New EP Session 6

Further work done tonight on the mix of the main song. In particular the guitars. We layered additional tracks for the rhythm guitars which gave it much more full sound. We also re-EQed the drums and guitars which removed much of the mud and brought all the tracks more to life. We're almost there.. Just a few more tweaks here and there.

Studio One 2 - Stereo Image From Mono Track

Here's a Studio One tip that allows you to turn a mono track into a wide, stereo image.  When I first started working with DAWs I searched forever to figure this out.   Now its a technique I use on nearly every project.  Simple and works well.

Check it out...

KRK Rokit 5 G2 Studio Monitors Unboxing & Review

I decided to upgrade my studio monitors to KRK Rokit 5 G2's.  They sound great and will make a huge difference when mixing.  The sonic range of these monitors is phenomenal from the highest bells to the lowest bass.   Amazing.  Check out this unboxing and review.

New EP Session 5

Spent some time mixing today. Realized that overall volume was too low and had to adjust. Mixing on my new KRK Rokit 5's is great. Will do a review on these later.

Trying to get all the drums right. Noticed too much sizzle on the crash and open hi hat so made a few changes to correct. Also worked on a few transitions. It's sounding great. Almost there.

Alesis Q25 USB MIDI Keyboard Unboxing & Review

I took a trip Guitar Center today with my boys to check out keyboards.  They didn't have the 61 key I was looking for  but they had a Black Friday Special on this little keyboard priced at $30.   I couldn't pass it up. Check out this unboxing and review.

Studio One 2 - Melodyne Quick Look

A quick look at the Melodyne plugin and it's integration with Studio One 2. Melodyne is powerful note correction software. I'm sold.   Melodyne comes integrated with Studio One Pro.

Check it out...

Beatcraft - How To Render Each Drum Instrument Separately

A tutorial on how to use beatcraft to render separate WAV tracks for each drum instrument. Video also shows how to bring them into Mixcraft. This allows complete flexibility of each drum sound when mixing in Mixcraft or any DAW.

What I normally do is use the entire drum render as a reference track first.  Once tracking is done for all other instruments and I know the drums are right I'll go back and render each drum separately.  Just have to make sure you line up the separate drum tracks to the beginning of the song so they're in sync.

Important: When rendering each drum instrument turn remove all processing from Beatcraft and pan to center.  You want the drums flat so you can process them in your DAW.  Last thing.  You will have to test the volume setting in Beatcraft when rendering each track to make sure info sonic info is rendered.  I use 48000/24bit/Stereo when rendering these.  Experiment!  Enjoy!

New EP Session 4

Worked on the mix of the main song some more last night.  I rendered separate tracks for each drum instrument from Beatcraft and then we worked on getting just the sound on all of them. What we do is use a combined drum render for tracking then go back to fix any drum parts that need to be tightened up.  When we have it right we render each drum to its own track to give us control of each.   You can watch a video on this but clicking the link in the last sentence.

We also started to plan out the panning of the song. I'm going to be doing a video on panning drums so watch out for that.   It's amazing... it took us 2 days to track the song... and will probably take at least 2 weeks to mix.

Mixing is really an art form in my humble opinion.   You seem to have it right on your studio monitors when playing on your DAW.  The you mix down to high quality WAV that sounds right.  But the you listen on your iPod and it's missing important sonic info.  It's a incremental process but it's really my favorite part of it.

It's cool to mix with my son too.  He knows how he wants it to sound but is also learning.   Looking forward to putting in more mix time over the holiday weekend.

Studio One 2 - Cleaning Up Unused Files

This was a Studio One house keeping issue that was bugging me. Here's how to clean up unused files after your project is completed. Always back up before deleting anything just in case.

New EP Session 3

Made lots of progress during a 4 hour session tonight.   Finished up tracking vocals and correcting a few stops on a few tracks.   Now that all of the notes seem right we'll be getting into the mixing.   Started to work on dynamics and mix of the rhythm section tonight as well as the vocals.

The song has a real driving feel to it.  Need to get just the right sound for the lead guitar.  Will have some time over the holiday to work on it..  We'll probably begin tracking a  few of the acoustic tunes too.

I'm continually amazed but the features of Studio One.    Mixcraft was fine to start but it really is not anywhere near the robustness of Studio One.     Over the 3 sessions we've had so far I would venture to guess that we've saved a few hours compared to if we had recorded with Mixcraft.

Side note.  Thinking of getting a new keyboard.  The Casio I have doesn't have velocity sensitive keys and is really a toy with a MIDI port.   Maybe this weekend I'll splurge for one.  Probably go for a 61 key unit that has assignable knobs to control VST instruments.

Last thing.. I've decided to name my studio Hometracks Studio.  The name syncs up with this blog and my HomeTracks YouTube Channel so it made sense to me.

More to come...

Mixcraft 5.2 - Getting Stereo Sound From Single Instrument Tracks

Here's a quick tip on how to turn a mono track into a stereo sound image in Mixcraft.

New EP Session 2

Finished our session tonight around 10:30pm. My son went to bed and I worked on the mix until now. Worked on tracking all vocal parts for main song on EP tonight. Three part harmonies and such. Finished off rough mix.    Great software to help with production.   Every time I turn around I learn something new.

We're going to listen to the rough mix a few days on different speakers and headphones and let it sink in a bit. I'm sure we'll have some additions and corrections to make during our next session. Working on music with your kid is unbelievably great.

More to come...

New EP Session 1

Began a new project last night. My son is producing a new EP. One new song and 4 unplugged versions of songs from a CD he released in September.

We began tracking drums, bass and guitars for the new song... About a 3 hour session. It's a fast paced tune with a hard edge. Lots of compression on all tracks. Studio One made putting the first cut mix together very easy.

This is the first complicated project I've used Studio One for. I'm finding it easy to use, pretty intuitive and most important... The work flow design saves lots of time compared to Mixcraft 5. Stepping up to a pro level DAW was a good idea.

We'll be starting vocals probably tonight. Three part harmonies throughout the song should be fun to produce.

More to come...

PreSonus VSL Software Overview For AudioBox 22VSL

Here's a quick overview of PreSonus VSL software for the AudioBox 22VSL. When I was shopping for new USB audio nterface I wanted to know more about how this worked. Hope this video helps others. PreSonus = highly recommended!

PreSonus AudioBox 22VSL - Unboxing, Review and Software Demo

Here's an unboxing and overview video I did of the Presonus AudioBox 22VSL USB Interface.   I upgraded from a Lexicon Alpha to this little work horse after much research. A great value for $200 considering you get Studio One Artist along with it.  Granted I took the plunge to upgrade to Studio One Producer so I could mixdown to MP3s and use 3rd Party VST plug ins.   It was really worth the additional $100 considering you also get Komplete 7 Elements which gives you 3GB worth of instruments, loops, etc.   Now after playing with Melodyne pitch correction software I'm leaning towards upgrading the Studio One Pro and it's added features.

Back to the AudioBox 22VSL.  In hindsight I should have probably spent the $100 and bought the 44VSL to provide more ports... but time will tell.  Check out the video...

My Home Recording Studio Set Up

My set up is simple but effective.    Here's the list:

Dell Studio 17 Laptop (iCore 5, 6GB Ram, 500 GB Disk, Windows 7)
Presonus Studio One 2 Producer DAW (will be upgrading to Pro soon)
Presonus AudioBox 22VSL USB Interface
Acoustica Mixcraft 5.2 DAW (migrating to Studio One)
Acoustica Beatcraft (drum tool)
M-Audio AV-30 Monitors
Rode NT-1A Condenser Mic
AKG D9000 Dynamic Mic
Marshall MG30 Guitar Amp
Beringer BHL450 Bass Amp
Casio CTK496 Keyboard
Audio Technica ATH-PRO5V Headphones (for mixing)
Sennheiser HD202 Headphones (for artist playback)
2 Tama Stagemaster Boom Mic Stands

Here's a video tour...

Welcome To Home Tracks!

Why did I start this blog? I thought it would be cool to chronicle events related to my home recording activities. I have a small studio set up in my basement which has evolved over recent months to a pretty tight set up. Earlier this year I worked with my teenage son to record his first CD (more on that later). This project was the basis for investing in recording hardware and software. As long as I can remember I've always wanted a recording studio.

As with most musicians it was always a dream to have a lab where I could create. In fact, I built a sound proof room in my parent's basement when I was in my twenties. The goal was to build it out as a full fledged recording studio but I didn't have the funds at the time and it ended being a rehearsal space for a band I was playing with. I think the room is still there!

Now 30 years later I'm able to put together the tools needed to built my dream. Technology improvements have certainly helped. Over the years tape was replaced by disk space as well as other digital enhancements. This makes it much more practical to construct an environment for recording. So slowly but surely I'm coupling together the components needed to produce high quality recordings.

The knowledge required to produce has changed quite a bit as well. Knowing how to get the most out of a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is a must. However, long standing techniques such as mic placement, compression, etc still hold true. Thankfully there is a huge repository of knowledge on the Internet, especially Youtube. You can find "how to's" for just about everything related to recording which is fantastic.

Over the past 2 years I've spent some of my lesiure time learning and becoming more proficient at techniques. It's a never ending quest for knowledge and maybe that's one of the reasons I enjoy it so much.

Anyway, that's the brief history.  Now onto the present and future. I hope you'll follow me along the journey...