Michael Molaskey @michaelmolaskey-blog - Tumblr Blog

Hey! Check out my latest audio portfolio!

I had a great time tuning the vocals on this track. This is just a snippet of the entire song but I believe it showcases the work I did to tune the lead vocals and harmonies on the the chorus. Using Antares AutoTune can be tricky at times but I felt using the graph view was the easiest way to tackle the vocals on the chorus. Comment the way you like to use autotune or if you like tuning vocals at all.

The bottom snare microphone is a very controversial topic in the audio engineering community. Some engineers use it to capture a unique sound to use later in the mixing process, others would punch you in the face if you even suggested it. Personally I like to grab as many sounds as I possibly can in order to have as many options as possible. That being said I decided to shoot out four common dynamic microphones that I have never used to mic the bottom of the snare. To do this I did two soft hits, two loud hits, a flam (as best I can) and a small rhythmic pattern.

To prepare for this experiment, I did some short research into the best ways to mic up a bottom snare. The sweetwater article goes into the best way to angle the microphone. That is why I decided to point the microphone straight up to capture the sound of the impact and the snares. The Sound on Sound article goes into pretty good detail into balance phase issues that one may encounter when recording a top and bottom microphone at the same time. That also influenced my placement since I would be placing a top microphone like a mirror to the ones in the pictures.

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/how-to-multi-mic-your-snare-drum/

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/kick-snare-recording-techniques

The microphones I used are the EV RE20, Sennheiser 421 and 609, and the Shure SM7b. Each are pretty common microphones in their own rite but not necessarily for bottom snare. In my opinion the RE 20 and 421 are typically darker sounding microphones. I hope they give a good solid sound to the snare samples they give. The 609 is typically used on guitar cabinets but that doesn’t mean that it can’t give a rich sizzle to the snares. And lastly the SM7b is usually a dialog or vocal microphone so it will be interesting to hear how clear sounding it will be on the samples

Linked below are the audio samples of the microphones that I tested and I can say that each has its own unique sound. The 609 is very bright, especially on the high end where the snares live. It is a good option if you are looking for the sizzle in certain types of jazz. Just like the 609, the SM7b has a pretty clear high end to it but does capture more of the attack than the microphone before it. The 421 on the other hand is a lot darker of a sound with the added impact of the stick like I predicted and would sound pretty good on metal. Finally the RE20 has a pretty balanced sound. Where it both has a lot of body but maintains a good snare sound.

https://soundcloud.com/michael-molaskey-853880013/sets/bottom-snare-microphone-shoot-out

After testing all of the microphones I found that I would rank them in this order:

1. RE20

2. SM7b

3. 609

4. 421

I ranked them this way based on how mix ready each one sounded. The top two give a pretty good raw sample that can be darkened to add body to the top mic or brightened add sizzle if needed. The bottom two seem to be already be bright (609) or dark (421) so it would be hard to mold them the other way if need be. They would be good to snares tracks with the intended bright or dark sound already in mind.

The Alloways gave me a great song to put my heart and soul into and I have to say it came out exactly how we wanted it to.

Carving out the drums and the bass was not a challenge as the bass much more active than the kick drum so I could afford to give it some more upper mid range that wouldn’t interfere with the guitar tacks. I also boosted the high end in the Acoustic guitar track to give the guitar the bright sound that can just cut though the mix. I compressed the vocals pretty heavily, doing about 10 dB of gain reduction over 4 compressors. Each compressor acting as a different layer affecting the timbre of the sound ever so slightly. Also it makes sure the voice doesn’t pump with the dynamic changes. Lastly this song is pretty dry other than the vocals. I gave them a nice mellow slapback delay, reminiscent of and Elvis sound. I think this made the vocals very prominent in the mix and gave it the character they needed.

I would like to thank the Alloways for allowing me to record them and I hope to record them again in the future. Please take a listen to their single “Get Out”.

The Alloways Tracking Session

We had a great time with the Alloways, cutting their new single “Get Out”.

Trying to capture their southern rock sound was not as big of a challenge as we thought going into the session. I suggested we gather sounds from both close micing the guitar cabinets and use a room microphone to capture a natural reverb. I did the same with placing a room mic in a room outside of the room the drums were recorded in. Getting the natural reverb made the song sound more live and energetic.

Overdubbing the vocals and guitar proved to be the biggest challenge as the band had a lot of ideas they wanted to put down on tape. Personally, I always want my artists to explore the creative space as much as possible. So allowing them to hear the track and deciding to add in the same riff but a fifth up is part of the song making process or else you get a song that the band isn’t proud of.

Here is the video of the session and talking about how we did it:

https://youtu.be/80i6RrqpB_s

And a rough mix of the band:

https://soundcloud.com/michael-molaskey-853880013/thealloways-getout

Pro Tool’s has an amazing feature called elastic audio. When turned on it allows the user to literally move any note to where it is supposed to go. It’s best suited for fixing timing issues. It does this by latching on to the transients of the sound source and allows you to manipulate it to where it needs to go in order to be time. On the track below I used it to help fix some of the drummer’s inconsistencies in the kick drum. I started with dropping the sensitivity of the algorithm that is used to detect different transients. This way I could edit just instances of the kick drum. Then I used the modifier shift + clicking on the event that I wanted to move so it would fit in with the rest of the music. You can hear how these edits turned out in the link below.

https://soundcloud.com/michael-molaskey-853880013/elasticaudio-molaskey

Microphone Shootout

So, this over the past week I had some down time and decided to conduct a short microphone shoot out. I looked in the microphone closet in studio E at Capital and pulled out 4 microphones that I have always wanted to learn more about on vocals. Then I went to the control room and set up the first channel of the Focusrite ISA 428 MKII microphone preamp to be same for all 4 of the microphones. Then I was able to enlist the help of my friend Jarrett Williams, a computer science major, who has years of musical theater experience and performs with the Capital University Chordsman men's Choir.

But before I started, I realized that in order to get the best results of my testing I would need to do some brushing up on my do’s and don'ts of recording vocals. The first part I wanted to maintain to be the same is the distance away from each microphone. I made sure the singer was consistently about 5-6 inches away from the microphone with a pop filter right in the middle between them. I made sure to use a pop filter on all the microphones to make sure the tests were fair and had the same level of plosive compensation. I also had the microphones set in a way, as you can see in the pictures, that he is almost singing over them. This also helped with plosives while not hurting the actual quality of the vocals. If you would like to read more of the articles that I researched, here are the links:

https://www.dittomusic.com/blog/how-to-record-vocals-at-home

https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/recording-vocals/

The microphones that I chose run the gambit of types and characteristics of microphones that is offered on the market. I chose the Rode K2, RE 20, Sennheiser 421, and the Shure KSM 44. The RE 20 and the Sennheiser 421 are two of my personal favorites when it comes to recording instruments, mainly percussion so I wanted to see how they fair up against two very solid microphones. The first of those is the Rode K2 which I usually never have the time to use because I constantly forget to have the tube warm up before using it. This time I made sure it was warmed up for at least a half hour before the trying to track on it. And finally, I chose to use the Shure KSM 44 because I consistently don’t really care for it but not for any true reason. So, I decided that this would be a great way to ether confirm this opinion, or maybe change my opinion.

After my performing my research I was able to tell some very glaring differences between them. The RE 20 sounds very closed off, low frequency oriented and has an almost round quality to it. The Sennheiser 421 on the other hand had a nice upper range to the sound. It was much crisper than the RE 20 but was also very thin. The Rode K2 had similar qualities as the 421 but had some warmth to it that the 421 lacked. And lastly the Shure KSM44 was clear, crisp and full as can be. Definitely fulfilling the condenser microphone prophecy.

If I had to rank them, I would put them in this order:

Shure KSM44

Sennheiser 421

Rode K2

RE 20

This is due to the how far above the Shure KSM 44 was compared to the other mic. It was exactly what everyone wants in a vocal microphone. The RE 20 and Rode K2 just did not live up to expectations. For instruments the RE 20 is my desert island microphone but not for vocals. The Rode K2 just did not sound like it was a tube microhome. It just sounded dull and not as clear. Now for the Sennheiser 421, that sound blew me away. It was clear, crisp and very nice for the vocalist. That I had sing. It may not sound the best on the female voice but for a baritone-tenor 1 vocalist it is a fine selection. If you would like to hear what I heard, you can listen to the recordings on my SoundCloud below.

https://soundcloud.com/michael-molaskey-853880013/sets/microphone-shootout

DANTE TO THE FUTURE

I am officially Dante level 1 certified. After learning about all of the capabilities and how easy it is to use, I am really excited to get out in the field and try it. What impresses me the most is how easy you can make audio go wherever you want with two clicks. And how you don’t even have to keep the program open for it to work! That is almost unheard of in most software.

Well my official internship at R Joseph Group is officially over. I learned a lot about the manufacturing side of the music tech and got to make a lot of good contacts. Probably the best part is they offered me a part time job in the coming semester! I am more than excited to be apart of of such a wonderful company and continue my college career.

It is amazing how much I love doing things like creating spreadsheets and tracking data. It may not be the most glamorous job but I love problem solving and creating solutions to help you he office run smoother. Later I have to track down some inventory invoices for tax purposes. Might sound boring but it is definitely a new found passion.

All of the demos work! Now its time to tear it all down and paletize it for shipping. As you can tell, we already got some of the tear down started. This is going to be as interesting as setting it all up.

We finally got the NAMM booth all set up and running! Now we begin the even more fun process of tearing all of it down and getting it ready to ship....month a head of time!

Sometimes it is nice to just slow down at work and do something to take your mind off of some problems you are having. I am glad to work in an office that allowed me to take the time to both set up and decorate a Christmas tree. When I was done, I was able to work on the NAMM booth much more effectively. I can't wait to show off the final product when it is all operational.

I am really enjoying writing posts for the R Joseph Group Facebook page. Getting to write about some of the best gear out there is so much fun and rewarding. Not to mention engaging with a number of people who not only share the same passion for the gear, but music too. I can't wait to see what I am going to write about next week!

The 2019 NAMM booth is starting to take shape at Music Max Inc. After we get all the gear set up, all that is left is to route them all together. I am excited to be apart of such a fun yet challenging endeavor!

I am so excited to start work at Music Max Inc! It will be great to work with all of the amazing manufacturers that make our lives in the industry better. I am even more excited now that I know that my cubicle comes with a DMX programmable light! It's the simple things in life.

Simple+Classic=CLA-2A Compressor / Limiter

This compressor plug-in made by the the Waves audio company is one of the best plug-ins I have ever bought. It models an old electro-optical tube compressor who are renowned for their warmth and gorgeous compression tones that can be achieved with their specific circuitry. This plugin does an amazing job sounding just like the original with one key bonus. It is cheaper than the analog version and you can use the plugin on multiple channels at once instead of only being able to use the one piece of equipment on one track at a time.

This plugin only has 3 controls that are used for shaping the sound that is desired. One is a input gain knob. Its sole job is to increase the level on the sound that is going into the compressor. The next knob is to attenuate the peak of the sound. This is called the Peak Reduction Knob, and it is very easy to dial in the specific level of compression that is desired. The next control is simply a switch between a compressor setting and a limiter setting. This is great to be able to quickly switch between the two types of dynamic effects on the fly.

This plug-in is a great addition to anyone's hard drive. It will help you take any track that you are having problems adding compression on and make it sound beautiful. But I highly suggest that you wait until waves audio puts the plugin on sale as they are privy to time to time. I bought my copy for only $29 during their summer sale and it was well worth waiting to save $220 of precious money that you can use to buy other gear. Follow the link in the bottom to where you can buy your copy today.

CLA-2A Compressor / Limiter

#compressor #review #CLA #Classic #gear #waves

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Michael Molaskey