The Story of Happy Every Day

May 3, 2021 by Aaron

aaron j. trumm, aaron trumm, happy every day, happy every day leaning latin mix, how songs are written, nquit, nquit music, song stories

I promised some people I’d make a post about my song, Happy Every Day. So here it is.

I was at Stanford, attending to my shiny new lungs – aka getting my regular check up. Oh yeah, as it happens, I had a lung transplant in 2013. July 4, 2013 to be exact. No big.

Whenever I go out there to check out my lungs, I book time in the recording studio on campus – because well, I have a key for life – seeing as how I did my master’s there – in a time of utter privilege I’ll always remember. I was doing my sessions one Saturday, and because it’s lonely locked up in the room all day by myself (I’m not always by myself, but in this case I was) – I went down the hill in the sunshine and wonderful greenery to the student union building (known there as “Tressider”) and got some lunch.

While I did that, I called my friend Sebastian, and as you do, asked him how he was doing. He replied, “I’m great man! I’m happy EVERY day!”

I said “THAT’S AWESOME! That’s a song!” – to which he said do it, to which I said “I’m serious, I’m going to go back up the hill in the studio and do a song called that RIGHT NOW!!”.

So I dashed up the hill and got my moleskin notebook out and sat in loungey fooseball kitchen area in the building, and I wrote out all the lyrics boom slickidy boom – then I went and found a big ‘ol grand piano (remember when I said privilege…that place is so awesome) and I banged out the chords and little melody that became the melody you hear right at the beginning…

Harry Potter and the Ridiculous Privilege – Here’s the piano I wrote Happy Every Day on

Then I rushed downstairs into the actual studio and set up to record the – other grand (privilege!) – piano and banged out the song structure bloop dee doop – then went in and did all the vocals.

That was all I had. But I took that home, sent it to my friend Nathan Menhorn who is an insane drummer drummed on other tracks of mine, and he sent me drums. Next I called my friend Rodney Bowe, an amazing bass player I’ve known for nearly 30 years since college, and he came to my house and played some bass. I mixed it all together and boom…

But it wasn’t quite right yet so I added a fourth verse at the end…and then I went around and performed it at various places including the Lyrics for Life competition at the Transplant Games of America, which I won silver in – woo!

But then a few years later…

I submitted the mix to an A&R rep at a licensing company. And he rejected it! (Don’t worry that happens A LOT). But he actually offered feedback. He wanted the song to lean in to the latin vibe more…so in 2021 (that’s the year I’m writing this)…

I got another person – Paul Croteau – who I know from a music industry Facebook group – to add some latin style percussion and horns. Then I got excited, re-arranged the piano, fixed a word in the chorus I never liked, fixed that fourth verse because I was never sold on the rhythm…

And BAM AGAIN! The Happy Every Day Leaning Latin Mix was born – which I think should be the only version – but the other one is out there so let’s let them both live!

THE END!!

Listen Different

This article first appeared in Recording Magazine. I reprint it here with permission, and I encourage you to subscribe to that publication, as they are a stand up bunch of folk!

There’s nothing in the world like a great pair of…monitor speakers. It’s true. Whether you’re into Adam, Genelec, K-Rok, Events or Mackie, even if you’re old school and can’t get by without your trusty NS-10s, whether sub or no sub, there’s nothing like a beautiful set of monitors (in a properly treated room!) with an incredibly clean, accurate sound to not only get you in the mood, but make that mood shine through when other people hear your brilliant opus. You need that accuracy, and you need to be used to your go-to monitors. You need to know their ins and outs, their strengths and weaknesses, and what tends to happen to a mix when you use them. You need to be loyal enough for long enough so that you really feel comfortable and master your monitors.

But comfort can be a dangerous thing, and no one, not even your mom, will ever listen to your mixes on your monitors in your room. Maybe not even your client. So your loyalty, while strong, should flex. You may need, as they say, to have an open relationship with your monitors. In fact, in order to really get your mix right, you might need to be rather promiscuous with your listening. Of course that includes the obvious: if you’re in a big studio, you’ll have loud speakers, mid fields, near fields and great headphones to check mixes against. But don’t stop there. If possible, how about another set of nearfields, maybe an alternate pair of mid fields?

Of course, that kind of buying power is rare, and in reality, you might have to settle for one set of really great, perfect-for-you monitors. That’s ok, because there’s more to do anyway. Check the mix on your go to headphones. Check on it $10 computer speakers. Check on the laptop speakers. Download an mp3 to your phone and listen with earbuds, then listen without. Does it still sound like a record? Listen on a boom box – a crappy one. A famous studio/label who shall remain nameless is said to have had a small broadcast station, which they would tune in to while sitting in an old truck in the front. Listen in mono. Get a cheap “pillow” speaker and try that out. DEFINITELY listen in your car. Listen a LOT in a LOT of cars. Make a CD and take it to every boom box in every department store in town.

When you’re not in the studio, make a lot of notes. When you are, make small tweaks. Return to your favorite monitors and check to see that your adjustment didn’t throw things out of whack there. Usually you can find a balance between disparate systems with small tweaks, but be careful of chasing your tail. Just check and check and check, and at some point, stop.

This advice is especially for those self-mixed musicians, producers and dreamers who don’t have access to the Bob Clearmountains and Chris Lord-Alges of the world (or their gear). Your lack of the absolute BEST resources need not stop you from achieving great and translatable mixes, and where that begins is with multiple listening environments.

While you’re at it, go ahead and get multiple ears on the mix too. E-Mail an mp3 link to some people who will listen differently than you. If you can stand it, bring somebody into the studio who is NOT an expert. Yes, bring the lay people in on it! Let your kids, your mom, your dog and your neighbor’s best friend’s plumber in on the fun. Don’t try to get technical terms out of them, just listen for their reactions. They won’t say “the vocal is a bit muddy, can you trim 100 HZ a bit?” They’ll say something like “what’d she say?”

That’s not to say you should leave your expert friends out. Don’t be afraid to send the mix all around, including to feedback groups you trust out in the social media world. Just make sure you make small tweaks, and remember that you may not be able to please EVERYBODY. But try. And listen, listen, listen.

Oh, and that means listening to other music. That’s obvious, right? Certainly you tune your ears a bit with known tracks before starting a mix session. But have you been listening to those tracks on those other systems too, learning what the mixes you like do in those situations? That can be quite enlightening and pretty encouraging too, because no, the great mixers’ stuff doesn’t necessarily sound that great on a pillow speaker! If it sounds better than yours though, think about why. What do you hear, and how can you get it?

This kind of critical listening is just that – critical – and you will be glad you upped the ante on perspective. There is a limit, and at some point you need to go ahead and finish and move on, but there’s great value in listening around, as it were. Try it, you’ll like it!

I’m a producer, vocalist, pianist and listen differenter. Look for me on Twitter or Facebook at @AaronJTrumm.

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File This

A Brief Discussion of Audio File Types

This article first appeared Recording Magazine. I reprint it here with permission, and I encourage you to subscribe to that publication, as they are a stand up bunch of folk!

In my article “Keeping Track”, we covered data. We talked about the information you need to keep with your songs in order to sell, license and organize them. We covered metatags; data about data that gets embedded in files. We talked a little about the file types that carry metadata and how to use them, and that brought up a wider topic: audio file types.

There are hundreds of audio formats and an endless variety of settings and options. So, without a whole lot of fanfare, we’ll dive into some of the formats that exist as of now, but first let’s delineate a few traits and categories.

Compression

An audio file (or a video file for that matter) is either compressed or uncompressed. What this means is the file is either whole and complete or it has been squashed down to save space, like using a .zip file; or in physical terms, like using one of those infomercial vacuum bags to suck the air out of your Christmas sweaters. A WAV file is uncompressed; an MP3 is compressed.

Don’t confuse compression or the lack thereof with the terms lossy or lossless. Lossy and lossless are two types of compressed files. If a file is lossy, it means some data has been thrown out because in theory that data isn’t necessary, usually because the human ear can’t hear it. That data cannot be recovered. On the other hand, a lossless file is compressed, but no data has been thrown out. Think of the difference between cutting off the sleeves of your sweater (because it’d be fine as a vest) and sucking it in Mr. Popeil’s vacuum (lossy), and simply sucking it in the vacuum, but leaving it intact (lossless). As you might guess, lossless files are generally bigger. MP3s are lossy. FLAC files are lossless.

File Format and Codec

You may never need to know this, but there is a difference between a file’s format and it’s codec. The format, or file type, is simply the wrapper in which the audio data is kept. The codec is the meat of how it’s encoded. Not all file types support all codecs, but there are some surprising possibilities. A WAV file might not be encoded with PCM, for example. We don’t have room here for a comprehensive list, but it’s likely you’ll only ever need to worry about a few possibilities. We’ll say more on those big ones momentarily.

Sample Rate, Bit Depth and Bit Rate

These are the main measurement of audio quality, and there can be some confusion about what they all mean.

Sample rate is used to refer to an original or uncompressed recording. It’s how many times per second a snapshot of the signal is taken. 44.1k means 44.1 kilohertz, or 44,100 times in a second. You probably know that CD quality is 44.1k, 16 bit.

Bit Depth is how many bits are in each sample. If you record at 44.1k, 16 bit, you’re taking 44,100 16 bit samples every second. Crudely, more bit depth corresponds to more dynamic range.

Bit Rate can be a bit fuzzier. Bit rate simply means the number of bits that are processed over a given amount of time, and it is a measure that can be applied to any file. A CD quality file is 1,411 kbps (kilobits per second), for example. In practice, though, bitrate is more often used to refer to the quality of a compressed, lossy file. To be crude again, it comes down to a measure of how much data we’ve thrown away. The highest bit rate for mp3s is 320 kbps, and the default iTunes rate is 256. A 128k MP3 is noticeably smaller than a 320k file, but in many situations, not all that different sounding. A 32k MP3, however, would sound awful, except in special circumstances (audiobooks, for example, often use low bit rates, because that doesn’t much affect a spoken track).

The Big Ones

While there are actually tons of audio file types and different combinations of format/codec possibilities, there are only a few you’re likely to see very often. In fact, we can narrow that down to three. WAV, AIFF, and MP3.

WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) files are Microsoft’s format, used in PC applications, and based on RIFF (resource interchange file format). Usually WAV files are encoded using PCM (pulse code modulation) encoding, which is uncompressed and the same basic encoding used in CDs, but it is possible to encode a WAV file with other codecs, even compressed ones. A “RIFF Wav” is a normal WAV file, and a “Broadcast WAV” is a WAV file with extended headers, originally used by broadcasters. WAV files have .wav extensions.

AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) files are Apple’s uncompressed format, also based on RIFF, and usually using PCM encoding. The only practical difference between WAV and AIFF files is that AIFF files allow more metadata by default (so you can see stuff like album covers in iTunes), but you will notice that certain DAWs won’t deal with both. That’s not a problem, as you can easily convert between them with something like Sox or FFMPEG, or free software like Audacity. AIFF files typically carry .aif extensions.

EDIT with a sneak pro tip: AIFFs and WAVs are literally the same format, from an audio standpoint. So if Joe Schmo who uses GarageBand sends you a bunch of AIFFs that your Windows DAW can’t read – you can just change the extension and voila.

MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer III) files are compressed, lossy and very common. MP3 shouldn’t be confused with MPEG-3, which is a video format. MP3 compression is done by throwing away data which isn’t needed, mostly due to a phenomenon in human hearing called auditory masking. That’s a pretty fancy way of saying we don’t hear everything in an uncompressed file anyway, so we might as well throw some away to save space. There’s no shortage of debate there, but it seems to work pretty well. MP3 was a proprietary format, owned and licensed by the The Fraunhofer Institute of Integrated Circuits, and that’s why not all software could make an MP3, at least until very recently. The Fraunhofer Institute declared MP3 an obsolete format in May of 2017, and terminated its licensing program. Whether this means the MP3 will die or proliferate further remains to be seen. For now, it’s still the de-facto compressed file format, and typically what you get when you rip a CD with iTunes or other software, or download that free track from your favorite polka band.

Other Major Formats

There are so many audio formats, we’d be hard pressed to talk about them all here, but there are a few you should know about.

CDDA (Compact Disc Digital Audio) is the format for compact discs. It’s just an AIFF file with different headers. If you happen across a .cdda file (probably ripped from a CD), you’ll probably be able to play it in anything that can play a WAV or AIFF.

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is a compressed, lossy format created by Dolby which was designed to be a successor to MP3. Apple subsequently developed a copy protected version that uses DRM (digital rights management) for iTunes, and that’s generally the format of files you buy from iTunes.

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is exactly what it sounds like, a free, lossless, compressed format. Great for archiving files, since it can reduce size up to 60% without losing any quality.

WMA (Windows Media Audio) was originally a compressed, lossy Windows format designed to compete with MP3. It’s been expanded to include a lossless version, a multichannel version, and a lower bit rate version used for voice. You may encounter Windows system files or other similar things in WMA format. WMA files can be copy protected.

AC-3 is a lossy 5.1 surround sound format used by Dolby Digital in DVDs, HDTV and DTV (digital television). Its highest sample rate is 48k. A side note: The “point one” in surround sound refers to a Low Frequency Effect (LFE) channel which has less bandwidth. The LFE is where the shake your boots BOOM in movies comes from.

What To Use?

At this point your question may be why should I care, or what should I use? The truth is, audio is audio, and when it comes to format choice, utility is the main consideration. Your DAW will do what it does, and I recommended letting it do that. When you’re deciding what to export, think about the use at hand. You’ll want to export either WAV or AIFF for mastering, making CDs, importing into a video project, or other continuing full resolution work. They’re really the same thing, so think about the software you’re using next, or what the person on the other end needs, and use that.

When it comes to delivery to the general public, think about the end user rather than entering into an endless debate about the perceptual quality of various algorhythms or codecs. If you’re selling downloads to normal people, you’ll probably want to use MP3s. If you’re delivering files to a digital distributor, you’ll probably be asked for CD quality WAVs, and in some cases, distributors will take AAC files for iTunes. If you want you can also distribute lossless files in FLAC format, or give people access to WAVs, or even distribute OGG/Vorbis files, which is an open source container/codec combination very similar to MP3. Beware, though, that not all players support these less common formats, and your user may end up with no way to listen.

As far as bit rate, I like to give my loving, devoted fans the highest quality MP3s I can, so those are encoded at 320k, but it’s also a good idea to make a 128k version for web-based preview listeners, because the smaller size will load faster and stream better. Some submissions you make (say to internet radio or licensing folk) may have size limits, too, so those smaller MP3s are useful. In the end, this is a judgement call, and if it’s for your own personal listening, then do whatever you like best.

One other consideration is something we addressed in “Keeping Track”, which is metadata. There are many situations where you’ll want some data other than audio in your file. Whether it’s so consumers know who you are, or licensing agents know who to contact, you’ll need some extra info in there, so the file type you use to send to certain people needs to contain that data. That’s what we covered in “Keeping Track”, so if you haven’t seen it, check that article out.

Resources

As with any very technical topic, an exploration of audio file types can go quite deep, and we don’t have room here to cover everything we could think of, so here are some recommendations for further reading:

Principles of Digital Audio by Ken Pohlmann
The Audio Expert (chapter 8 especially) by Ethan Winer
Mastering Audio by Bob Katz
How Music Got Free by Stephen Witt (for a great history of the MP3 format)
Any Wikipedia page about “audio file types” or specific types – google “WAV Wikipedia”, for example.

If you’re new to audio or recording, then hopefully we’ve helped you at least begin to sort out file types in digital audio, and if you’re a veteran, I hope you’ve reminded yourself of a few things here. For the most part, file types are pretty straight forward, but you can run into confusion at times, especially when a DAW or other piece of software gives you a thousand choices. It’s nice to remember a few basic tenets, cut through the noise, and get back to creating. So file this away, and we’ll see you in the studio!

Did you know I have a master’s degree in “Music, Science and Technology” from Stanford University? That means I can go back and forth between Macs and PCs in the studio, and talk at length about debt. Find me on Facebook and Twitter and other various stuff @AaronJTrumm.

Keeping The Rhythm – Part 2

July 28, 2020 by Aaron

Audio Instruction, Instructional Stuff, Published Work, Recording Magazine

aaron j. trumm, diy drums, do it yourself drums, do it yourself recording, drum programming, drum recording, drums, MIDI drums, nquit, recording magazine

DIY Drums – Part 2 – Programming

This article first appeared Recording Magazine. I reprint it here with permission, and I encourage you to subscribe to that publication, as they are a stand up bunch of folk!

Last month, I talked about recording acoustic drums yourself within whatever limitations you have. This month, we’re expanding the conversation into programmed drums. Just like last month, the main thing I want you to get is inspiration to experiment and maintain your relentless pursuit of cool.

If you’re an EDM producer, dubstep guru or drum n bass oldie, programming drums is your bag. You may also be a singer/songwriter looking to do something fresh, an electropop person making licensable, “current” records, or you may just be completely without mics or recording space, relegated to headphones and a laptop, trying to make something sound “real”.

That last scenario is the root of all electronica, including hip-hop, and the thousands of genres that have been created over the last 30 years should be a testament to the idea that limitations really can be the mother of creativity.

Whatever your Reason (pun intended), here you are, wanting to make a sick drum track, or at least tastefully augment your tune. First, let’s talk about “reality”.

Keepin’ It Real

The first question when you start any drum track is whether you want it to sound like a real drummer. When you’re doing rock n roll, singer/songwriter, world or other “natural” music, the answer may be yes. In that case, start with my article on acoustic DIY drums from last month’s Recording. People aren’t easily fooled, and my experience is the more I try to make programmed drums sound “real”, the less “real” and legitimate they actually sound. Rather, I recommend letting an electronically created track sound electronic. That’s not to say you won’t have acoustic elements, but let each part do what it what it does best.

That doesn’t, however, mean you shouldn’t employ some techniques that people might refer to as making a track sound more “human”.

To begin with, picture a drummer. She has two feet and two arms at most. More than 4 different drum hits at the exact same time might not make sense to the ear. Then again, it depends on what they are. You can certainly get away with conga laid over drum kit, for example, because that could be a whole other person.

Another thing about human drummers is they’re never computer-perfect. Try using your software’s swing or groove-quantize (Figure 1) to create a more human feel. If swing doesn’t work, try sliding hits around a hair to make them a little less uniform in time. This is a technique not well suited for techno and dance genres but if you’re aiming for something more “real”, it could help.

Subtly randomizing velocity, phase or pan is great too, especially for hi-hats, to make the track more “lifelike”. Even if you’re not going for a natural sound, programmed hi-hats can get pretty boring and lifeless, so messing with them is often a good idea. I’m a fan of a little distortion and subtle (or not) auto-panning on programmed hi-hats.

All that said, if you need real sounding drums, another way to achieve that which wasn’t available even a few years ago is to use live loops. Loop libraries like Loop Loft use real live drummers to play loops and fills you can use. Some freelance drummers even keep loops lying around that they’ll sell or even give you, if you’ve got a good relationship!

I wasn’t a huge fan of loop libraries before multitrack versions started showing up; a pre-mixed stereo loop is too hard to mix and too generic-sounding. With separated tracks, though, you can treat them like you would anything delivered by a session drummer. EQ to taste, pan how you want, use distortions, compressors and pitch shifters, and make it your own. You can even stretch or compress to change tempo (within reason).

BYOB – Bring Your Own Beats

Most drum tracks created electronically make no attempt to sound like real drums. This is great, because what used to be a limitation is now an unlimited palette of options. This may be overwhelming, but like I said last month, you can start by thinking of the functionality of a drum kit.

My usual process is pretty typical. First I build a virtual “kit”, by picking a kick sound I like, then snare, then hat, etc. I make a basic pattern while I do this, usually starting with kick/snare. If you do this work for long, you’ll realize there are only a few workable kick/snare patterns in 4/4. You can always experiment, say by changing time signatures, but it’s not necessarily bad to start with a tried and true four-on-the-floor “pop” pattern. The pattern itself is only the first of many places you can be unique!

You can build drum patterns any number of ways. You can use a pattern editor (Figure 2), which is how old drum machines work, you can step enter into your MIDI sequencer (Figure 3), you can play live using your MIDI interface (Figure 4) and then quantize (or not), or you can copy/paste actual samples or MIDI data right into a timeline, such as with Ableton (Figure 5).

If you enter MIDI data rather than audio samples, you can easily experiment with different patches, or create remixes later by using different sounds with the same pattern. In any case, avoid placing different drum sounds all on the same track. Just like with acoustic drums or loops, you want separate kick, snare, hat, etc. tracks so you can control and manipulate properly in the mix. You can get away with having some stereo loops here and there, but you’re usually much better off giving yourself some mix control.

If you’ve played your MIDI performance simultaneously into one track, say by doing kick/snare or kick/snare/hat all at once, simply create a new track, select only one instrument (eg kick) using the filtered selection option (Figure 6), and cut/paste to a new track. If you don’t have this option, you may be able to route different patches to different outputs on your device or any number of other things to get your tracks separated. If there’s no way for you to do that, then play one part at a time.

Be Cool

Creating basic patterns is pretty easy, but you want them to be cool. Think of your basic pattern as a roughed in Michelangelo’s David. You can see that it’s him, but now it’s time to start chiseling in that six pack.

One of the best ways to improve a groove is with what I like to call tiered turnarounds. Consider this basic pattern:

If you loop this, you’ll notice an odd sensation of wrongness when it repeats. The second measure needs variance. So instead, I might do this:

That feels better, but on measure 4, we get a similar sense of wrongness, so I’d add another variant, a bit more like a fill.

I usually take this out to 8 measures, where I might even use both the last 2 measures as “fill”. Once I have an 8 measure groove, I feel more comfortable repeating it. Each of these little variances or fills, which usually happen over proportionately longer periods of time (ie: a quarter of the length of the loop) is basically a turnaround, which creates the feeling of balance in a passage. The number of tiers and variances you use may vary, but the concept is to create a push-pull while repeating. You don’t really want to NOT repeat – that would be chaos, but turnarounds work with repetition to keep the listener engaged. The same concept can be applied to any kind of riff – guitars, pianos, bass, etc.

Oh Yeah, The Song!

Hopefully you’ve already been considering the song as a whole, but if you haven’t, this is a good time to refer again to the song itself. Once you’ve got one pattern you like, consider a larger variance or different pattern altogether for your chorus, and maybe a third for your bridge. The song should have informed your basic pattern, and it will probably inform your chorus, and it should certainly inform you what to do with the bridge and other odd sections.

Thinking of the song as an arrangement when you’re building drums is one of the best ways to make your rhythm track stand out from the crowd, even if you’re starting with drums, and even if you’re not going for a standard song structure. If you’re going for a build over time track or a trance track with subtle progression, do these things in the drum track as well as any other instrumentation, rather than letting the drum track plod along with no change.

Once you’ve got an arrangement, start augmenting with effects, variable velocities, new parts, and even recording acoustic parts to go along, if you can. If you’re using hardware synths, you should probably record that audio to the DAW now, so you’re not fumbling around when you try to mix. This is a good opportunity to use cool things like tubes or even more drastic effects to give the tracks even more life, grit or uniqueness. Make sure to mute and record one by one (or use your synth’s L/R or aux outputs strategically) so you still have separated tracks. Don’t just record the whole stereo mix from the synth, especially if you’re sending tracks to a mix engineer.

Timbre And Flavor

Once you’ve got some cool sounds, killer patterns and an arrangement that doesn’t just drone on, try going back to timbre. Is anything off? Does your snare fit, is the kick awesome? You’ve probably already found some cool sounds to start with, but no matter what they are, they probably came from a sample pack or a synth, which means other people have access to them. That means you should start making the track your own. You might try layering certain tracks to strengthen them or make them cooler, or try adding elements in certain sections. You may even change something like the snare in a chorus or bridge, or bring in a vastly different sound for a one measure breakdown. Look at your arrangement again and see if there’s anywhere you can cut the drums entirely, or break down to just hats, or kick.

At this point, your track probably sounds pretty cool. You’ve probably already laid in any other tracks, if you’ve got them, and you’re well on your way toward a mix. You may have spent 4 hours, and you may have spent 4 weeks. Either way, it’s probably time to go outside!

Hopefully you’re inspired now to experiment and search. Drum tracks, like anything in the record making process, are a matter of purpose, an open mind and that relentless pursuit of cool. Groove on, baby!

I’ve been programming drum tracks for long on 25 years (well…more now I guess), and I’m still pursuing cool. Talk to me about it on Facebook or Twitter @AaronJTrumm

Tweak Your Own

July 28, 2020 by Aaron

Audio Instruction, Instructional Stuff, Programming and Such, Published Work, Recording Magazine

aaron j. trumm, aaron trumm, audio computer, audio pc, build your own windows pc, music computer, nquit, optimize windows for audio, recording magazine, sound computer

Studio computer, that is…

Optimizing your Windows computer for audio

This article first appeared Recording Magazine. I reprint it here with permission, and I encourage you to subscribe to that publication, as they are a stand up bunch of folk!

If you read my “Roll Your Own (studio computer, that is)” article, you’ll remember I promised to talk later about setting up that computer for optimal audio performance. Even if you haven’t built your own machine, you’ll still want to optimize audio performance, so this is for you too.

Before we dive in, make a note of a few things:

We’re talking about Windows. Macs and Linux boxes are different beasts.
Screenshots here are from Windows 8. Instructions apply to both Windows 10 and Windows 7/8 machines, but your screens may look a little different.
We’re assuming you’ve got your hardware set. If not, you can refer to “Roll Your Own” for some guidelines about specs (even if you’re not building it yourself). Most modern, good machines will work. 4GB RAM with a 2.5Ghz multi core processor would do.
We’re just covering the system here, not setting up audio software.
Finally, not everything is necessary, especially if your hardware is great, so you can use your judgement and adjust your settings to taste. Think of this as a list of things you CAN do, some of which you probably should.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Basic Optimization

We’ll start with the easiest stuff. First of all, make sure all your drivers are up to date, as well as your plugins and software (both audio and other). Outdated drivers especially can cause performance problems.

Next, uninstall unnecessary software. If your computer is ONLY for audio work, this can include Office products, accounting software, extra browsers – anything you don’t need. You can uninstall Windows components that aren’t necessary like games, or apps like extra music players, painting programs, etc. This really just saves space and distraction, but it’s a good start.

Next disable programs running in the system tray. These are the pesky items here:

Right click on those items and you should be able to find a settings section (you may have to actually open the program) where you can tell it not to run on start up. You don’t want to disable your virus protection or system critical applications, but you can trim the fat.

Next, defragment your hard drives, if they need it. The easiest way to get to this is open the control panel and put “defrag” in the search box. You should do this whenever that utility says the drives need it.

Next up, tweak your screen saver. Fancy screen savers take up resources. Disable it or set it to just turn off the screen. Increase the time so it doesn’t kick in while you’re recording. This can happen because Windows doesn’t consider audio activity “activity”, so you could be singing your heart out on that 10 minute rock opera, but if you’re not touching the mouse or keyboard, the screen saver could come on, cause a glitch, and ruin your life.

Next, disable system sounds. You don’t need extra dinging and binging, but more importantly these sounds can grab control of the sound device. Search for “sounds” in the control panel and click “change system sounds”. Pick “no sounds” from the system scheme dropdown.

Next tackle visual effects. Windows has some cool animations and transparencies which you don’t really need. They’re actually not that bad, but it could make some difference. Search for “visual effects” in control panel, and choose “adjust the appearance and performance of Windows”. It’s easiest just to pick “adjust for best performance”, but you can pick and choose which effects to keep.

Next, you could disable automatic Windows updates, or tell Windows to “check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them”, so that Windows updates aren’t running when audio should be prioritized. If you fully disable automated updates, be sure you remember to periodically check for updates manually. To do any of this, search for “Windows update” in the control panel. You can pick “turn automatic updating on or off” to change automation or “check for updates” to manually update.

Now look into your virus software. Disabling virus software is definitely not recommended, but you might be able to tell it when to do scans and otherwise tweak its behavior so as not to interrupt audio processing.

Next, if you’re not using it, consider disabling the onboard sound card. The onboard sound drivers don’t always play nice with other audio drivers, and to boot, they sometimes introduce noise into the system. Search for “device manager” in control panel, click “device manager”, find the sound device in the list, right click and pick “disable”. Note: I didn’t do this on my laptop, because I want that device working if I’m not in the studio with my interface. I did do it on my desktop.

Next up, if your system is a 64 bit system and your Windows is 64 bit (find out at control panel->system), AND your DAW has a 64 bit version AND your plugins are all 64 bit, run at 64 bit! This allows the software to access a lot more memory. Beware though, because 32 bit plugins generally don’t work in 64 bit DAWs, and vice versa. If you’re starting from scratch though, you might as well stay in 64 bit mode. You do this by simply installing and using the 64 bit version of your software.

Finally, consider using hardwired keyboard and mouse devices instead of Bluetooth (wireless) devices. Bluetooth communication can affect audio performance.

Advanced Optimization

Power Options

Here’s where the fun begins. By default, Windows is set up to balance between power saving and performance by doing things like putting the computer to sleep, throttling down the processor and other tricks. This is a great place to get a significant boost.

Go to control panel and search for “power options”. Click on “power options”. Start by picking “high performance” under “choose or customize a power plan”. Now click “change plan settings” to further tweak this plan. You’ll see two settings: “turn off the display” and “put the computer to sleep”. If you’re using a laptop, there will be an “on battery” option and a “plugged in” option. You can leave the “on battery” option alone to conserve power, but for “plugged in”, pick “never”. Next click “change advanced power settings”. Here you have a whole bunch of options.

For the plugged in options, use these settings:

Hard disk: turn off hard disk after “never”.
Internet explorer: JavaScript timer frequency, “maximum performance”.
Desktop background settings: slide show, “paused”.
Wireless adapter settings: power saving mode, “maximum performance”.
Sleep: sleep after “never”. Hibernate after “never”.
Intel CPCC energy efficiency settings: enable energy efficient operation, “disabled”. Energy efficiency aggressiveness 0%.
USB settings: USB selective suspend setting, “disabled”.
Graphics settings: graphics power plan, “maximum performance”.
Processor power management: minimum processor state, “100%”. Maximum processor state, “100%”. If you do nothing else, do this. It prevents the processor from throttling down when it’s not active. It can take a long time to throttle back up when an audio process needs the processor.
Display: turn display off after “never”.
Multimedia: when sharing media, “prevent idling to sleep”. When playing video, “optimize video quality”.

Here’s a very advanced extra. Under “processor power management”, you probably DON’T see an option called “processor performance core parking min cores”. This is a feature which allows Windows to turn off (aka “park”) cores in a multi core processor to save power. This can affect performance because it takes time for the core to un-park. It’s turned on by default, and the option to change it is usually hidden, but you can just turn it off, which I’ll tell you how to do.

Warning, this is advanced stuff. Do not attempt if you’re not comfortable with advanced configuration and paying attention to detail. Even then, attempt at your own risk!

Make sure the “high performance” scheme is selected in power options (you probably just did this).
Click the Windows start button, and in the search window, type “cmd”, which should pull up “Command Prompt”.
Right click on this and pick “run as administrator”.
A command line window will appear. Type the following on one line:

powercfg –setacvalueindex scheme_current sub_processor bc5038f7-23e0-4960-96da-33abaf5935ec 100

Hit enter and then type:

powercfg –setactive scheme_current

This will turn off core parking, but it won’t give you the new option in your power options window.

Other Options

Besides power options, there are quite a few more things you can do boost audio performance. Try these on for size:

Processor scheduling: Search for “performance” in the control panel. Click on “adjust the appearance and performance of Windows” and go to the “advanced” tab. Under “choose how to allocate processor resources” select “background services”. Note: this is usually the better setting because most audio processing is done in the background, but there are times when it actually harms performance, so if you change this and notice a dip, change it back.

USB hub power: Search for “device manager” in control panel, go to device manager, scroll down and click on “Universal Serial Bus controllers”. There should be one or more items called “USB root hub” or similar (look for the words “root hub”). On those, right click and pick “properties”. Click on the “power management” tab and UNCHECK “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”.

While you’re in device manager, you can disable devices you don’t need, but be careful! Don’t disable a device if you don’t know what it is. In general, don’t disable devices in the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, processors, system devices, universal serial bus controllers or computer groups. Some devices that are usually safe to disable are batteries, Bluetooth, imaging, network adapters (wireless especially), sensors and sound, video and game controllers. Obviously you don’t want to disable devices you’re using (the network adapter, for example).

Don’t actually uninstall device drivers unless they’re for hardware that no longer exists in your system. Instead just right click and pick “disable”.

Drive properties: In windows explorer, right click on your hard drive, pick “properties” and uncheck “compress this drive to save space” and “allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties”. If you have an extra drive that’s JUST for storage and isn’t getting accessed by audio software, you can go ahead and use “compress this drive” to save some space.

Graphics card: Some graphics cards have a throttle setting much like the processor setting, which allows the card to throttle down when not in demand. This can cause the same problem of lag when it throttles back up. If you can, turn this setting off in your graphics card settings.

Page file settings: The page file is also known as the swap file. Basically it’s how Windows uses the hard drive as additional random access memory when it needs to. Windows dynamically chooses the size of this swap file unless you tell it not to. That dynamic sizing takes time, so while you’re still in the performance options window, tell it not to by going to the “advanced” tab. Under virtual memory, click “change”. Uncheck “automatically manage paging files size for all drives”. Next, for each of your drives, select “custom size” and enter in your desired initial and maximum size values. If your RAM is small, use about one and a half times the size of your RAM memory. Eg, if you have 4GB of RAM, use 6GB (6000MB). If you have more than 8GB of RAM, you probably don’t need a paging file that big. On my desktop, which has 16GB, I use a 6000MB paging file.

Finally, pay attention to things like backup software or other tasks that run regularly. Make sure they run when you’re not working on audio. You can use the task scheduler to dig into that further, but be careful. The task scheduler does a lot of necessary work and it’s a bit out of this article’s scope to dig into it.

Testing

If you have problems, or if you’d just like to get a bench mark before and after you do all this optimization, there are a couple of highly recommended (and free!) programs that can help you get a gauge on how your system is performing, what applications are hogging memory, and even which drivers might be causing issues.

LatencyMon is a free and thorough program that monitors latency issues and CPU load and reports on problematic drivers and software. You can find it here: www.resplendence.com/latencymon.

DPC Latency Checker is another similar tool. It’s a simpler tool which doesn’t point out problematic drivers and the like, but it’s great for checking whether your audio stream is getting interrupted. You can find it at www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml.

Ok Go For It!

We’ve covered a lot here, but it shouldn’t take you long to make these adjustments. They’re foundational adjustments, and you’ll find yourself tweaking settings in your DAW and other software to taste, but you should be in a really solid place at this point. There are some other more advanced things I haven’t discussed, like spread spectrum, Nagle’s algorhythm and digging into Windows services and startup apps.

If you’d like to dig deeper, I highly recommend a free PDF download called “Glitch Free”, by Brad Robinson of Cantabile. Brad goes into great detail and gives wonderful background information on this topic. His book is one of the best resources on this topic I’ve come across. You can get the book for free (you don’t even have to sign up for anything) at www.cantabilesoftware.com/glitchfree.

Even if you don’t want to dive deep, you’ve got plenty here you can do to get your machine rock’n’roll ready. Have fun with your new computer!

I’m a singer, producer and recovering developer. I’ve built a lot of computers, but I love people more. Contact me on social media at @AaronJTrumm

Keeping The Rhythm

July 16, 2020 by Aaron

Audio Instruction, Instructional Stuff, Published Work, Recording Magazine

aaron j. trumm, aaron trumm, diy drum recording, diy drums, do it yourself drums, drum recording, drums, home recording, nquit, nquit music, recording drums, recording drums at home, recording magazine

DIY Drums – Part 1 – Acoustic

This article first appeared Recording Magazine. I reprint it here with permission, and I encourage you to subscribe to that publication, as they are a stand up bunch of folk!

It’s a common problem. You’ve got some mics, great chops, a decent voice, cool songs, and decent recording gear. You’re even happy with your space, now that you’ve referred to my DIY Acoustics article from October 2016’s Recording. You’re ready to rock some tracks, and whether you’re recording songwriting demos or an honest-to-goodness record, you run smack dab into a major stumbling block: drums.

It’s a rare rock or pop song that gets away without percussion, and often that’s what separates the women from the boys on a record. It’s easy to tell a low or no budget production immediately by the sound of a stock MIDI snare, and nothing screams “lazy” like throwing down a default loop from a synth or Session Drummer and calling it good.

On the other hand, booking a drummer and studio time is expensive, especially if you’ve got a lot tracks (Figure 1). You can hire drummers with their own studios for decent rates, but even that may be out of your budget. You can still achieve a cool percussion track, though. It just takes creativity and work, and even if you hire a drummer and book studio time, you still want to think creatively, or you may yet get something generic.

Figure 1 – A great but expensive drum studio

There are myriad options when creating a rhythm track, but in the most general sense, they break down to two: acoustic percussion and programming. Which direction you need to head is mostly a matter of genre and style, but there’s nothing wrong with a little genre bending if it’s done well, and you may be surprised how much crossover happens in any genre.

In part one of this two part series, we’ll focus on acoustic tracks. You probably want to go this direction if you’re doing any kind of “natural” music like singer/songwriter stuff, world music or even rock and roll. On the whole, the subject of drums and percussion, and the role they play in a production, could cover volumes, so the main thing I’d like you to take away is inspiration. Be creative and resourceful (Figure 2). After all, relentless pursuit is the key to great tracks even when resources are unlimited.

Figure 2 – Resourcefulness – Step ladder, vacuum, and cymbal stand as mic stands

Trap Kit

“Acoustic tracks” partly means actual “drums”, or more precisely: trap kit. Recording a kit is a whole art unto itself, but it needn’t be so daunting that you can’t do some things yourself. If you’re a drummer (Figure 3), hey, you’re a step ahead, but you needn’t be. If you can play an instrument, you (hopefully) have plenty of rhythm. So, if you happen to have an old drum kit laying around, or even a good one, or can borrow one, or just have a drum or two, this part is for you!

Figure 3 – A drummer in his natural environment

Obviously you’re dealing with some limitations here, or you wouldn’t be reading this. But just because you don’t have Dave Grohl or Animal’s direct line doesn’t mean you’re lost. And just because you can’t keep time with your feet doesn’t mean you can’t have a kick drum! Think outside of the box and you can do any number of things with the drums and skills that you have. You can hit one drum at once and overdub others, ala Fleetwood Mac. Purists would scoff, but we’re not trying to be pure, we’re trying to be cool. Try arranging a kick/snare combo so that you can slam the kick with a mallet and whack the snare with a stick in a pattern of your design, then overdub a hi-hat. Create a simple pattern with two sticks and a tom. When it comes to musicality and drums, your limitations can be your greatest asset. Producers sometimes fight with virtuoso drummers to get them to keep it SIMPLE. If you’re not a drummer but you’ve got a little rhythm, you HAVE to keep it simple, so that’s an advantage! You can make things more complicated with overdubs.

Figure 4 – Drums moved into a living room

A limited drum selection is ok too, as that can also force creativity. Try moving drums to different rooms (Figure 4), retuning, or augmenting to achieve different timbres (Figure 5). Try the living room, try the bathroom, try a closet, or try outside. Music is often about searching, so search for inspiring timbres and sounds, and think about how your environment and drums interact.

Figure 5 – Snare augmented with foam to ring less

You can also do plenty in the mix. Try using extreme EQs, crazy compression, and one of my favorite things to do, pitch shifting! You can use delay to create new patterns and reverbs, phasing and other plugins to create drum insanity.

Figure 6 – 2 capsule kick mic plus condenser on snare

What about miking drums? Much has been written on the subject and you can refer to previous Recording articles for more detail, but here are some basic tenets that might help as you search for cool:

Close mics on drums are usually best handled with dynamics, because their slower response will help smooth the transient nature of drum hits.
You might want to keep your ribbons away, as high SPLs could destroy them.
Condensers are good for room or overhead mics, but don’t count them out for close miking too. When I first started recording, my boss would routinely record kick drum with an AKG 414, placed right in the hole like a normal kick mic. It sounded great!
Try using mics in un-orthodox ways. (Figures 6, 7)

Figure 7 – 2 capsule kick mic, 57, and overhead small diaphragm on floor tom

If you ARE a drummer or you have one, and your limitation is mic selection, remember that less can be more. Many great drum tracks were recorded with one mic (Figure 8). The key here is experimentation with what you have, and close attention to what the drums are doing in the room. Don’t be afraid to move things around and manipulate the acoustics. Blankets in corners or on walls can help deaden a room, or, perhaps you want to remove furniture to liven the room. Next, move your mic or mics around and listen. If you have to record test swatches, do that. What sounds awesome won’t necessarily look right. Do bear in mind, as you play with rooms, that once you record the sound of a room, you can’t take it out, so a really dead space might be want you want. Think ahead about the overall acoustic space you want for the song.

Figure 8 – Heart mic – also mic stand resourcefulness!

Beyond The Kit

Figure 9 – Bundle sticks on kitchen table

You may have a drum kit and a drummer, but if you don’t, you’re not doomed! You can create rhythm tracks out of almost anything, and sometimes a big drum track isn’t even right. If you can hit it and it makes a sound, you can create rhythm. Some sounds may not be all that awesome, but others could surprise you. You can start with traditional percussion instruments: bongos, conga, shakers, cajón, etc. If you haven’t got any of that (even if you do!), plenty of household items have potential. Sticks, tables, sinks, buckets, and your body all make sound when you smack them! (Figure 9) I once made a decent high frequency snare sound out of an upside down coffee can, and there’s no shortage of hand claps these days. Try tracking 3 or 4 tracks of those. In some cases, you can thump on a cardboard box and come up with a kick sound, or use the body of an acoustic guitar to thump out a rhythm. If you have a piano, you can bang on that in several places. If the “instrument” is loud, see how it sounds in the room, and try a room mic, or a combo of room and close miking. If it’s a quiet thing, close miking might work better. Don’t be afraid to try a combo of mics, because whereas less may be more, sometimes more is more! (Figure 10)

The important thing is to think about the FUNCTION of each drum. If you picture a drum kit, and think about the functionality of each part, you can create that same function with alternative means. Kick would be some kind of low frequency element, lower in pitch and with less crack than the snare function, which operates as your back beat, or the two, with requisite creativity. A hi hat functions as a more constant rhythmic bed in some even higher frequency, and sub-divides your beat so the listener stays in the groove. Cymbals are for annoying producers. Try stepping on the cat to simulate (Figure 11).

Your thinking outside the box shouldn’t stop there though. You don’t necessarily need to simulate the functionality of a drum kit. You can create a rhythmic bed that shirks that convention, or you can use the other instruments in a production to create the foundation and use percussion to add spice, emphasis and flavor.

The main thing that’s going to give your production a feeling of legitimacy is doing things on purpose, and spending the time to find unique and interesting sounds that serve the purpose of the song.

Programmed Drums

In part two next month, we’ll talk about creating cool rhythm tracks with synths or computers, but it is worth mentioning now that you may want to augment or support a mainly acoustic track with something programmed. The most common and obvious version of this is drum replacement, which happens a lot more than you might think. Programs like Drumagog or Steven Slate’s Trigger can replace the drums in a performance with sampled drums, and this technique is used all the time to help engineers mix drums. Most often, it’s kick or snare that gets replaced, but other drums are candidates as well. Replacement can be used creatively too. You could replace a normal snare with a crazy one for a measure, or create a layered sound. You could flip the beat by replacing snare with kick! My favorite augmentation is a simple addition of a nice crisp kick drum to augment a trap kit or other track that lacks the character I need to fit the mix. I do this often, because kick drum recordings often sound bad, and in a lot of tracks, an electronic kick doesn’t stand out as “fake” as easily as something like a snare. Most often, I don’t use replacement software, I just play or program a kick pattern that matches the kick or kick like element in the acoustic tracks. The possibilities here are endless, and we’ll go into more detail next month in part two: DIY Drums – Programming.

For now, keep using your imagination and experiment! There’s a whole world of variety you can find in your rhythm tracks if you just keep searching!

Oh – and now – go to part 2 – programming – and then mix and match between them!

I’m an awful drummer, but I keep a crappy drum kit stuffed in a corner, with a cajón for a throne. Some part of it gets used on almost every song. Talk to me about on Facebook if you want.

Capturing Your Voice

March 31, 2020 by Aaron

Audio Instruction, Instructional Stuff, Published Work, Recording Magazine

aaron j. trumm, aaron trumm, capturing your voice, do it yourself recording, home recording, music, nquit, recording magazine, recording on a budget, recording rappers, vocal recording

Vocal recording in a home studio

This article first appeared Recording Magazine. I reprint it here with permission, and I encourage you to subscribe to that publication, as they are a stand up bunch of folk!

It’s a fine art, hearing your recorded voice and not dying of shock. But let’s assume you’re over that, and that you’re not accustomed to $500,000 recording budgets. You’d probably still like to record your vocal tracks professionally and efficiently. Whether you’re a crooner, a diva, a rapper or a writer recording demos, cutting a great vocal track at home is very doable.

Let’s dive into that process, so you have the tools to record vocals you can be confident about. I’ll talk from the point of view of a vocalist recording their own vocals, but everything applies to recording someone else in your space.

There are two major things you need to accomplish in any recording session, and it’s no different for vocals. First you need a killer performance. Next you need to capture it cleanly. Let’s tackle those in reverse order.

Recording

Before you think about your performance, let’s take away everything that would get in the way, and make sure when you hit your stride, it’s getting on tape. We’ll go from the ground up, starting literally with the room.

Acoustics

It doesn’t matter what your mic or voice is like, if your space isn’t right, your track won’t be right. There are a few ways you can go about adjusting your space, but the main is keep noise and unwanted room reflections out of your track. If you have a room that’s a little bit live and sounds awesome, that can be great sometimes, but I wouldn’t recommend printing a lot of reverb on most tracks. What I’m usually looking for is a super dead and even sound, so I have flexibility later. The best way to do this is in a booth. You can purchase a fancy vocal booth, or you can build one. I’ve always been fond of a coat closet, either treated completely, evenly and thickly with acoustic treatment like Auralex foam or ridged fiberglass, or chock full of clothes. My favorite vocal booth was a little bedroom closet we called “The Old Man Clothes Room”. It was full of about twice as many clothes as really fit, because I’d inherited a wardrobe from a friend of the same size who passed away. That “booth” was dead, quiet, and perfect.

What you don’t want is to stand inside a closet without a good amount of treatment. If you were to stand in an empty closet, for example, your track would sound incredibly boxy and probably nasally or wooden. You don’t want to stand in a normal sized bedroom with no treatment whatsoever, as you’ll have similar room reflection issues. No matter what you do, do not put yourself in a corner facing in. If you feel like you can’t treat your room at all, and you have no booth or closet, you could try vocal reflection filters like the sE Reflexion Filter or the Aston Halo Reflection Filter. These small “filters” surround a mic and block reflections. They’re ok, but they don’t really prevent reflections from the room behind and above you from coloring your sound. In a pinch, this may be better than nothing, but if you can, deal with your room. It’s not hard to do something quick and dirty like hang tons of blankets up or surround yourself in mattresses. Be creative.

The advantage of a booth over recording near your desk is that you can isolate better from gear noise. If that’s not an option, see if you can quiet your computer down by baffling reflective surfaces, or move your vocal position away, and/or use a directional mic aimed away from gear. If you’re in a booth or another room, you can use a remote or set up some lead in before the song so you can get into position. At home, where my mic is about 4 steps from the desk, I usually give myself 8 measures of click before the song, and then have the click turn off.

Speaking of noise, you will contend with noisy streets, barking kids and crying dogs. If you have the money, you can build a truly isolated room, but that’s rarely an option, so timing is your best friend. Understand when the quiet times are in your space and use that knowledge to your advantage. That may not be at night. I once had a studio that was very quiet EXCEPT at night, when crickets would blare outside the window.

Mic Choice

The “best” vocal mic is really the one you can afford that is compatible with your voice. That said, a large diaphragm condenser of some kind is probably your best bet. See if you can get a local music store to let you test some. I use an AKG 414, which I love for its detail, but sometimes I find it harsh for my tenor belting. You might find it perfect, or terrible. I’m quite fond of Rode’s selection of affordable condensers, and I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about Slate VMS lately (that’s a mic and emulation package which could give you some nice options if you’re recording other people). It’s also nice to have a good directional dynamic on hand. Sometimes a classic Shure SM57 can surprise you. A ribbon might be a nice choice, especially for softer vocals, but try not to scream into it – most ribbons are very delicate.

Don’t just spend as much money as possible. A U87 is a pretty awesome piece of equipment, but it may not be right for your voice. When you’re shopping, start by asking friends or Facebook groups, and be sure to explain what kind of vocalist you are. Whatever you do, get a pop filter, or make one from a coat hanger and some panty hose. Of course, remember that the better your space, the better the mic will do.

Signal Chain

You can spend a lot of money on preamps and vocal processors, and there are a lot of really cool choices out there. The main thing you need is a preamp that you trust that delivers a clean sound, and a way of recording. I’ll assume you’re already set up with some kind of DAW and interface, and you’ve given some thought to the workflow and signal quality there. If you’re looking for a special vocal preamp, the advice is the same as for mic choice. Shop around, keeping in mind the type of vocals you’re recording, the style and your budget. I use a single ART Tube MP preamp, because I like the sonic flavor and the limiter comes in handy. That’s a pretty cheap piece of equipment, and most gear snobs would scoff, but it’s simple and effective. If you’re not planning on recording multiple tracks, you can save a bunch of scratch by going high quality, one channel. Don’t necessarily opt for a tube pre just because it’s cool. Again, test and ask, and find a mic/preamp combo that works for you.

Once you’ve got your gear in place, do a bunch of level checking, and get your gain structure right. Make sure you’re not sending a distorted signal to your interface, or too low a signal. Make sure your gear is clean and well organized, and while we’re at it, organize the space efficiently. Run your audio cables so that you don’t trip on them and keep them away from power cables and other noise sources. Standard studio stuff.

If you want, you can use a hardware compressor in your vocal chain. Put that between the preamp and interface. If you do this, I recommend subtle settings. You can compress more later, but you can’t “uncompress” later. Some subtle compression or limiting can help you keep your vocal signal even, and that can be nice. A lot of vocal preamp units come with built in compressors and/or EQs, and that could be handy, but I would be judicious about using EQ when recording.

In general, I wouldn’t print any other effects like reverb or delay onto your main vocal track, but if you want to use them to influence your performance, you can always record them separately if you have the channels. I usually just record dry and decide on effects in the mix.

Headphones

You’ll need some kind of headphones. For my money, the most important thing in your vocal recording headphones is that they make you feel inspired. It helps if you can hear everything, and it would be awesome if they didn’t bleed into the mic. This is truly a matter of taste. Some vocalists like to take one ear off so they can hear themselves better. I (usually) like to get a really great mix in the cans, so I feel like I’m already in a record. You might try an earbud type if you’re worried about bleed. I use the classic Sony MDR-7506s. The main point here is, do some work to get your headphone mix to the best place for you, in a way you can repeat. This isn’t a place I normally do a lot of experimenting.

Speaking of repeatability, work up front to get your setup wired in permanently. Create templates in your DAW, set up your tracks the same way every time, and permanently install your vocal station and signal chain. Having everything ready to go at the push of a button will do more for your energy and inspiration than any other one thing. The one exception is you don’t want to leave a condenser or ribbon mic up on the stand in the room. Just disconnect and put that away for protection, but don’t rewire the whole chain every time you want to record.

Performance

Now for the important part! Everything we’ve done so far is just ground work so the process of capturing is as transparent as possible and nothing gets in the way of what you have to say and how you have to say it.

You probably noticed by now that performing in a studio is vastly different than on stage (or in the shower). Some people thrive on a stage and shrink in a studio. Some people seem to be perfect in the studio and can’t find a pitch on stage. To get what you’re looking for in your recordings, you’re going to need to know yourself a little, and know what you’re trying to create. Are you trying to create a perfect replica of your live self? Are you trying to be perfect, clean and beautiful? Are you going for a sound that just can’t be done on a stage? This could be drastically different from song to song, but at least if you know where you’re headed and how you tick, you can get there.

Some things won’t change much. First of all, take care of your instrument. Recording isn’t different from performing in that you need to be properly warmed up, hydrated, and fueled. Some beginners make the mistake of thinking “oh I’m just doing the one song”, not realizing that you might have to sing for 3 hours solid to really capture that “one song”.

With that in mind, rehearsal is your friend. Earlier in my career, I felt a great pressure to cut a track the instant I figured out what I wanted to do, often while I was writing. While that method has some merit (spontaneity, etc), I no longer do that. I make a point of NOT turning on the mic when I’m writing. Instead, I “capture” the performance by rehearsing it a bunch while I write (which means I warm up even before I WRITE songs), and subsequently for a few days or even weeks until what I wanted to capture is captured IN ME. Later, I set up a session much like I might in a studio and perform what is now a well-rehearsed song. I need far fewer takes this way. Plus by this time its usually memorized, which gives me more room to “perform” and keeps me from rattling papers in front of the mic (a music stand solves that problem, too!). If you’re afraid of losing an idea, you can “jot it down” with a simple voice recorder app.

Of course, this may not work for you. You may feel an inexorable need to write (or learn, if you don’t write) and record simultaneously, and you may be completely happy with the results when you do. If so, do that but be willing to go back later if you need to. The great advantage of having a home studio is you can come back as much as you need to get it right.

The other advantage is comfort. As a vocal engineer, the job is largely to take care of the singer in the room so they’re comfortable and can perform their best. As your own engineer, the job is the same. Treat yourself well. Have tea, water or whatever comfort drink you need (but understand that slurring can occur with too much of certain beverages), record when you feel fresh, inspired and confident, and make the room the way YOU want it. Maybe you want cave-like darkness. Maybe inspired mood lighting. I generally like day time sessions, with plenty of light and nature visible. But this can change. Some songs require a new vibe, and it’s ok to give yourself the vibe you need.

You may also consider having an audience (or not). Once I’m confident with a song, a few people in the room or even just a video camera causes me to turn on my “performer” self a little better. However this can sometimes mess with my accuracy. Other times, I prefer absolute privacy, with no one else even in the building. You’ll need to find your own balance and listen to yourself.

As far as position, some singers like to sit or get on a stool, and some like to stand. It’s your choice, but in general I would recommend standing. It’s standard in studios to set the mic a hair above singers so they have to look up just a tad. This opens the chest for better breathing. I’d try this if I were you, but don’t crank your neck. Depending on your room acoustics, you may be better off stepping back 2 or 3 feet from the mic. You might feel a bit freer this way, and if the room is right, it can open up the sound. If you’re closer than about a foot and a half, use your pop filter. Even if you’re decently far away, you’ll want to cultivate the ability to really express yourself while not moving the position of your face, so you get an even recording. This is a tricky skill which usually causes stiff performances at first, but you can master it with practice.

Generally, what you want is to find the positioning and set up that gets your mind off the mic, the recording and the technical stuff as much as possible.

Finally, a word on editing and feedback. First, I wouldn’t edit too much while you’re in performance mode, unless you’re very comfortable with the DAW, such that being in that “techie” space for a second doesn’t take you out of “artist” mode. I tend to drag the front and back tails off my takes so I’m not cleaning noise later, but I don’t comp takes during a vocal session.

Next, once you’ve got it down, perhaps after an editing session where you’ve paired down to your best couple takes, or made a comp’d take using parts from your favorites, get feedback. Even though you’ve worked hard to get it “right” already, the best thing you can do for your quality in general is use feedback and be willing to revise. Since you’re recording in your space, it’s not like it costs $150 an hour to do so! That’s the biggest advantage you have.

Go Forth

It can be a challenge to be the engineer and artist simultaneously, and if you’re a vocalist and not an audio person, setting up your studio may seem daunting, but the truth is it’s all very doable. Just do some diligent ground work getting your workflow right, do some good checking and rechecking to get your signal sounding good, then concentrate on your best performance. Ease and efficiency are all about preparation, and that’s something anyone can do! Go forth and vocalize!

Strong Happy Healthy Free

January 17, 2017 by Aaron

Livin Is Bling

aaron j. trumm, donate life, hip-hop, nquit, nquit music, organ donation, rap, strong happy healthy free, transplant, transplant games, unos, world transplant games

22 people die every day waiting for organ transplants. There are currently 119,000 people waiting.

The above song and video, “Strong Happy Healthy Free” is dedicated to them. In July of 2013, I was lucky enough to receive a life saving double lung transplant, which revived me in ways I can never even describe. I’m forever grateful, and this mantra “I am strong, I am happy, I am healthy, I am free” was my main mantra through the trials of a “transplant saga”, as my family called it. This is song is dedicated to anyone going through similar trials, and hopefully it reminds you that you can get through.

Images from this video are from the Donate Life Transplant Games of America, which celebrates new life and brings awareness about the importance of organ donation. As a life long athlete, I’m a big ol’ supporter of the US and World Transplant Games, and I participate! I was a 100 meter bronze medalist in the 2014 US Games and took 2nd in the Lyrics For Life competition (a signing competition 🙂 ) in the 2016 US Games. Fun times! I believe in spreading awareness this way.

How can I help, you say?

Well there are a few things right now, that I’d love for you to do.

The World Transplant Games is upcoming, in Summer 2017, and Team USA could use your support. If you’re interested in helping team USA, you can make a TAX DEDUCTABLE donation here:I’ve set up my own fundraising page connected to Team USA and I’d love to raise $1150 for the team by April 15, 2017!
You can of course also support the making of more music and videos by me and the team here at NQuit Music, and spread the message while you’re at it! Get the T-Shirt (or the long sleeve version I wear in the video) and download the single!

$25-$37 Select Options
$2.00 Download Single
No matter what you do, I encourage you to help by registering to be an organ donor at either of these places:
You could save multiple lives, restore sight, and make all kinds of other positive difference.

Thanks for listening, watching, and reading!

— Aaron J. Trumm

Two Trains

February 4, 2016 by Aaron

The Four Hard Edges Of War

andre de korvin, music, nquit, piano, poetry, techno, third option, two trains

Hey! Still (slowly) writing little bits about tracks. Here is track 3 from the main The Four Hard Edges Of War:

I didn’t do it on purpose (except maybe subconsciously), but I can’t help but notice the beat is sort of like – well – a train chugging along. Chigga chigga chigga chigga – CHOO CHOO!

“I would like to sleep, oblivious of the thousand faces of corruption” – see it’s lines like that that just get me. Andre de Korvin is a badass poet!

What else can we say about this track that you might care about? Well there’s two piano tracks again. And there’s some crazy delay effects on them. There’s also several versions of the drum track that kind of get layered. I love when the beats just BREAK and for like a measure is JUST live piano – that sounds fantastic to me. I love contrast and I love natural instruments….oh and then it breaks again and he’s talking “and ivy grows from dolls with cut off heads…”

I’m not sure I actually love this song personally though…it’s so airy and ethereal in a way that I don’t enjoy, but hopefully other people. That’s something to note. A lot of times you just make the music that YOU want to hear…but sometimes the muse pulls you and you end up just playing, composing, doing something that you really don’t even care for as a listener, it’s not what you would have thought of, it’s just flowing through you. It’s not for you and it may not even be FROM you, if you believe in that sort of spiritual stuff. I think letting that happen is really very key. I think that’s a part of the right of passage of a creative person, especially a professional, to be able to follow the muse, and follow through and finish things, and let go and let it be for other people. I talk about it being for other people a lot. That’s why musicians seem to crave attention or fame, I think. Because they want to know that what they’re doing musically is affecting and moving other people. It’s this dream to think of gobs of people having a relationship with something you made…

I still like that thought…

Ok I got mixing to do…

Kong

September 11, 2008 by Aaron

Monkey Set

fusion music, kong, monkey set, nquit, piano, poem, techno, trance

Kong, by Third Option

and here we are
at the green leafy apocalypse of it all
fallen down
broken bones

temptation sin and banishment
here we are
in the locker rooms and candlewax shops we forgot about
everything torn down and overrun

king kong fallen in the night
done in by monkeys
mighty mighty mad world
might wonder why the jungle does this

but we all know
it was the aching sun at fault
comparing the trusses of the castles of the sky to arms
making as much sense as a garden full of monkeys
laughing laughing laughing
crazy at the sight of king kong’s blood

“some might have thought,” they howled
as he felt long ago
how one ape rule the land
tile monkeys merge one day
on high ground

til one becomes 10 becomes a million of us
joined by the tail

standing in the blazing sun
one mega monkey with a crown
gleaming
choking
groping for a name

we forgot the last
we beat sense into our own breast and put the smaller monkeys back
we call ourselves king
and kong sits soon to follow

Hmm. Interesting. A lot in here. I’ll just listen.

You too! 🙂 If you haven’t already, you can get some free downloads at thirdoptionmusic.com 🙂

– Aaron

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