roman_sub

Sometimes people detune / change speed of mp3s they put on youtube... if it's the whole band, and original was recorded on tape, maybe the mp3 you hear was recorded when tape playback wasn't *quite* at the perfect speed. I think Pantera de-tuned around 10 cents flat on purpose (can't remember exact number). Another example is that I was looking at the multitracked session I did of a live orchestra performance - and these guys were as much as 24 cents sharp (against A440) by the end of the symphony, and they're highly trained pro's. However, most importantly, they were in tune relative to one another.... I've actually contemplated recording a full album tuned to A = 432Hz... just because I can! No such thing as absolute pitch - and don't even get me started on the inherent tuning problems within Western equal temperament tuning! ;-)

Warren is the real deal IMO, as far as real world experience goes. His credits include Aerosmith! I think he has a lot of good stuff online, but ultimately his aim is to get you into his paying PLAP program - which is fair enough. As with anything on the internet, I'd suggest taking a critical approach towards what is being presented. I'd suggest looking by topic (e.g. multiband compression, or mixbus EQ) from a variety presenters and taking bits from them, as opposed to trying to learn from one person only. That also reduces risk of you "learning" from someone who doesn't actually know what they are talking about - not naming names, but a polished youtube channel appearance doesn't mean anything...

that neck is really something! so sexy it should be illegal etc ;-)

looks sooo good so far!

another smooth deal, top guy!

nice set up! and yes, Moog filters are legendary Weoh-whoosh... etc

so how is it?

This makes a Wishbass look good!

I think I like it!

Thanks guys. Just a quick bump to say that I have identified an acoustically usuable (and cheap, at around £10ph!) space to record drums and/or a full band, in around Redhill / Surrey. I have an excellent set of drum mics and now a good space to record loud sounds in! I have recently recorded and mixed two classical sessions for a professional London orchestra, plus a number of contemporary music track mixing projects. I am now doing these on a chargeable basis. Still looking for experience recording and mixing full band - offering my time for free for a few projects. Hit me up with any opportunities please.

Ps this article may give you a few ideas https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/session-notes-elephant-tree

I would start by finding the place in the room where the drums sound best. Try walking around with a snare drum, hit it, and identify where the snare/room sounds the best. Set up the kit there. If you are mixing/recording in the same space, I'm assuming you won't be using monitor speakers at the same time as drums are being recorded (so you'll monitor via headphones). You may consider setting up the control desk so that you have line of sight to the drummer. Acoustic treatment for the control area will be somewhat tricky to get perfect. If money was no object, it would obviously be better to create two rooms, one for tracking and one for mixing.... Anyway I'd suggest focusing on getting drums sounding good acoustically within the room first, and get adequate monitoring on headphones. That will allow you to capture good sounding drum first, something you can't really 'fix in the mix' - unless you replace the kit with samples (yuck...) You'd have to make more compromises with your mixing space, but you can probably adapt this more and 'learn' it. Worst comes to worst, you could mix somewhere else. I think few project studios have good sounding live rooms but many are well set up for mixing. You can't however do much with badly recorded drums.

Properly applied compression will help the mwah come out. Ideally you want a compressor that lets you set the attack/release to enhance the sound. Some gentle overdrive/saturation may also help to bring out the the harmonics and give the bass more 'character'.