RECORDING November 2022 - 72

FadeOut
Studio Thoughts
from Allen Sides
Compiled by Paul Vnuk Jr.
Recently on a trip to Los Angeles, I had a chance to sit
down with audio engineer, studio and speaker designer,
gear expert and producer Allen Sides. In his 50+ year
career, Allen has forgotten more than most of us will ever
know about studios and workflow, and he is not above
calling out myths, misconceptions and accepted practices.
Allen jumped right in as we walked past a photo of a well-known
studio with a typical control room configuration.
Lose the 'Producer' Desk!
One of the first things I would do in many control rooms is to
lose the producer desk filled with rack gear directly behind the
mix position. I find it can create unnecessary reflection points,
and it just gets in the way. I prefer to position the outboard gear
in racks along the wall, which works much better sonically and
is easier to get to.
What about making tweaks outside
of the sweet spot?
A Wide Soundstage in a Well-Balanced Room
If you have speakers with a broad, even dispersion pattern
(like the Ocean Way models), you can easily move around the
room and make informed decisions.
What are the most important things
to consider when setting up a studio,
especially a home studio?
First Reflections and Low-Frequency Absorption
In any given space, if you have plaster walls, you're
going to get all of these reflections off the ceiling and side
walls when you put speakers up. That will make things sound
like a mess.
The first thing to do is to get rid of the first-order reflections coming
off the ceiling and side walls. Once you do that, half your
problems are gone. It's not going to fix your bass per se, but it
will certainly get you good imaging and eliminate any smearing.
72 RECORDING November 2022
Then the next thing to look at are the low frequencies. Often
this involves just going into the space and trying different spots
for your listening position. I'll go into a room, and I'll try it on
this wall, then I'll try it this wall and figure out where I get the
best bass performance. Then you can add low-frequency absorption
across the rear wall to eliminate excess buildup.
Longways Is Not Always the Best
Also, while we want as much depth as possible to develop a
great low-frequency wave-ideally, you want about 26'-most
people do not have that depth. I learned from years of setting
up listening environments in hotel rooms at trade shows that
often the shorter depth can be best.
If your room is too long and narrow, you will get excess side
reflections, and with a shorter distance, it's easier to get bass
buildup-you just need to figure out how it can be controlled.
Often I will put all the rear seating in that area, and I actually
can get some pretty good bass performance in a room that's
only 13' deep.
Acoustic Treatment Does Not Need to Be Pretty
When you are tracking or mixing in a space that is not designed
to be a studio, it's amazing what you can do with mic
stands, moving blankets and some portable acoustical baffles.
I used to set up recording spaces in the Hollywood Hills
and Malibu for people like Rick Rubin and the Red Hot Chili
Peppers. I would acoustically treat each room with those
things and make them sound acceptable without necessarily
spending a fortune. It just depends on what you're willing to
accept aesthetically.
Any final advice?
Headphones are Super-Important
One thing I learned early on as an engineer, is that headphones
were super important to me and for the band. This
proved true even in my first studio (in my garage) when I was
just recording live to two-track.
When I'm setting the mic trims, getting sounds and building
the mix, I'm actually wearing headphones and listening to the
band's stereo mix-because my mix is their mix. I want it to
sound like a record right away, so the balance has to be perfect
to accommodate what they are hearing and what I am
hearing. It makes them play better and my final mix easier
because everyone is reacting to the same thing.
Check out more about Allen Sides and Ocean Way Audio at
oceanwayaudio.com
http://oceanwayaudio.com

RECORDING November 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of RECORDING November 2022

Fade In
Fast Forward
Focal Sub6, Focal Sub One and Focal Sub12
Neumann NDH 30
A Family of Amphion Monitors Compared
Plugin Outlet: BABY Audio IHNY-2
KRK S10.4 Studio Subwoofer
A Space for Creative Inclinations: An Interview with David Crowder
Plugin Outlet: KIT Plugins Blackbird Mo-Q
Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: Paragon Studios 2.0
IK Multimedia iLoud Precision MTM, Precision 5 & Precision 6
Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Virtual Studio Modeling
ddrum NIO Percussion Pad
Yorkville Sound YSM5 Series II
Session Log with Marc Urselli: A Brief History of EastSide Sound
GIK Acoustics Sound Blocks
State of Acoustics 2022
Thermionic Culture The Fat Bustard II
Readers' Tracks
Fade Out: Studio Thoughts from Allen Sides
RECORDING November 2022 - Intro
RECORDING November 2022 - Cover1
RECORDING November 2022 - Cover2
RECORDING November 2022 - 1
RECORDING November 2022 - 2
RECORDING November 2022 - 3
RECORDING November 2022 - Fade In
RECORDING November 2022 - 5
RECORDING November 2022 - 6
RECORDING November 2022 - 7
RECORDING November 2022 - Fast Forward
RECORDING November 2022 - 9
RECORDING November 2022 - Focal Sub6, Focal Sub One and Focal Sub12
RECORDING November 2022 - 11
RECORDING November 2022 - 12
RECORDING November 2022 - 13
RECORDING November 2022 - Neumann NDH 30
RECORDING November 2022 - 15
RECORDING November 2022 - A Family of Amphion Monitors Compared
RECORDING November 2022 - 17
RECORDING November 2022 - 18
RECORDING November 2022 - 19
RECORDING November 2022 - 20
RECORDING November 2022 - 21
RECORDING November 2022 - 22
RECORDING November 2022 - 23
RECORDING November 2022 - Plugin Outlet: BABY Audio IHNY-2
RECORDING November 2022 - 25
RECORDING November 2022 - KRK S10.4 Studio Subwoofer
RECORDING November 2022 - 27
RECORDING November 2022 - A Space for Creative Inclinations: An Interview with David Crowder
RECORDING November 2022 - 29
RECORDING November 2022 - 30
RECORDING November 2022 - 31
RECORDING November 2022 - 32
RECORDING November 2022 - 33
RECORDING November 2022 - 34
RECORDING November 2022 - 35
RECORDING November 2022 - Plugin Outlet: KIT Plugins Blackbird Mo-Q
RECORDING November 2022 - 37
RECORDING November 2022 - Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: Paragon Studios 2.0
RECORDING November 2022 - 39
RECORDING November 2022 - 40
RECORDING November 2022 - 41
RECORDING November 2022 - IK Multimedia iLoud Precision MTM, Precision 5 & Precision 6
RECORDING November 2022 - 43
RECORDING November 2022 - 44
RECORDING November 2022 - 45
RECORDING November 2022 - Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Virtual Studio Modeling
RECORDING November 2022 - 47
RECORDING November 2022 - 48
RECORDING November 2022 - 49
RECORDING November 2022 - ddrum NIO Percussion Pad
RECORDING November 2022 - 51
RECORDING November 2022 - Yorkville Sound YSM5 Series II
RECORDING November 2022 - 53
RECORDING November 2022 - Session Log with Marc Urselli: A Brief History of EastSide Sound
RECORDING November 2022 - 55
RECORDING November 2022 - 56
RECORDING November 2022 - 57
RECORDING November 2022 - GIK Acoustics Sound Blocks
RECORDING November 2022 - 59
RECORDING November 2022 - State of Acoustics 2022
RECORDING November 2022 - 61
RECORDING November 2022 - Thermionic Culture The Fat Bustard II
RECORDING November 2022 - 63
RECORDING November 2022 - Readers' Tracks
RECORDING November 2022 - 65
RECORDING November 2022 - 66
RECORDING November 2022 - 67
RECORDING November 2022 - 68
RECORDING November 2022 - 69
RECORDING November 2022 - 70
RECORDING November 2022 - 71
RECORDING November 2022 - Fade Out: Studio Thoughts from Allen Sides
RECORDING November 2022 - Cover3
RECORDING November 2022 - Cover4
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