Audio-Engineering

I think it’s time we talked about your fader.

You have a choice when it comes to engaging a filter.

Tricking yourself is just not a good long-term strategy.

Speakers are kind of like a pair of new shoes.

Level isn’t the most important element in your mix.

There are a few reasons that pro audio connections often run over balanced cables like this or this.

You’re gonna want headphones for this one.

There’s a reason we teach mid-side recording, and it isn’t because it sounds good, although that’s one of the reasons we like to use it.

There are vocalists out there that will never ever give you a good performance in headphones, but even seasoned vocalists sometimes have a hard time matching the vibe and the performance of a relaxed studio environment with the monitors on.

A really common misconception about mixing is that your job is to make everything even.

Recording priority order: player, part, instrument, room, engineer, placement, mic, preamp, mix. Work the list from left to right.

Somewhere out there, somebody’s telling you that it’s dangerous to use natural phase EQ because it imparts a phase shift on your recordings.

It’s a radical idea. But I teach mastering before I teach mixing, and I don’t spend a lot of time on it. Two reasons. Mastering is pretty straightforward. The objective…

Believe it or not, I’m not trying to impress you with my pitch.

When you place reverb on a channel, does it sound different than when you put it on a bus?

Within the lexicon of recording and mixing, the concepts of phase and polarity are similar enough.

Here’s a follow-up to the phase inversion trick I shared with you the other day to get you untethered from your headphones It works on a similar principle, but it’s a little different in this scenario.

If you are using the term "gained staging" as a verb, you might be overthinking it.

This cable goes one way.

Before we begin to discuss delay, echo, and reverb, let’s take a second to talk about the Haas effect.

Similar but different.

Check this out and tell me if it makes sense to you.

When two signals run out of phase, they cancel.

The EQ in your DAW may have an edge over even some of the most coveted recording discs, but only if you know how to take advantage of it.

A compressor can add dynamics, reduce them, reshape attack, or extend sustain. Those are different jobs. Use one with intention, not by default.

If you can't name the problem compression is solving, you won't recognize when it's working. Start with the symptom, not the plugin.

Radical EQ curves with steep peaks and cuts usually signal a problem upstream. Use broad strokes first, surgical moves only when needed.

The difference between good and bad mic placement is bigger than the difference between a $100 and $3,000 microphone. The 3:1 rule is where that starts — and knowing when to break it is where it gets interesting.

When dialing in an equalizer, it’s helpful to think of the workflow is happening in two stages a targeting step and an adjustment step.

Phase in 60 seconds, let’s go.

If you go to school to be an audio engineer, two of the rules they’re gonna teach you are the inverse square law and the 3 to 1 rule.

84 years of barometric data from NOAA, sped up 26 octaves. Every hurricane, every northeaster, every season — turned into sound.

Armed with a stereo track, signal flow, and a utility plug-in, you can do mind-bending manipulation of your stereo image. Here's the recipe for a mid-side matrix.

Avoid misunderstanding phase by asking yourself: could a waveform exist across a cylinder? Where polarity and phase differ, it matters.

Everyone learns what a compressor does. The real question is why. A compressor isn't a one-trick pony — it's the same tool solving a whole variety of problems.

The phantom center is a psychoacoustic illusion — there is no center speaker. How phase, polarity, and sum/difference math define what you hear between left and right.

Check this out and tell me if it makes sense to you.

No matter what your beliefs, the way the universe sometimes lines up is so mind-bogglingly inspiring.

With great power comes great responsibility.

One thing that tends to confuse new engineers is the difference between phase and polarity.

Do you need to break in new speakers?

If you get confused because things don’t sound the way you expect them to, that happens to everybody.

Understanding the mathematical foundations of audio compression: how logarithms relate to dynamic range and decibel measurements in audio engineering.

Complete guide to recording grand pianos: from the 'missionary position' to ORTF arrays, boundary mics, and advanced multi-mic techniques for capturing the perfect piano sound.

Complete guide to recording upright pianos: microphone placement techniques, removing panels for better access, dealing with player noise, and miking from behind the instrument.

Complicated doesn’t mean better.

With the holidays upon us, you may not see us as much over the next few days, but don’t worry, we’re gonna be back in the new year with new content, new instructors, and in case I don’t see you, I wanna leave you with this thought.

Free 26-chapter guide to effects, synthesis, and mixing — from sound waves and EQ through compression, reverb, stereo imaging, and mastering. From Beat Kitchen School.

What if you could hear everything? Sound waves are spheres with pressure in one dimension and time in the other.

A thought exercise to test your understanding of stereo imaging, mid side processing, phase, polarity, and signal flow.