RECORD YOURSELF - SAVE YOUR CASH FOR THE ROAD! How I turned the den in my home into a paying recording studio - all on a tight budget!

Finally there’s a guide to mak-ing great-sounding professional recordings on a very limited budget. With my easy-to-follow DIY guide you’ll learn simple and effective shortcuts that will save you tens of thousands of dollars! Covers everything from locating and purchasing the right gear at the right price to setting up a great environment and recording/mixing.

I write from experience, as I started a paying studio in my own house with next to nothing, and grew to become one of the most reputable sources for professional

recordings in the area. I now own and operate Last Drop Mastering in San Francisco and work with artists from around the world.

This full color guide is great for everybody from beginners to those with existing setups who are look-ing to sharpen their skills. The point is to help you create the ab-solute BEST recordings for the ab-solute LOWEST price. Nothing will cut to the chase and save you money like this will. I am living proof that it’s not what you have, but how you use it!

1

A Studio is Born

I went from cleaning toilets in a run down music venue to owning and op-erating my own well respected record-ing studio!

I went on to found Last Drop Mastering - click

HERE for my story!

INTRO PG. 3 EQUIPMENT PG. 4 SETUP PG. 8 RECORDING PG. 11 MIXING PG. 16 PLUGINS PG. 18 MASTERING PG. 22 PRO TOOLS COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS PG. 23

2

The acoustics, the gear and the

recording+mixing technics...made

SIMPLE

Why should I record myself?

Recording studios traditionally

required a few hundred thousand dol-

lars to buy into. Thanks to modern

technology and the information age,

you now have everything you need to

create comparable recordings for just

a sliver of the cost. I know because I

did it myself!

Why pay a professional and be

creatively limited by your budget? If

they know what they’re doing,

chances are it’s going to cost you. For

the price of one good album’s worth of

recording you can have everything you

need to spend unlimited time record-

ing yourself, and even get paid to re-

cord others! Keep an eye out for the

next Ebook with more info on how to

run a paying studio.

Being a musician since I was a kid,

I always dreamed of working in the

music industry. Eventually I took some

music production classes and realized

that working with the software wasn’t

nearly as difficult as I thought it would

be. I immediately left school and

started planning how I would convert

my den (which had been remodeled

into a bar...where “Last Drop” came

from) into a fully functioning recording

studio. The challenge was doing this

on my budget, which was almost

nothing. I researched gear and setup

for a few weeks...pulling information

from all over the place. Through a

combination of all this and a few inno-

vations of my own, my studio was up

and running in no time. After some

fairly extensive testing recording my-

self and my friends, I set out to find

customers and start a new career.

Check out actual

recordings: www.myspace.com/lastdropm

If you’ve taken the time to listen to

the recordings I made with the setup

described in this guide, you see what I

mean! This was done in the den of my

house on a VERY limited budget. You

too can get a sound like this in your

own home, and I’m going to show you

how. I’ve found that determination

and a good ear can take you much

further than having all the top of the

line equipment in the world! Remem-

ber, people love to talk in this industry.

There are a lot of “gear snobs” and

naysayers out there. This is exactly

what I did, and this guide explains ex-

actly how I did it. Most importantly,

what I did WORKED.

Most of the examples in this guide

will be using Pro Tools, as this is the

most popular recording software to

date. The basic info can be applied to

any software though, so keep that in

mind.

3

SO WHAT DO I NEED?

Hopefully you have a little time to

play around with, as this is the best

way to find the greatest deals on eve-

rything you’ll need. Craigslist ads can

do wonders for you. I found quite a bit

of my setup materials and furniture in

the “free” section. IMPORTANT!

Make sure you thoroughly test any-

thing you’re considering buying! Also

keep in mind that it can be hard to

unload things on Craigslist, so you can

almost always talk people down on the

price. If you play hardball and pretend

like it might not be exactly what you

need, you’re almost guaranteed a

lower price on your gear!

Ebay is nice because you can

generally trust people’s ratings. I

would just bid very low on a variety of

items there in the off chance that you

might actually win. If you happen to

have already bought something (on

Craigslist) that you end up winning,

you can end up selling it for profit. I

did this a few times. I liked to stick to

Craigslist for the most part, but there’s

much more available on Ebay. On

Craigslist you can also check other

cities and see if the sellers are willing

to send your gear out at the right

price. Be careful if you go this

route, as you can’t test this gear!

COMPUTER

First, you need the computer to

run your software. The good news is

that computers are becoming more

powerful and less expensive all the

time, and if you’ve bought one in the

past few years there’s a good chance

you’ll be able to use it. In general, a

laptop that’s capable of running re-

cording software will be harder to find

at a really great price than a desktop.

For Pro Tools, check the back of this

guide for the latest system require-

ments for both PC and Mac (from

digidesign.com). Keep in mind that

you might be able to get by with a bit

less than what they recommend here, I

think they might just playing it safe. I

wouldn’t recommend using a com-

puter that goes online unless you have

serious virus protection on it!

If your computer is not quite up to

par, there is always the option of up-

grading your RAM or hard drives if

need be. Check out your local dis-

count electronics store for the best

deal on this stuff, and tell that com-

puter geek friend of yours you’ll re

cord him playing the accordion if

he’ll fix up your computer for you.

Remember, if you’re having any is-

sues, always try some creative

searches on Google. No matter what

you’re encountering, somebody’s been

through it and the answers are out

there. This is the beauty of the infor-

mation age.

SOFTWARE/HARDWARE

You need a recording software and

a hardware unit that will allow you to

plug multiple XLR microphone cables

into it. This hardware will then convert

your analog signal into digital and run

it into your computer through a USB or

Firewire cable.

Pro Tools software seems to be

the industry standard, but it’s not nec-

essarily the best. I’ve found that you

can quickly get used to almost any of

the popular programs, as they all seem

to have similarities. Pro tools requires

hardware from the manufacturer, and

you really can’t get away with anything

less than the DIGI 002 for decent stu-

4

dio recording. My most recent search

on Craigslist found a few of these

units for around $480-550. In my

opinion you need at least eight simul-

taneous (XLR) inputs for a really great

recording, and this unit only provides

4 XLR mic inputs. It does have 4

more 1/4 inch inputs though. This is

what I had to work around in my first

home studio.

What I found was that I could

“cheat” by using four more inputs

from a separate mixing console. I

used a Behringer MX-2004A. The rea-

son this was possible is that the con-

sole has a 1/4 inch “insert” on the

back of each channel. For whatever

reason, a little known secret is that you

plug 1/4 inch cables just half-way into

these inserts and they then function as

outputs into another unit (like the Digi

002). The cables just plug right into

the 1/4 inputs 5-8. This will give you a

full eight inputs into Pro Tools, which

will allow great drum recording! Note,

your mixing console MUST have “in-

serts” for this to work!

If I had it to do over again, I’d

probably get a great 8-channel XLR

interface such as the Presonus Fire-

studio instead. Pro Tools won’t allow

you to connect this unit, but programs

like Acid will, and it’s great.

The Firestudio you can get (with a

little luck) for $300-400 on Craigslist or

Ebay. Having all 8 inputs together in

one unit gives you both convenience

and consistency.

If you’re using a Mac, I highly rec-

ommend using the Logic recording

software. It will also work with the

Firestudio, and the combination on a

Mac is great (as they’re the ones who

designed the software!).

MICROPHONES

You can’t get far without these.

You’re going to need 2 overhead mics

(condenser mics are best for over-

heads) on the drums, as well as a

good bass drum mic and at least 3

mics for the toms and snare drum.

Dynamic mics can be used almost

anywhere, and at very high volumes.

That’s why these are good for close

distance snare, tom, bass drum and

guitar amp recordings. Guitar amps

also. Condenser mics require some-

thing called phantom power in order to

work. Most hardware and mixing con-

soles have a switch to turn this on and

off for a few of the inputs. Condens-

ers are perfect for more crisp and deli-

cate sounds like acoustic guitar, vo-

cals and cymbals. When considering

any microphones, make sure and do a

google search for reviews beforehand.

The overhead mics can be expen-

sive! I did some research and found a

great deal on some used Peavey PVM

480s. I was amazed with the quality

of these discontinued mics, and so

were my customers! Another great

option for

overheads

is to use

two Shure

KSM27

large dia-

phragm

mics.

These

work ex-

cellent,

and are

also amaz-

ing for vocals! I picked them up for

just $150 (VERY cheap for a good vo-

cal mic) each, and I swear by them.

You can also use them to record guitar

cabs and even upright bass!

As for the toms and snare drum,

you can’t beat the good old Shure

SM57. These are the workhorses

presidents have used for to speak

through for decades.

I’ve found these for as little as $70

apiece on Craigslist and Ebay. You

may be able get a discount if you buy

more than a few...you’ll need at least

3. These are also great for many types

of studio vocals and guitar cabs, so

you can really kill a few birds with one

stone here. These mics capture only

5

what’s placed directly in front of them,

so they’re great for nice clean record-

ings.

Last for the drums, you’ll need a

good bass drum mic. I picked up a

Sennheiser e602 and I LOVED it. I

read a lot of reviews and tested the

Shure Beta 52A, but I still liked the

Sennheiser better overall. I got it for

$100. A good bass drum mic is key!

CABLES/STANDS/GEAR

Of course you can’t put all this

gear together without cables and mic

stands. These can get expensive as

well, but if you start looking in ad-

vance, you can find people getting rid

of them for dirt cheap. I found a whole

box of assorted cables for just $15 -

and it was likely worth $100. You’ll

need at least 8 XLR cables and about

that many 1/4 inch cables as well. Mic

stands are the same way, For the

toms and snare you can either use

these or the little clips that hang onto

the rims. I prefer the stands because

they’re free-standing and the mics

don’t wobble around as the drummer

plays. Clips are a lot cheaper though,

and you can find them on Ebay. It’s

one of those things where you might

not even be able to tell a difference

between the two in an actual record-

ing. Don’t forget a bass drum mic

stand! They can be a little tricky to

find.

You can record bass guitar and

keyboards directly into your hardware

most likely. If it has 1/4 inch plug

you’re set. Otherwise you can get

something called a direct box ($20-50)

that will convert your 1/4 inch plug to

an XLR output so you can plug it into

your hardware. Either way, you really

can get a great sound recording this

way, especially with all the EQ and

processing plugins most software

comes with these days.

If you don’t have them already,

you’ll need 3 or 4 power strips as

well. These need to have switches as

well so that they’ll protect your gear in

the event of an overload. A very im-

portant and inexpensive part of the

equation!

MONITOR SPEAKERS

Did you ever wonder what “moni-

tor speakers” were? Engineers have

always used these to mix their newly

recorded songs. They usually have a

great frequency range from lows to

highs, and accurately let you hear

what’s really going on in your record-

ings. I have to admit, I used Event

TR8 monitors back then and loved

them. However, I don’t think they’re all

that necessary. They say one of the

best systems to “monitor” and listen

to your music on is actually your car

stereo! Your computer speakers or

your home stereo can work well, too.

The important thing is that you’re

VERY familiar with the speakers, and

have a good idea of what a profes-

sional recording sounds like on them.

They do need to have a good fre-

quency response though, by that I

mean they need to be able to play you

all the audible frequencies - from the

deep low end to the crisp highs (30hz-

20k).

If you can’t hear these frequencies

on your system, you may put way too

much low or high end into your songs

and when you listen on a nice sound

system with a subwoofer you might

blow it out! Believe it or not, I used my

cheap old Altec Lansing computer

speakers with a sub for years. They

were very accurate for me because I

knew exactly what songs were sup-

posed to sound like on them.

HEADPHONES

Headphones are very important.

It’s good to use them along with

speakers when mixing (the feel of ste-

reo placement can seem to be differ-

ent on headphones than speakers).

Try to have many pairs of old head-

phones laying around for musicians to

use as they record. They don’t have to

be great - as long as they work you’re

set! You can find these at garage

sales, flea markets, even ask your

friends and family if they have old

pairs they could donate. The bigger

they are the better. It’s good to block

out as much outside noise as possible

while people are recording. The longer

the cords on them the better. You may

need to purchase a lengthy head-

phone extender cord as well.

6

I’d recommend picking up some

Vic Firth noise canceling headphones

for recording the drums. I picked mine

up for $50 brand new. These will also

work well for the guitar player who has

to their amp up so loud he or she can

barely hear the music over it while re-

cording!

As for a nice pair for mixing head-

phones, my favorite is the AKG K

240M. Like the SM57 microphones,

these have been around for decades.

Studios swear by them because of

their overall comfort. They don’t give

you “listener fatigue” like many other

headphones can. I picked these up on

Ebay for $75. However, the same rule

applies to headphones that applies to

speakers - you can use what you’re

familiar with. If you don’t have any

you’re familiar with, I suggest getting

familiar with the AKGs! Once you get

used to them you’ll see why.

To use multiple headphones at

once (like when you’re recording all

together), you’ll need to pick up a little

headphone amp. I grabbed one by

Rolls for $50 at a used music store.

Never failed me. I found that having 4

inputs is all I ever needed.

You’ll need an extra 1/4 inch cable

to run from your hardware headphone

jack and into this unit. You can then

plug all 4 headphones in and record

your band at the same time if needed

(minus vocals, because it’s not a good

idea all in one room).

7

WHERE TO RECORD?

There are 2 things you have to

worry about when choosing a

room...the sound INSIDE the room,

and the sound OUTSIDE the room. I

was lucky because my room had ce-

ment under linoleum and was of very

solid construction overall. It kept

sound in surprisingly well. Ideally it

would be an internal room with no

outside facing walls. This will keep

your neighbors happy, but your family

and roommates might suffer. If you do

have an outside facing wall, just seal

up the weak points (door frames/

windows). You’d be amazed how well

a mattress sitting on the windowsill

can block the sound. You can find

extras on Craigslist in the “free” sec-

tion. The same thing can work for the

door opening.

I actually built a frame out of 2X4s

that was filled with insulation and

sealed up with sheets of particle

board. It was cheap and fit snug right

into the door frame. If you try this,

make sure you nail the 2X4s together

INSIDE the door frame. If you try to

do this outside, even if you measure

perfectly, it won’t fit. The best part

about this treatment is that it can be

moved in and out of the door frame

when needed, assuming you’re strong

enough! If possible, you could do

something similar to the windows.

This is great because you can avoid

making permanent changes to the

room. A good way to test it out is to

turn a light on in the studio and see if

you can see any light leaking out from

the other side (in the dark). If light can

get out, so can sound. If you’d like to

be able to record here for some time,

treat the inside doors and windows,

and DO NOT record or play after 9 or

10pm. Otherwise after a few weeks all

this work will be a waste when the

cops come because of the noise. Try

to use the space while most people

are working (9-5) to avoid problems.

Now for the sound INSIDE the

room. I’ve found this isn’t as tough as

you might think. What you really want

to avoid is that cheap “room” sound

that you get from things called flutter

echos and standing waves. Flutter

echos are typically caused by very

square rooms, with the sound bounc-

ing back and forth very quickly be-

tween the parallel walls. They sound

like very fast tinny echoes. A mistake

that people often make is to try and

“deaden” the room with tons of ab-

sorbing materials. This can suck the

life right out of your recordings!

The ideal room would be more

rectangular, and with a higher ceiling

than normal. There will need to be

some acoustic adjustments to any

room. A very easy way to tone

down a room is to get burlap coffee

sacks and fill them with a layer of insu-

lation from the hardware store. Wear

gloves when working with insulation!

Try not to let it touch your skin.

You can hang these from the ceil-

ing, and about 6 inches out from the

walls. I used 4 or 5 of them in a pretty

good sized room (16X20) without car-

pet. You may need less if you have

carpet, as that will absorb a bit of

sound on it’s own. These wall hang-

ings are great for mid and high fre-

quencies, but you may also need to

create “bass traps” in the corners for

the low end. Some rooms can sound

boomy at certain frequencies, like

when the bass player hits certain

notes on the fret board. This can

cause problems in the recordings. I

used 2 of the wall hangings on top of

each other in the corner and it worked

great. You can fasten one corner of

the sack to one wall and the other to

the other wall, there should be a trian-

gular space behind them which you

can fill with more insulation if you’d

like.

Do a lot of testing by clapping

around the room and listening to the

echoes produced. You can adjust the

placement of your hangings based on

what you hear. You want a good

8

natural echo, but not anything too long

or tinny sounding. I found a good

place for an egg crate foam pad on

the ceiling to further break up the ech-

oes. You can play around with the

placement of this also.

You can also throw the sound off

(in a good way) with objects in the

room. A tall shelf filled with books can

be a perfect “sound diffuser.” Equip-

ment and even people in the room

(when you record) will help out the

sound as well, so don’t overdue the

absorption before you hear it in “ac-

tion”.

One area of the room that needs

to be very “dead” sounding is the vo-

cal booth. This is very important, be-

cause you’ll want to add compression

(see “plugins” chapter) to the vocals to

smooth them out, and this will bring

the overall volume of your vocal track

up, revealing all the background noise

in the room leaking into the mic. A

vocal booth will cut out all echoes and

room noise, leaving you with a good

clean recording.

It turns out that the microphone is

the only thing that really needs to be

isolated for vocals. You can easily

make a tiny vocal booth such as this

one for as little as $20! All you need is

a collapsable storage box, glue and

some foam. Studio foam can be ex-

pensive, but if you only need this

much I’d say invest in the good stuff.

Auralex foam is great for this kind of

thing. Just try to have a soft and ab-

sorptive material behind you as you

sing into it. This will help ensure a

good clean vocal recording.

If you’re looking to have a more

“traditional” walk-in booth, it’s pretty

easy to put together also. On an epi-

sode of Cribs, the rapper Lil’ John

showed the camera the homemade

vocal booth he supposedly recorded

Mariah Carey with. All he did was lean

a mattress between the 2 walls in the

corner and put the mic behind it! Be-

lieve it or not it works fairly well. I

went a bit more elaborate with mine

and created an actual booth (see dia-

gram above). I moved my computer

desk (free from Craigslist) about 3 feet

from the corner on 1 wall and leaned a

mattress straight up against the side

of it and fastened it there. Then I laid

some carpet padding and blankets

going from the top of the mattress up

to the opposite wall, where I fastened

it. This sealed the top of the booth.

The corner 2 walls plus the standing

up mattress made the 3 walls of the

booth. On the inside I got some old

studio foam to cover the walls with.

You could get by using carpet foam or

even fastening blankets to the walls.

I wanted to have a sort of “port-

able wall” that I could move around

the room to break up the sound, so I

took an old section of an office cubicle

and built a stand on wheels for it. This

was perfect to roll in front of the vocal

booth and close it up. People were

amazed by how well this setup

worked. In fact, I had a few acoustics

professionals tell me there was abso-

lutely no difference between the func-

9

tionality of this and booths that cost

$5,000 or more!

You might be asking yourself how

all this is going to look! I know I did. I

came across a great resource for

making very inexpensive and good

looking wall hangings. Here’s the link

on how to make these:

http://www.geocities.com/jon

risch/a1.htm

If I had known this design when

making mine, I would have decided on

these for sure. Instead of making

them this way I just covered the ones I

made with a nice tapestry along the

wall. I also found nice fabrics to

cover my vocal booth with, so it didn’t

resemble a propped-up mattress at all

when it was finished. It actually

looked very nice, and barely cost any-

thing. I think it’s pretty important to

create a comfortable environment to

record in. It makes the whole experi-

ence much better for everyone. If

you’re planning on getting paid to re-

cord at some point, it’s very important

that you spend some time making

your setup look great.

Unfortunately a poorly designed

room can actually make a recording

seem less appealing. The same re-

cording in a better looking room

seems to sound better to some peo-

ple. It’s a psychological phenomenon.

Control Room?

In big studios, this is the room be-

hind the glass window where the engi-

neer would sit as the artists recorded.

You really can get by without it. You

can keep your computer and gear

right in the recording room. You just

have to do some good tests to make

sure everything is sounding good be-

fore you get started with the actual

recording. You also need to make

sure your computer hard drive isn’t too

noisy during some of the more inti-

mate acoustic recordings and such.

10

Setting Up Your Session

Assuming you’ve got the room

sounding pretty good, you can move

on to getting ready to record. I liked to

set up all the cables

for recording the

night before. I at-

tached numbered

tags to each of them

and laid them out

roughly where they

were going to go to

record the drums.

Speaking of drums,

WEAR EARPLUGS. I

cannot stress this

enough. If you’re

going to be recording

yourself or others in

the years to come,

your ears should be

your #1 priority! Nothing is more im-

portant than preserving your hearing

for this kind of work.

Once you’ve got your software

installed and ready to go, you need to

create a new session. In Pro Tools you

do this by clicking FILE>NEW SES-

SION. This will give you a menu

screen (pictured above). Name your

file and decide where you want to

place it on your computer. Under “file

type” you can select WAV or AIFF.

WAV files are more universal, so it may

be better to just go with that. You

can also select either 24 or 16 bit

depth for your recording. If your com-

puter can handle it, the quality is bet-

ter at 24 bit - especially after process-

ing with many effects and plug-ins.

The same goes for the sample rate. I

would recommend leaving the I/O on

“last used” and also leaving “enforce

mac/PC compatibility” checked.

You need to decide if you want to

use a metronome to record. A metro-

nome is a click with a tempo that you

set to help you record on time. In Pro

Tools you have to select a new “auxil-

iary” track to use a metronome (more

on creating new tracks below). The

metronome is one of the plugins

they give you. When you go into re-

cord mode you should hear it start.

Sometimes metronomes can mess

drummers and musicians up, so if you

play pretty well to-

gether you might

want to scrap the

idea.

For future reference,

whenever I say to

“pan” something, I

mean turn it to the

left or right so it’s

only coming out one

speaker or the other.

Once your session

is created and

opened. you’ll need

to create tracks to

record onto. In the

menu bar, go to

TRACK>NEW

This will give you a box where you

should select 8 mono tracks and hit

“create”. Repeat the process and

make 1 stereo Master track as well.

This will be the overall volume level

where all your instruments and vocals

will run through. Make sure and check

it frequently to make sure you’re not

overloading (clipping) in the red.

11

Plugins

Each track has a little space in the

“inserts” section (if not visible select

VIEW>SHOW INSERTS) with up and

down arrows in it. Click on these to

browse and select the plugins for

processing and effects.

Drums

I always like to start with the

drums. For the snare and toms, I

found using about a 45 degree angle

with the mic pointing about an 1.5

inches from the rim worked best.

Make sure it’s about the same dis-

tance from the mic to the drum head

also. For the bass drum, I found the

best sound came from bass drums

with a hole in the head. You can slide

the mic inside the hole, angled a bit

away from the player so that it might

cut out some snare drum sound. I

found that an inch or two away from

where the beater hits works great. I

always pointed it directly at the bass

drum beater. The further away you go

from the placement I’ve described

here the less present and punchy the

bass drum will sound in the recording.

The overhead mics are very impor-

tant to get just right. Use something

called the 3 to 1 rule. This means 2

microphones need to be about 3 times

the distance apart that they are from

the sound they are recording. I usually

ended up placing the mics about 6

feet off the ground. This meant they

were about 18 inches from the cym-

bals. 3 times 18 inches is 54 inches,

or 4.5 feet. This is how far the 2 mics

need to be from each other at this

height. I liked to point them criss-

crossing each other. The one on the

opposite side from the hi hat would be

angled down toward the hi hat and the

12

one by the hi hat would be angled

down roughly at the ride and floor

tom. You just want to try and get all of

the drums with the 2 mics, so try and

find the half way point between the

middle of the set and the very edge

and point each mic there. When

you’ve recorded these 2 tracks you

can pan 1 to the left and 1 to the right.

It will give you a nice stereo spacial

feel. Use my suggestion as a starting

point and play around with it from

there.

If you get this placement wrong

you can get something called “phas-

ing”, which can result in certain fre-

quencies being canceled out and

leave you with a pretty cheap sound.

Your software may have an option to

“invert phase” on one of the tracks to

help solve phasing problems. Pro

Tools has this as an Audiosuite option

on the menu bar up top. Just select

the whole track and click AUDIO-

SUITE>INVERT to see if it helps. If

you buy a pair of nice condenser mics

sometimes you can invert the phase

with a switch right on one of the mics

itself.

Some people like to mic the hi hat

as well. I never found it necessary

with the right overhead mics, but if you

do, try and get a nice condenser mic.

Avoid placing it where the hi hat

closes and a puff of air comes out.

You might also need to find a way to

put some foam between the snare and

the hi hat to prevent sound leaking

from one to the other. The trick is to

do this without interfering with the

drummer. It can be tough!

You’ll need to make sure all the

mics and inputs are working and lined

up correctly. Do some tests to make

sure that you have good healthy sound

levels, but are not “clipping” in the red.

I’ve found that drummers almost al-

ways end up playing much louder dur-

ing the actual recording, so be pre-

pared for this by going a little easy on

the levels ahead of time (I always

asked them to play about as loud as

they would during recording, but they

always underestimate it).

I almost always used 7 of the 8

inputs available on the drums, so that

left 1 more for a “scratch” guitar track.

This is something you use so the

drummer can record with the guitar

player and have a guide. This guide

track will be recorded and will be use-

ful later when the real bass and guitar

tracks are recorded. Just make sure

the guitar is tuned - even just for the

scratch track. It’s hard to play along

with a sour track as your guide when

you’re doing the REAL one on top of it.

If the guitarist and drummer need dis-

tortion to feel comfortable playing,

there is a great plug-in on Pro Tools

called Amplitube. This is a guitar amp

simulator, and it works well for record-

ing scratch guitar tracks while the

drummer records. You could even use

this for your actual guitar track if you

don’t have access to a decent ampli-

fier. I would only use this as a last re-

sort though. I always preferred the

sound of a real amp for the final prod-

uct. Some drummers play better with

the bass player for the scratch track.

You can run the bass into Amplitube

also. It gives it a nice loud sound

that’s easy for the drummer to hear. It

also cuts out a lot of the low end that

might overload your headphones if

played loud enough for the drummer

to hear over his or her playing (those

noise canceling Vic Firth headphones

are great for drummers who are re-

cording).

I always liked to just let the com-

puter keep recording and use as many

takes as needed. If your computer

doesn’t have much room or isn’t too

powerful, you may have to erase each

take as you go. Make sure the drum-

mer counts in with 4 stick clicks before

each take. This is good for later so

that everybody else will start recording

right on time (assuming it’s not just

drums starting the song). Having the

guitarist play in the same room with

the drummer should help the drummer

get a good take. When you’ve got a

good take and everybody has listened

to it all the way through (make sure of

this), you can erase all the extra takes.

I know it might sound funny, but make

sure the drummer and guitar player are

not communicating out loud or grunt-

ing during the recording. A band and I

noticed some very odd sounds in their

drum tracks once. After some time we

realized it was the drummer grunting

while he played!

Guitar

I liked to do either guitar or bass

next. Let’s go with guitar for this ex-

ample. Generally you want a “dead”

environment to record electric guitar in

also, so you can throw the amp right

into the vocal booth. Most amps

sound better the louder they are, and

believe it or not, smaller amps are bet-

ter for recording. A 2X10” or 2X12”

combo works great and doesn’t take

up much room (this is important!). I

always found that my favorite mic po-

sition was straight ahead, right along

13

the edge of the center speaker circle

(the one that’s about 2 inches across).

Keep the mic about 6 inches away

from the actual speaker itself. I like a

very crisp and present sound, and this

is the best position for that. Just like

the bass drum mic position, the further

you move from this position the more

crispness you’ll lose. Some people

like it a bit more “warm” sounding

though, so play around with it. You’ll

need to get down right where the mic

is to really judge the sound. If you’re

not getting a good sound no matter

what, you might need to switch out

your amp. Borrowing or renting a de-

cent amp can make all the difference

in the world. Mesa Boogie, Fender

and (tube) Marshalls are my recom-

mendations. Line 6 can produce

pretty decent recordings also. Make

sure you do plenty of test recording

along with the drums while making

your adjustments. What’s coming

through the speakers is what really

matters. I like to have the guitarist

double up all rhythm tracks. This will

provide a nice thick stereo guitar

sound.

Bass/Keyboards

Bass can be recorded directly into

the 1/4 inch jack on your hardware, or

into your direct box. Some people

like to use a bass amp modeling tool

called a Sansamp. This can help

shape some great tones and fuzz on

the bass. You can also do a lot with

the bass track with plugins after it’s

recorded though. I always liked to

record bass with Amplitube on it so

that it was very easy for the player to

hear as he or she played along with

the recording. It doesn’t actually re-

cord the track that way, so it won’t

hurt anything. You can record bass

with a mic and an amp, but I’ve never

found it to sound as good as just go-

ing direct. If you want to try, a large

diaphragm mic like the KSM27 will

work fairly well, and you can start with

the same mic position mentioned in

the guitar section.

Keyboards can be recorded direct

in the exact same fashion. Straight in

with 1 or 2 (for stereo) 1/4 inch plugs.

Acoustic Guitar

If you have an acoustic guitar to

record, you can get a great stereo

sound with a pair of condenser mics

right in the middle of the room. Try

placing one mic straight ahead on the

bridge, about 6 inches away from it.

The other can be placed the same dis-

tance away, right where the neck

meets the body. In your mix window,

pan one mic all the way to the left and

one to the right to get the full effect.

It’s good to have the player using the

noise canceling headphones as well,

because the music leaking from the

headphones could get into the mics.

It’s also important to make sure the

room is completely silent during this

part. You can get away with a little

noise during the rest of the instru-

ments, but not this one.

Percussion/Horns/Misc.

I have found that a large dia-

phragm mic works great for bells and

tambourines. Try starting about 2 feet

away in the main room and see how it

sounds. I’ve recorded Saxophones

and trumpets with these mics as well.

For loud instruments like these try

aiming the mic right at the bell (where

the sound comes out) from about 5

feet up and 3 feet away.

Vocals

I found that setting up a vocal

track with good compression and re-

verb beforehand made the singer feel

much more confident and comfortable

singing. Check the compressor and

reverb breakdown and settings men-

tioned later for more on this. A com-

pressor also helps the vocals cut

through the mix so the singer can hear

themselves well enough. You can

have them record the same track 2 or

3 times and pick the best one. Either

that, or you can drag and select a cer-

tain portion of a track and click

EDIT>SEPARATE REGION. Then you

can grab that section of track and

drag it up to a new track to cover up a

bad section. This way you can create

one perfect recording from three indi-

vidual ones. With enough practice you

can also do this with bass and guitar

tracks. It’s much harder though, be-

cause there aren’t many breaks in

these types of tracks. When you make

a cut in the middle of a sound file you

can get a nasty digital pop.

14

I highly recommend learning to

use the ”smart tool” on Pro Tools for

this kind of thing (instead of switching

from the cursor to the hand tool con-

stantly). Depending on where you

hold it over a pice of audio, it will ap-

pear as a different tool. If you’re near

a corner at the end of a track it will

give you a tool to easily make a fade

out. Near the start it will be a fade in.

If you you’re at the front or back of the

track in the middle section it will let

you trim or compress the piece of

audio. In the majority of the track on

the lower half it will appear as a hand

(grabber) tool, and above it will be a

regular cursor. If there are 2 separate

pieces of audio close together, it will

become a cross fade tool, allowing

you to fade them into each other. It

sounds a little complicated, but with a

little practice it will save you tons of

time.

Anyway, back to the vocals. One

advantage of having your desk and

computer right next to the vocal booth

is you can just speak out loud and the

vocalist should be able to hear you

through the sensitive microphone. If

you did a really good job isolating the

booth this might not be the case

though. This is good for doing tests

before you start recording and just

general communication back and

forth. The speakers should be off dur-

ing the recording, so you should be

listening through your own head-

phones.

Live Recording?

You can record all the instruments

together at the same time using the

headphone amp/splitter, but you need

to know the pros and cons. If your

band plays really well together, and I

mean REALLY well, you might be able

to get away with this. Some bands do

record better when actually playing

together. It can help to vibe off each

other. Still, I would say in 90% of

cases this will only slow you down.

The problem is that it only takes one

mistake by one of the players, and that

can throw everybody off. You might

end up doing take after take together

and getting worn out.

The other problem is the number

of inputs you have available. If there

are only 8, you’ll have to sacrifice one

of the 3 tom mics for the bass. You

shouldn’t do vocals during a live re-

cording in the same room, so I won’t

even get into that. If you have to use 2

mics for 3 toms, you can split a mic

between the 2 rack toms on top. Try

to put the mic up a bit right between

the two drums. Some drummers only

have 2 tom drums, so they’re perfect

for live recording with this setup.

You’ll need to put the guitar amp

in the booth turned away from the

drummer. Seal up the booth the best

you can. Some people have gone all

out and made a tiny little carpeted

booth just for the guitar amp. These

often have wheels and a hinged door

and everything. If your carpentry skills

are polished, I say go for it. Just leave

enough room for the mic and stand

somehow!

The bass goes direct, so it’s no

problem. You will want to cut out the

low end and boost the highs for the

bass recording, or just use Amplitube

as mentioned before. Contrary to

what I hear from a lot of guitar players,

bass and bass players DO matter!

This is the lite version of the Ebook, the full version also covers great tips and tricks for mixing and using plugins. The full version can be purchased HERE. It’s just $4.99 and comes with a full audio master at no charge. Pass the link on to friends and family!

15

MASTERINGThe final stage in the music making process, and in many ways the most crucial!

Mastering is the final stage of the

music making process. If you kept

your master track levels below the red,

your mix should be at a pretty low vol-

ume. Mastering will bring it up to a

“normal” level. Before mastering, to

test next to a comparable professional

song, just turn your mix up to com-

pensate for the volume difference.

Mastering really is an art, and it

can do wonders for your music. You’d

be amazed how much better an al-

ready great sounding mix can turn out

in the hands of an experienced mas-

tering engineer. Some people try to do

it themselves, but audio professionals

have always said it’s best to let a pair

of fresh unbiased ears finish off your

project for the best results. Even the

top mastering engineers in the world

very often give their own music to an-

other engineer to master!

Obviously I’m going to be biased,

being a mastering engineer myself. At

this point I have worked with hundreds

of artists from around the world. If you

want to hear the difference mas-

tering can make on your own music,

we'll be happy to show you what we

can do at no charge. You can send

your song in online and we’ll get you a

before-and-after clip of your song

back.

For a quick example, you can up-

load your song in any format to:

http://lastdropmastering.com/

If you have a pressing project

waiting and need your sample back

asap, please let Martin know. Please,

serious inquiries only:

martin@lastdropmastering.com

If it's a WAV or AIFF file, be pa-

tient. Uploading can take a while, but

nothing compared to regular mail.

For testimonials, samples (before and after) and general info about Last Drop Mastering please click:

http://www.lastdropmastering.

Client list is buried in the blogs section.

For info on how to submit a free test master or a paid project, please click:

http://www.lastdropmastering.

For inquiries about rates, please click:

http://www.lastdropmastering

16

Mastering makes the ladies

go crazy!!

Questions? Feedback?We’d love to here from you. Please

feel free to contact our intern Martin:

martin@lastdropmastering.com

Nathan Allen and Last Drop Mastering

shall personally be held responsible for

any and all face-melting recordings as

a direct result of this informative guide.

Special Thanks:

Jon RischJinx Chin - http://jinxchin.comLinda AllenNicole KearChris Allen

LAST DROP MASTERING639 Geary St 1102

San Francisco, CA

94102

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

PCPro Tools LE 7.4 for Windows XP and Vista has the following system requirements:

Installation Requirements

* DVD drive required for Pro Tools LE 7.4 installation DVD * Not required for Download-only Pro Tools LE 7.4 installation

Pro Tools LE Audio Interface RequiredPro Tools LE 7.4 supports the following Digidesign audio devices:

* 003 * 003 Rack * Digi 002 * Digi 002 Rack * Mbox 2 Pro * Mbox 2 * Mbox 2 Mini * Mbox 2 Micro * Mbox

Pro Tools LE 7.4 software will not launch without one of the above Digidesign Pro Tools LE hardware in-terfaces connected. Please note:

* Pro Tools LE supports the use of any single Pro Tools LE audio interface * Simultaneous use of multiple Pro Tools LE hardware devices is not sup-ported

Maximum Sample Rate:

* 003, 003 Rack, Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack, Mbox 2 Pro - 96 kHz * Mbox 2, Mbox 2 Mini, Mbox 2 Mi-cro, Mbox - 48 kHz

System Software

PRO TOOLS SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

* Windows Vista Business or Ultimate Edition o 32-bit OS Installation Only * Windows XP Professional or Home Edition o With Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3

* Not Supported: o Windows Vista 64-bit (any ver-sion) o Windows XP Professional x64 Edition o Windows XP Media Center Edition o Windows 98, Me, 2000, NT, 95, 3.1, DOS

* Not Tested: o Windows Vista Home and Home Premium Edition o Although Windows Vista Home and Home Premium Edition have not been tested or qualified by Digidesign, there are currently no known issues with Vista Home and Home Premium 32-bit operating systems and Pro Tools LE 7.4 compared to the supported Windows Vista Business or Ultimate Edition operating systems.

Windows Vista SP1There are currently no known issues with Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista based on our initial limited testing and customer feedback. Although full quali-fication with all Digidesign products has not been completed, we do not recommend against updating to SP1, given the number of important overall system fixes in SP1. We do recom-mend that you backup your system and create a restore point before up-dating to SP1, should you encounter

any problems after installing the up-date.

Total System RAM

* 1GB minimum required for Pro Tools LE 7.4 - More Recommended * More RAM increases overall sys-tem and Pro Tools performance * Refer to motherboard manufac-turer for supported RAM version

More RAM highly recommended for sessions with:

* Large amounts of audio * High edit density * Large DigiBase databases * A large number of installed plug-ins * Options like DigiTranslator * Elastic Time enabled on multiple tracks * Simultaneous use with other appli-cations

Note that maximum track count may vary depending on CPU, OS, number of edits, drives, or other factors. See additional requirements for DV Tookit 2 & Music Production Toolkit options at the bottom of this page.

Audio Record/Playback Drive Re-quirementsPlease see the following for formatting and compatibility information:

* Hard Drive Requirements - Pro Tools LE for Windows

Please Note: FAT32 Volumes Not Supported for Recording with Pro Tools 7.4 and Higher for Windows

* Pro Tools 7.3.x is the last version of Pro Tools that supports FAT32 for Recording. * Pro Tools 7.4 and higher for Win-dows XP and Windows Vista do not support FAT32 for recording, but will

17

continue to support FAT32 formatted volumes for Playback and Transfer.

FireWire Connections

* Qualified FireWire/1394 HBA Cards for Windows

Compatible with Pro Tools LE 7.4 for Windows

* FWx Record/Playback Option for VENUE D-Show Systems * Control Surfaces: o C|24 o Command|8 o Control|24 o Mackie Designs HUI o CM Labs MotorMix * Avid Mojo SDI o Avid Mojo/Mojo SDI & Pro Tools 7.4 Requirements for Windows XP o Avid Vide Peripherals are cur-rently not compatible with the Win-dows Vista operating system. * Avid Media Composer 3.0 Co-installation with Pro Tools o Pro Tools LE 7.4 for Windows XP only o Mbox 2 Family only

Additional Requirements

Monitor & Graphics

* Minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768 * Dedicated Graphics Controller Re-quired * 17" or larger monitor recom-mended if using external monitor

Performance Guidelines

* Recording to the system startup drive is not recommended or supported * Although limited recording and playback of audio tracks may be pos-sible using the startup drive, one or more separate 7200 rpm dedicated

audio hard drive(s) required for maxi-mum performance and track count * Dual processor machines may need to have network cards disabled for best performance

Known Issues

* Pro Tools does not sup-port RAID technology. Please do not activate this feature on any Pro Tools re-cording drives. * Laptops users may need to disable integrated wire-less networking * Computers with mother-boards contain-ing SiS (Silicon Integrated Sys-tems) chipsets

are not supported

18

* Computers with Intel Pentium III and older Intel processors are not supported * Computers with AMD Turion, AMD Sempron, or Intel Celeron processors are not supported * FireWire 800 drives are not supported for record and playback with Mbox 2 Pro systems * USB drives are not recom-mended or supported for recording * ATI Radeon™ Xpress 200 Se-ries chipsets are not recom-

mended for use with either AMD or Intel processors

DV Tookit 2 & Music Production Toolkit Options — Maximum Track Count In-formationThe purchase of either of these options expand a Pro Tools LE system from 32 total voiceable tracks to up to 48 mono or 48 stereo tracks. Note that maxi-mum track count may vary depending on CPU, OS, number of edits, drives, or other factors. To help achieve maximum track count, Digidesign rec-ommends the following:

* 2.5GB total system RAM * 2 or more qualified hard drives dedicated for audio record and play-back

MACPro Tools LE 7.4 for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) has the following system re-quirements:

Installation Requirements

* DVD drive required for Pro Tools LE 7.4 installation DVD * Not required for Download-only Pro Tools LE 7.4 installation

Pro Tools LE Audio Interface RequiredPro Tools LE 7.4 supports the following Digidesign audio devices:

* 003 * 003 Rack * Digi 002 * Digi 002 Rack * Mbox 2 Pro * Mbox 2 * Mbox 2 Mini * Mbox 2 Micro * Mbox

Pro Tools LE 7.4 software will not launch without one of the above Digidesign Pro Tools LE hardware in-terfaces connected. Please note:

* Pro Tools LE supports the use of any single Pro Tools LE audio interface * Simultaneous use of multiple Pro Tools LE hardware devices is not sup-ported

19

Maximum Sample Rate:

* 003, 003 Rack, Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack, Mbox 2 Pro - 96 kHz * Mbox 2, Mbox 2 Mini, Mbox 2 Mi-cro, Mbox - 48 kHz

Supported Apple ComputersPlease view the individual compatibility pages for additional requirements with your Digidesign hardware and each Apple computer model in the Support section of the website (choose Pro Tools LE 7.4 Mac from the Pro Tools LE category). Pro Tools LE 7.4 for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) is qualified with the following:

Apple Intel-based Computers Sup-ported with Pro Tools LE 7.4

* Mac Pro * MacBook Pro * MacBook * iMac (Intel) * Mac mini (Intel)

Newer models that ship with Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) pre-installed are not compatible with Pro Tools LE 7.4 for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger). Pro Tools LE 7.4.2 (a free update for 7.4 owners) is required for systems running Leopard.

Apple PowerPC-based Computers Supported with Pro Tools LE 7.4

* Power Mac G5 PCIe * Power Mac G5 PCI * Power Mac G4 * iMac G5 * Mac mini (PPC) * PowerBook G4

Not Tested:

* iBook G4 * iMac G4

System Software — Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

* Pro Tools LE 7.4 is officially sup-ported on Mac OS X 10.4.9

* Although Mac OS X 10.4.10 and 10.4.11 have not been tested or quali-fied by Digidesign, the only known is-sue at this time has to do with Pro Tools failure to launch in some cases due to improper prebinding. * Please see the following for impor-tant information: o Mac OS X Compatibility Infor-mation o If you have installed Mac OS X 10.4.9, 10.4.10, or 10.4.11, or if your computer came with Mac OS X 10.4.9 or 10.4.10 preinstalled, please down-load the Mac OS X Prebinding Script from that page if you experience failure of Pro Tools or other applications to launch. * There are reports that Mac OS X 10.4.11 may contain fixes for some of the Mbox 2 USB interface problems such as kernel panics on newer Intel-based Macs. * Pro Tools 7.x will not run on Mac OS X 10.3.9 and earlier

Pro Tools 7.4.2 Required for Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)Pro Tools LE 7.4 for Mac OS X 10.4 is not compatible with Mac OS X 10.5. Pro Tools LE 7.4.2 for Mac OS X 10.5 is a free update for Pro Tools LE 7.4 owners that adds compatibility with Leopard. For more information and links to downloads, please see the fol-lowing:

* Pro Tools 7.4.2 for Mac OS X 10.5.3 & 10.5.4 (Leopard)

Total System RAM

* 1GB minimum required for Pro Tools LE 7.4 - More Recommended * More RAM increases overall sys-tem and Pro Tools performance * Refer to motherboard manufac-turer for supported RAM version

More RAM highly recommended for sessions with:

* Large amounts of audio * High edit density * Large DigiBase databases

* A large number of installed plug-ins * Options like DigiTranslator * Elastic Time enabled on multiple tracks * Simultaneous use with other appli-cations

Note that maximum track count may vary depending on CPU, OS, number of edits, drives, or other factors. See additional requirements for DV Tookit 2 & Music Production Toolkit options at the bottom of this page.

Audio Record/Playback Drive Re-quirements

* Hard Drive Requirements - Pro Tools LE for Mac OS X

Compatible with Pro Tools LE 7.4 for Mac OS X

* FWx Record/Playback Option for VENUE D-Show Systems * Control Surfaces: o C|24 o Command|8 o Control|24 o Mackie Designs HUI o CM Labs MotorMix * Avid Mojo SDI * Avid Mojo

Additional Requirements

Monitor

* Minimum resolution of 1024 x 768 * 17" or larger recommended if using external monitor

Performance Guidelines

* Recording to the system startup drive is not recommended or supported * Although limited recording and playback of audio tracks may be pos-sible using the startup drive, one or more separate dedicated audio hard drive(s) is required for maximum per-formance and track count (7200 rpm or faster)

Known Issues

20

* Pro Tools does not support RAID technology. Please do not activate this feature on any Pro Tools recording drives. * USB drives are not recommended or supported for recording * Pro Tools Does Not Support Sleep Mode: o In the Mac OS X Apple Menu or Applications folder, open System Preferences. Launch Energy Saver, click the Sleep tab, and disable all Sleep features. Set "Put the computer to sleep when it is inactive" to Never. Do not manually put your computer to sleep when running Pro Tools.

DV Toolkit 2 & Music Production Toolkit Options — Maximum Track Count

The purchase of either of these options expand a Pro Tools LE system from 32 total voiceable tracks to up to 48 mono or 48 stereo tracks. Note that maxi-mum track count may vary depending

on CPU, OS, number of edits, drives, or other factors. To help achieve maximum track count, Digidesign rec-ommends the following:

* 2.5GB total system RAM * 2 or more qualified hard drives dedicated for audio record and play-back * Qualified Apple Power Mac G5 or Intel-based Mac computer with the fol-lowing processor requirements: o Intel Core 2 Duo processor o Intel Core Duo processor o Mac Pro (all models) o Dual or Quad processor Power Mac G5 (Power Mac G5 Dual 2GHz first generation model M9032 may not achieve maximum track count)

Although Pro Tools LE 7.4, DV Toolkit 2, and Music Production Toolkit options are compatible with Macs with G4 processors, please be advised that even with additional RAM and 2 quali-fied audio drives, maximum track count with these options is not supported on

any single or dual G4 processor Macs, or with single processor Power Mac G5 models.

Maximum Track Count with Mbox 2 Pro on MacBook ProTo help achieve maximum track count with DV Toolkit 2 or Music Production Toolkit when using the Mbox 2 Pro on the MacBook Pro, the following con-figuration is required:

* SIIG FireWire 2-Port ExpressCard (part number NN-EC2012-S1) * Connect the Mbox 2 Pro to the built-in MacBook Pro FireWire 400 port * Connect 2 or more qualified Fire-Wire 400 drives (daisy chained) to one of the ports on the SIIG FireWire 2-Port ExpressCard

21