What Is A DAW?

December 17th, 2011 by admin


People are asking this question all the time. DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation (pronounced “daugh” with a heavy southern drawl or simply spelled out “D-A-W”) and is a system designed to record, edit, and mix digital audio. There are two main types of digital audio workstations, standalone and software based. Standalone systems look like a mixer with an LCD screen. They are great and have their uses, but here we are going to focus on software DAWs.

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Published by admin on Dec 17, 2011 under Gear | Post your comment now

Acoustic Scenario 3

November 18th, 2010 by admin


This acoustic scenario was introduced in the book “Home Studio Setup”. This design is based on the ideal setup of the author’s project studio. The studio is based around one large room multi-purposed as a control room and studio. There is an attached isolation booth and machine closet. Read more here

Acoustic Scenario 3

 

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Published by admin on Nov 18, 2010 under Gear,Resources,Tips | Post your comment now

Acoustic Mailboxes

November 15th, 2010 by admin


Learn how to build acoustic treatment that looks kind of like a mailbox. It is absorption and diffusion all wrapped into one little package. Watch and listen as Ben Harris from theDAWstudio.com shows you how they are made from start to finish.

 

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Published by admin on Nov 15, 2010 under Gear,Resources,Tips | Post your comment now

Stereo Recording of a Band

November 11th, 2010 by admin


If you have ever tried to record a band on a limited budget with poor results, take a look at this video. Here is an example of recording a group with a stereo mic setup. This is how some of the great recordings were done in the 50's and 60's. Why not use those techniques now? Listen to Ben Harris from theDAWstudio.com show you how he made this great sounding recording with a band, a room, and two microphones.

 

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Published by admin on Nov 11, 2010 under Tips | Post your comment now

Avid Pro Tools 9: An Old Player in a New Game

November 8th, 2010 by admin


Pro Tools has finally entered the world of non-proprietary audio interfaces. Pro Tools 9 introduces a handful of new features, but the biggest bombshell is that you no longer have to have a Pro Tools (or Digidesign or now Avid) interface. This is great news, but what about all of the baggage that comes with it?

Buying The Software
Pro Tools users have become somewhat spoiled since they never seem to have to pay for the Pro Tools software. Of course there are upgrades, but the software is basically free when you buy the hardware. Not a bad deal when you pay $299 for an Mbox 2 Mini and get the full version of Pro Tools LE with it. But now that users can use whatever hardware they like, the Pro Tools software comes at a price…$599. That makes it the most expensive of the big 5 software DAWs. Check it out.

Pro Tools 9 – $599
Logic Studio 9 – $499
Cubase 5 – $499
Sonar 8.5 Producer – $349
Digital Performer 7 – $495

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Published by admin on Nov 8, 2010 under News | Post your comment now

Changing the Groove

April 15th, 2010 by admin


I was recently working on a piece of music with a slightly swung feel. As I added a loop for the breakdown, I noticed that the loop was cool, but was not swung like the song. After a few minutes of beat detective and elastic audio in Pro Tools I had a nice swingin’ loop locked in to the groove of my current song. I told myself that I had to make a video out of it because it was a great example of how to change and adjust a groove in Pro Tools so here it is.

 

Published by admin on Apr 15, 2010 under Tips | Post your comment now

Studio Tour

April 5th, 2010 by admin


I recently moved from Denver, Colorado to Daytona Beach, Florida. The saddest part was taking apart my project studio. One of my goals was to film a video tour of the studio before packing it up. Even though I was plagued by camera and lighting issues I eventually prevailed. I successfully recorded the footage, took all my custom built acoustics down and moved across the country. One late evening a couple of months later I bolstered the courage to edit the footage. Once edited in Final Cut Express, I exported the video as a Quicktime movie, imported it into Pro Tools and began writing a voice over script to accompany the tour. I wrote and recorded the voice over, added some original music, and mixed down the audio. I then returned to Final Cut Express, imported the Pro Tools audio file, and rendered a final movie. The end result is a nice little studio tour with an even sounding voice over and great background music. Check it out below.

This studio was also the inspiration for one of the Acoustic Scenarios in Home Studio Setup so I had to connect the video and scenario together in a nice article on theDAWstudio.com. Click here to check it out.

 

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Published by admin on Apr 5, 2010 under Community,Gear,Tips | Post your comment now

Should you use One or Two Mics on Toms?

November 17th, 2009 by admin


Toms-1
I always use one mic on toms following the same guidelines as on the snare, “just over the lip and pointing towards the center of the drum”, but you can put one on the bottom if you would like to experiment. There are phase issues to worry about similar to using a bottom mic on the snare drum. There are a few main aspects that are key to getting a great tom sound. The mic used, the processing applied to the track, and the sound of the toms in the overheads.

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Published by admin on Nov 17, 2009 under Tips | Post your comment now

High Quality Recording for Cheap?

October 6th, 2009 by admin


A handful of reviews written about “Home Studio Setup” have one common complaint. “This book is aimed towards hobbyists with a small fortune.” They complain because the book seems to spend a large amount of focus on ideal scenarios. The book is precisely designed to address and foil a specific myth. The following four statements can sum it up:

A skilled engineer with high quality equipment can produce extraordinary results.

A skilled engineer with low quality equipment can produce excellent results.

An unskilled engineer with high quality equipment can produce mediocre results.

An unskilled engineer with low quality equipment can produce horrible results.

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The common thread is that no matter how good the equipment, it is the skill of the engineer that will always shine through in the end result. Part of what makes an engineer skilled is their knowledge of high quality equipment, their familiarity with acoustically musical spaces, and their trained ear. It is impossible to impart this amount of knowledge, experience, and training in a short book, but it is possible to point readers in the right direction towards becoming a skilled engineer.

Read the entire article here.

 

Published by admin on Oct 6, 2009 under News | Post your comment now

The Most Comprehensive List of Recording Manufacturers

September 16th, 2009 by admin


Who are all the companies that make microphones? What about mixing consoles? We have compiled the most comprehensive list on the web of the manufacturers of recording equipment. Below is a link to view them by category or even lower you can select them alphabetically. Check this section for links to each manufacturer’s website.

Manufacturers by Category - Click here to view Equipment Manufacturers by category or the type of equipment that they make and manufacturer. Now you can easily see who all makes microphones, or plug-ins, or studio monitors.

A-B C-G H-M N-S T-Z

A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-R-S-T-U-V-W-Y-Z

 

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Published by admin on Sep 16, 2009 under Resources | Post your comment now