Recording - November 2017 - 60

Continued from page 59
doing on downbeats ... and all of a sudden, the
song takes on a different character. Nobody's
gonna judge you for your virtuosity or lack thereof
on a ukulele if it's not a Don Ho song.
CK: In the realm of EDM, Steven Baird, the last
presenter, made a brilliant point about when
you're writing TV cues versus when you're writing artist pieces; that you don't want to go over
the top. You actually just want to use the sounds
that are known definitively-EDM or whatever
genre-therefore you set up a template; you
don't spend the time, you don't spend the effort
programming anything like that.
I want to touch on ear-training; we haven't really
talked about that. I don't think that you can easily
become good or great at any of the stuff if you
don't spend time as a listener. And I'm not talking
about a listener in the conversational sense, but a
listener to whatever it is that you're trying to
accomplish-whichever genre. Did all of you find
that that was part of your pathway, sitting down
and going, "Oh, I just need to understand what
they did, and then figure out how to do it"?
Adriana: Yeah, totally. It's one thing to be
working on a mix and listening to it over and
over and over, and your ears get tired, and you
get to this point where you think it sounds
really good, and then you submit, and it says
returned because it's not broadcast-quality.
What I started doing is finding reference tracks
on my own-or using the reference tracks from
the listing-and listening to it back-to-back,
importing it into iTunes. Listen to the overall
level. Like, is there a huge volume difference?
Just listening to the sound of the guitars or the
sound of the drums, and really trying to be as
objective as possible. That's as great of a teacher
as going to a course on mixing, because you are
hearing it yourself. And of course, stepping
away is sometimes a good thing. But, yeah,
that's a huge thing. I know Rob Chiarelli; he has
his go-to songs that he talks about, his favorite
mixes, and he's constantly saying that too.
I remember working with this 19-year-old pain-inthe-ass kid back in the '80s, and every time I would
turn an equalizer to like plus-two, it was like,
"Why'd you do that?" Because I wanted it to sound
brighter. "Why?" "Because I wanted it to stick out
in the mix a little more." "Why?" That was Rob
Chiarelli!
CK: Wow. Yeah, and that's how you do it. You
have to have the guts to ask the question.
You do!
Hey, Rob, I'm guessing you're in here. Did you bring
a copy of "Mom to the Prom" to play for us this
year? I want to make him play it on the next panel!
60

You started to say something about ear-training
and listening.
CK: Super quick thing, Sample Magic AB?

Doug: I think it's important to address loudness at the proper time during the
production process.

Elizabeth: Yes, there's a plug-in that you can
get. If you don't buy any plug-ins, buy this plugin. It's like 50 bucks and it's made by Sample
Magic and it's called AB...

When is that?
Doug: During mastering. If you guys import a
master file that you downloaded from iTunes or
ripped from a CD or whatever, and you are
A/B'ing your mix against that master, you are
competing with an entirely separate production
process-a record that's been mastered already.
There has been additional EQ and compression
and limiting added to that. And then here I am
ripping my hair out because I can't match my
mix to the master record, right?

CK: And it lets you import your reference track.
I use Logic Environment and some tricky programming in the background that gives me a
big button to push that instantly switches
between my mix and the reference track that I
have on a specially routed track. But if you
don't have that, you can buy Sample Magic AB.
It lets you load in a reference track and then
instantly switch between that and your mix, and
you can just check and check and check. No single thing has helped my mixes more than that.
Elizabeth: Yeah, what CK is talking about is a
free way to do it, and she sent it to me in an
email one time, and I was using it for a while.
It's just something that works in Logic. It's basically something somebody kind of programmed
in Logic-a little added thing that's free. But I
did that for a while, then I realized that there
was this plug-in that you can buy. And I'm not
usually trying to advocate that people spend
money on things, but it's really true that-like
Adriana was saying-having a reference track in
iTunes that you can play your track, and then
you go to iTunes, or whatever, and you play
that, and you're comparing. The problem sometimes with this is, are you sure that the volumes
are...? There's the mix and then there's the volume of the application. You know what I'm
saying? How do you know it's consistent? So it's
really true that having... And I don't mean necessarily a reference track for, "Oh, this is the
kind of song that the listing is asking for." I'm
not talking about that kind of reference, but
more like a sonic mix. Like, "This track I know
is similar kind of music-similar instrumentation- and it has the sonic quality I need to get
to."
Let's talk about that. Doug, can you address that
issue that you can't compare apples and oranges
when you're looking for loudness? So if you had an
acoustic singer/songwriter track that's maybe got
doubled acoustic guitars, maybe one electric in
there, maybe an acoustic piano, bass, drums. And
you're comparing it; you want it to sound like stuff
on the radio does. But you are comparing it-not
necessarily to an EDM track, but something where
the instrumentation isn't all that close. Maybe the
other piece has dueling electric guitars doing
chunkas on the rhythm parts left and right.

Maybe the single most-asked question. My entire
career at TAXI, maybe the single most-asked question is, "Why doesn't my stuff sound slick or glossy,
like the stuff on the radio?" That's a great point
you just made, because you are comparing something that's been through that process by a highly
paid professional, and they're not there yet.
Doug: And not only that, after you get to them,
as you guys may or may not know, then we have
big limiters again, because there are broadcast
regulations about how loud you can broadcast
things. And it's government stuff and we certainly don't want to disobey them. So it hits
another big series of limiters before that, right?
So if you guys are really judging loudness... As
long as your signal and the noise is healthy and
adequate during the mixing stage, it's gonna be
fine. You can address loudness when you get to
the mastering stage.
If you're looking for certain tonal characteristics
that you can get out of a compressor or out EQ
during the mixing process, it's certainly OK to
reference other records from that perspective.
But you just don't try and shape a mastered
record when you're mixing for loudness, you're
just going to spin your wheels.
CK: And when you're doing CDs it's not always
chasing a mastered record.
Patty: Yeah, Doug's making a really good point,
because I'm doing instrumental cues for TV. I
used to do a separate step to master, and I
found out for different reasons that I'm not
doing that anymore, because the result is kind
of similar. Doing cues for television is a different sort of end product than maybe something
that ends up on the radio. And you are totally
right about the professional mastering process.
We're kind of almost talking about different
types of end use for music and different
processes. So mastering is the whole step that
Continued on page 63



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - November 2017

Contents
Recording - November 2017 - Intro
Recording - November 2017 - Cover1
Recording - November 2017 - Cover2
Recording - November 2017 - 1
Recording - November 2017 - 2
Recording - November 2017 - 3
Recording - November 2017 - 4
Recording - November 2017 - 5
Recording - November 2017 - Contents
Recording - November 2017 - 7
Recording - November 2017 - 8
Recording - November 2017 - 9
Recording - November 2017 - 10
Recording - November 2017 - 11
Recording - November 2017 - 12
Recording - November 2017 - 13
Recording - November 2017 - 14
Recording - November 2017 - 15
Recording - November 2017 - 16
Recording - November 2017 - 17
Recording - November 2017 - 18
Recording - November 2017 - 19
Recording - November 2017 - 20
Recording - November 2017 - 21
Recording - November 2017 - 22
Recording - November 2017 - 23
Recording - November 2017 - 24
Recording - November 2017 - 25
Recording - November 2017 - 26
Recording - November 2017 - 27
Recording - November 2017 - 28
Recording - November 2017 - 29
Recording - November 2017 - 30
Recording - November 2017 - 31
Recording - November 2017 - 32
Recording - November 2017 - 33
Recording - November 2017 - 34
Recording - November 2017 - 35
Recording - November 2017 - 36
Recording - November 2017 - 37
Recording - November 2017 - 38
Recording - November 2017 - 39
Recording - November 2017 - 40
Recording - November 2017 - 41
Recording - November 2017 - 42
Recording - November 2017 - 43
Recording - November 2017 - 44
Recording - November 2017 - 45
Recording - November 2017 - 46
Recording - November 2017 - 47
Recording - November 2017 - 48
Recording - November 2017 - 49
Recording - November 2017 - 50
Recording - November 2017 - 51
Recording - November 2017 - 52
Recording - November 2017 - 53
Recording - November 2017 - 54
Recording - November 2017 - 55
Recording - November 2017 - 56
Recording - November 2017 - 57
Recording - November 2017 - 58
Recording - November 2017 - 59
Recording - November 2017 - 60
Recording - November 2017 - 61
Recording - November 2017 - 62
Recording - November 2017 - 63
Recording - November 2017 - 64
Recording - November 2017 - 65
Recording - November 2017 - 66
Recording - November 2017 - 67
Recording - November 2017 - 68
Recording - November 2017 - 69
Recording - November 2017 - 70
Recording - November 2017 - 71
Recording - November 2017 - 72
Recording - November 2017 - Cover3
Recording - November 2017 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202404
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202403
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202402
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202401
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202312
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording-november-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202310
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202309
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202308
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202307
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202306
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202305
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202304
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202303
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202302
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202301
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202212
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202211
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202210
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202209
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202208
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202207
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202206
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202205
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202204
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202203
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202202
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202201
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202112
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202111
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202110
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202109
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202108
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202107
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202106
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202105
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202104
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202103
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202102
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202101
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202012
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202011
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202010
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202009
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202008
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202007
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202006
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_20205
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202004
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202003
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202002
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202001
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201912
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201911
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201910
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201909
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201908
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201907
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201906
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201905
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201904
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201903
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201902
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201901
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201812
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201811
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201810
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201808
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201807
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201806
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201805
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201803
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201802
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201801
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201712
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201711
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201710
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201707
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201706
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201705
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201703
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201702
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201701
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201612
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201611
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201610
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201609
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201608
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201606
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201605
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201604
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201603
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201602
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201601
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201512
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201511
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201510
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201509
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201508
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201507
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201505
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201504
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201503
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201502
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201501
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201412
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201411
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201410
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201409
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201408
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201407
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201406
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201402
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201401
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201311
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201302
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201301
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201211
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201207
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201103
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201101
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201009
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201008
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201007
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201006
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201005
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201003
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201002
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201001
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200911
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/nxtd
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com