Late Reflections - the Silent Sky Studios Blog

A Different Way to Record Bass

Jon (admin) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:20:35 +0000

by Jon Goad

A couple of years ago, I read a book called “Guerrilla Home Recording: How to Get Great Sound from Any Studio”. A neat tip that I picked up from the book is to record the signals from both a DI box and a miked bass amp to different tracks. Then you can blend the two tracks together to get a different tone for different songs. You’ll get a very clean tone from the DI box (because it’s coming straight from the bass guitar’s pickups), and depending on how hard the amp is driven, you’ll get some grit and distortion, and more color from the miked amp. I’ve used this technique with some limited success.

I recently came across a YouTube video from Producer/Engineer Ronan Chris Murphy who puts a slightly different spin on this technique. Here are the steps:

Plug your Bass into a DI Box
Connect the XLR Out of the DI to a Mic Preamp and record it to one track on your recorder or DAW
Connect the 1/4″ Out of the DI to a Sans Amp Bass Driver DI input
Connect the XLR Out of the Sans Amp to another Mic Preamp and record it to a different track on your recorder or DAW
Connect the 1/4″ Out of the Sans Amp to your Bass Amp (if using one)

Like the first technique, this provides a very clean signal from the DI and a separate colored (overdriven,gritty, distorted, etc.) signal from the Bass Driver DI. You can blend these two bass tracks together, or use one or the other of them as dictated by whatever sounds best for each song.

If monitoring over headphones, you don’t even have to plug into a bass amp, which will prevent bleed from the bass into any other mics (drums, guitars, etc.). But you can still use the sound from the Bass Driver DI to provide the bass player with more of the tone that he’s come to expect in his headphones. This technique also can also help prevent phase problems that may occur when miking an amp and using a DI, due to the slight delay between the two signals.

I’ll also mention that you wouldn’t necessarily have to use a Bass Driver DI. If you have another bass preamp pedal available, you could just as easily tap the signal from it, or even use the balanced XLR output or an effects send from the bass amp if you have those connections available to you. The trick really amounts to recording two direct signals to two separate tracks–a really clean signal from the DI box and more colored signal from the other source (Bass Driver/Bass Preamp/etc.).

I haven’t gotten to try this out this technique yet, but I’m anxious to. The bass player in my band already uses a SansAmp Bass Driver DI (which is where he gets most of his tone), so connecting it up will be easy. I’ll just have to insert the DI box in front of the Bass Driver. If anyone else tries this technique, feel free to post your results in the comments below.

How to Legally License Cover Songs

Jon (admin) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:53:13 +0000

by Jon Goad

As the owner of a recording studio, one very common question that I’ve been asked is, “can I record a cover song and put it on my CD?” To which I’ve usually answered, “you can, but you have to get what is called a ‘mechanical license’, and it can be kind of a pain. If you’re serious about it, just go Google-search ‘mechanical license’”, to which most people respond with a “deer-in-the-headlights” kind of look.

Thankfully, there’s now a better way to get a mechanical license. Limelight is a new service that allows you to obtain a license online by completing a simple application and submitting it through the Limelight website.

The steps are easy:

Go to the Limelight website and sign up.
Enter the details about the song/s you are covering and including on your CD.
Pay the fees to Limelight (as little as $15 per song plus royalties).
Receive your license/s.
Limelight pays the songwriters and publishers for you.

With the explosion of independent music in the past few years, I suspect that many independent artists have probably included cover songs on their CD’s without obtaining the proper licensing. Those who have done so are actually breaking the law. It’s good to know that now there’s an easy and affordable provider of this service which will help keep artists from breaking the law and ensure that the copyright owners are paid what is owed to them for the use of their material.

Limelight Website

Limelight FAQ

Limelight Prices

Samplitude 11 Producer: Part 3

Jon (admin) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:39:57 +0000

by Jon Goad

In this installment in my series of articles on Samplitude 11 Producer, we’ll cover one of the features that I use probably more often than any other: the Mixer window. I believe that the virtual Mixer is probably one of Samplitude’s strongest points. I’ve used some other DAW software in the past where all of the mixing controls were accessible from the equivalent of S11P’s Arrange window (the main user interface where most of the editing is also performed). This works okay, but for someone who’s accustomed to working with a real mixer, it takes some getting used to. On the other hand, S11P’s Mixer window is laid out almost identically to a real hardware mixer. The only difference is, if you don’t have enough mixer channels, you don’t have to buy a new mixer–you can just add channels with a mouse click (cool, huh).

Another nice thing about having a separate window for your Mixer is that it works great on computers with a dual-monitor setup. I have two monitors, and when working in S11P, I always keep the Arrange window open on the left monitor and the Mixer window opened on the right monitor. This makes my workflow far more efficient than doing everything from the Arrange window or having to constantly open and close the Mixer window.

S11P’s Mixer window is made up mostly of Channel Strips–each of which is identical to one another. In turn, each Channel Strip is made up of several sections. Several of these sections can be expanded or minimized to show or hide its detailed controls. This is helpful if you’re using a smaller computer monitor and don’t have enough real estate to view everything on the screen at once. At the top of each Channel Strip is the input source. This is what determines which channel of your recording interface is routed to this channel on the Mixer. Just below that is the Input Gain control. This is equivalent to the Trim knob on a hardware mixer. If your source for the track was recorded too quietly to have enough volume out of just the fader, you can adjust the Input Gain to boost it. Conversely, if a source was recorded too hot, you could reduce the Input Gain here and use the fader to make fine volume adjustments.

After the Input Gain comes the Aux Sends. You can have up to a maximum of 4 Aux Sends in the S11P Mixer. These are useful for setting up a single Reverb plugin that you may want to use for multiple tracks. You can simply add an Aux, add a Reverb plugin to its insert, and then set the level of the Aux Send for each track for which you want to add the Reverb. Instead of knobs, the Aux Sends are adjusted by clicking and dragging across the bar for each Send. My only guess is that the bars were used instead of knobs just to save space on the screen. It’s a little different, but not bad once you get used to it. There’s not much else to tell about the Aux Sends, except that they are Post-Fader, which is how you would normally want an Aux Send to be set up when mixing a recording. I will note that in the Pro versions of Samplitude, there is a Routing Manager that allows you to change the routing to make the Aux Sends Pre-Fader.

The next section of the Channel Strips are the Inserts. The Inserts are where you would add any VST or Direct X plugin effects to an individual track or to an Aux channel. You can add plugins to the Insert slots by simply clicking the down arrow for each one, and then choosing the one that you want. You can change the order of your plugins by simply clicking and dragging one from one slot to another. You can also right-click on the Inserts section to open an Inserts dialog. Just like the Aux Sends, the Inserts are Post-Fader. I repeat–the Inserts are Post-Fader. This is probably my only complaint about S11P. In my experience, for an Insert to be an Insert, it is inherently pre-fader. I’ve never in my life seen a hardware mixer with Insert jacks that were post-fader. That being said, it seems that if the Inserts were going to be one or the other (pre or post-fader), they should most definitely be pre-fader. With the way that the Inserts function now (post-fader) they operate more like a “Direct Out with Loopback” (if such a thing existed) than an Insert.

The Inserts being post-fader has caused several problems for me when using various plugins. The plugin that I have the most trouble with is Aptrigga. Aptrigga is a sample-replacement plugin that can be used to trigger a Kick or Snare Drum sample from a recorded track. Because the trigger reacts differently based on the input signal that it’s receiving, it messes things up when I try to adjust the Track Volume via the fader. It may cause the plugin to trigger when it should not (if you raise the fader too high), or it may keep it from triggering when it should (if you lower the fader too much). If I make any adjustments to the Track’s volume Fader, I then have to re-adjust the threshold in Aptrigga to ensure that the sensitivity is set properly (which is a real pain). Noise Gate plugins also suffer from pretty much the exact same problem as I’ve described it here, and for the same reasons.

Another example of a plugin that this causes problems with is a Compressor. A Compressor responds differently based on the strength of its input signal, so that when you adjust the fader, it doesn’t just change the track volume as it should–instead it drives the compressor more or less, which affects the resulting sound (sometimes in a not-so-pleasant way). I did contact Magix Support over this issue, and received the following response: “I actually did ask for this based on your last email to see if the order can be changed. It is in the developers suggestion box.” So I’m hopeful that this will be addressed in a future patch or update.

All of that being said, there are a few workarounds for this–first, you can add any level-sensitive VST’s in the Object Editor instead of in a Mixer Insert. Second, you can use a Volume Fader VST in the last slot of your VST Inserts in the Mixer. Then you can use the VST Fader to make volume adjustments instead of the Mixer Fader. Finally, you could route a track to a Submix Bus and use the Submix Bus for any volume adjustments, leaving the individual track’s Fader at Unity Gain (0).

To round out the Inserts section, you have the built-in Sound FX and Dynamics processor. The Sound FX rack consists of 4 processors–a 10-band Graphic EQ, Compressor, Stereo FX 2.0 (Stereo Enhancement), and Variverb (reverb). The Dynamics section is a simple dialog-based compressor/limiter/gate (no fancy user interface). These effects aren’t bad, but I’ve had better luck using third-party VST plugins, both commerical and free.

After the Inserts section, you have the channel EQ. This is another strong suit of the S11P Mixer. The EQ is a 4-band Parametric that can either be adjusted using the knobs in the Mixer, or you can open the full-fledged EQ dialog window by right-clicking on the EQ section in the mixer. The Hi and Low knobs can be set to Shelving, High Pass/Low Pass, or a Bell-Shaped curve. The two mid frequencies are a fixed Bell-Shape. For each band, you can adjust the frequency, Q (width), and the level of Boost or Cut. There’s also a handy Presets dropdown box that contains a collection of presets for various instruments. I typically will start with one of these presets and then just make some tweaks until I find a sound that works well for the track.

After the EQ section, we come to the Pan knob. The Pan knob obviously controls the Panorama–the left/right balance of the channel in the mix. If you right-click on the Pan knob, it brings up the Pan dialog. This dialog gives you considerable control over the Panorama settings of the track (including Surround settings) and also allows you to control Automation for the track’s Pan settings.

Below the Pan knob, there’s a collection of several useful buttons. First is the Link button. This button allows you to link the channel to the adjacent channel to the right in the Mixer. This is useful if you have a stereo source recorded to two separate tracks, such as Drum Overhead mics. When the Link button is depressed, any movements to the fader for the one channel also makes the same movements to the other linked channel. Likewise, any changes to the Pan knob makes the opposite changes to the Pan knob for the linked channel. For example, if you turn the one channel’s Pan to the left, it will turn the linked channel’s Pan knob to the right.

The next button is marked “Rd”, which is an abbreviation for “Read”. This makes the Automation Read function active. When you click the button again, it makes the Automation Write function active. When in Write mode, if you click the Play button in the Mixer or the Transport, any movements made to the channel’s fader will be recorded. After you’ve recorded your automation moves, you can click the Rd button again to make Read mode active again. Now, upon subsequent playback, any moves that you made will be made in real time in the mixer. This is great for boosting a certain part during your mix (such as a guitar solo) or reducing a certain part during a softer passage.

Next is the “S” button, which stands for Solo. The Solo button basically works like a “reverse Mute”. When this button is clicked, you will hear only the track/s that are Solo’d upon playback. This is great to isolate a single track or a few tracks if you need to hear them by themselves. Next we come to a button with a red dot on it. This button is used to arm tracks for recording. When the button is depressed, the red light is illuminated. When it’s not depressed, the red light is turned off, meaning the track is not armed to record. Next is the “M” or Mute button. As you might have guessed, this button mutes the audio for any tracks for which it’s depressed. Below the Mute button is a button with a picture of a speaker on it. This button is used to manual turn monitoring on or off for a given track. I normally only use this button when working with MIDI tracks, as I normally do my monitoring for audio tracks using an external mixer or the software mixer for my recording interface.

Next we come to the channel fader. The fader is used for making volume adjustments to a track, and will probably get used as much if not more than anything else in the Mixer window. Below the fader is an “FX” dropdown box. This contains some channel effect presets that are tailored to certain instruments. These presents include a combination of Compression, EQ, Reverb, Delay, etc. Below the FX is the track’s name. This descriptive text simply identifies the track as “vocals”, “guitar”, “snare”, etc. By default, the tracks are just numbered. You’ll have to double-click on the text to edit it. Below the track name is the track’s Output Routing. Normally, all our your tracks would probably be routed to the main stereo outs of your soundcard. However, if you decide to use any Subgroups (busses) in your mix, it’s here that you would assign the track to that Subgroup. Also, if you are mixing “Out of the Box” using an external analog mixer, it’s here that you would assign each track to the appropriate output of your interface/sound card.

Wow, after all of that, we’ve only covered the Channel Strips. Check back for my next post, when we’ll cover the Master Section of the Mixer.

If you appreciate the info provided in this series of articles, and choose to purchase Samplitude 11 Producer, please support this site by clicking on the link above to purchase.

Samplitude 11 Producer: Part 2

Jon (admin) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:57:39 +0000

by Jon Goad

In Part 1 of this series, we covered the evolution of Samplitude 11 Producer as a product. Here in Part 2, we’ll begin to cover some of the highlights of the software in detail. First, we’ll begin with the Arrange window. The Arrange window is where you see a visual overview of all of the tracks in your project, as well as one or more Wav files or MIDI passages on each track. It’s in the Arrange window that you can do things like zoom in on a track and perform delicate editing on a particular passage. Depending upon the zoom level, you also have common track functions available on each track–controls like Volume, Pan, Mute, Solo, and Record (to arm the track for recording). Also on each track, you will see one more “objects” that represent the Wav files or MIDI passages that have been recorded on that track. This brings us to one of the nicest features of S11P–object-based editing.

By double-clicking on an object in a track, it brings up the Object Editor dialog, which includes a host of controls that you also have at the Track level–Pan, Volume, the ability to insert VST plugins, etc. What this means is that if you only want to apply an effect to a certain passage of a track in a song, you can simply split the object (take a single object and break it up into multiple obects) for that track, select the new object, and apply your effects to only that new object. One example where I’ve used this feature was during a section of a song where the drum groove was featured prominently by itself. I split the objects on the Drum Overhead tracks and applied a Flanger effect, which helped to add a little pizzazz to an otherwise somewhat dull-sounding section. Using this object-oriented technique works out much better than having to apply the effects to the whole track and then turn them on/off using automation, or for that matter, duplicating the entire track and then muting/un-muting the dry and effected tracks appropriately. We’ll look at at the Object Editor in more detail in a future post.

Also in the Arrange window, you have the Track Editor. The Track Editor gives you an expanded view of the currently-selected track, providing access to just about any control that you would need over it. This way, even if you have your zoom level set to a minimum (so that you don’t see the individual controls on each track), you can still access the track’s controls in the Track Editor by simply selecting it. The Track Editor is divided into several sections, each of which can be expanded or minimized. The first section includes general track controls such as Solo, Mute, Record, Monitor, Peakmeter, Volume, Pan, FX presets, and a MIDI button to toggle a track between being an audio or a MIDI track. The second section (Automation) provides access to enable automation on either the track or VST plugins. The third section (MIDI) provides the MIDI routing and selection of VST Instruments. The fourth section (Audio) contains the audio input/output routing and an input gain control. The fifth section (Plugins) allows access to VST or DirectX plugins, as well as the built-in Sound FX rack and Dynamics processor. The sixth section (Aux) provides control for the track’s Aux Sends. The fifth section (EQ) provides acess to the track’s Parametric Equalizer, which can also be opened in its own dialog with a right-click. The last section (Comments) allows a free-form text area for you to make any notes that you might need to remember about the track.

When working in the Arrange window, you’ll also frequently be working with the Transport control. The Transport provides all of the common controls for a tape machine: Play, Record, Stop, Fast Forward, Rewind, and a Jog wheel. It also provides access to project-level settings such as Unit of Measure, Markers (Go To/Set/Delete), Punch In/Out Points, enable Punch mode, Midi Record mode, Loop, Monitor, Tempo, Bars/Beats, Metronome on/off, and Beat/Grid Snap.

As you can probably guess, there’s a whole lot more in the Arrange window that could be covered here, but for now, we’ll leave it at that. Check back for my next post where we’ll cover the Mixer window.

If you appreciate the info provided in this series of articles, and choose to purchase Samplitude 11 Producer, please support this site by clicking on the link above to purchase.

Samplitude 11 Producer: Part 1

Jon (admin) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:26:48 +0000

by Jon Goad

Samplitude 11 Producer is a Multitrack Recording Software Application, and is the latest version of what used to be called “Magix Music Studio Deluxe” and subsequently “Samplitude Music Studio”. Music Studio Deluxe started out as two separate programs–MIDI Studio and Audio Studio. Starting with version 12, they combined the MIDI recording functionality into the Audio Studio and renamed it “Samplitude Music Studio”. They kept this name up through version 15 here in the US. They also released a version 16 in Europe, but it was never released to the US market.

Speaking of version numbers, in addition to name changes, Magix has also gone through a few rounds of changes with their method of versioning as well. At certain times in the past, they have used the same version numbers in both the US and European markets. However, when they included the year as part of the version number, the US always appeared to be one year behind. Therefore, at times, they’ve changed the version # for the US market to be a more arbitrary version # (based on the release number, I presume). As near as I can figure it out, starting with Version 2000, here is how the versions have broken out over time and in the two major markets:

Europe	US/UK
Music Studio 2000	Music Studio 2000
?	Music Studio Deluxe 6
?	Music Studio Deluxe 7
Music Studio Deluxe 2004	Music Studio Deluxe 2004
Music Studio Deluxe 2005	Music Studio Deluxe 2005
?	Music Studio Deluxe 10
?	Music Studio Deluxe 11
Samplitude Music Studio 2007	Samplitude Music Studio 12
Samplitude Music Studio 2008	Samplitude Music Studio 14
Samplitude Music Studio 15	Samplitude Music Studio 15
Samplitude Music Studio 16	N/A
N/A	Samplitude 11 Producer

Whatever name you’d like to call it by, past users have known for years that they were basically getting a “lite” version of Samplitude (which is one of the top-dog DAW’s on the market) for a fraction of the price. Magix is a German company, and they also produce a lot of off-the-shelf software that you might see at Best Buy (MP3 Maker, Movie Edit Pro, etc.), but don’t be fooled. It may not be all that well-known in the United States, but this software is one of the best bargains you’ll find in a DAW for a home or project studio.

For an added bit of history, I’ve been using this product for about 10 years now, starting with Music Studio V2000. I found it in the bargain software bin at a local entertainment store for a whopping $5. I was totally new to computer-based recording, but after tinkering around with it for a short while, I was up and running. Over the years I upgraded to Music Studio Deluxe Version 6, Music Studio 2004, Music Studio 2005, Music Studio 10, Samplitude Music Studio 12, Samplitude Music Studio 14, and now Samplitude 11 Producer. As a longtime user, I can confidently say that Samplitude 11 Producer is without question the most feature-packed and stable version to date.

Now that we’re finished with the history lesson, let’s talk about Samplitude 11 Producer (I’ll abbreviate it “S11P” from here on out). S11P is actually the result of combining the best-of features from what was formerly two distinct products: Samplitude Music Studio and Samplitude SE (yes, another product/version). Samplitude SE was a bargain-basement-priced, no-frills version of the professional-grade Samplitude line, whereas Samplitude Music Studio was geared slightly more for the “pro-sumer” market. Oddly, Samplitude SE had stricter limitations on the simultaneous inputs/outputs (4 Stereo/8 Mono) than Music Studio (8 Stereo/16 Mono). It also didn’t include some of the extra music-making goodies that were included in Music Studio such as several nice VSTi’s and a few other “synth object” instruments. However, it did have a lower price tag.

Now, to cover some of the features of S11P. As previously mentioned, with S11P you can have up to 16 simultaneous inputs and outputs (depending on your sound card of course), and up to 64 tracks in a single project. The software mixer is very easily laid out, and the application supports VST, Direct X, and Rewire. It will record either 16-bit or 24-bit Wav files and has Track Freeze and Un-freeze, which is great for freezing MIDI tracks to free up CPU power. It also has some great built-in effects (EQ, Compression, Reverb, etc.), including a useful Mastering Suite for putting the final touch on your mixes. I could go on, but if you’re interested, you can read the complete list of features on the Magix website (just click on the banner below).

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll actually get into covering some of the highlights of this package in detail.

If you appreciate the info provided in this series of articles, and choose to purchase Samplitude 11 Producer, please support this site by clicking on the link above to purchase.

Squeeze Play – Compression Demystified

Jon (admin) — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:07:26 +0000

by Jon Goad

When discussing modern recording techniques, you can’t get far without someone bringing up the topic of compression. If you’ve seen a compressor in the mail-order music catalogs or online music store, but never understood what it was or why you might need it on your recordings, sit tight. The best way to understand compression is to define what it is used for. That being said, compression can be used for one of two primary purposes: controlling dynamics or as an effect.

Controlling Dynamics

When used for controlling dynamics, you can think of compression as manipulating an audio signal to reduce the dynamic range. The dynamic range is the variation between the softest and loudest parts. Reducing the dynamic range through compression makes the softer parts louder and the louder parts softer. This has the overall effect of making the track as a whole seem louder, because you can raise the overall level without causing peaks at an unacceptably high level due to the loudest
transients. Controlling the dynamics of a track is especially important when dealing with signals that have a wide dynamic range.

A good example of using compression for dynamics control would be when recording a Lead Vocal track. Imagine that you’re recording a song that has both some softer vocal parts as well as some louder parts. If you were to set your input level to be fairly hot when recording the softest parts, you would no doubt end up with some clipping when it came to the louder parts. On the other hand, if you set your input level to be fairly hot when recording the loudest parts, the softest parts might end up being almost inaudible. The solution to this problem would be to use a compressor to “tame the peaks” of the
loudest parts, while allowing the softer parts to pass through without being affected, giving a more consistent level throughout the track.

Compression as an Effect

As an effect, compression is used to manipulate, or shape the transients (loudest peaks) of a signal. Although it can be used
on any instrument, this technique is used most often on drums. Compressing drums often has the effect of giving them a fatter, punchier sound. Drums tracks that sound thin, or hollow in their original, unaltered state can usually benefit greatly from compression. Many engineers also describe the effect of compression as making the track seem “closer”, or more in-your-face to the listener.

Compression in Mastering

Compression is not only used in the mixing stage of a recording on individual tracks, but it’s also used in the mastering stage. A mastering engineer will use compression for the same reasons that we’ve already discussed–to control dynamics and as an effect. However, in the mastering stage, this compression is applied to the entire mix (the stereo mix that was created at the mixing stage) rather than an individual track. For this reason, it’s crucial that the engineer apply the compression with extreme care and skill. If not, the entire track can quickly be ruined.

Limiting

When Compression is applied using a Ratio of 10:1 or greater, that compression is usually referred to as “limiting”. Limiting basically sets a ceiling or limit that keeps the level from exceeding that limit under any circumstances. Limiting is especially importing when working with digital audio to prevent the signal from clipping and introducing any unwanted
artifacts such as audible distortion.

The Loudness War

No discussion of compression in mastering would be complete without mentioning what has come to be known as the “loudness war”. This is the term that has come to describe the tendency of modern mixing and mastering engineers to over-compress a recording to try and make it louder than its competition. The idea is that the louder a recording is, the more attention it will demand compared to other “competing” recordings (on TV, radio, etc.). Have you ever noticed that when you’re watching TV, you’ll have the volume set at comfortable level, but then it goes to a commerical break, and suddenly you have to turn
the volume down to keep your ears from bleeding? Well, that’s kind of an appropriate analogy for what we’re talking about here. Commericals are very heavily compressed so that they will be louder than other programs or commericals to grab the attention of the listener more than its competition.

The difference between commercials and recorded music is, with commericals, no one listens to them for the pleasure of it, so if you have to sacrifice the sound quality in exchange for loudness, it’s no big deal. However, when it comes to recorded music, the primary purpose is often for the pleasure of listening to it, so when you sacrifice the quality in exchange for loudness, you have somewhat of a dilemma–just how much quality are you willing to sacrifice? Overly-compressed music also has a tendency to cause listening fatigue, because even if you lower the volume, the music still seems to maintain a consistent higher intensity than comparable music with a wider dynamic range.

Conclusion

In conclusion, compression can be a useful tool in recording audio. It’s helpful both for controlling dynamics and creating effects on individual tracks and on an overall mix. But like all useful tools, you must take care when using it so as not to overuse it. If not used with care, compression can ruin an otherwise great recording.

Further Reading:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Articles/Compression/

Review: Quik Lok BS-336 Monitor Stand Pair

Jon (admin) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:17:02 +0000

I recently rearranged the control room in my project studio so that I could add a second LCD monitor to my computer. Before adding that second monitor, I was using a desk with a shelf that would support both my computer monitor and my nearfield monitor speakers. But after adding the second monitor, the desk was no longer wide enough to hold all 4 (two computer monitors plus 2 monitor speakers). However, the desk was too wide to allow room on each side for monitor speaker stands, so I actually needed a smaller desk.

Fortunately, I already owned a smaller computer desk, so I swapped it out with the old desk, but now I needed the monitor speaker stands. After doing a considerable amount of research, I settled on the Quik Lok BS-336. These stands are welded steel, have three vertical columns, a large base, and an 11” square pedestal plate. They are rated to hold up to 120 pounds. My monitors weight 36 pounds each and have about a 10” square footprint, so the 11” plate would be just about right. These stands also feature a choice of floor leveling spikes or threaded rubber feet, built-in cable management, and two of the 3 vertical columns can be filled with sand or lead shot to help decouple the monitors from the floor. So the BS-336 seemed like a clear winner.

Quik Lok also makes an identical version, the BS-342. The only difference is the height. The Bs-336 is 36” in height while the Bs-342 is 42”. It would appear that the 42” version is aimed at folks who set up their monitors on their side (think Yamaha NS-10’s), while the 36” version is for those who set them up vertically (as do I). I will mention that both stands are a fixed height and are not adjustable. So if you want to be able to adjust the height of your speakers, you’ll need to use some sort of spacers to get them higher off the floor, or choose another pair of stands.

I had some trouble finding a dealer who actually had the BS-336 in stock, but finally came across a dealer who had a decent price (a little over $100 with free shipping).
They accidentally sent me two pairs of the stands, because there’s no indication on the box that there are actually two stands inside. Of course, being the honest fellow that I am, I e-mailed them and shipped the extra pair back to them using a pre-paid shipping label that they e-mailed to me (along with their thanks for my honesty).

When I unpacked the stands, the pieces seemed solid enough. They aren’t exactly built like a tank, but they really shouldn’t need to be. The hardware packet contained all of the Allen-head screws and an Allen wrench to tighten them up. As I mentioned, there are two sets of feet included (both are threaded for precise leveling of your speakers. Being that I have laminated hardwood floors in the my control room, I chose the rubber feet rather than the carpet spikes.

Assembling the stands was fairly easy. The instructions weren’t too helpful, but fortunately, this isn’t rocket science, so you don’t really need too many instructions. A word of advice, though: go ahead and start all of your screws before you fully tighten any of them. This will give you enough “wiggle-room” to get all of them started, and as you tighten them, they will self-align. The threaded receivers for the screws are welded into the stands somewhat imperfectly, so if you don’t do this, you may have a hard time getting the stands put together.

On the specs for these stands, it mentions that the vertical columns can be loaded with sand or lead-shot to help to isolate (decouple) the speakers from the floor. This also adds considerable weight to the stands, making them less likely to tip over. So, after assembling the stands, I set out to fill them with sand. I bought a bag of “Play Sand” (sand for filling a sandbox for kids) at my local home center for around $4. However, when I set out to fill the stands, I encountered a few problems.

First, you can only fill two of the three columns with sand, because the third column (the one in the read of the stand) has two openings in it for the built-in cable management. There’s one opening near the bottom of the column where you insert the ends of your power and connecting audio cable, and another opening at the top where the ends come out and connect to the speakers. Okay, that’s cool. I can still fill the front two columns—right?

The problem with filling the front two columns was that there were no end-caps to seal the bottom. Remember, these columns are just hollow square tubes, so if you pour the sand in the top, it’s going to pour right out the bottom. There are also a couple of cuts in each tube at the bottom that help you align the tubes with the triangular base during assembly, and the holes where the screws go in. So there were a multitude of ways that the sand could leak out.

At first, I thought that maybe there were supposed to be some additional pieces included in the packaging that were just left out (such as some kind of end-caps). So I went to Quik Lok’s website and sent them an e-mail through their contact page. I waited about a week with no response, so I finally called them on the phone. I talked to 3 different people, each of whom transferred me to someone else after I told them my problem. One of them said that she thought maybe the design of the stands had been changed so that you could no longer fill them with sand, and that their specs and documentation hadn’t been updated to reflect it. After talking to the third person, they assured me that I was about to be transferred to the person who could answer my question, as she was some sort of “product specialist” for the Quick Lok line of products. Quik Lok, just like many companies, is just a subsidiary of a larger conglomerate of companies. Surprise–I got her voicemail, so I left a message explaining my problem. I never received a call back.

I finally decided that I was on my own to come up with a solution. I was going to fill these things with sand if it killed me! I even posted on a home-recording forum and got some suggestions. The best suggestion was to cut some square pieces of wood and glue them in the end of the tubes to keep the sand from leaking out. But I finally came up with an even simpler solution—I bought a can of dense expanding foam insulation (normally used for filling gaps and cracks around the house). I just squirted a little foam into the end of the two tubes, and after giving it about 24 hours to cure, I filled them with sand. And I haven’t seen any sand in my control room floor yet.

At long last, it was finally time to place my monitor speakers on the stands. The stands’ packaging included some adhesive-backed rubber strips, presumably to keep the monitors from sliding around and maybe to help isolate them from the floor. I, however, had long ago created some homemade foam risers (similar to Auralex Mopads), so I simply placed them atop the stands, and place the monitors atop them. After all this work, did it make any difference in the sound? Maybe. But if so, it was a subtle difference. But hey, I didn’t but these stands for their “sound”, I bought them to keep my speakers off the floor!

In conclusion, after a little ingenuity, the BS-336 Monitor Stands are a solid choice. They are sturdy, have some helpful features, and are affordably priced. Don’t count on any stellar support from Quik Lok if you have problems, but hopefully you won’t need too much support. These are only monitor stands, after all.

http://www.quiklok.com

Model: BS-336

36″ (91cm) Fixed Height Near-Field Monitor / Speaker Stand

* Perfect for home, project or professional recording studios
* All-steel, arc welded construction. NO fibre or chipboard
* Attractive design incorporating cable management
* Solid triangular base with adjustable levelling floor spikes
* Vertical columns may be sand loaded to deaden sound and increase stability
* Sturdy metal top plate measures 11″ square (28 cm)
* 120 lb (54 kg) weight capacity
* Speaker plate dimensions: 11″ square – 28cm square
* Fixed Height: 36″ – 91.4cm
* Base Size: 17.7″ square – 45 cm square
* Weight: 13.3 lb – 6kg

Drum Tuning Tips

Jon (admin) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:28:59 +0000

by Jon Goad

It’s been my experience that many drummers both young and old have a real lack of knowledge when it comes to tuning their drums. A properly-tuned drumset will not only sound good, but it will also motivate the drummer to want to practice and play more. It’s kind of like the difference between driving a old beat-up clunker and racing around in a new sportscar. Keeping this in mind, I thought it would be helpful to share my own method for tuning drums:

Remove the drum from it’s stand and remove the old head/s.
Seat the new head on the drum.
Place the counterhoop (the metal hoop that holds the head on) over the head, replace the tension rods, and finger-tighten them two at a time (one across from the other) as tight as you can. Again–use only your fingers–do not use a drum key just yet.
After finger-tightening, use a drum key to begin tightening each rod 1/4th of a turn, moving from one rod to the next in a similar pattern to that of tightening the lug nuts when changing a tire (see Figure 1 below).
When the head begins to tighten up a bit, use the eraser end of a pencil to tap on the head, in about 1 inch from the edge of the head at each tension rod. You will hear a slightly different pitch at each lug. If the pitch is higher than most of the other lugs, loosen the tension rod a little and try again. If the pitch is too low, tighten it a little and try again. Continue this process until the pitch is the same at each lug.
At this point you may also want to strike the head with a stick until the sound of the drum reaches the desired pitch and the head reaches the desired tension (tight heads are more responsive, let your sticks bounce higher and faster, and have a higher pitch, while loose heads are less responsive, and have a lower pitch).
Continue tapping with the pencil, and adjusting the tension until you’re pleased with the sound of the drum and the tension of the head.
Mount the drum back on it’s stand, and you’re ready to rock!

Typical Drum-Tuning Patterns

Instead of tapping on the head with a pencil (which can be a long and painstaking process), you can also use a drum-tuning device, such as the Drum Dial. The Drum Dial is placed on the head, in about an inch from each of the lugs, and gives you a readout of the tension of the head at that lug. This makes it way easy to get each lug tuned consistently. I began using a Drum Dial about 2 years ago, and I’ve been extremely happy with the results that I get from it. It’s proven to be a huge timesaver for me. The Drum Dial also includes a handy chart with recommended tensions for both the batter and resonant heads for a variety of different sizes of drums.

When it comes to tuning toms and floor toms, some people try to tune them to specific notes, or in steps. But I’ve always found that each drum usually has a specific pitch where it really sings, so I don’t usually bother trying to tune in steps. I just work on each drum one at a time until I think it sounds good and the tension is about right, and leave it at that.

Remember, tuning drums is somewhat of an art and a science that takes a lot of practice and time to master. Just experiment with these steps until you find the way that works best for you and “stick” with it.

Using an Insert Jack as a Direct Out

Jon (admin) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:08:18 +0000

by Jon Goad

When connecting a mixer to a digital audio interface or multi-track recorder, you normally connect the Direct Out jack of each mixer channel to a track’s input on the interface. For example, let’s say your kick drum mic is connected to channel 1 of the mixer. If you wanted to record the kick drum to track 1, you would connect the channel 1 Direct Out to the track 1 input of the interface. You would then connect the channel 2 Direct Out to the track 2 input of the interface, etc. Using the Direct Outs in such a way takes each channel’s signal post-fader and post-EQ and sends it straight to the recording device. This allows you to record that one instrument (and only that instrument) to its corresponding track on the recorder or in your DAW software.

But what if your mixer doesn’t come equipped with Direct Outs? Many lower-priced mixers, or mixers designed more for stage use, do not. It’s also common on many 16-channel mixers to only have Direct Outs on the first 8 channels. If your mixer doesn’t have Direct Outs (or doesn’t have enough of them), you could always use the Main L/R Outputs of the mixer, but there are only two of them. But the problem with this is that ALL of the channels in use will get mixed together and sent to those outputs, which is generally not what you want. If your mixer has Subgroup outs (or “buses”), you could use those, but on a 4-bus mixer, there are only, well–4 of them. So what’s a guy to do if he wants to record each mixer channel to its own track? Fortunately, there’s another alternative–the Insert Jack.

Fig 1: A Typical Mixer Patch Panel with Insert Jacks on every channel and Direct Outs only on channels 1-8.

An Insert Jack is a TRS (Tip-Ring-Sleeve or 1/4″ stereo) jack that is typically used to connect a signal processor to only affect a single mixer channel. An example would be a compressor or noise gate that might be connected through the Insert Jack of a mixer channel to only affect a single vocal mic. To use the Insert Jack in such a way, you need a “Y” cable with a stereo TRS plug on one end (connected to the Insert Jack) and two mono TS (Tip-Sleeve or 1/4″ mono) plugs on the other end. One of the TS plugs is connected to the input on the signal processor and the other is connected to the output of the same device. So essentially, the Insert Jack creates a signal “loop” that both sends the signal for the channel out to an external signal processor and then returns it back to the mixer, all through a single jack (the Insert Jack). However, if you’re not using an Insert Jack for its intended purpose (and you often will not), it has a handy second function–as a Direct Out.

Fig. 2: A Y-cable used for patching an effects processor through an Insert Jack.

There are a few different ways of using an Insert Jack as a Direct Out. First, you can use a standard TS to TS patch cable. Plug the cable all the way in to the Insert Jack. The only drawback here is that the signal is sent to the recorder from the Insert jack, but the signal is “interrupted” and is no longer sent to the mixer’s main outputs. This may be okay for some recording situations, but in other cases, you will want the signal passed on through to the main outputs as normal, for monitoring purposes or for connection to a power amp and speakers in the case of a live concert.

The next option using a regular TS to TS cable is to only plug the cable in to the “first click” of the Insert Jack. This will tap the signal and send it straight out to the recorder, while still allowing it to pass on through to the mixer’s main outputs. The only drawback to this is that if you don’t get the cable plugged in just right (to only the first click), you may end up with either no signal to your recorder or no signal to the main outputs (or both).

So a better alternative than the “first click” or the “all-the-way-in” method is to use a special cable or adapter that both passes the signal for the channel to the send of the Insert Jack but still passes it on through to the mixer’s outputs as normal. To do this, you can use a Stereo Plug to Mono Jack adapter with a normal mono TS to TS cable. Or you could buy a special Insert Direct Out cable adapter.

Fig. 3: An Insert-to-Direct-Out Adapter Plug

Fig. 4: An Insert-to-Direct-Out Adapter Cable

However, if you’re like me, you like to keep your connections and cable runs as simple and clean as possible, in which case you don’t like using adapters or plugging cables into cables. So the most elegant alternative is to use a specialized Insert Jack/Direct Out cable for just this purpose. Assuming that you have some very basic soldering skills, this cable is very easy to make, which I will now describe.

Start with a regular mono patch cable with TS plugs on both ends. Remove one of the plugs from the end with some wire cutters or tin snips. Now, solder a stereo TRS plug onto that end of the cable, shorting the Tip and Ring together, and connecting the shield to the Sleeve as normal. This will effectively send the signal to the output of the Insert Jack, while simultaneously returning it to the mixer, which will pass the signal on through to the Main outputs.

Fig. 5: Wiring Diagram for the TRS plug of an Insert-as-Direct-Out Cable

Some audio snobs might scoff at such a technique, saying that an Insert Jack wasn’t designed to be used this way, and therefore it shouldn’t be. However, some audio purists argue that for recording purposes, this method might actually be superior to using a Direct Out, because the signal path should be the shortest, cleanest, and most uncolored. The reason is that the signal is being sent directly from the preamp to the recorder, without going anywhere else. It’s not passing through the EQ or even the fader, which could, in theory, color or degrade the signal.

Now, of course, like anything else, there are some pros and cons to using this technique. We’ve already covered the pros, so now for the cons. First, when using this technique, the only control that you have over the level of the signal being sent to the recorder is the Trim or Gain knob on your mixer. Because the Insert Jack is pre-fader, the fader becomes useless in terms of the signal being sent to the recorder. However, the fader will still control the level of the channel in the main mix. Second, when using this technique, you are bypassing the EQ, so if you like to use some EQ for preliminary shaping of the recorded track, you’re out of luck. But in most cases, I don’t use any EQ when tracking. I use the parametric EQ built into my DAW software for shaping the sound of my tracks after recording, so this isn’t really a concern for me. Finally, if you’re using the Insert Jack as a Direct Out, you can no longer use it as an Insert. So if you wanted to patch a Compressor into the channel to tame some peaks, you’d have to connect it another way (i.e.: Insert to Compressor to Recorder).

In conclusion, if you need to do some multitrack recording, but don’t have a mixer that’s equipped with Direct Outs (or enough of them), the Insert Jack makes a handy replacement. Or if you’re an audio purist who wants the cleanest and shortest possible signal path between your mic and recorder, the Insert Jack may be the way to go.

To Click or Not to Click…

Jon (admin) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:47:26 +0000

by Jon Goad

When you’re ready to do any serious recording, the question inevitably arises: should I, or should I NOT use a click track? If you’re new to the term, a “click track” is a track that is played in a musician’s headphones while they are recording to help them keep in time. Because the drums help to form the foundation or backbone of a rhythm track, the click track is most commonly used when recording the drums.

There are several pros and cons to using click tracks:

Pros

Helps the musician to maintain a consistent tempo throughout the performance.
This, in turn, allows for much easier editing of a track after the initial performance. For example, using a click can allow to you punch in and out on a drum track, which would normally be very difficult, if not impossible.
Having a consistent tempo throughout the song also makes it easier to copy and paste certain parts of other tracks, which should lock in well with the drums. An example would be a repeated chorus on the Vocals. If the singer really nails it on the first chorus, you can simply copy and paste that chorus throughout the rest of the song. You could do the same for repeated passages of any instrument–guitar, bass, keyboards, etc.

Cons:

Playing with a click track requires practice & skill, and can be difficult for musicians who aren’t accustomed to doing it.
Some people think that playing with a click track makes the recording sound too “mechanical”, “lifeless”, or “sterile”. The argument is this: why have a living breathing drummer play on the track if it’s going to sound like a drum machine? Just use a drum machine! In addtion, some people actually like the tempo of a song to “breathe” just a bit, which (in their opinion) can add a nice vibe to a song.
Playing with a click track requires some additional resources in the studio, including a hardware or software metronome of some sort, a headphone amp, and some headphones with decent isolation so the drummer can hear the click plainly over the sound of their drums.

Flavors of the Click Track
There are two major variations of the click track. First is a literal “click” sound or tone that’s generated by a metronome (hardware or software). Second is a a programmed MIDI drum or percussion beat (such as a cowbell) that the drummer just plays along with. Some drummers find that playing along with a programmed drum beat feels more natural than playing with a literal click. This would seem to hold especially true for drummers who are accustomed to playing along with their favorite CD’s in their headphones. Other drummers seem to have no trouble playing with a click, and actually prefer it so they can more easily distinguish the sound of their own drums from the click track.

A click track can also be enhanced by adding a scratch rhythm guitar track, bass track, and/or vocals–whatever helps the drummer play in a natural, fluid manner, and helps the drum tracks sound great. This will require more time and effort to lay down these tracks (which may ultimately be scrapped), but if it helps you to create better drum tracks, it may be well worth the trouble.

So Should I Use it or Not?
Now we come to the what I will call “The Great Click Track Paradox”:

If it’s difficult for you to play along with a click track, you probably need one. If it’s easy for you to play along with a click track, you probably don’t need one.

This may sound confusing at first, but it makes perfect sense. If it’s easy for you to play with a click, you probably have a good “inner clock” that causes you to naturally stay in consistent time as you play. If, on the other hand, you find it difficult to play with a click, it probably means you don’t have a great internal clock, and could benefit from the click track to help keep you in time. However, for some drummers, it may be so difficult to play along with the click track that the song suffers, and you would be better served not to use one at all.

Conclusion
Ultimately, whether or not to use a click track is a subjective, artistic decision. In my experience, I’ve made some great recordings that both did and did not use a click track. For those who choose to use a click, here’s some final words of advice for the drummer–if you do decide to use a click track in the studio, practice with one in advance. You don’t want to waste lots of time and energy in the studio finding out whether or not you’re comfortable playing with a click. The answer to the question–”to click or not to click?” should already be answered well in advance of your tracking session.