In this episode, Paul White and Hugh Robjohns address some of the most frequently-asked questions about home studio recording and production. They share practical, experience-based advice to help you get the best results from your setup, whatever your budget or space.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:14 - Improving Your Room Acoustics
02:29 - Working On Headphones
04:13 - Dampening With A Duvet
05:50 - Choosing The Right Speakers
06:50 - Mics And Preamps
09:02 - Cables And Connectors
11:28 - Hardware Vs Plug-ins
14:09 - When To Add A Patchbay
16:18 - Preparing Music For Streaming
18:59 - Bass Drivers And Room Size

#IsoAcoustics #AKGC414 #NeumannU87 #AudioTechnica2020 #ShureSM57 #ShureSM58 #Neutrik #Cannon

Paul White Biog
Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing. 

He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.

Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!

http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/

Hugh Robjohns Biog
Hugh Robjohns has been Sound On Sound´s Technical Editor since 1997. Prior to that he worked in a variety of (mostly) sound-related roles in BBC Television, ending up as a Sound Operations Lecturer at the BBC´s technical training centre. He continues to provide audio consultancy and bespoke broadcast audio training services all over the world, lectures at professional and public conventions, and occasionally records and masters acoustic and classical music too!

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Eddie Bazil explores advanced vocal processing techniques to achieve a clean, professional vocal track. He demonstrates how to control sibilance, tame resonances and apply quick corrective steps that enhance vocal clarity and ensure the performance sits perfectly in the track.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction
00:30 - Common Vocal Track Issues

01:04 - Example 1: De-essing Sibilance
08:57 - Example 2: Taming Resonance With EQ
16:13 - Example 3: Reverb Ducking

25:22 - Example 4: Frequency Ducking

Track Credits
Example 1 - written and performed by David Plummer and Becky Bremner - https://www.smokinggoats.co.uk

Examples 2, 3 and 4 - ‘Puppet’ written, performed and recorded by John Walden, vocals by Yvonne McKeown

#SSLVocalStrip #FabFilterProDS #FabFilterProQ3 #FabFilterMBC #FabFilterProC #UnfilteredAudioTails #TokyoDawnNovaGE

Eddie Bazil Biog
Eddie Bazil launched his music industry career at the age of 17 as a synth programmer for a range of Electro / New Wave bands, including Art Of Noise, Spandau Ballet, Pet Shop Boys, Bobin, Paul Dee, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, Jets Orchestra, and many more. By his 20s, he was working as a sound designer for Akai, Roland, Emu/Ensoniq, eventually signing on exclusively with the latter. Later, due to a growing demand for software instruments and libraries, Eddie began developing libraries for various software manufacturers, including Native Instruments, Kiesel, Sound Effects Library, Rob Papen, Arturia, and Propellerheads.

During this time, he trained in music production. He soon gained several prominent contracts working with some notable artistes such as Busta Rhymes, Greensleeves, 9 Bar, SFP, Sleeveless, Chris Campbell and Gam Productions. He contracted to Island Records and Chrysalis as a producer and remixer, and was commissioned to write the score for Macbeth that ran at 2 Way Mirror at Alexander Palace for the Cambridge Shakespeare Company. This led to him offering educational workshops and classes, and becoming a contributing creator and Forum moderator for Sound On Sound.

Recently, he was invited by the Recording Academy to become a professional member, approved educator, and mentor for their member base. Eddie now concentrates on providing private sound design and mixing/production tuition, and creating content for Sound On Sound magazine.

https://eddiebazil.co.uk/

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Paul White explores the creative potential of using 'found' sounds, demonstrating how items found within your surroundings can be sampled, manipulated and transformed into complete tracks within your DAW using a few simple tools.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:36 - Software Options
01:27 - Methods Used For This Demo
01:58 - Creating A String Patch
04:49 - A Few More Examples
08:03 - Constructing A Unique Percussion Kit
11:01 - Layering Sounds With Synth Pads
12:13 - Using The Voice Creatively
13:00 - A Finished Track Using The Sampled Sounds

Paul White Biog
Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing. 

He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual and in 2010 he received a BASCA award for his contributions to the music industry.

Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!

http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

David Mellor explores how the Yamaha NS-10M monitors became a studio staple and why, decades after being discontinued, engineers are still seeking out second-hand pairs.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:15 - Why NS-10Ms Became a Studio Staple
02:11 - Making Better Mixing Decisions
03:49 - A Second Pair of NS-10Ms
05:23 - Mixing With Missing Frequencies
09:11 - Reflex vs Closed Box Monitors
11:35 - Why Pleasant Isn’t Always Better
13:29 - Mixes That Translate
15:40 - Making Rapid Mixing Decisions
18:52 - The Case for Closed-Box Monitors

The Phil Ward Article - https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/yamaha-ns10-story

David Mellor Biog
David Mellor got his start in pro audio through the Tonmeister course at Surrey University studying music, piano performance, acoustics, electronics, electro-acoustics and recording.

He went on to work at London's Royal Opera House, with responsibilities including sound design, front-of-house operation, stage monitoring and electronic design satisfying the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Karlheinz Stockhausen. David has also had over 600 works published in the field of production music. Notable uses of his music include the BBC's Horizon, Fahrenheit 911, and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

David has been actively involved in Audio Education since 1986, teaching students of City of Westminster College and Westminster University, also returning to guest lecture at Surrey University. From 2001 until recently David has offered courses in audio online with Audio Masterclass. 

David now enjoys making YouTube videos for his 84,000 subscribers and releasing music on streaming services and Bandcamp for his dozen or so listeners.

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@audiomasterclass

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/6OkaDx4vB4O2ssUA5p4M8g

Bandcamp - https://davidmellor.bandcamp.com/

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

In this episode, David Mellor continues his exploration of microphone polar patterns by discussing techniques for capturing stereo recordings. He examines how the choice of polar pattern and microphone placement can be used effectively to achieve a balanced and immersive stereo image.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction

01:10 - Defining Mono

03:08 - Binaural Recording

04:24 - Defining Stereo

05:28 - Number Of Mics And Placement

06:58 - Polar Patterns

07:48 - Figure of 8 Demo

09:09 - The Blumlein Pair Configuration

11:05 - Coincident Cross Pair Figure Of 8 With Demonstration

16:53 - Coincident Cross Pair Of Cardioid With Demonstration

21:35 - Mic Spacing - The ORTF Configuration

24:31 - Mic Spacing - Omnidirectional Without Angling

27:28 - Medley Of Configurations

29:38 - Summary

David Mellor Biog
David Mellor got his start in pro audio through the Tonmeister course at Surrey University studying music, piano performance, acoustics, electronics, electro-acoustics and recording.

He went on to work at London's Royal Opera House, with responsibilities including sound design, front-of-house operation, stage monitoring and electronic design satisfying the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Karlheinz Stockhausen. David has also had over 600 works published in the field of production music. Notable uses of his music include the BBC's Horizon, Fahrenheit 911, and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

David has been actively involved in Audio Education since 1986, teaching students of City of Westminster College and Westminster University, also returning to guest lecture at Surrey University. From 2001 until recently David has offered courses in audio online with Audio Masterclass. 

David now enjoys making YouTube videos for his 84,000 subscribers and releasing music on streaming services and Bandcamp for his dozen or so listeners.

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@audiomasterclass

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/6OkaDx4vB4O2ssUA5p4M8g

Bandcamp - https://davidmellor.bandcamp.com/

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

David Mellor discusses how to create custom effects in a DAW without relying on expensive plug-ins. Here he demonstrates his approach to creating a filter pan effect using an EQ with high-pass and low-pass filters, highlighting how custom effects can help give your music a unique edge.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
02:05 - Pan Effect

03:02 - Mono Pan

04:30 - Static Pan

06:21 - Music Track

06:42 - Creative Pan Effect

09:00 - Pan Effect Using A Low-Pass Filter 
13:23 - Crossfading Using Filters
17:15 - Effecting Individual Instruments

 
#slatedigital #infinityeq #protools

David Mellor Biog
David Mellor got his start in pro audio through the Tonmeister course at Surrey University studying music, piano performance, acoustics, electronics, electro-acoustics and recording.

He went on to work at London's Royal Opera House, with responsibilities including sound design, front-of-house operation, stage monitoring and electronic design satisfying the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Karlheinz Stockhausen. David has also had over 600 works published in the field of production music. Notable uses of his music include the BBC's Horizon, Fahrenheit 911, and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

David has been actively involved in Audio Education since 1986, teaching students of City of Westminster College and Westminster University, also returning to guest lecture at Surrey University. From 2001 until recently David has offered courses in audio online with Audio Masterclass. 

David now enjoys making YouTube videos for his 84,000 subscribers and releasing music on streaming services and Bandcamp for his dozen or so listeners.

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@audiomasterclass

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/6OkaDx4vB4O2ssUA5p4M8g

Bandcamp - https://davidmellor.bandcamp.com/

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

In this episode, sound-designer Eddie Bazil looks at ways of enhancing a variety of individual tracks and full mixes using plug-ins that are designed to achieve the retro warmth and cohesion of tapes and valves.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction

01:32 - What Is Harmonic Distortion

02:32 - Advances In Music Production Quality

04:47 - The Introduction Of CD

05:59 - Triodes And Pentodes Vacuum Tubes

06:47 - Analysing Harmonic Content

07:56 - Example 1: TR-808 Sub Bass

10:35 - Example 2: Affecting A Whole Mix*

12:39 - Example 3: Adding Saturation

15:07 - The Benefits Of Tape

17:26 - Example 4: Applying Tape Effects To A Bassline*

20:59 - Example 5: Adding Tape To Beats

23:47 - Example 6: Enhancing A Piano Track

26:56 - Summary

* Demonstration track ‘Puppet’ (Examples 2 and 4), written, performed and recorded by John Walden. Vocals sung by Yvonne McKeown.

#voxengospan #SummitAudio #T-RackS #Kraftur #Aphex #SSL

Eddie Bazil Biog
Eddie Bazil launched his music industry career at the age of 17 as a synth programmer for a range of Electro / New Wave bands including Art of Noise, Spandau Ballet, Pet Shop Boys, Bobin, Paul Dee, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, Jets Orchestra. By his 20s he was working as a sound designer for Akai, Roland Emu/Ensoniq, eventually signing on exclusively with the latter. Later, due to a growing demand for software instruments and libraries, Eddie started to develop libraries for various software manufacturers, including Native Instruments, Kiesel, Sound Effects Library, Arturia and Propellerheads. A meeting with Phil Allen, a Capital Radio DJ, resulted in the company Samplecraze, which Eddie has spent 20 years developing as an educational resource. At this time he trained in music production and soon gained a number of prominent contracts working with some notable artistes such as Busta Rhymes, Greensleeves, 9 Bar, SFP, Sleeveless, Chris Campbell and Gam Productions. He contracted to Island Records and Chrysalis as a producer and remixer,  plus was commissioned to write the score for Macbeth that ran at 2 Way Mirror at Alexander Palace for the Cambridge Shakespeare Company. His ongoing development of Samplecraze has led to him offering educational workshops and classes, releasing four books via PC Publishing and becoming a contributor and forum moderator for Sound On Sound. Recently he has established The Audio Production Hub for online education and been invited by the Recording Academy to become a Grammy judge.
https://eddiebazil.co.uk/

https://samplecraze.com/

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Paul White delves into the fun world of modelled guitars, amps and cabs, that cannot only make your songwriting and studio sessions more creative and unique, but can also greatly assist with streamlining live performances.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:12 - Techniques For Modelling Amps And Cabs
04:22 - Amplifier Cloning
05:49 - Compression To Improve Tonal Quality
07:58 - Adding Room Ambience
09:41 - Cleaning Up The Sound With EQ
10:51 - Guitar Modelling Options
13:05 - Why We Have Split Pickups
16:24 - Non-Guitar Sounds At Your Fingertips
18:12 - Modelled Bass Guitars

#BossVG800 #MODOBass2

Paul White Biog
Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing. 

He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.

Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!

http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/

In this episode, Paul White looks at some creative ways that you can manipulate the standard plug-ins found in your DAW, using them alone or in combination with one another, to create some unique sounds, effects and rhythms.
 
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:08 - Hard Tune Effect
01:39 - Processing Speech
03:15 - Fast Pitch Processing
04:04 - Using Match EQ On Guitars
06:07 - Distortion And Reverb
07:14 - Adding In Pitch Shift
07:41 - Reverb And Distortion
09:07 - Adding More Reverb And Delay
10:02 - Using Distortion On Drums
11:30 - Using A Rotary Speaker On Drums
12:43 - Using An Impulse Response With Convolution Reverb

Paul White Biog
Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing. 

He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.

Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!

http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Paul White and Hugh Robjohns pick their software and hardware highlights from the gear they've reviewed in the last 12 months.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:24 - Lynx Hilo 2
02:49 - Blackstar Polar 2 / Polar 4
03:39 - AEA TRP 3 Preamp
05:40 - Logic Pro 11
07:24 - RME Fireface UFX III
09:57 - Dreamtonics Vocoflex
11:33 - Hum Audio LAAL Limiter
13:43 - FireSonic FireSpacer
14:54 - Crookwood VU Meter
17:03 - Nektar Panorama CS12
17:42 - IK Multimedia Tonex One
18:23 - Sound Particles inDelay
19:19 - Sonnect SoundWire Interface

Paul White Biog
Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing. 

He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.

Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!

http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/

Hugh Robjohns Biog
Hugh Robjohns has been Sound On Sound´s Technical Editor since 1997. Prior to that he worked in a variety of (mostly) sound-related roles in BBC Television, ending up as a Sound Operations Lecturer at the BBC´s technical training centre. He continues to provide audio consultancy and bespoke broadcast audio training services all over the world, lectures at professional and public conventions, and occasionally records and masters acoustic and classical music too!

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts