Optimizing phase relationships with Steve Albini

[@mixwiththemasters]

Full video available exclusively on mwtm.org/sa-drums-phase

[@colehart]

RIP Steve. You are a legend for the industry.

[@conorm2524]

I'm re-watching all these vids too.

[@hip-hoprapstorage4440]

Legend for us, not the industry. He didn't like the way industry works

[@billyjackoff]

I've learned so much about recording from this man throughout the years. He truly loved what he did and was more than willing to pass down his knowledge, simply because he loved talking about it. He never seemed annoyed by what I assume was a constant barrage of recording questions. In a world full of genuinely evil people with dogshit ethics, he was steadfast in what he believed was right. There is now a huge Steve Albini sized hole in the universe, but he left behind a legacy of incredible, boundary-pushing music. He was the perfect embodiment of the punk rock ethos. Rest well, Steve.

[@Rompler_Rocco]

Extremely well put!

[@Podcastage]

Albini is the absolute best. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

[@gkniffen]

I love Steve and it has nothing to do with his audio engineering skills. He's just a super smart, articulate dude with kick-ass ethics.

[@Dvfacu]

This is gold. True audio engineering right here.

[@bigrivermedia762]

4:30 He's absolutely right about the Oktava MK012 mic on the snare - I pair mine with a 57 with the capsules aligned and it's always 180 out of phase.

[@patrickfouhy9102]

Over the years, I'm pretty sure I've watched every video he's ever been in on youtube. And since he passed, they have been resurfacing in my feed and its been such a great experience revisiting these videos. Steve will be missed, he may be gone, but he's left us with a wonderful catalogue of music, lessons to learn from, and inspiration. Thanks for everything Steve.

[@spencergump5452]

On many important topics like mic polarity and drum tuning, it either takes dozens of different ways of explaining it or just Steve Albini for me to finally understand what’s going on

[@tommj4365]

I like to adjust all mics by a variable phase amount, like say 45 degrees, to get them all aligned with the kick mic. This is accomplished ideally via mic placement, but also there are hardware phase adjustment effects or in the box vst. It's very cool seeing the waveform rotate as it's adjusted. This is different than adjusting the timing of tracks btw, but that's another useful thing to consider. If all overhead mics are placed equal distance to the kick beater hit point, as well as the snare hit point, that's another good starting point to get coherent phase during a mix. I believe that's called the Recorder Man technique, but I'm sure a ton of engineers before him used it.

[@stagnatic]

I mean this in the nicest possible way, and with immense respect: A) I can seriously imagine Steve Albini as a very old man in an assisted living facility, holding forth on mic polarity each and every afternoon at 4:30 PM, just before they serve the soup for dinner-with absolutely all residents, myself included, listening intently. B) If and when Steve Albini releases his line of jumpsuits, I will purchase and proudly wear one.

[@schonetraume8799]

Hahahahahahaha

[@mikeythemaestro]

Steve Albini and Hank 3 made me realize that coverall jumpsuits are a perfectly acceptable piece of clothing

[@globalcryptohypermegamindw6481]

This is both ridiculous, and accurate, at the very same time.

[@drindy5166]

Lmfao... just woke up and was having my morning coffee... some of it has just shot through my nose reading your comment! 🧡👊🤣👍🧡

[@Wtfdawg321]

Coveralls are the most efficient type of clothing, that’s why he wears them, lol

[@amdenis]

Great video, as always. Thanks for taking the time and sharing your wisom! I know you're trying to simplify a very complex subject. Phase is most important in context of the entire mix, and obviously not just drums. As there is an EQ-levels-phase interrelationship across frequencies, and phase alignment affects a wide range of aspects of the mix/master, from dynamics and EQ to timbre and environmentals/ambience, the best advice I have found is to do what sounds best. I am talking not just about the inter-mic phase issues, but also intra-mix dynamic phase relationships. It depends on the music being mixed, the monitoring used and the analog and digital elements in the chain. Being a media lab kind of geek, I created an AI based system which allows me to work creatively within a mix, enabling me to stay creatively/acoustically focused, while the AI identifies complex phase vs frequency level and alignment changes. Even when I enforce a max +/- 1dB change across the master, the difference from just phase can be powerfully impactful. Amazing world we are entering into.

[@fernandoherrerabastidas]

would you share more about that AI system?

[@olliehussey64]

Would love to hear more about the AI system you've developed!

[@profd65]

As always, you'll find the super experts in the comment section.

[@agharta42]

we lost a genius, i mean, i dont think people will really feel the impact of that for a while but yeah. incredible body of work he left behind. read some passages from 'our band could be your life' by michael azerrad. albini had a part in the creation of some of the greatest art of the last century- and he did that without any compromise or commercial subjugation. a real gem of a person- he will be missed.

[@ChrisFloats]

Whenever Steve speaks, I generally just say YES SIR, I will do what you say!

[@markmallinder7618]

If you want to test whether the electronics inverting the signal is the cause of your preference, you can leave the electronics the same and just swap the wires feeding the speakers.

[@The_Absurdistt]

And that was just another reason Steve Albini was a master.

[@timbranniganmusic3458]

Thanks for the excellent video

[@davidasher22]

I usually notice a small loss in low end when reversing total polarity of a song. It’s nothing crazy but I can definitely hear it in an A/B test and I have. It’s a good little prank for your engineer friends. You show them that they can hear a definite difference between the two samples but then show them that they null.

[@jamisonfrench]

YES! 👏 So important.

[@Harvey_Glassman]

Most excellent!! 👏👏👏

[@LYSHEmusic]

For me the difference of drums sum phase is pretty noticeable and meaningful. And often drums in solo sounds better when kick waveform goes up (or hit forward from the speakers), but in the mix opposite phase gives more depth and space to the sound, cause often we want drums to be behind the band. That’s for live drums at least. And while flipping the drums phase it’s worth trying to do the same with the bass just in case. That’s also can be the case with background vocals. When phase of bv are flipped they sounds more behind, contrasting with the lead vocal. So I often like to toggle phase on any source - drums, vocs, bass, etc - and choose what works better.

[@tucko11]

RIP he was a true talent

[@ElHolyBoy]

Fantastic content.

[@TheNoladrummer]

As a singing drummer, when I’m singing from an omniscient narrator POV, I pan the drums to audience perspective. When I’m singing from my own POV, I pan to drummer’s perspective. It may be too subtle for the majority of listeners, but it still has significance for me.

[@mostpeoplearebots]

genius info- thank you

[@neoaureus]

so brilliant !

[@virginstudio120]

Very interesting! Thanx!

[@CentaurPress]

Does he keep those 2 “overheads” in that location when he records? I’m sure I can research it but maybe someone can answer🙏

[@gimmigimmigimmi]

I know why he used to do that but you should just do your homework

[@paulyplatinum127]

this video is optimazing

[@terrailsanders]

Great information

[@professorpolymath]

The Noam Chomsky of recording engineers

[@griffini19]

Phase issues with multiple mics have much deeper phase relationships than 180 degree polarity shift. It would be unlikely that mics are out of polarity and always somewhere in between. And the phase differences are different at different frequencies. I use Little Labs IBPs on all tracks but 1 when mixing. After any eq. It’s amazing but it isn’t easy.

[@ToneSherpa]

100%, the phase thing is always situation dependant. particularly with snare and kick drums. and especially if there's a bottom snare mic, and also this applies to resonant head kicks as well.. something like 25% of the time these things sound better reversed. and I think it has more to do with their relationship with the mix itself more than anything. particularly the bass guitar. and in the snare's case, regular guitars. but yeah, sometimes things just jive better with the Overheads and room mics when they are flipped. and sometimes it's hard to pin down exactly why.

[@profd65]

Always gotta go to the comments to find the real experts

[@olamidealiu7900]

Rip man❤

[@gregmoss8253]

I have a mic of the same Russian brand as the snare top mic that has the same "reversed" polarity. in my model, the output stage is transformer balanced - would that mean that no additional electronics would be necessary to match the standard polarity?" If so, I would think these mics are following a different standard. It worked out for me, I often used mine as a snare bottom mic and didn't need the console phase switch .

[@rootvalue]

I love you Steve

[@rsrexkwondo2326]

this guy’s a fuckin’ wizard scientist.

[@GeoffBosco]

I’m nearly positive there are some phase issues with the drum track on Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower. But, can you imagine that track with different sounding drums? I know I can’t.

[@dillontaylor8035]

Yea. I can imagine the drums actually have low end.

[@GeoffBosco]

@@dillontaylor8035 You know it's not a too difficult job to go in there and add modern drum samples to the original track. I bet someone has already done it by now. I wonder why updated versions aren't all over the place in the cultural consciousness.

[@ehebeats4024]

Thank you 💫

[@evildie999]

Wow.

[@coffinperson]

You can't really adjust the phase if you're recording into a Tascam Model 24 or something because there is no phase switch.

[@secreus5517]

You can buy reverse-phase XLR couplers/adapters, however pointless that sounds. I think they're designed for situations like yours, where you have an oppositely-wired microphone running into a system with no such controls. Idk, might be handy in some use cases.

[@BarnacleButtock]

The older unit, the Tascam DP24SD (and by extension its 32 track sister DP32SD, which I own) has phase inversion for each track and input.

[@waytospergtherebro]

Luckily, nobody is recording into a Tascam Model 24.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

@@waytospergtherebro This isn't true. I use a model 24 very frequeny. I switch between that and my MS16 on a day to day basis.

[@GoLongboardBroseph]

dude is awesome

[@respectfulremastersbymetal8336]

So, TLDR? 1. Know what you're using and 2. use your ears. If it sounds good, done. If not, refer to 1.

[@nelsongomez7228]

pense que era Alvaro Henriquez

[@davidreidy5750]

My kit is minimal as possible (3 pc)and Use one sm57 overhead and one beta 52a bass just floating out the port hole.Some compression,eq from mixer and oh yeah good tuning is key don't want to sound like your hitting wet cardboard.🤖🪐📡

[@JVB_DJ]

👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@NotMyWar]

Steve is a true artist, he doesn’t want any royalties on music he didn’t write.

[@ToneSherpa]

I have this cheap shitty Nady condenser that I like to throw on snare sometimes.. and I always forget it's polarity is reversed. (it's pair that it came with is not haha)

[@metartmusic]

I know Steve ... and I'm 8 years younger than, and don't die my hair ... my hair is silver ...

[@c3N3q]

Super interesting. 🤔 What would happen if you recorded a piece of music, made a copy, reversed the polarity and then played it simultaneously with the original? Silence? 😎

[@LoudPaul1]

Yep

[@desmondcole4300]

In a DAW, if you play the exact same recording at the exact same time at the exact same level 180 degrees out of phase, the audio cancels itself out. If you're interested, you could easily do this experiment to confirm it for yourself.

[@shaneharrington3655]

Stephen Albinikision III

[@KyleWilliams-it7de]

Jesse, what the %@$ are you talking about?

[@doctorskull8197]

Huh?

[@watsonunlimitedmusic]

But Steve - we're not actually working in real 3 dimensional space. We're mimicking 3 dimensional space with a pair of 2 dimensional membranes (speakers). And when the membranes are pushed (to create the positive side of the wave) and pulled (to create the negative side) at the same time, the two opposing forces cancel each other out. So even though our ears are very capable of perceiving all these different pressures of air moving in different directions, the technology we're using to mimic that isn't quite as capable of reproducing that.

[@olibarahosasa1137]

"I don't want to learn anything new" -Steve Albini (I'll never forget him saying that horrible line)

[@profd65]

Watch some other video then.

[@brainwasher3742]

Context is important. He doesn’t want to learn something new in terms of his well established workflow. He obviously discovers something new everyday, but you’d have to assist him to uncover all of that knowledge.

[@Muadhnait]

Polarity.

[@iClaudius]

I wonder if he optimized his relationship with Tyler The Creator

[@plummetplum]

Wtf i had no idea he died 😮 sad

[@user-zn8uo67pd]

:(((

[@metaphoria3]

His deliberately anti fascist haircut 😂☺️😔😌

[@queenpurple8433]

Donald trump has the best anti fascist hair 🤘

[@sendforacar9323]

These things don't concern me so let's talk about it for 6 minutes.