On Sat, 4 Jun 2005 17:46:41 +1000, "Garry James"
wrote:
Hi I'm new to this group and also new to the recording studio from the
production side of things. I have a Boss 1200 CD digital recording set up at
home and do a fair job of mixing. I'm a semi-pro entertainer and know what I
like to hear. The problem I have is when it comes to the 'final' mix down
it's not good enough for radio play. I've been on the other side of the
recording studio window for many sessions but never at the console. A few
questions I would like answering are :-
It takes time and experience to learn how to mix. If your ear is well
developed, if you know when and how to use compression and your
control room monitoring is accurate, there is no difference between a
good mix as you describe and a mix good enough for airplay as you also
describe, IMO. Why don't you take a class or two? Or hire an
engineer you respect from being on the other side of the glass to work
with you for a day or so and help you improve the air play suitability
of your mixes?
1/ Is it correct to record tracks 'with' compression / expansion or
'without'.
Generally it is best to record with little or no compression unless
you are very sure of yourself. If you really know what you want as
the end result it is OK to record with as much compression as you
think you need in the end result. That was more common in the analog
days when you wanted to get every dB of signal to noise you could out
of teh analog tape. Since digital is so quiet, there is little to
gain by compressing up front when recording tracks, unless it is
easier to you for some reason and you are sure how much compression
you want to end up with on a given track.
2/ Are computer programs like Cool Edit Pro likely to generate the 'final'
mix down quality required by radio stations.
Cool Edit is perfectly adequate to generate a CD quality mix. I love
Cool Edit. It's more a question of what software / hardware you want
to mix with. IMO, Cool Edit is great for simple radio announce spots
etc., but not great for mixing music. There are a lot of better
programs out there for that which can be recommended by many readers
of this forum.
3/ If anyone is using a Boss 1180 or 1200 can they inform me of the best
recording techniques to get a radio station mix down, as the both machines
have pre-set mix down buttons that I've used but to no avail as regard to
"radio quality".
I have no experience with that equipment.
Julian
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