How to Sound Like NPR Tiny Desk

[@tinybobboilen]

Hi, Bob Boilen here. I'm the creator of Tiny Desk concerts. I love what you did here and appreciate your appreciation of the Tiny Desk sound. I won’t go into details on what you came up with other than to say you did a great job. You should see a Tiny Desk concert sometime. Given all you did here, you’d appreciate it immensely. The one thing I would critique that is vital to the Tiny Desk and an important part of my philosophy for these concerts is this: no headphones or monitors. The singer sings in the room without any amplification. Since there are also no monitors, everyone has to play at a volume that allows them to hear the singer and also every other instrument. So, in essence, the band is ‘self-mixing.’ That makes the performance unique, as well as the recording techniques.

[@taylorjohncrawford]

Bob!! Can’t believe you took the time to watch. I’m the singer from this and just want to honor Ricky as well as the amazing musicians here. Thanks so much for listening and can’t wait to see you there ;)

[@GTORT]

So why have microphones? For the feeling from both audience and artist perspective?

[@djflipside33]

@@GTORTmicrophones to record the audio. Not to amplify.

[@brotherbear808]

The man himself!

[@AudioHaze]

Woa, Hi Bob its an honor! Means a lot that you took the time to out the vid! I would LOVE to check out a Tiny Desk show in person if I ever get the chance :) Totally heard on the monitoring, sounds like that would have solved some of my issues with regulating dynamics. Transparently, this was actually more of a video move than an audio one. I only have one camera and wanted to make a multicam edit. To do this I had them listen to a click, then shot 5 different takes/cam angles. Because they had a click I could sync up the timing of each shot in post. The audio you’re hearing is the final take :) Looking back, perhaps I should have just been fine with a single wide shot and left it unmonitored, noted for next time 🫡 and thanks again for checking the vid out!

[@MattyWhens]

Tiny Desk is the Unplugged of the 21st century. I love it so much. Thanks for this!

[@AudioHaze]

So true, never heard it put like that but that is so accurate :)

[@SamuelKiddMusic]

Facts@@AudioHaze

[@gerardomoreno8832]

I was just thinking about this recently. Was talking to a friend “tiny desk or unplugged”

[@wildhorse4262]

this is probably the best audio production channel on youtube at this point

[@AudioHaze]

This is ridiculously mind blowing to hear wow thank you SO much. Absolutely honored!

[@GuitarSlayer136]

​@@AudioHazeAbsolutely accurate honestly. Its tight competition but goddamn dude.

[@SOUNDINTHECITY]

If I remember correctly the guy in charge of Tiny Desks recordings did an AMA on Reddit with a list of equipment.

[@AudioHaze]

Oh Ince I'll check it out! I may have come across that in some of my research, I can't recall :)

[@boimesa8190]

Link please 🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@LieuNoir]

@@boimesa8190 I will try to post the link but usually they are rejected by youtube. --> just search "Tiny Desks recordings did an AMA" in google, it's the first answer. 😀

[@halcyonacoustic7366]

​@@boimesa8190search "Bob boilen ama reddit" can't post links here.

[@davidrick959]

Some good observations here. I was present when Josh Rogosin gave a talk at the Audio Engineering Society convention in NYC last fall. One thing I walked away with was how active he was being in managing the bleed from all those microphones. While Josh may use a lot of instrument spots when recording a large ensemble, when he showed his DAW session on the screen, it was clear that the majority of those mics were muted most of the time. Spot mics were unmuted only at specific points in the song where they were needed to highlight something. When unmuted, they were often heavily EQ'd to add only exactly what was needed to the mix and to keep unwanted bleed under control. Josh usually has some kind of ambience feed available -- sometimes just a more distant stereo mic -- but he doesn't use it continually in the mix. It might be faded up in the spaces (another production nod to field reporting) or used for a more distant perspective on a horn section, but it's not the sole source of ambience in the final mix. There are always those stereo mics, but Josh is also not afraid to use artificial reverb plug ins. The end result FEELS like intimate live capture, but what's really going on here is storytelling and, in service of that story, no post-production trick is off the table.

[@HermelJaworski]

very interesting approach!

[@beatz04]

That sounds more realistic than "Just a few mics and that's it" 🙂

[@globalsoundconcerts]

exactly!

[@davidmcgirr]

I don't perform live or play well, or even really use mics, mostly a daw based electronic artist, but 'Emotional mixing decisions' is a fantastic concept that's going in the toolkit.

[@AudioHaze]

Yay glad I could spark some Inso in a small way!

[@campfire2953]

I run a small recording studio on my college's campus out of an old radio station's building, and I've been looking for how to up my "live recording" vibe for a couple of months now as work has picked up. I can't even begin to say how valuable the past 20 minutes I just spent watching this video will be to me moving forward. I'm already itching to try so much of this out.

[@veerdotmp3]

All the best!

[@jimmyshenmusic]

@@veerdotmp3 Could you share the outcomes? Thank you!

[@official.suburbia]

Unbelievable recreation. Sounds exactly like the NPR Edition. Amazing performances too.. We’ve been working with Ricky for the last few months on our debut EP. He’s been amazing to work with and his attention to detail is second to none.. send him those demos, you won’t regret it😅

[@AudioHaze]

EYYYYY MY BOYYYSSSS

[@madsenamplification]

I love tiny desk, and this channel. I would have never thought to break down the tiny desk production but this is fantastic. Reminds me of all the reasons I love folk and jazz recordings where all the people are in the room together with out headphones and they’re listening to each other and having a musical conversation.

[@AudioHaze]

Someone else in the comments said its like the modern version of the MTV unplugged series and that is SO accurate to me

[@madsenamplification]

@@AudioHaze for sure, that makes a lot of sense!

[@Volitudo]

in a few minutes I know this is a high quality, well written, well researched and additionally amazing visual aide. Props to everyone who worked on this video. Followed this channel back in the microphone comparison videos, and great to see more of docu-esque type videos now. This channel needs more recognition!

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks so much man!! Its just two of us here, and the amount of hours we both put in is crazy, this is super validating to hear :)

[@AudioHaze]

If you guys haven't heard of the Technical Director Josh Rogosin and his approach to Tiny Desk, definitely check out this article! www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2020/04/02/825152850/tiny-tech-tips-recording-your-tiny-desk-contest-entry-at-home

[@aaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

There is a theory i accidentally found on an online forum from 2012 that Heil mics, american company, who makes only expensive high end mics are actually chinese OEM mics. If you google it there pictures of chinese or japanese mics that look the same as PR35 (and other models) externally and internally. What I didnt find is anyone comparing them. I find it a very interesting true crime unsolved mystery.

[@CED.Dweller]

WHOA...nailed it! This sounds so great. Nice work taming the drums in the mid/side vocal mic input, too.

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks man! Yeah that was a big challenge, all of the mixing was basically trying to cut top end out of the drums in the M/S mic lol

[@PaarthGuptaYT]

@CED.Dweller I had the same thoughts! When I first heard the recording, I was like, “WHOAH. That is basically THE SAME as the Tiny Desk audio characteristics.” Very well done @AudioHaze and team!

[@rct3nut74]

Malcolm's tiny desk performance makes me so sad and happy, he's gone but his music lives on. I'll raise my kids listening to Mac Miller. It's so genuine, he laughs and jokes but you can tell he's nervous, and the chemistry between Thundetcat and Malcolm, not just musically, warms your heart. rip Malcom McCormick, hug your loved ones

[@mypal1990]

For a tiny desk, the sound quality is amazing. Tpains tiny desk concert is such an example.

[@AudioHaze]

I haven't checked that one out! I will now :) I remember his cover of Black Sabbath was insane lol

[@AfferbeckBeats]

I love Anderson Paak's tiny desk, that was one of the first things I saw of him and I was disappointed by his studio stuff because the tiny desk was such a better sound and vibe for him

[@VOByRobbins]

Check out Lake Street Dive too!! Yes that Tpain is unreal! -- so many to choose from!

[@andrefludd]

This video is one of the best things about production I've ever seen. I'm floored by the quality and the useful information. Going to be coming back to the video a lot in the future.

[@AudioHaze]

Dude I'm so honored thank you!! Hope you're doing well and let's get coffee sometime!!!

[@AlexOnThePianoD]

Love the way the editing on this matches the tiny desk theme. And also the inclusion of cheaper mic options for a more affordable budget:) great video once again!

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks man!! Yeah we're trying to make each graphic theme specific to the topic we're discussing. I did that a little in the past but never fully committed to the graphic language, going all in this time!

[@Uninterested69420]

Dude im in my 3rd year of sound engineering right now and ive gotta say your videos are brilliant! So underated ive been showing them to all of my friends! Im currently working on my final project, and im gonna use a lot of the techniques you've spoken about on an album!

[@Sosq69]

You should totally do king krule !

[@AudioHaze]

I haven't heard too much of King Krule but I'll check it out!

[@JoaoBatista-do7fm]

please make a video of king krule tiny desk performance @@AudioHaze

[@carsonk6288]

YES PLS

[@longwelsh]

I find it largely depends on the performers positioning. Radio sessions where everyone is standing in the round facing each other I find less use for MS, especially if it’s being filmed as they won’t have a consistent ‘viewer aspect’ kind of like crossing the line in an interview. TinyDesk style where the lead artist is at the front facing the crowd with the rest of the band generally behind them that MS can really shine and gives you a really nice guide to where the spot mics need to be panned. A Goniometer meter really helps with setting up MS and lets you see when there’s excess bass on one side of fig8 element, which isn’t always immediately audible monitoring during setup or tracking. If I ended up in a really small studio I would often try to open up the door to the gallery or corridor. Anything to increase air volume. Really enjoy the channel, great work.

[@Area51Resort]

You are absolutely on the right track (no pun intended) with doing the forensic videos. They are great as well as being a great inspiration. And this video is amazing. What a performance and what a great band! Well done to one and all including your production team! Keep up the great work, you now have one of the best and most important channels on KZbin!

[@AudioHaze]

MOST IMPORTANT?? Holy cow thank you! Those are big words, can't thank you enough wow

[@EnginearAudio]

@AudioHaze, you don't need a shotgun added to your OC818 to get a MID-SIDE signal! Your OC818 can do a "pseudo m/s" signal alone!! You need to connect the included mini XLR cable on its back so you get two outputs from the mic and have it sideways pointed to the band and use the free (inlcuded) AA Stereo Creator plugin to obtain pseudoM/S signal from just one mic. I believe that nowadays the NPR sound is heavily dependent on the Neumann KU-100 (Dummy head) also, that replaced the original MKH 418s (MID-SIDE Shotgun) for the overall ambience duties. As far as i understand, the 418s was used on the ceiling as an overall band /ambience mic and for spot miking on vocals, they use Sennheiser 416, which are regular shotgun mics with high side-rejection in order to block drums and other loud acoustic instruments placed around the drums, that's why they are pointed up to the vocalists' mouths. I dont believe they never used a 418s for vocals, which doesn't make any sense for that application unless your use the Mid channel only. Important to mention is that the ceiling tiles seem to be pretty absorbent, which help the room acoustics to some degree. Great technique! Thanks for the video!

[@neilsmith5464]

yes yes yes. Knocking it out of the park. Practical, informative, illustrative and lessons learnt. These must take an age to put together - but I'm sure I speak for many when I say, I'd much rather you continued this course than go down the clickbait "my top 5 EQs", "I've hade enough" titles. thank you.

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks Neil! Yeah this one was an intense one to put together, got even more crazy ones on the way :) No "top 5 EQs" here, wouldn't even know how to rank something like that hahaha

[@beaneuh]

every time im wondering how a sound or effect is made you just manage to drop a video on that exact subject, you are such an amazing producer and person! i cant thank u enough for making music producing accessible to all :)

[@AudioHaze]

Eyyyy well glad I came in at the right time! Thanks so much my friend :)

[@Cas-o-wary]

Your channel might be my favourite on YT right now. I’m learning so much and the quality and dedication for these videos is insane. I would love to see a video on Parcels in the future. Especially on their live vol. 1 recording.

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks os much dude! I'm incredibly honored, still surreal to think I could be someones favorite channel lol. I'll check out Parcels!

[@lifelover1605]

You're such a legend...your content is so captivating. Thanks a million for your passion and what you bring to this space.

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks man, glad you enjoy the vids! Hope they're helpful in some way :)

[@Blynken]

That piano sound was incredible, wow. Have you ever seen any "Take Away Shows" from La Blogothèque? Most are recorded outside on the streets with few (if any) visible mics. They sound so up close and personal and the bits of ambient environmental noise is such a vibe. I've been dying to know how they're recorded and mixed for so long, I think it'd be a super interesting project to tackle for you!

[@AudioHaze]

I'll take a look! Never heard of that act before :)

[@ToniDelgadoAbellan]

Aaay Blogotheque was the 2000s tiny desk. Iconic Phoenix

[@gabrielrojasg.3180]

What a killer pianist

[@owynn7137]

Oh stop it you ;)

[@MustafaShaheen]

Your diligence and commitment to detail is fantastic to see in every vid. Your incoming NY clients are lucky. Good luck!

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks Mustafa! Such kind words, very motivating too!

[@aaronleung8809]

Again the best audio channel on KZbin. You single handedly help me reinvest my time into audio and I will try hard to break into audio industry to be an engineer.

[@AudioHaze]

Thank you so much Aaron, good luck on breaking into the industry dude! There's so many different winding paths to get there, find the way that feels most comfortable to you :)

[@LouieTaylorMusic]

Been watching your channel for a while and it's so cool to see you blow up. You seem to have a knack for making the exact videos I've been wanting to watch without me even realising until you've made it!

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks Louie! And thank you for sticking around as long as you have :)

[@Diademnever]

do remember: THESE ARE PRO MUSICIANS. thats almost 70% of the contributed sound quality.

[@BukanIbuMu]

Of course. One of my friends can't even keep his timing on guitars 😭

[@Ted_Swayinghill]

Tiny desk is magical to me because they’re focused on capturing the energy of the room as you mentioned Now a days there isn’t a lot of that. The room mic might be blended to add depth but not to capture the energy/vibe of a room. I love you talked about this! I’m subbing!

[@SeanofAllTrades]

I'm so glad Kali is a sponsor. Best money I've ever spent on my mixing setup. Highly highly recommend them to anyone.

[@97mrmarioman]

Love this series! In the future would love to see a “How To Sound like D’angelo” always loved the mixing and sound from his albums

[@atalanda]

This is so cool. I've been a huge fan of tiny desk for as long as I can remember, and I love that unique sound of the concerts. Thank you for this!

[@emj-music]

josh rogosin himself gave props to this vid on his fb page!! loving the attention this vid is getting - the tiny desk sound is 100% something i’m always looking to recreate in my mixes.

[@AudioHaze]

That's crazy!! I just saw the post because of this comment, so surreal

[@emj-music]

@@AudioHazecongrats man!! keep makin the good stuff!!

[@jacob_zang]

Tiny desk concerts are so well received because it’s simply organic. As fun as crazy sounding mixes are, nothing is more timeless than a great band playing great music, in front of a great audience, recorded by an audio engineer who knows how to capture it. Same principle goes for over processing the mix- just because you can, doesn’t mean you should

[@aidenwilliams5487]

MOST excellent as always. Very cool to see the setup (left to right) breakdown of the player placements and how it affected the recording. Taylor Crawford and crew killing it as always on Comfort Zone.

[@AudioHaze]

THANKS AIDEN MY BOY

[@robwebb9413]

There is always so much value in these kinds of videos. I was so inspired by that sound, it frees me to think more organically about the feel of the song, then necessarily the scientific approach of mixing. I didn't say that very well but, great job and thank you!

[@AudioHaze]

No that's totally the NPR approach though! The mixing always serves the overall artistic vision, tries to represent it as accurately as possible

[@EthanAntalosky]

i would love to see a video on how big tours (era’s tour, love on tour, Still at their very best, etc) run their sound in context with backing tracks, click tracks, live talk back with crew, and how one member of the band controls the whole show and switches and initiates every guitar patch, keyboard patch, backing track with the click of one button in tandem with lighting and video projections.

[@AudioHaze]

What a cool vid idea!! Maybe some time when I have a higher budget for vids that could be a cool high production series…

[@acousticsessionsla]

We do these sessions all the time. Loud drummers are my pet peeve lol. It’s super important for the band to control dynamics and “mix themselves” in environments like these. Bleed is ok, but waaay too many times we ended up with super loud snares on the vocal track, so placement is key. Sick video and great work! 🤘🏼

[@carterleynes6380]

I noticed recent recording have been very heavy on bass. I noted this in a couple of comments then all of a sudden the balance got better again. You are welcome everybody.

[@jasonjacoby9110]

Subtractive eq is the "secret sauce" that every audio engineer should know. Room mics are great, just watch out for phase. Nice video.

[@tristanwehner40]

Man, your Videos are by far my favorite thing on KZbin right now. Besides your great work you seem to be such a nice and genuine guy Keep it up!

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks Tristan! That means a lot, the amount of hours for these vids can be pretty insane so comments like these def keep me going :) Honored, thanks again dude!

[@n.p.smithe]

The final product sounds so beautiful!!!

[@ericepperson8409]

Tiny Desk is one of my favorite means to find performers that aren't what I would normally listen. For example, the Caroline Polachek TD blew me away and made me realize her sound is not Auto Tuned like I would assume just casually listening to her produced tracks. As an aside the YT comments on that video are really interesting bc of the amount of speculation that Caroline was using technical tricks to trigger some live mixing to get the auto tune sound. But as it's pointed out here - they are using NPRs equipment and mixing. She has no control over that aspect of the performance. I spoke with a friend who's a trained musician and amateur audio mixer who explained that sound is an application of the same techniques used in yodeling. It's truly a reflection on the musical ability of the performers.

[@modulated_]

really enjoyed how you look at this practically using what was available to you (and suggesting affordable alternatives) vs. this being all about using an expensive ass mic to try and just copy that sound. this mix sounds great for what it is - true to form in doing as little as possible to change the original sound. also great timing as i was just watching an npr video the other day marveling over the sound quality haha. great video!

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks Jack! Yeah although I was considering the sennheiser mic I really didn't want to blow that much change and it ended up being more useful to do a DIY solution anyhow :)

[@TiqueO6]

Was really wonderful to hear Bob Boilen's comment on no monitors or headphones to self mix , whenever possible I like to use my Bose S1 system two PA system behind the band so they can hear what the audience is hearing and mix themselves without monitors. When it works everybody's happy.

[@PandaBear-c6u]

that piano sound is gorgeous!

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks! Yeah those little Lewitt's really pulled a lot of weight :)

[@lupit1]

Amazing video, i’ve always been really envious of the vocal production in the tiny desk performances. This gave a bit of insight on what i can mess around with.

[@AudioHaze]

LUPITTTTTT, yeah the vocal production seems relatively straightforward. Mostly just carefully managed EQ cuts

[@LauraLamn]

Love this. Love the band you recorded too! Made me feel Nostalgic about my trip to New York in 2015

[@izzymartay]

incredible video thank you for putting so much effort not only into the audio side but the video side aswell. i get so excited when you upload!

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks Izzy!! Yeah we get really into the graphics, I guess its my old degree coming out in some ways lol

[@VOByRobbins]

So glad to hear you cover this, I've been commenting on their videos about the SQ for years!!!! Love the quality, truly the best! Awesome video! every video is a master class of recording, and you did it! Thank you!

[@KaiOfAspen]

bro never misses! ur vids are always so good to study but also to just listen to passively. great performance here as well!

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks so much Kai!!

[@johnbhumphrey]

Great job and great channel, your content is down to earth, basic information that gets to the point without all the needless bells and whistles most audio production channels have.

[@JackDenning]

You inspired me to change out my U87 for a Beta SM57a for my vocals. Kid you not, it solved all 5 of my long-time recording issues in the same day. Thank you & great job on this!

[@JackDenning]

@AudioHaze I saw you asked what kind of vocals - If you need a good isolated pop vocal. DUDE. The Shure Beta SM57a is perfect. Its eq is lightens up the low-mids, it's detailed but not too sensitive, warm, present, & tamed in the high end. Super cardioid so it rejects the room for you. Plus it's $140 bucks! tough as nails and portable. - I've been soul searching for the right mic for a couple years... can't see myself ever touching an SM7b or U87 again. I think this is what indie artists are going for when they buy the SM7b. - HIGHLY recommend for artists who are tired of struggling to get good recordings in noisy apartments.

[@ryand6502]

super solid tech breakdown. props

[@carlos_garcia_2003]

I recently discovered your channel and it's one of the best things has happened to me, cause it helped me to know what mic i should buy to work on my album

[@JaedenBass]

Genuinely one of the coolest music channels on youtube. I love what you do man, your ideas are so creative and the results are always outstanding.

[@kristinagugova2335]

I literally NEVER comment KZbin videos, but now i just have to. This channel is a gem, i am just starting my music production journey and you are such an inspiration and help. Working on my first remix rn - Movement song using your stems! Thanks a lot. ☺️

[@AudioHaze]

AHH tank you smooch Kristina, glad I could help in some way. You HAVE to email me that remix I'm so interested to hear :)

[@Jawmsie]

Man, I love the way you always make sure to give props to the folks you work with. If ANYTHING you do on this channel shows that you're a pro, it's that.

[@AudioHaze]

oh OF COURSE! A couple times I've forgotten and I feel bad about it for the rest of the day lol

[@Jawmsie]

Side-note, I've been thinking about bringing a local punk group into a studio for an off-the-floor record for a while now. Obviously, that production will prioritize very different things, but this made me wonder why I haven't done it yet. Cheers, dude!

[@dylanrabe]

Not trying to nit pick an overall super informative video, but having the players wear headphones to presumably monitor themselves kinda goes against one of the key elements of the tiny desk sound. There ARE no monitors/amplified vocals, which adds to that super intimate, hushed sound. Doing it this way would also prevent stuff like the drummer playing too loud. Anyway, great video and I’m definitely going to take the mixing advice to heart when finishing my band’s tiny desk concert submission this week!

[@hari3mo]

NPR Tiny Desk is basically the modern age MTV Unplugged

[@goticopostrauma]

I've been waiting so long for this episode, thanks man! On of the best channel on youtube!

[@ChrisJacobs-gy9en]

It's been my goal for a year or so to able record my band Tiny Desk style, this is a gift. Thank you!

[@AudioHaze]

DUDE that's amazing, good luck!!

[@jaromdl]

This was incredibly done. Thanks.

[@MFSHARTY]

This is how i recorded one of my songs back when i had my band. It is the best way to record, ever

[@ilyaanisimov4862]

dude i just love so much what you do, waiting for the next video all the time. It is so special and amazing, just thank god you are there, keep doing it, i'm so greatful! You're the best!!!

[@danvishnya3019]

Thanks for the breakdown! I was really looking for a video like this! Great Job!

[@BrightLightAudio]

Awesome, love it!! This is very similar to the show I just started producing. Thanks for showing your behind the scenes!

[@nicoloscozzari6205]

Helluva performance you captured here man. The good vibes and loosey gooseyness is all their. More than the mics and technique you seem to have created a wonderful experience for the band without a live audience. Don't get me wrong all the technical goodness is there I just wanted to point out how great a time it seems the band is having. Also love that you're in super holey jeans. Always wear my well-worn stuff for sessions 👌🏼

[@AerikArkadian]

Fascinating video and breakdown. Really makes me rethink some of my live recordings. Thanks!

[@JeffWernerIthacaNY]

I was SO excited to see that you did this topic! Thanks! So great!

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks Jeff, glad you liked it!!

[@АннаВасилькова-у5д]

I'm very happy to discover this channel! Thank you so much.

[@JoHe_SonicBanana]

An amazing breakdown and I really like the song at the end!

[@fitforfun1000]

Very revealing video with tons of straightforward good advice communicated in a modest and clear way - THAT‘S COOL! Gonna try out some of Josh‘s techniques very soon and maybe also make a video… keep up the great work!

[@AleksiJoensuu]

I absolutely love this style and this was such a fun video to watch. Especially since it's so obvious the people in that room were having FUN with eachother and with the music. And that is awesome. Basically the only thing that bothered me about the mix is I had a really hard time hearing the guitar at all. I was actually straining my ears and brain trying to pick it out. I feel like that would be a place I'd have welcomed some accentuation. In every other way I loved this and think I actually discovered something totally new. It's like the perfect combination between a live and a studio recording. Live recordings can often either have pretty terrible audio quality, OR they might not sound like what they look like on the video. On the other hand, studio recordings can easily betray that the musicians weren't really hearing eachother, and that their sound was modified quite a lot. As a result they can end up kind of too perfect: Spatial cues are missing, everyone's in too good of a tune, there's no tempo drift, no mistakes, etc. This style is somewhere between those. It feels almost like you're actually there in a live situation: You can hear what you see (spatial cues), the artists are responding naturally to eachother (playing together), there's some variation and "imperfections" (maybe a missed note there, an out of tune one there, a bit of tempo drift). Yet it has the sound quality that also makes it pleasurable to listen: No excessive noise, no missing frequencies, vocals are present all of the time (not cut out because the singer went too far from the well-cancelling dynamic mic), and so on. It's like... A normal concert recording can be "natural, but sometimes not good", a studio recording can be "good, but sometimes not natural", but this style is both natural and good. And I guess that's why I was bothered by the guitar being almost inaudible. It sort of breaks the immersion when you can see the guitar being played like mad but can't really hear it. I guess that's where I would argue it would be better to stray from the "entirely natural" focus and bring the guitar up, so that it matches what you think you'd be hearing a bit better. But all in all, a fantastic video and I'm super grateful! (Note: It could be just my particular ears and my particular brain that has this guitar audibility problem and everyone else is hearing it perfect. Dunno. Listened on AKG Q701 headphones.)

[@kinkstou]

great stuff ! ! !

[@Riandigo]

Very awesome video man, truly enjoyed the structure of the video and the way you go through every last detail. Personally have been trying to learn how to work with sound and such so this video definitely helped give me a better understanding of what I need to know.

[@jonesvox1]

I’ve been a live musician and live sound engineer for many years…..DRUMS are always an issue. Despite your accidental close placement of the kit and vocalist you captured a decent mix. The observation I have is that the band, who are great soloists, are not used to this amount of restraint dynamically, and this performance demonstrates that. Again, the drums become the sonic obstacle that every other player ends up competing with and the overall performance lacks any dynamics. Not being critical of their musical talent, but their ability to “self-mix,” as Bob B. even pointed out in the comments. The headphone monitors likely were a huge part of why this experiment was less than perfect. The performers all had a mix that was completely different than the room capture and left for an “every man for himself” performance. Great job and appreciation for the format, regardless of any critique.

[@studioducerisier]

Very nice work and insight of the Tiny desk, thank you!

[@AMTunLimited]

NPR Tiny Desks have always had this amazing feeling of both being immersively in the room and also very very clean. I don't think I listen to NPR tiny Desks with headphones very often, I wonder how much stereo imaging they do (edit: ayyyyyyyyye)

[@AudioHaze]

Yeah they have a very specific panning style! Love it too, it feels very genuine and feeds into the transparent EQ'ing they do very well too

[@elMatip]

amazing video, I'm so grateful to find all this info for free, so thank u for sharing, sometimes it feels like there's not enough info on internet about this kind of things, and too much about the same mainstream topics

[@AudioHaze]

Glad I could help my friend! I'm humbled :) yeah I feel like its a good application of mixing topics, making something desirable rather than teaching production in vacuum. Thanks again dude!

[@spiritnation616]

Thank you for the vid, Mac was my fav rapper growing up and this brought so much nostalgia to me

[@CamKnoppMusic]

The amount of work you put into this is insane. Just amazing quality information, this is better quality than a paid college course...

[@didgegirl6]

Thank you sooooo much for this. I've learned so much from your channel. Thank you thank you thank you for everything you do!!

[@AudioHaze]

I'm honored dude! That's always the goal, incredibly humbled to have helped in some way :)

[@anguslavy9521]

That bass players wild man

[@AudioHaze]

Yesss Greg's a beastttt

[@BernardoDittzDuarte]

Love all your videos, man. Really informative, thx!

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks man, glad you liked it!

[@TiqueO6]

When you mentioned panning I wondered if you had considered the reason it sounds better in many live recordings when things are panned as they are on stage. I always keep a stage plot handy in those situations where mic-leakage is inevitable because I found that panning to the stage plot brought all the phase information more accurately "together" and things almost magically clear up and ''crystallize''. Of course if one pans a mic that's picking up a lot of the other side of the stage opposite of where it was on stage the time difference between sound waves from the distant mics becomes a real problem with the typical unwanted phase issues.

[@ColouredPaperShapes]

Really cool video man thanks. I’ve really struggled to find good breakdowns of how recording a live performance in a DIY space differs from the challenges of DIY studio recording. This is awesome. Cool news about your website and demo outreach too - I am based in London but can’t wait to hear some of the NYC based artists you chose to work with. Peace ✌️

[@AudioHaze]

Glad I could help dude!! DIY studios btw :))

[@reset_rt]

I love this breakdown! So much quality and value information here! Amazing work Ricky :)

[@AudioHaze]

Thank you so much Ryan :,)

[@embodme]

Great video as always ! You should do the KEXP too! Those live recordings are amazing!

[@AudioHaze]

Yeahhhh lots of people seem to be into that idea! I'll look into it :)

[@melinasmagic]

thank you for your effort in breaking everything down. now I wished I lived in NY!! 😄 I hope you and the artists had fun with a project like this :)

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks so much!!

[@ZachAlpine]

have learned so much from this channel, keep up the great work dude

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks Zach, that means a ton! Glad I could help a bit

[@5amJones69]

This is so such a good video of yours. I bet you had a blast doing it.

[@elsongs]

Wow, thanks for this, I had no idea they were using stereo mics. And great performance from your guest artist. Aside from the drum/vocal thing you pointed out, the bass was a hair too loud, but otherwise it sounded great. I hope more artists get to do this kind of thing, not just for videos or livestreams, but just recordings in general. it's a breath of fresh air from the squishy Loudness Wars recordings that are the norm these days.

[@AudioHaze]

Thanks man! Yeah its so cool to hear artists in such a stripped down context, and the EQ'ing is deceptively tricky sometimes! :)

[@gaelmares92]

this is tf best video that i ever seen, congrats maaaan!

[@davidstevens2555]

Thanks for all that! Very informative. I’ve always wondered how they do it so well.

[@nbl95]

The shotgun mics are more sensitive than dynamic mics, but they're also far more directional- something like a super-cardioid pickup pattern as opposed to an sm58's regular cardioid pattern. Meaning while they're more sensitive- they'll actually have far stronger sound rejection than the dynamics- leading to a more isolated sound for each instrument, not an increase in bleed.