MTA

drums do need compression. it does not have to be heavy but it will sound a little weak and disconected without..

Lots of what is said in this I can relate to. The amount of bands/producers I have worked with and have seen this stuff really happen...

It would help you to use a bit of compression on the vocal, about 4:1 Attack about 10Ms and rel about 20Ms. This would help the vocal sit in the track. Do you use any reverb on the snare/kit?? if you do Feed a little vocal through so it is in the same space. Do you have the antares Mic modeler? Source mic = 58 destination mic = neuman u 48. this would give you an eq much the same as used by Led Zep, You can also change the drive to mess it up a little.. Hope this helps. Mark...

They could be mixed at home on Nuendo or another Vst Type program, but would first have to be exported form Soundscape into 24Bit wav format. The results form Soundscape would be the best due to the quality of the EQ's, plug in FX and editing power of the system. You could mix to 2 tracks but you are then limmited to what alterations you can do (or possible overdubs) to the final mix..

I could give you a few good story's!! One time I was working with A well Known band (Wont say who).. The singer felt the track wasnt happey enough, So he wanted to record A Smile track... He Went infront of the mic and smiled all the way through the song.. I thought OK then and went along with it. When it came to the mix the track was working well and sounding good Untill... The singer comes down and askes about the smile track (It wasnt in) He then demands it should be the loudest thing there... all it sounded like is noise with the odd breath. ahh well it made him happy... I have lots more and manny tales of the DFA Fader...

The best way I have found to make a good sounding string section, First try and find some good samples of all the parts eg: violin, viola, cello, D bass and maybe a good string pad. then start to put the parts down as per what the instrument would play like top line bass line etc, then if needed add the pad playing the basic chord progretion to thicken out. It takes a while to do but when all the parts fit together it works well.. Hope this helps Mark...

Yes it is hard work. But when it all comes togeather it's worth the effort. not only for the engineer but the people who want to hear the music. looking forward to trying the new delay fills..

You could also try www.thomann.de and have a look at the ocatva`s thay are quite cheep but very good quality large diaphram condenser mic`s. would be much better than 57/8`s or most dynamic mic.. MTA...

So the new delays going in today?? I cant wait to get out the studio and give them a go! After all the acoustic treatment done It is the best sounding PA in Aberdeen no question... See ya soon MTA...

Well I have access to a few studios (which one depends on the bands budget) but have no immediate plans to set up my own. It may be an option in a few years though.

Moved to Aberdeen last week and I am looking for sound engineering/production work for local bands. Have plenty of experience in recording, mixing, mastering, production and have worked with various bands including Supergrass, Terrorvision, Stiff Little Fingers, Idlewild, The Bluetones, Muse, Ocean Colour Scene, Beta Band, Duran Duran.... Give me a call (07900 198154) or drop me an email (markthomasaudio@hotmail.com). Cheers, Mark

Sorry Tom, only just got your email. Am replying now. Mark

Glad to hear you guys hit it off. He came home (complete with blisters from playing bass guitar until 3am!) speaking very highly of you too! He was very impressed by the whole set up. ;0) R

You guessed right....I'm Ruth, his girlfriend, hence RW....shouldn't really use his log in but I thought I'd big him up a bit cos he's moved up to Scotland (for me!) but has no work at the moment..... ;-( Need any live engineering/recording, studio enginering/producing/mastering...he's your man!

Well I've heard a fantastic new engineer/producer is in town....worked with the likes of Supergrass, Ocean Colour Scene, Muse, Idlewild, Stiff Little Fingers, The Bluetones, Terrorvision, King Adora to name a few. If you want fantastic results using any system then drop this guy a line...has reasonable rates too. (Mark Thomas 07900 198154, email: markthomasaudio@hotmail.com) RW