't even write music without conceiving of the sonic world in which it exists. Inspired by the 1957 collaboration between composer André Popp and Pierre Fatosme, Delirium in Hi-Fi (an absolute classic for anyone interested in creative recording), I set out with a specific goal in mind: to create the most personal music that I possibly could that would be based on and comprised exclusively of","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"A.) Extended techniques that I have developed for clarinet.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"B.) Extended recording/ mixing techniques (micro-editing, mic placement/ manipulation and location, etc.)","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"I then placed two very strict limitations on myself:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"1.) I would not be able to use ANY plug-ins other than reverb, compression, and EQ.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"2.) I would not be able to use ANY traditional clarinet voicings — only non-traditional, mostly non-pitch based techniques.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Any sound heard on the record would have to be the result of my own creation. I repeat, no effect that I could not create myself. In conceptualizing the project I decided to treat my computer and Pro Tools rig as nothing more than an efficient and sophisticated tape machine. With a working method, two separate indexes of recording and clarinet techniques, and a series of recording strategies I was off. I wanted all the compositions to be more than just a hodge-podge of \"strange\" sounds and I was determined to make as \"musical\" a record as I could, where every piece would be equally informed by elements of the acoustic and digital world. I have spent the bulk of my musical life split between being in the roles of composer/performer and engineer, and I really wanted my first major release to reflect the influence that the two have had on each other. Just as all woodwind players want other woodwind players to dig what they're doing, I wanted other engineers to hear my record and think of it as a unique contribution. In disallowing myself pitch, melody and harmonies, I had to search for other qualities that seemed musical to me: a sense of magic, drama, tension, release, dynamics and ultimately the ability to tell a story. Working with music that was going to be dependent on the recording process made this challenge easier. Washes of reverb, stacked and layered tongue slaps and volume swells are just a few techniques that I used as engineer to help breathe life into the music that I was assembling. Here are some of the main techniques that I employed:","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"* A large diaphragm condenser mic, wrapped in a piece of wax paper and placed inside the bell of my clarinet. This is a trick that I stole from the wonderful trumpet player Nate Wooley. This effect can be heard on the track \"Nerve To Ampulla Of Superior Canal\" and resembles the sound of a cow giving birth. Using this method — especially when coupled with the fact that I was playing very loudly — caused a lot of distortion, a quality that I found to be absolutely essential to the aesthetic of the project. Several times throughout the CD, as well as when this music is performed live, I rely on blowing out the capsule of a cheap, small diaphragm condenser mic. Not only do I like the sound, but I see it as a representation of what we as musicians and engineers do to ourselves on a nightly basis.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"imageFloat","attrs":{"alt":"Clarinet with reed","src":"https://images.tapeop.com/8066516c-fa65-40c2-beff-bfbe9828fc0a","size":"small","float":"right","width":null,"height":null,"caption":null,"imageId":"8066516c-fa65-40c2-beff-bfbe9828fc0a"}},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"* On the track \"Ending Of Nerve In Recessus Utriculi\" my original idea was to create a piece that, once played all the way through, the listener would have actually heard it 10,000 times. I started by recording the sound of my clarinet played with a pool of saliva in the mouthpiece for two minutes. No melodies, just a static drone, with the only articulation being the sound of me either biting the reed or trapping saliva in the tip of the mouthpiece. While I played this passage I was recording on five different devices simultaneously: a Panasonic SlimLine Dictaphone, my Mbox with an MXL small diaphragm condenser mic right on the bell of the horn, a contact mic attached to the bell, running to a Danelectro Nifty 70 amplifier with a [Shure] SM57 on it, my Boss BR-8 digital 8-track set to record at an 8-bit sampling rate, and finally a MiniDisc recorder with a boundary mic. I then imported all of these tracks into Pro Tools and lined them up. Throughout the piece, what appears to be modulation is actually the sound of me switching between these sources in the mix. The composition is structured as giant digital crescendo; what starts as just two tracks — left and right — of the sounds saliva in the mouthpiece, builds by stacking and repeating more and more tiny snippets of moments that have already happened within the piece until all the listener is left with is thousands of tiny pieces of information flying by so rapidly that all that can be perceived is a violent digital delay. There are over 15,000 micro-edits within this piece and I crashed my computer several times during its creation. It is worth mentioning that this effect was the one that I used most often during the recording and mixing process and can be heard several times on almost every track. Creating delays by taking a small fragment of sound, then duplicating it several times — each time making the sample smaller and smaller — not only creates a more organic delay than what can be produced by a plug-in, but I found also offers more control to the engineer.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"* One effect that I used on the track \"Posterior Canal\" involves using a pair of large studio headphones and a really sensitive mic. I created a new track and wrapped the headphones around the mic and recorded a \"bounce\" of the track that would line up with the overdubbed tracks. I then had a very distorted mirror mono \"image\" of the song. which I used fragments of throughout the piece.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"* While the CD was mostly recorded in my apartment, thinking that some of the genius of Sonny Rollins would rub off on me I took a MiniDisc recorder and my clarinet to various remote locations: the top of the Williamsburg Bridge (at midnight), the bathroom of the Hamburg Airport (at gate 21), the roof of my father's apartment building in Warsaw and in the woods behind my mother's house in North Georgia. As stated before, I wanted equal emphasis on composition/performance and sonic consideration. The howling wind and the sound of ambulances had an incredible impact on the way that I approached each of these recording environments.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"* Ghetto Mellotron: I recorded a series of difference tones in Pro Tools. I then took these and edited microseconds of them together, creating glitchy, attack and decay-less versions of what they originally were. I then bounced these mutated tones to disc and flew them into my digital 8-track. Once I had 8 tracks of this, I rode the faders as if I was striking the keys of a Mellotron. This can be heard on the introductory track, \"Lateral Semicircular Canal.\"","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"* Homemade distortion: Most of the sounds on the record that resemble distorted guitars are actually the result of zooming in on a waveform and deleting microscopic moments from it. An example of this can be heard on the track \"Sinus Utriculi Posterior.\" Sounds that resemble heavy metal guitars are actually the clarinet played with no mouth piece or upper joint and then looped and edited in the manner described above in order to sound \"gritty.\" Each sample lasts about one second and is actually made up of about 30 small samples.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"* While not a totally radical concept, I used obnoxious amounts of automation. Whether using extreme panning or huge washes of reverb, I wanted the mix to really tell a story in the same way that sound effects and music played a role in the old Warner Bros. cartoons. A harmonic scream will suddenly rush from the left channel to the right channel while in the midst of an incredibly dense section of music, reminding the listener of just how much activity is actually taking place.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Ultimately I ended up violating the conditions that I set for myself on three sections of the record: On the track \"Canalis Utriculosaccularis\" I used the sound of a Jew's harp towards the end of the piece and on the track \"Nerve to Ampulla of Lateral Canal\" one can hear the sound of wind chimes very briefly in the first section. Additionally on track two there is a sample of a tongue slap that I pitch-shifted down. I don't feel guilty for doing these things. Something else that once again proved itself to be true both as a composer and as an engineer: Do what the music asks you to do. And I only mention it here so that listeners cannot accuse me of telling a lie. Creating the music heard on In Memory of The Labyrinth System was an incredibly challenging and greatly rewarding experience. Having spent so much time with my headphones strapped on, I have no doubt suffered irreparable hearing damage from having worked on this project. But I have also experienced something else. It's all too rare that we as engineers and musicians get to fully let our hair down with recordings. Having the encouragement to push myself as far as I possibly could, in every single way, in order to make the most extreme recording that I could was instrumental in keeping the creative fire burning hot. I thank John Zorn for the endless support and also giving me the opportunity and trust to pursue a recording project that, while completely unorthodox (and many might claim unlistenable), is as true a music as I could have ever created. Now it's time for some silence and solitude... ","type":"text"}]}]},"tiptapIntroJson":null,"primaryImage":{"id":"9a713004-6264-40cb-842e-b09642149c32-primaryImage","url":"https://images.tapeop.com/e10bc46b-70b1-4724-b3da-4a00bd5bbd0f","alt":null,"caption":null,"width":4003,"height":1323,"variations":null,"is_primary":true,"position":0,"use_case":null},"publicationDate":"2008-03-15T07:00:00.000Z","featuredImageUrl":"https://images.tapeop.com/e10bc46b-70b1-4724-b3da-4a00bd5bbd0f","excerpt":"<p>In April of 2007 I began work on a solo project entitled In Memory of The Labyrinth System. To be released on John Zorn&apos;s label, Tzadik, in April 2008, the CD was to be comprised entirely of my solo clarinet music that would then be processed by me on my computer. Like many readers...</p>","url":"/tutorials/64/clarinet-variations","authorName":"Jeremiah Cymerman","authorSlug":null,"contributors":[{"id":"12c11114-09d2-40d1-b01b-ee68425aaffb","name":"Jeremiah Cymerman","role":"author","firstName":"Jeremiah","lastName":"Cymerman"}],"viewCount":9769,"showCoverImageIntro":true,"tiptapFooterJson":{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"http://www.jeremiahcymerman.com/","type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"http://www.jeremiahcymerman.com/","target":"_blank"}}]}]}]},"footerEnabled":true}],"page":1,"pageSize":12,"hasMore":true}