Sound Recording - the WellMixed.com Blog

The day has arrived! Your music can stop sounding like DIY and start sounding Well Mixed!

Through August 8th, randomly selected users will be offered FREE services in exchange for completing a beta user survey. I can tell you that “randomly” should be read “MOST.” So go ahead an upload a project. If you are taken to a credit card page instead of a survey, you can always back out and try again the next day.

Prices for GarageBand to ProTools conversions are $29. Prices for mixing and mastering of a GarageBand or ProTools project are $99 for a piece of music up to 3.5 minutes in length, and $149 for a piece of music up to 6 minutes in length.

WellMixed.com is one of the first internet-based music studios to allow users to upload their complete sessions (up to 2 Gigabytes in size) via the internet. It attempts to solve the problem of gifted musicians who record themselves, but lack the resources to make those recordings sound their best for distribution via distributors such as iTunes, Amazon, MySpace, etc… It also provides a solution for GarageBand users who want their sessions converted to the industry standard ProTools format.

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There is something about buying a new shiny microphone that people always forget about: The stand and cable.

OK… maybe it’s just MY tightwad subconscious that blocks out those little things, but regardless, they must be accounted for. I do love a good mic stand, and that’s what the Hercules MS540B is.

I originally ordered the Hercules for an extra snare mic, an application for which one typically only needs 24-32 inches of decent support. (The base on the Hercules is just over 25 inches.) I soon discovered that this little guy can do much more than the base size may indicate.

Hercules has given this stand a telescoping boom that extends 4 feet. This means that if you shoot the boom straight up on top of the 2 foot base, you get a 6 foot straight stand that will hold a small condenser mic securely. You could even improv a vocal mic stand assuming that your vocalist stands less than 7 feet tall and refrains from aggressively grabbing the stand Steven Tyler-style.

This stand costs $50, which is a bit more than you may want to spend, but on top of the sturdy construction, and telescoping boom, a couple of innovative features make working with this stand as fast and easy as one can hope for. My favorite feature is the quick release boom arm.
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FYI, you can go here to purchase Radiohead’s Nude Remix Stems: http://www.radioheadremix.com/buy/

For a slightly higher resolution version of this video, go to: http://www.viddler.com/explore/wellmixed/videos/2/

Artists are outsiders. It’s not just a burden to bear, it’s a job.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Answering “be a musician” is usually met with the same “best-of-luck-to-you” patronization reserved for the kid who is clearly too skinny and nerdy to be the star quarterback. Luckily, skinny nerds still try out for the team. Sometimes they make it. Sometimes they play. Sometime they win. And those are the times when everyone watching wants to jump up and on the table top and cheer…

Table-jumping cheering is the feeling people want when they play a new track on their stereo, and rebellion is one thing sure to elicit such a response. Think of the music that grabs you. It fights against the man, the winners, the status quo. Like a skinny nerd quarterback, it’s like nothing you’ve experienced before.

My point is this: When recording sound, don’t follow the pack. Rebel!

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Before I get too many posts deep into this blog, I need to tackle a question that I know a lot of beginning recordists might have: “I only have money for one mic. What should I get?”

For me, there are only a couple of options around the $100 price point.

1.) an SM-57 by shure

or

2.) a large diaphragm condenser mic.

The SM-57 has a nice frequency response (pictured left). It adds loudness in the higher frequencies where you may want a little added clarity, like vocals. It also takes extremely high sound pressure levels. This means that snare drum rimshots that might make you cross-eyed won’t distort it. The 57 growls warmly on electric guitar. As far as durability goes, if they made cars like this, I’d still be driving a 1978 Volvo 244 GLE. My second choice for first time mic buyers is not quite as durable as this, but may suite a particular need better.

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