My part of Home Recording Tactics can be heard below:

Get it for $17

1. Recording on a Budget
   with Graham Cochrane, TheRecordingRevolution.comGraham shares some fantastic advice to keep you from playing an endless game of Gear Acquisition Syndrome and instead getting great-sounding recordings.
2. Microphones
   with Slau Halatyn, SessionsWithSlau.comSlau’s passion for mics is evident in this interview, where he explains the differences between various types of microphones and also shares why he uses different types of mics for different sources.
3. Arrangement
   with Dave Chick, InsideHomeRecording.comAs a professional composer for video, Dave shares his approach to composing and arranging music, and we discuss how to apply that to any
   recording project for awesome results.
4. Editing & Workflow
   with Jon Tidey, AudioGeekZine.comJon shares some really useful tips for becoming better and faster at editing and your general recording workflow, regardless of what recording platform you use.
5. Mixing
   with “Big Al” Wagner, HomeStudioGuru.comBig Al’s mixing expertise stretches back to the days of analog tape and big consoles, so he brings a really valuable perspective to the table and gives practical advice that you can use on your next session.
6. Sound Design
   with Nick Maxwell, NicksTutorials.comNick introduces us to the fascinating world of sound design and shares how sound design skills can be extremely useful when applied to your studio productions as well.
7. Recording for Live Sound
   with Ryan Canestro, HomeRecordingShow.comRyan gives us some great advice on how to effectively pull off a live recording, whether you simply want to capture the audio for a YouTube video or do a full-on multi-track recording.
8. Recording Sound for Film
   with Jesse Zoller, TheIceShop.netJesse gives us a glimpse into the world of recording sound for film. A great video can only be a great video if it has great audio, and Jesse shares with us how to make that happen.
9. Mastering
   with Ian Shepherd, Mastering-Media.blogspot.comWhether you want to master yourself or hire a mastering engineer, Ian will help you understand this extremely important process and enable you to make an educated decision.

More info and order page

I saw some great bands though.

Friday night after working at the convention I walked up to The Mod Club to meet my drinking buddy Marta and see The Creepshow at 9. They’re a Toronto based psychobilly band that was a ton of fun. Great show, poor attendance unfortunately (though it was only 9pm and still light out). I tripped over Wade Macneil (twice going to and from the can) of Alexisonfire/Black Lungs. This is a band I’m definitely going to see again.

Then came the rain, a big thunderstorm started just before leaving the Mod Club, the street was closed off because of the Taste Of Little Italy festival so we had run to catch a taxi.

Over at The El Mocambo, the drinks were expensive and watered down, since we had at least an hour to wait for Black Lungs to start we bounced over to The Silver Dollar Room to see The Mark Inside. A bluesy psychedelic band that Marta knew from when she worked at the label they were once on. Good set, can’t remember much other than they had a really tight rhythm section.

11pm back at the El Mocambo, we see Black Lungs. Well not really, it was so crowded in there I couldn’t actually see the band. The sound at the venue kinda sucked too, the band downstairs was much louder so the floor was shaking to a different beat than the band we were watching. I’d go see them again at a different venue, where the sets weren’t limited to 20 minutes.

We went home after that, grabbing some street meat on the way to the subway.

Saturday night I had an extra wristband so I convinced the wife to come out with me and Marta. First stop was Sneaky Dee’s to see Of God And Science. Before they arrived (the girls) I saw Flowers Of Hell. A not too great experimental/post rock band. Awful drummer, there were about 6 people in the audience, not that they interacted much. Sneaky Dee’s has the cheapest, strongest drinks of the whole festival!

Of God And Science is a rock band from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I promised one of the band members on the Tape Op message board I’d come see them and I wasn’t disappointed. They played with a lot more passion than any of the other bands I’d seen on this weekend. Traded a handshake for a cd afterwards. Marta got one in exchange for a beer.

11pm. Icecream break.

12am, Holy Joes (must be the tiniest venue in the GTA) THIS IS RADIO FREEDOM was having technical difficulties with the drummer’s click track. 15 minutes later they were playing their asses off. Great show, there were a couple of groupies at the front that were having a bit too much fun (I feared the floor would give way! if you know what I mean). This was one of the shows I was most looking forward to all week, they didn’t disappoint, I’ll definitely be checking them out next time they come to Toronto. I traded $10 for their cd this time. The cd looks awesome, like a miniature vinyl record.’

At 1am we went over to The Hideout, a nice looking club with a really small stage. The band playing was Minority, I think they were the only metal band of the festival. They weren’t too great, singer cupped the mic and you couldn’t understand a word he was shrieking. Best part of the show was his chanting of the Ludicris classic ‘Move Bitch’ as he climbed up onto the bar for the next song. When they had some technical difficulties the second time we took it as our cue to leave. Their songs are about 3 minutes too long and the singer tries too hard out of his range, resulting in a very weak falsetto.
I saw more bands this weekend than I have in the 3 years I’ve lived in the Toronto area, which means I should probably get out more. I will!

In the studio, you want to be listening at a level that is comfortable but is also loud enough to be able to make out the details in a complex mix. The first step towards this is obviously good quality monitors and amplifiers, but that’s for another article all together. Many engineers will tell you that about 80-85dB is an ideal level, though this number can vary either upwards or downwards as much as 15dB depending who you ask. You might find that older or more experienced engineers will say more, this is likely because they are already suffering from hearing loss due to damage throughout life or natural loss that occurs as you age (though this effects your audible frequency band without actually damaging your ears per se, they will often turn up their monitors louder so they can hear the frequencies they’ve lost the ability to hear over time). So, how do you tell how loud it is? A digital SPL (Sound Pressure Level) meter is the easiest method to recommend, as they will tell you within a few dB how loud you’re monitoring in the studio. There are various charts available online that can give you real world references of dB level if you would like something to compare your mix environment to, such as a telephone dial tone (about 80dB, seriously). Of course, you can stand higher and lower levels of sound, and it’s important to reference your mix at different levels to be able to hear nuances that may be inaudible or much less pronounced at other levels. I’ve found that once you’ve found a mix that you’re really starting to be happy with that referencing at a lower level will often let you know how your mix is going to sound on smaller speakers with less dynamic response (I don’t think most people have SOTA CF-750s in their cars… do they?). This is obviously besides referencing the mix on entirely different monitors all together. On the other side, when someone comes into listen to my mix I like to give a little more level to really get that live feeling, clients don’t want to hear a great mix at a comfortable level, they want to hear that shit rock. Again, the situation will arise when you’re not working with a bunch of punk-rockin’, beer chugging sons of bitches when you’re going to simply listen to the product at a level appropriate to it, radio ads don’t need to be heard at 130dB… in most cases…

Concert goers; earplugs are your friends! You don’t look stupid, the guy drunk and moshing without ear plugs does because he will be the one loudly exclaiming “Whaaaa?!?!” by the time he’s 25, presumably questioning why exactly he’s been ostracized from society even with his wicked long hair and shitty beard… Personally, I find in most venues, since the acoustics are often less than ideal, that wearing ear plugs simply gets rid of what I like to call “shitnoise”, which is mostly just sound resonating in that big metal box your watching your favorite band play in. It’s garbage sound that only serves to muddy up the good sound that is consistently coming from the mains, assuming that the originating sound is, in fact, good.

For those of you tasked with the job of actually having to mix live sound, earplugs obviously are not an option [see Jon's notes below], since you need to be hearing what the majority of the audience is hearing, whether it’s good or bad. First of all, know what you’re doing before you begin, have a strategy! Just making it louder is not going to do anyone any good. When you’re sound checking you should be thinking about your final mix, think about how much room your going to have to give every piece of the band or performers. Sure, your drums might sound great, nice and loud and out front like that, but you need to leave room to put bass, guitars, vocals, and whatever else on top of that. Bring the drums down and then build everything around those instead of just trying to pile more sound on top of them, your audience will thank you and your mix will sound like a mix, not a mess. This strategy can apply to any mixing; you need to build a package with everything in it and it has to sound good if not great, no excuses!

If others have personal mixing strategies it would be great if they would share them in the comments section, because there is of course no end all/be all approach to mixing anything. Any comments in general are welcome, since I’d really like to know how many people read the excellent articles on this site. Thanks for your time, I hope you learned something. Remember to take care of your ears, because they will actually, in turn, take care of you… or maybe not, since most people never make a damn dime in this industry anyway… right? You guys aren’t making any money either right?? Right?!?

Syd

[Jon's notes]

You can get really good earplugs from places like ListenUP! Canada. They are built on a mold of your ear and have a very neutral frequency response just providing a lower listening level. They cost around $200.