Recording - July 2017 - 64

Readers'

TRACKS
BY MARTY PETERS

Listen online at www.recordingmag.com

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Darow Han
EQUIPMENT: Custom Antec Windows 7 workstation with Focusrite
Scarlett 2i2 USB audio interface running Cockos Reaper DAW,
iZotope Ozone 7, and Toontrack EZ Drummer 2. Mics: RØDE
NT1-A and MXL 990. Golden Age Project Pre-73 MKIII preamp.
KRK Rokit 5 monitors and beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro headphones.
Taylor 150e 12-string acoustic guitar, Fender Jaguar electric bass.
MUSIC: "Scorpion" is a male vocal rock song done in its

entirety by Darow.
RECORDING: Darow has submitted an acoustic guitar-focused
rock song that serves as a fine demo track, in our opinion. Let's
look at what steps he can take to ramp it up a notch or two.
Let's start with the overall sound of the stereo mix. Through our
monitors and headphones, the entire proceedings had a thin,
sometimes brittle quality. This was particularly true with the acoustic
12-string guitar and, to a lesser degree, the cymbals and lead vocal.
A quick scan of Darow's gear list provided no real answers.
Taylor, RØDE, Focusrite, Fender, Toontrack... all solid names that have
appeared on hundreds of commercial releases and successful
Readers' Tracks. Given that, we suspect that the culprit may have been
speaker placement, room acoustics, or a combination of the two.
SUGGESTIONS: Through the years here at Recording, we
have published dozens of articles on room design/acoustics,
as well as monitor speaker placement. While we are unsure of
the exact mixing situation here (bedroom, basement, etc.), the
fact that we detect a global loss of low and low-mid frequencies
in "Scorpion" leads us to the possibility that Darow's room was
suffering from some rather pronounced bass buildup, causing
him to trim these low frequencies on multiple sound sources.
As we most often do in these circumstances, we suggest that
Darow grab some commercial releases that are familiar to him,
and A/B them through his KRK monitors along with his own mix,
64

RECORDING July 2017

paying close attention to all of the various frequency ranges. Listening for which characteristics (if any) are common, and which are
dissimilar, is the most cost- and time-effective method that we know
of for troubleshooting potential problems. Repeating the process on
his beyerdynamic headphones, then on additional speakers/ear
buds, car stereos, etc., can also be an invaluable reference tool.
SUMMARY: It's all about that bass (buildup)!
CONTACT: Darow Han, darow@taegukki.com

Jeffrey Glenn Tveraas
EQUIPMENT: Late 2006 Core 2 Duo Macbook with Digi 002R
interface running Pro Tools LE 8, Digidesign EQ and compression
plug-ins, Toontrack EZdrummer (triggered with a MIDI keyboard),
and iZotope Ozone 3. Mics: Audio-Technica AT4047 and CAD
E100. Reverb: TC Electronic M300. Event 20/20p passive monitors
with ART SLA-2 power amp. Taylor W14ce acoustic guitar, Fender
Custom Stratocaster and Aerodyne Telecaster, Squier Vintage
Modified fretless bass, Fender CyberDeluxe amp.
MUSIC: "All Alone" is a male vocal rock song. Jeffrey did it all;

he writes, "I hope to get some musical friends sometime soon...
wearing all the hats is wearing me out!"
RECORDING: A really successful upbeat solo effort here. We
absolutely love the sound of the aggressively strummed Taylor
acoustic guitar that Jeffrey laid down. The super-dry, wide-panned
combination brought to mind the mighty Pete Townshend, and that's
not bad company, say we! The electric rhythm guitar reinforces the
strumming between the verses and its jangly presence adds a nice
sparkle throughout. Jeffrey also did a fine job on the electric slide
guitar here-great performance and tone, in our opinion.
Moving on, we thought both the lead and backing vocals
were well executed and delivered without sibilance (thank
you!) or additional artifact. The bass guitar was another winning
effort to our ears, maintaining a solid, driving feel despite the
rather active nature of the part.
So, all is well, then? Ah, not so fast, buckaroos. While we
found the overall tones and programming of the EZdrummer
software drum kit to be better than average, the tom fill sections
came across as unnatural to us. We also sensed a distinct
energy drop between the various sections of the song, with a
sag occurring as the verses tried to match the heavy strummed
parts of the arrangement.
SUGGESTIONS: This is not the first time, nor will it be the
last, that we have pointed out an unrealistic drum fill that was
programmed by a talented player whose primary instrument is
something other than drums! Jeffrey did a bang-up programming job on everything but the fills here. We suggest that keeping
things more basic will not detract from the proceedings.
As for the energy fluctuations, we would urge Jeffrey to
re-examine the mix levels of his arrangement using his ears, not
his eyes. Panning, ambience, instrumentation, and the concept
of "bandwidth" can all play into the perception of volume and
energy in a mix. Learning to seamlessly bring sound sources in
and out of a track takes practice and experimentation, but we
are confident that Jeffrey has the chops to master the process.
SUMMARY: Darn good!
CONTACT: Jeffrey Glenn Tveraas, jeffty@austin.rr.com

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