Mastering Music Production - FAQ Friday From Hansa Studios in Berlin

[@Producelikeapro]

What Musical Question Would You Like Me to Answer? Please leave your Frequently Asked Question Below ↓↓↓

[@jtrjammer]

Another great video from Warren and the PLAP crew. Ideas for future...think some of this covered in the past, but let say you've done the recording, finished the mix, and mastered the song. What now? How do you ensure a copyright on the song or what is the minimum required to publish it? How do you go about releasing the song? Do you need a high res release (Wav, FLAC, AIFF) or compressed release (MP3, AAC), or maybe both? What about ID3 tags, not an issue for MP3, AAC, but maybe for limits of AIFF or WAV formats. How do you get the song uploaded to streaming services? What are the pitfalls or sacrifices you have to consider? In other words, that last mile before it becomes reality.

[@PurpleMusicProductions]

A question I have is what are some useful tips to make VST drums sound more authentic in sonic quality aside from variations in velocities? Same question for horns and woodwinds.

[@tudorgheorghe4532]

Indeed mixing is fun with good rec tracks !

[@mrmagpiepromotions]

I did a session with a friend's band, I brought my computer and some cheap mics, his drummer brought a set of drum mics and we se set up in his garage, he had loads of junk as audio treatment, and his vocals were a phone receiver rigged up through a distorted guitar amp, we planned 2 days. They had played the new songs a lot live so on the first day they delivered great performances on every song, they felt they could do better on just one song for the second day and they were right. I mixed it in the box and it's honestly one of the best things I've ever produced. What's the most lo-fi session you've ever done?

[@hummarstraful]

Hey Warren. Just wanna say you look better and healthier than ever. God bless!

[@PurpleMusicProductions]

I completely agree. Good analog gear going into the box makes mixing so much easier as you spend more time mixing instead of sound design and it makes you commit, usually resulting in a better song and mix.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing!

[@PianoDentist]

As a former pro photographer, shaping your sound on the way in, is similar to the concept of previsualization in photography. IOW knowing what you want, even before you hit record/shutter button, is important, particularly as you're being paid for your time. Spending all your time in post, be it audio or visual, is better spent up front instead. GIGO and the 5 P's and all that.

[@Producelikeapro]

@@PianoDentist great information! Thanks ever so much for sharing!

[@DerekBolli]

This was one of your best FAQ Fridays in my opinion, Warren 👍Must be something about the vibe of Hansa studios and watching Tony Visconti snogging a bg singer down by the wall 🙂

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Derek!

[@GaryD6120]

Never thought I would say this on a mix discussion, but more Mud please

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha thanks

[@ItsMetabtw]

Another benefit of analog gear is that we can only listen, which is far less common in the box with all the analyzers. We only hear and react. Theres also an immediate interaction with the sound as you adjust physical parameters. You are reacting in real time, committing to the sound, and moving on to the next thing. The almost infinite possibilities in the box make it more difficult to nail down a particular sound, because in the back of your mind, you know you can easily change it. If you pad the mic to get a few extra clicks of gain from the mic pre, that changes how the singer interacts with the gear, and creates a performance you couldn’t duplicate later in the mix with a dry clean vocal.

[@aleksamrkela831]

Hardware and plugins are not one and the same and having the best of both worlds is the best choice. Both do things that the other can't provide! :D

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks for sharing!

[@pmfont]

Fantastic video. Learning so much from you, and sometimes I hear you mention things that confirm what I'm already doing, all of which is helpful. Cheers!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much! I really appreciate it!

[@metalman3227]

What a great FAQ! One of your best

[@Producelikeapro]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@christhechive]

As someone who works mostly alone, I prefer to leave any eq and comp moves on mic’ed sources until I’m not performing (and able to listen on my monitors. I then have more head space to give to this.

[@Producelikeapro]

Great! I'm assuming at some point you'll have enough acquired knowledge from doing this that you will be able to make decisions during the tracking process! I also record myself A LOT! I love it!

[@newgenerationfamily]

Great video! Thanks uncle! What's your thoughts on the Behringer 1273?

[@Producelikeapro]

I haven't yet used it! I don't like to have opinions on things I haven't used!

[@ohstudiousa]

I love using my outboard gear to record. With that said......it took me many mistakes to grasp using outboard gear. Not so much on guitars or even drums but vocals to me are still the most challenging to get correct. For me the idea when using outboard gear is to speed the mixing process up by not needing to do more when mixing, it's to do less. So properly compressed vocal tracks are super important. Yes I still use a compressor or two when they're in place just to glue things together. But they're not doing all the heavy lifting. Lately I've been using eq on my guitars while recording and that really helps the process speed up. Most of the time there's no need to use eq.

[@hanshendriksen72]

I genuinely thought I was the only one left on planet Earth who knew Mud. Dyna-Mite!

[@Producelikeapro]

Apparently not!

[@GaryD6120]

As a make my living songwriter/composer, Would say, be careful how much you absorb or become influenced before you start to regurgitate ( horrible word, I know ) what has gone before. My process needs disengagement from current popular material, so that I can find what is necessary to me or the project. Such a great channel. Thanks

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Gary!

[@glennmorganofficial]

Continuity of preamp is a big advantage of a console. Everything will glue together more naturally since they all have the same tone. Then find a different but complimentary pre for the things you want to stick out (for me as a rock guy, Lead guitars and Vocals are recorded thru one pre, and everything else thru another). And one of the most important tools you can use recording is a high pass filter. Get rid of the junk you don't need before it ever hits your converters, and your audio will sound massively better before you even start mixing.

[@Producelikeapro]

Absolutely! Hanging mic pres that are all the same is huge! However, some of my most successful recordings were done with a hodge podge of mic pres! Whatever works

[@mdp303]

This is actually the first tine I’ve heard a justification for using outboard kit that makes sense. 👍

[@salcarusomusic]

Hansa studios ? Don't they have reverb settings {responses} in Logic's Space Designer ...? GREAT VIDEO man !!!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much! Yes, Hansa is wonderful!

[@strikkland_official]

@@Producelikeapro Speaking of reverbs, you should do a special on the EMT's in the attic. Brilliant piece of kit which is hard to emulate with plugins.

[@paranomusia]

So informative! Thank you for sharing your insights and experience. On and up, I say...

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much! I really appreciate it

[@jadedsean]

Great vid Warren, i have a question relating to pre-production. How do you know when a song is finished before you record it? I have a tendency to change my pre production version because i believe it not to be up to the standard i had envisioned originally. Please tell other producers have this issue too😂😂

[@spitfiremusic3997]

Great video

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!

[@Ryan_Messenger]

I like to use amp plugins because I can switch tones in the mix process to find ones that best sit together, rather than commit to a tone in the beginning. It's a fine line however, I don't spend too much time on it but it's a winning strategy for me. Also instead of adding eq, I'll dial the amp during playback.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing your process!

[@jameswallace]

There's something to be said about getting a few extra takes for safety. As someone who works in video, both as a director and editor, more often than not the take that I feel is a winner on the shoot day is rarely the take that makes the final edit. I'm pretty sure that this is not because I'm incapable of judging performance on the day, but more that the energy of the overall day can sometimes overtake the needs of the specific scene, and I can't imagine this is much different in a recording session when tracking multiple songs. So I always take a few wildcard takes to make sure my bases are covered.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing your experience with us

[@stuart.s.]

I found the comment about printing the sound before mixing quite eye opening. Unless I have misunderstood what I heard previously about mixing in 1st getting levels right and 2nd making it all fit together? Some really useful information here 🙏

[@Producelikeapro]

The great records we grew up listening to were recorded by committing the sounds and the parts! That’s not always easy to do with limited equipment, especially recording drums, however with single input overdubs you would need one mic pre (with EQ) and a compressor to achieve the same results! Making sure musicians like guitars players print their effects

[@conceptSde]

Well said, but printing with analog hardware in a home studio of course is a matter of budget. I am really happy to have an analog chain for at least one channel with pretty decent 1073, 1176 and LA-3A clones. I am a singer myself and thus I know that no latency compression on the headphone while recording is such an important contribution to one‘s performance. Of course a DSP interface by UA oder other manufactures would do this job as well, but it still sounds and feels differently to me. Anyway, in a band context I will have to go directly into the box with all the other channels as a compromise. And plugins will do the job pretty well in these days at least for me.

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes! Just having one channel of world class mic pre can make a HUGE difference indeed!!

[@KreativeDevices]

🔥

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!

[@edmundworrell1864]

Great video, fantastic advice thank you

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!

[@marcdanielnelson317]

marvelous!!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks! Haha Marvellous to you too!

[@ThisisAudilia]

Awesome !!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Drumbo_Limbo]

This is lovely, but I’ll have to plug my ears any time you say The Bends and OK Computer are Radiohead’s best work! 😂

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha ok! Thanks for sharing! Go Radiohead!

[@patrickfreeman8257]

I was taking a recording class in college in 1989 and my sister and her fiance wanted to record themselves singing "their song" to play at their wedding. I booked a 4 hour block in the campus studio and had some friends come in to play. Joe was playing keyboard and I put Sharon in a rather live storage room with a Nueman U87 (if memory serves me correctly) and told her it was a work vocal so she should feel free to let go. She did. After 4 hours we had to leave the studio. We had all the tracking but had no time for vocals. We decided to send the instrumentalists home and come back later to do the vocals. A couple weeks later we discovered that Sharon, having the freedom to let go, laid down some awesome vocals that we decided not to touch. Joe was a different story. We discovered that the pitch was just a little bit too high for him to sing comfortable. If I remember correctly Joe has a vocal range of about a 5th, maybe a major 6th but that's really pushing it. What to do? I slowed the tape down just a smidge, knowing I was in danger of making him sound like a chipmunk when I sped the tape back up. (this is what an idiot I am. I just now realized that I could have left it the slower speed) Anyway, while Sharon's is one my favorite female voices, Joe's is no real match. What I did was comp him (I didn't know it was a term then) Recorded him singing the song on six different tracks then compiled the best of each track onto one. Then I saturated the hell out of it fx

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing your process! I really appreciate it

[@twitchbook-1]

cheers

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!

[@EDDuro]

Understanding sound, the sound spectrum, and familiarity with devices, whether analog or digital, is, in my opinion, the most important thing. The war of discussions and thoughts on this topic is entertaining and I enjoy a lot 😎😜

[@Producelikeapro]

Of course, understanding our tools and how to use them is pf paramount importance!

[@barneyrubble8255]

Does he still have his ssl console? he says "it was a lot of fun" past tense. so he's mixing in the box now

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi! Warren here! I have an Audient console now in my studio, Spitfire, where I mix hybrid fashion, as I did with the SSL!

[@VERSUXH]

Which mic should i get in the $185-275 range AKG P420 ($185) AT2050 ($200), LCT 440 ($250) AT4040 ($275) I'm a standard - low tenor voice. Using ONLY for vocals to make music, not for instruments.

[@cefk9944]

When I try to schedule writing a song and force myself to actually do it, I have never gotten a single song out of that. Thanks to my trusty shredder, the rest of the world has been spared having to endure those horribly shitty lyrics. I've learned to do things, when they're easy (aka when inspiration hits me). I always have something to write with me (pen&paper or at least a phone to record a note, so I don't forget the idea).

[@Producelikeapro]

Absolutely! I'm always open to both options! Thanks for sharing your experience

[@mannysmiclocker]

Real Talk ;)

[@Justin_the_Analog_IC_architect]

Tiger feet? That's neat.

[@pb3662]

Inspiration and process. Check out the The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Professional vs Amateur

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!

[@pb3662]

@@Producelikeapro Doing the "required work" and the inspiration/muse will come vs only working when you feel inspired. Great book

[@Producelikeapro]

@@pb3662 marvellous!

[@ihtpublishers3859]

Main thing is to enjoy yourself. There is plenty of great music in history that has been made with "cheap" and "tired" gear. Whilst in the box allows for a million options in non destructive ways, committing up front and twiddling knobs is hard to replace IMO. As Fab MIne said years back, record it like its already mastered.

[@Producelikeapro]

Absolutely! Thanks ever is much for sharing!

[@ZZ-ou7gp]

Good source in, good final product. The whole purpose of mixing is to improve something or add something that was not there in the source to make it special. I think the concept of mixing to improve a bad source is flawed, which unfortunately most mix engineers are engaged in. Polishing bad will only translate as a well polished bad source. Spend more time getting good audio in, then you can spend less time in the mix. Love your Channel brother. You always make the best audio podcasts on here.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing

[@ZZ-ou7gp]

@@Producelikeapro thanks 🙏 to you brother every single day is a Produce Like A Pro Day. Music takes us every where and we do it for different reasons. Sometimes people don't realise the impact they have on other people's lives. I'm glad you are on here. Have a fabulous day

[@Producelikeapro]

@@ZZ-ou7gp that's a wonderful statement! Thanks ever so much!

[@meanmr.mustard]

Tigerfeet 😄🤘

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha yes!! Mud!

[@meanmr.mustard]

@@Producelikeapro Hello Warren, question. Does Produce like a Pro have any video about the difference of recording something like a budget microphone (let's say up to 300 euro's) through budget mic preamps like a DBX 286S, Presonus Tubepre V2 etc. vs a budget mic simply recorded through a budget interface, like a lot of us use at home?

[@Producelikeapro]

@@meanmr.mustard I have so many songs recorded in $300 mics!! Lewitt, Lauten, Mojave, you name it! Through $200-300 interfaces!

[@meanmr.mustard]

@@Producelikeapro Thanks 👍

[@Tito-Torres]

First and foremost Why tiger feet?

[@Producelikeapro]

That's what Moses had, it's fun and comfortable!

[@Tito-Torres]

@@Producelikeapro thanks so much for your Chanel. Big huge fan of yours. Cheers

[@Producelikeapro]

@@Tito-Torres thanks ever so much!

[@TigroGumi]

Can you get good results in the box? "sure you just need to have a massive analogue recording studio"... I find it pointless to answer this question with just negating it by saying "if you use all that equipment when you record you don't need it in mixing" so, you do need it then? I do know this is why big name mix engineers often mix in the box because they are mixing production already full to the brim with analogue goodness

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi there! Thanks for your comment! When did I say "sure you just need to have a massive analogue recording studio" ? Haha I did say using a mic pre or compressor to shape the sound on the way in helps! I've made many albums with one mic pre and one compressor. Recording drums of course can be a whole different animal! Many thanks, Warren

[@oconnellmastering]

Berlin is the place in the world where I saw the most KRKs in studios... strange...

[@Producelikeapro]

Interesting! It’s actually the first pair I’ve seen in Berlin! Typically it’s Adam’s that I see everywhere

[@strikkland_official]

Those KRK's are Exposé e8b's and they are absolutely marvelous to mix on. So not a strange choice if you ask me but I haven't actually seen or heard a pair in the wild outside of Hansa.

[@awsgaming7578]

I don’t think your in the level to answer questions for one or tow songs you get involved in when it’s produced . Keep making advertising for us and earn your money from youtube , and don’t forget now a kid with ableton of fl studio have made much more songs in his bedroom then you. Sorry for that but i don’t like to see advertising agents trying to play teachers, you don’t have a time even to teach yourself . Best regards from 🇨🇭

[@timbrown7652]

I tend to find the Swiss educated, this is definitely not from an educated person, doubtful they are Swiss. Warren has number one albums, hundreds of major label credits and has written a best selling book on recording and mixing. But hey some random spambot knows better! LOL

[@angermanagementstudios]

Bot or absolute can of Tennant’s Super here chaps.

[@AmiliaCaraMia]

Bro who are you even fighting