One of the many challenges in Music Production is how to deal with the timing of drum parts. Whether it's for fixing improper timing, creating a tempo map of the drummers performance, or saving the timing of a great drummer as a Groove Quantize file, Pro Tools has a very powerful feature called Beat Detective which allows you to do all of these things.
We were lucky enough to sit down with Kevin Churko, one of the most prolific, chart-topping producers and songwriters in rock music. Having written, produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered albums for Ozzy Osbourne, Five Finger Death Punch, Hellyeah, and many more, Kevin is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to getting "the sound" of a record. In this interview we discuss his approach to production and how the mixing process begins with recording.
Like many people, Martin Holden had been a Beatles ever since he was a kid in Liverpool. When his life settled in London he became fascinated with the millions of other Beatles fans from around the world that flock to Abbey Road Studios to pay tribute to their musical heroes. Especially the Graffiti people would create on the walls outside the studio, only to be painted over every month.
Whether building a beat from scratch using samples or using a drum machine to re-enforce recordings, learning how to use samples in Pro Tools can be an asset to your Productions and Mixes. Many plugins are available that allow you to easily replace drum sounds. We'll take a look at one plugin in particular, Drum Replacer, but also teach you how to do it the "old fashioned way": by hand.
Audio engineers often use Parallel Compression when mixing Rock and Pop songs. However it's a tool we can use when we’re tracking, mixing, and even in production. Whether it be used digitally in our DAW or Analog, Parallel Compression can help us add some oomph and presence to our initial recording and mixes while still maintaining the dynamics of the original recording. I use parallel compression when tracking in Production frequently. It's very useful to bring things forward in the mix and help tracks cut through.
A common process we run into when making a record is quantization. Whether we’re locking a synth arpeggio to the grid or fine tuning a live instrument, we often need our performances to lock in with the click. There are certain tools within Pro Tools that allow us to be more creative with how we quantize. In this article we'll explain how you can use Beat Detective and Groove Quantization to add a humanistic feel to your song.
What is "Reamping" in audio recording? Why would you want to Re-amp something? Whether it be trying to fix a bad recording, sending a DI Guitar to an Amplifier, or sending a vocal to some guitar pedals, reamping can be a huge part of your workflow. It can allow you to capture both a clean DI and amped sound at the same time while allowing you to undo, alter and experiment with the amped sound later. In this article, Grammy Winning Audio Engineer, Carter Jahn shows you how he uses Reamping as a music production tool.
Track Bounce in Pro Tools allows you to export audio stems of individual tracks from your session. If you need to share your Pro Tools Audio Tracks with other sessions or even other DAW's, you'll want to get familiar with Track Bounce. This feature allows you to export audio stems of individual tracks. In this tutorial video, Avid Master Instructor Frank D. Cook takes you through how to use Track Bounce to export your tracks as individual files.
