3 Things that Cause Bad Recordings

[@TerryCraig23]

For someone lazy like me, here's a breakdown of the video: 1. Mid-range - 3:15, 2. Monitoring too loud - 6:09, 3. Relying on mixing to fix the sound - 8:25, (summarized: 10:25) The first one was definitely a new one for me, as I thought all the pros usually do super-detailed, crazy EQ-curves across the whole spectrum of their tracks. Very good video as always!

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks man for the break down. It helps with video SEO if people watch the end of the video, and your post helps support my channel by helping people go deeper in. Thank you for that.

[@whatyoumakeofit6635]

Terry Craig .... Haha your awsome

[@michaeltownsly1493]

Absolute hero

[@marcreyes240]

Hey Ryan I was wondering if you could give some feedback with some of the tracks I've been producing. I really love your channel and I really like how you approach recording and mixing techniques in a scientific and explain it in a way that is easy to understand.

[@nathanielblake1816]

People like you deserve more in life!!!

[@MARSHOMEWORLD]

Never forget reason #4 (though I would move it up the order a bit) Poor players. A bad performance from a mediocre musician can crush thru solid gear, good micing technique, and maintaining solid recording principles. If the player can't do it..the poor engineer has his work cut out for him. As usual I love the vid mate. You're so good at this.

[@creativesoundlab]

+MARSHOMEWORLD Thanks man. Great point and very true. This was actually a one shot, one take video. First intro, and didn't quit. No edit at all. I just didn't have time to overproduce this week.

[@jorgepeterbarton]

+MARSHOMEWORLD Definitely. But also for #5 composition and arrangement are pretty important. If you throw everything in without thought, its hard to mix, or if everythings playing in the same frequency range without holding any interest.... Mud is also a word used by composers/arrangers, so its not just an effect of mixing!

[@BretBunton]

i have learned this the hard way. i recorded my own band only for about a year, and got decent results... started studying a lot and worked very hard. first two bands were mediocre that came in and they were my first paid jobs... i was frustrated... i couldnt get it to sound good. i was more focused on fixing timing and dynamic issues i couldnt focus on the song as a whole... then a band came in this weekend and nailed it... i went from spending 20 hours on mixing to 5 hours tops... and it sounds amazing. i thought it was me, but it wasnt!!!! it was the musicians.

[@larrytate1657]

Before they are ready to record, they should make sure that it's worth recording. Unless it's just evaluating their practice session, which they can do with a handheld zoom/Tascam.

[@jannevaatainen]

Haha, this is so true. Sad, but true. You can't make chocolate out of shit, said one of my "mentors". Well, nowadays you sometimes can, with drum samples, melodyne and audiowarp, but of course that's a lot of extra work for the mixing engineer.

[@andrewraphael3800]

4. Having a bad musical arrangement of a song. I'm sure Ryan will agree with me that this doesn't get taught enough in Audio Schools. Good arrangements will always contribute to a great mix as the frequencies have been better distributed before the engineer even gets to work. Whereas a bad arrangement, even if we use all our skills and get a decent sound will still sound weaker.

[@joelonsdale]

Except he's talking about the recording process itself: capturing the audio. You're talking about another subject, namely arrangement.

[@deanjohnston104]

Ace! As someone just starting out & making home recordings of the kids, this approach of short but info rich vids is great. Often you get useful or even great info, but you have to wade through 19 mins of waffle first. This is much better. Thanks.

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks Dean!

[@jasonwhalen6264]

Your analogies of food/painting make so much more sense to me. Thanks!!

[@jefffischer6458]

Someone's finally breaking shit down to where people can understand it. Thank you man. Earned my sub

[@mallorga1965]

9:02 An AKG D190! I fell in love with that little mic, so I bought one on eBay; very natural and detailed for a dynamic. What are your favorite uses for it?

[@blashuvec]

Snare drum!

[@SONORSQ2guy]

Great video as always sir. I find with close mics on my drum kit, a cut in the 300-500 Hz takes out the boxy element and adds clarity. Keep up the great work.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Greg Patterson Thanks. Yeah, I agree totally. I was more referring to the 1-3k range when I said to not EQ the mids. Of coarse, if sounds didn't need EQ in the first place, that would be amazing.

[@larrytate1657]

What about a slight boost around 5K is that good to do?

[@marioman218]

You are a guru, thanks for all the helpful info

[@creativesoundlab]

+Sam Lyons Haha, thanks!

[@sandorkis8813]

Dude, can you tell me please, which microphone is in the video at 9:03? Your vlogs are precious btw! :-)

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah that's the AKG D190e I think.

[@RobcsiMobcsi]

HI, I REALLY LIKE YOUR VIDS, THIS IS AN AKG D19C OR D190, WHAT DO YOU THINK? WITCH MIC IS BETTER TO RECORD ELECTRIC GUITAR ? i LIVE IN BUDAPEST SOME OLD GERMAN STUFF IS REALLY CHEAP THERE

[@gregorbajc4541]

Hey man, love your videos! One question regarding the monitoring levels. We learned in school about Equal loudness contours. The experiment was concluded that the ear does not respond the same to a specific frequency at different loudness levels (phon). So in that regard, the louder you listen to your mix (obviously not too loud so you wont bleed your ears to death) the flatter the frequency response of the ear is, thus giving a more even image. For example a low frequency wave would need to be boosted at a much higher SPL level than a midrange 1kHz frequency in order for it to be audible at the same level in terms of perceived loudness. So the ideal mixing loudness would be around 90 dBSPL which is kinda loud. I think lowering the level does help in terms of psychoacoustics and physical reasons because you rest your ears, but then you might overdo the bass frequencys when you would turn the volume back up and mess up your mix.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Gregor Bajc Yeah, those curves are good to know, but many engineers wouldn't draw those conclusions. Your right in that certain freqs would have to be boosted to be perceived the same as 1k, but many professionals before me say that 83dB is about right, and maybe lower in order to decrease the illusions that happen to our ears at high volumes. Volume is just a tool, meaning that we use loud and soft volumes of the monitors to help get the job done.

[@Natemasterflex]

I watched this video because I seen the AKG D190E mic on the thumbnail, but it wasn’t featured! Still enjoyed the video though. 🤘

[@mallorga1965]

Me too! Nice mic.

[@Hoyalio2k]

Thanks so much, I never thought about the midrange like that!!

[@royglennie]

Hi Ryan, Great video. I was wondering is that the AKG 190 at 9:03 in the video? Or something similar? I have a D190 and don't really know what it's best at, and I've never heard any one else using it. Thanks!

[@creativesoundlab]

I thinks the D190E.

[@royglennie]

Yeah D190E that's the one! What do you think its best for recording in your studio?

[@creativesoundlab]

It's kinda mid range heavy. I haven't used it that much but I remember it sounded a little less bass than a 421.

[@badmonkeymusicproductions3569]

"Midrange is King". Aside from the low and upper mid, I think you are referring to the 600 hz to 2.5k hz range, which in my experience is the area where I cut the most. My question is that when performing your recording sessions to try and manage it on the recording side, whereas eliminating the need to manage the mids as much? How do you accomplish that? I would agree that the mids are very important, and mismanagement can result in cluttered mixes. I was surprised to hear that you minimize your EQ work (hopefully I am not misstated your comment). Equally important and challenging is managing the low-end, and inexperienced mixers will often have very hyped sound in the treble area as well. I think your wisdom about making sure that you leave a recording session with the right sound, instead of trying to fix it during mix is the right mentality, but takes a certain amount of knowledge (that comes with time) and discipline. Also, we can't fix bad performances, or bad songs. I would really enjoy seeing you conduct a session from beginning to end. Do you do more live recordings? Or do you do multi-track recordings?

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah, I would take it on up to about 5k. So anything between 500 to 5k is where I try to be real easy on EQ. From there I try to take some off the lows or highs to shape sounds. When using outboard it's more forgiving, and I've learned you can take things a lot further and it doesn't sound bad. For me when I'm recording, I listen to sounds at a low volume. I use mics that are not too crazy and pick up sounds from the perspective of getting good mids. So a 414, ribbon, or even something like a sm7 or sm57 would be a mic I'm really confortable with and you can use mic positioning to get sounds. I listen a low volume to make sure I like it, and always consider how it will be used in the mix to help determine the sound I want in the first place. In my mix challenge, most students would have made better mixes by not EQing at all. Most over EQed the mixes which led to problems. For me I learned by mastering one or two mics, and then slowly building the collection. That was my roots on how to record. Get out of my chair and fix it at the mic. I think if you cut there in the mids, that's better than boosting in that area. There are times where I cut in the mids, like for snare, or a very cutting 3k in a guitar, but mostly I try to leave it alone as much as possible. Sometimes for vocal I'll do a very small bump at 3k using the UAD 1073 just to help it cut through the mix.

[@chrissullins3]

I liked your metaphors from BBQ to paintings. I will focus on midrange and thanks for your help with my learning curve.

[@benlewis8183]

You've got a lot of cool stuff to say, but you described the Fletcher Munson curve backwards. The (average) human ear hears a lot less high and low frequency, compared to mids, at lower SPL. Keeping a mix low is still a good idea for ear fatigue and clipping avoidance, but if you mix ONLY quiet, you might miss a lot in the low end that shows up when listening louder.

[@Browndans123]

Hey man, love your advice/input. Thanks so much for making these videos. Some advice I have is to keep the videos as short as possible- today we are seeing a huge popularity boost in short controlled "how to" videos that communicate the point without bouncing around and loosing attention on the points. Thanks again - please keep it up

[@anatol1204]

What headphones you use to fix the audio problems ? When you are not in studio ?

[@stevenhorning5538]

You are a plethora of great sonic advice. Thanks for doing this!

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks man!

[@gammadrums]

As always, stellar advice...!!! Thanks.

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks! I hope you've been well!

[@bloodlord1989]

All those crazy EQ curves are on pictures showing off an EQ vst plug in. I never use those kind of curves either lol and i thought the same about the usefulness of weird curves and surgical sharp fine deep cuts.

[@creativesoundlab]

+blood lord (Chaotic Sonics) Haha yeah, I'm always like "Serious, who does eq like that!".

[@powerinformation]

So do you recommend any mics that you have noticed to have particularly nice mid range or would you say its more about positioning?

[@creativesoundlab]

+powerinformation Yes, I like the sm7b for it's mids. I also like the nt2000, and the r84 (angled down slightly and 12 inches out) for it's mids.

[@powerinformation]

Thanks a lot your videos are great, I watched a bunch more after this comment, two mics that I've become interested in from watching more of your lessons are the electrovoice 635a and the neumann km184

[@alvagoldbook2]

when I first started using a computer to record, I was using a crappy cheapo lexicon omega. Nothing improved my recordings more than upgrading to a presonus. I was shocked that a simple analog/digital converter could make such a big difference.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Alva Goldbook Yeah, it's amazing how one piece of gear can make a big difference like that. I think of it like a journey, the more I use my gear, the more I can hear a different when I switch something out like the converters, pres, or microphone.

[@alvagoldbook2]

creativesoundlab I got a little lucky piecing together my budget studio. I managed to find an old Sound Craft mixing board from the 90's that had been unused. The master section on it is pretty lousy sounding, but each channel sounds pretty nice, and works well as a nice mic pre and EQ. I send out from each channel to the presonus. A have a few other mic pres like a UA LA-610 MkII, which I really like for using on bass. That board and the presonus made a world of difference in the quality of my recordings.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Alva Goldbook That's cool. I had a friend lend me his Sound Craft Spirit Studio for a while. The pre amps in it sounded a lot different than the ones I was used to using and I was really surprised at the different sonic quality. For me, they were missing the low and low mids, and I didn't want such a curve ball. Not in a bad way, but I would have taken time to adjust to the new vibe when I already had a "sound" of my own engineering.

[@alvagoldbook2]

creativesoundlab cool. Mine's a Delta SR. I do prefer to use it on vocals, and guitars, especially distorted guitars. I've found it a bit lacking on drums, but I'm forced to work in a really horrible room. The ceiling is only 7 feet 6 inches high!

[@creativesoundlab]

+Alva Goldbook Very cool. I think whatever gear and situation you have, you'll learn to make it work. Sometimes your sound and style will shape around what limitations you have, but this is also apart of how creativity works too. I guess you saw my episode about the small drum room mixing? That was about your same ceiling height.

[@HighDesertCactus]

Keep up these videos! I just stumbled across these vids, not in the biz just find them interesting! Subscribed!

[@creativesoundlab]

+Smile Always Thanks!

[@tomaszmusic]

Great tips! Thanks

[@djordjeblaga7815]

Haha, i just did some guitar recording with a really crappy mic and the eq curve I ended up with was just crazy :D But in the end the sound wasn't too bad ;) (Its the moondog cover demo on my channel, if you want to check it out)

[@creativesoundlab]

Yeah, by all means use EQ when needed. The better EQ that you have, the more you can use it and still get good results.

[@oscarmorales-cn3hz]

Do you have examples of your final work? Great mics (ribbons, large diaphragm's with different polar patterns, etc...) are the hardest because you need to know your pre's very well in each individual situation, it's a lot better to use a cheap 58, c1000s and a 57 for everything, you can't go wrong with these, you are too young mate...

[@Pruemedia]

I appreciate the chef analogy. Well stated.

[@jadelouisetidman7400]

Got dat Lee syat sound!

[@bora_compor1]

Thanks for the video!!! You are the best!!!

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks!

[@miked5487]

I think i'm too guilty of eqing everything.

[@mrclarksix]

That food analogy is on the mark

[@zyxwvut4740]

Robert Heinlein popularized "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" in _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_ain't_no_such_thing_as_a_free_lunch

[@vvantherel5846]

Spot on with the bbq analogy haha

[@kevinkelly2718]

as an avid barbecue guy i love that analogy

[@creativesoundlab]

+Kevin Kelly Haha, yes. There are so many things we can compare food to audio.

[@zell4412]

You make good analogies 👍👍

[@niteshademusic5262]

good stuf thx man

[@eleazarlising5727]

thanks for the info's bro! :D just subbed to your channel

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks, real glad to have you here!

[@eleazarlising5727]

+creativesoundlab you're welcome bro. hope to learn a lot from you and your channel ☺

[@michaeltownsly1493]

Sick dreads man! Do you like smoke weed all the time and shit? Awesome man keep it up

[@natestrayhorn1578]

Just came here to say the word “Bassist”

[@whatyoumakeofit6635]

This dude reminds me of vinnie paul

[@ptowntravis]

Bad...Ass!!!!! Thank you.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Travis Thomas Thanks!

[@DKStudiosful]

A great song is still a great song. Rock on

[@tomjandoeven]

What? You really cant mess up with a 'good' microphone? 1. good microphones dont excist. A 25k microphone can work worse for a specific source than a 100$ mic. 2. You're really saying everyone can make killer records if they own the best gear in the world? Engineering is 99% creativity, gear is literally the least important factor. If you put a beginner in a 2m studio and a good engineer in a 500$ 'studio', 100% that the engineer will deliver a better mix. And dude, dont mess with the midrange? That truly is one of the worst tips Ive ever heard.

[@arbitermatt]

Tom Doeven You've literally made the same point he made in this video, except you've pulled out one specific comment in relation to expensive microphones and disregarded everything else. He's saying it's easier to get good results with higher-end gear, but it's not impossible if you have lower end equipment to get good results too. In my experience, the correct microphone for the task is more important than how much it costs undoubtedly, but he is talking about his experience, not mine... The overall point though, was you shouldn't be held back by chasing better gear, because there are things you can adjust with what you have to get similar results.