Ariel Borujow: Secrets of a Record Engineer #3

I am totally digging this series. I wish I had seen this when I was like 13 -14 back when i could have really focused. I love my career now but if I had to choose another way this would have been it.

Thanks for the studio tour Ariel!…Good work, that sounds like a well produced song (I like the sample used in that beat). Thank you…Do you or anybody know of any intern opportunity’s in Southern California
or anyway that I might be able to work and get my foot in the door?! Maybe Kevin or someone involved in this site can answer that? I produce and also write songs, my main weapon of choice is the Mpc…I also have an extensive knowledge of music, especially Hip Hop (Underground is my specialty).

Much Respect!

What’s up Ariel, these videos are sick. Thanks for makin em.

I’ve got a (long) question about the Yamaha NS10′s. I know they’re pretty much a standard but I remember reading somewhere that they’re not flat, and they actually boost the mids/mid-hi’s, and drop some of the low end. I read that they made the frequency response like this so that it would be the exact opposite of the EQ presets that people often use in their cars/stereos (‘Loud’, ‘Powerful’,etc).

So does that mean that when your mixing with the NS10′s, you’re actually mixing to “cancel out” all these EQ presets people use on their stereos? (so that it will actually come out of their stereo sounding flat?)

It just seems strange that ALL mixes would be done like this, because it would mean that the entire industry is assuming that everyone uses these ‘loud’ EQ presets in their stereos.

Sorry for the long question but I wanted to ask a juicy one lol

Hey guys, great questions. I will answer them for sure in the upcoming video. Look out for that and glad you guys enjoy them.

“Anyway, a short question about the compression, I always wanted to know if it was better to use compressors on the “master track” or use different compressors for drums, than vocals, etc, cause I’m doin’ my thang actualy and it sounds cool…but…it’s better to have tips from a professional like you!”

You can do both! I’m pretty sure putting compression on the whole mix is usually done in the mastering stage though.

Some stuff about compression:
“Dynamic range compression, also called DRC (often seen in DVD and car CD player settings) or simply compression, is a process that reduces the dynamic range of an audio signal. In simple terms, a compressor is an automatic volume control.”

Limiting:
“Compression and limiting are no different in process, just in degree and in the perceived effect. A limiter is a compressor with a higher ratio, and generally a fast attack time. Most engineers consider a ratio of 10:1 or more as limiting, although there are no set rules. Engineers sometimes refer to soft and hard limiting which are differences of degree. The “harder” a limiter, the higher its ratio and the faster its attack and release times.”

A quote about compression:
“Compression can be tricky, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience with compressors, or don’t have access to any really good compressors.

Some mix engineers like to use compression on the master bus as sort of a “glue” to hold everything together, but they usually aren’t hitting it very hard at all (maybe only a couple of dB of gain reduction). Most of these people, though, are going through higher-end analog compressors. There is also the famous SSL stereo bus compressor sound, that is used on a lot of pop and rock stuff, to get a more aggressive, and in-your-face sound.

The thing, though, about using compression across your master bus is that you need to set it up relatively early in the mix process, as it will change the relative balance and sound of your mix. So, you need to be hearing it and working with it before you get too far in the mix, or you’ll end up going back and readjusting a lot of things.

I often mix through a choice of several different nice analog compressors, but I always simultaneously print a mix without going through the compressors… just in case I later decide I don’t like the sound of that compressor… or, more likely, to give the mastering engineer a choice to use one of his even nicer compressors if he doesn’t like the sound of what I used and thinks something else may be more appropriate.

Also, sometimes, by doing a little bit of compression across the mix bus to help “glue” everything together a bit, you’ll find you don’t have to use so much compression on individual tracks.

But, I’ve done it both ways. Before I added the nice analog compressors to my studio, I always mixed without any compression on the stereo bus (at least in my own studio… when I worked at the major studios, I would sometimes use compressors on the stereo bus there, because we were mixing all analog with some really high-end gear).

There are top professional engineers, like Bruce Swedien, who don’t like compression and have done entire records without using any compression at all (he has worked with people like Michael Jackson on Thriller and other records, and many other big names).

For the type of music you are doing, compression really isn’t needed much at all unless you are using it to achieve a certain sound (many compressors impart a type of colored sound that people find desirable). Electronically generated instruments and sounds usually don’t need much compression at all, unless you are playing them “live” and you aren’t very good at controlling dynamics, or if the sound has too much dynamics in it and you want to squash it down a bit.

It’s more with live instruments and musicians whose dynamics can vary wildly that you need some compression many times to tame that down, or to get things to sit better in the mix. But, if you work with top notch professional studio musicians, many times you’ll find that the better players require much less compression because they are much better at controlling their own dynamics. But, then again, a lot of modern music is all about lots of compression (at least these days… hopefully that will change soon and we can get some dynamics back in music).

If you are having trouble with some of the basic concepts of compression, I wrote an article on my Music-And-Technology.com web site a while back that gives a very basic explanation of how compression works and the basic controls:
Compression – A Simple Explanation

I noticed on your web link, that you mentioned someone else saying something like you should use compression on the mix buss, or on all the individual tracks. Don’t take what ANY one else says as gospel (including myself) — There is no right or wrong way to do anything in recording and mixing. It all comes down to whether or not it sounds good to you and fits the song. That’s all that matters. So, use your ears and do what you think works best… if you find that the compressors you have to choose from don’t work well on the mix bus, then don’t use them. If you like the sound you get from putting compression on all the individual tracks, then go ahead and do it. You wouldn’t be the first to do it either way.” – Steve

Hey SELTR – Why would you come on this blog and start answering the questions that were obviously meant for the person who writes the Blog? You must be jealous and want a blog of your own hahah. Too bad.