Definition of Audio Terms In My Own Words

Listening to engineers describe how gear sounds can sound like  foreign language sometimes. When I describe how a piece of gear sounds I usually stick to six basic terms which all have opposites; vintage, modern, dark, bright, clean, colored. While we hear terms like warm, tubey, smooth, etc. all the time, I’m going to try to help you understand these terms in my own words. Now remember, how a piece of gear sounds is totally your opinion. What is bright to you may be be dark to someone else. For example, I let a studio in town borrow my JDK R24 for a few weeks because they were looking to get a new stereo eq. The studio told me the eq was too dark for them. Too dark?!?! The JDK is one of the brightest eq’s I’ve ever used. Everyone has their own opinion. So lets get into breaking down some of the popular terms, and remember, this is how I interpret these terms in my own opinion, as everything usually falls into the category of my  basic terms. Speaking of those basic terms lets start there.

1. Dark -  this means the signal sounds vintage, to understand what vintage sounds like listen to some old recording and study the tone. Dark sounding also falls under colored, which we’ll get to in a sec. A dark tone to some may sound dull but depending on the material you're working on it could be just what you need. Dark to me works very well with rock music and hip-hop (not rap, yes there is a difference). As an example of dark vocals listen to some Wu-tang. You can make a signal darker by rolling off some of high frequencies. Examples of some dark gear to me are the Universal Audio solo 610, Universal Audio la2a.
2. Bright -  this means the signal has more high frequencies. If you want to make something sound brighter add some high frequency to it. Bright being the opposite of dark can be great on some vocals. Too bright will result in harshness. If you want to hear harshness boost that high end as far it can go. If your ears are crying in pain then you're experiencing harshness. Bright can also improve clarity if done correctly.
3. Clean -  clean means your signal is pure and accurate. This is a modern sound, the opposite of vintage. For example a clean mic pre means it doesn’t change (or color) your sound. So what you put in is what you get back. Solid-state or transformerless is generally clean. Examples of some clean pres to me are the Avalon 737 pre, empirical labs mike-e, and API pres, even though they aren’t solid-state or transformerless.
4. Colored -  this is the opposite of clean. Coloring your sounds means changing the tone from the original signal. Colored can be associated with vintage and sometimes dark. Different gear has different colors. If you listen closely you can hear differences between different pieces of gear. The Neve 1073 is one of the most famous channel strips ever because of the color it adds to a signal. Color generally comes from gear with transformers and tubes. Though some tube gear is clean (like the avalon 737) tubes are mostly associated with color and warmth. Same goes for transformers. Some gear can have transformers in them and still sound clean because the transformer doesn’t produce a lot of noise. For example, my Empirical Labs Mike-e is a clean pre though it has a transformer input, it's a low noise transformer. Anything claiming a British sound should have some color to it.
5. Muddy -  this the second hardest term to explain, but here we go. Mud is a build of low mid frequencies (200-500hz) that makes the signal sound cluttered. Mud is not a positive thing and should never be taken as a compliment. It took me a long time to distinguish what mud was.
6. Sterile -  sterile means ultra clean. This is good for say orchestra where you usually want as little color as possible. Sterile can also come off sometimes as “too clean”, meaning its so clean it's boring. These type of pres are crystal clear though. Examples of sterile pres to me are Millenia and Grace pres.
7. Transparent - this another word for clean and it's mostly associated with compressors and eq’s. A transparent piece of gear means its not going to impart any color on the original signal during its processing. If you're happy with the tone of your signal but need to further process it then you need to reach for something thats transparent. My Chameleon Labs 7720 stereo compressor I use for buss compression is an example of a transparent compressor. Also Daking FET and JDK R22, and the Speck ASC eq are known for being transparent.
8. Smooth - this to me differs in compressors, eq’s, and mics. For compressors smooth means its compressing but you can’t really hear the compression, even at high gain reduction. The Summit Audio TLA 100A is the smoothest compressor I’ve ever used. Any compressor, except maybe aggressive ones (more on that next) can be made smooth with the right settings, but compressors like the TLA 100A does for you on its own. Opto compressors are known for being smooth. Because of their smooth character they are widely used on vocals. Examples of opto compressors are  the la2a, Manley ELOP, and Tubetech CL1B. Plugin examples of smooth compressors include the Softube version of Tubetech CL1B and Summit Audio TLA-100A and the McDSP 6030 ultimate compressor Opto-C, Opto-L, and British C.  Smoothness has to do with the knee of the compressor as well. If your compressor has the option to adjust the knee try using a soft knee for smoother compression. On EQ smooth means you can get away with high boosts without hearing any harshness. My JDK R24 to me is a silky smooth eq. On mics smooth means there is an even frequency response. Some mics will hype (or boost) certain frequencies to help achieve a certain sound. Because of this sometimes a different mic can be a substitute for eq on a source. Be careful you don’t judge a mic off its frequency response because a mics sound has to do with a lot more than just that. Mic pres, though often not shown, have a frequency response to. So a smooth mic pre, like a smooth mic, will have an even frequency response meaning certain frequencies aren’t jumping out at you.
9. Aggressive - in a mic pre this means in your face, very forward sounding. The API 312 and 512 have been described as an aggressive mic pre. In a compressor this means it really clamps down on a signal even with gentle settings. My JoeMeek TwinQ I previously owned had very aggressive compressors. Even with a slow attack, low ratio, and high threshold those needles would almost slam. I could never get a gentle compression action set up with them. Though the JoeMeek is a optical compressor, FET compressors are known for being aggressive and being capable of a very fast attack time.The most famous FET compressor is the 1176. The FET compressor from Softube is an emulation of an 1176. While I’m able to control it better than the JoeMeek TwinQ compressors, it's still an aggressive compressor to me.
10. Warm - this is the one you all have been waiting for. Warmth is the most used word when describing the sound of a piece of gear. Its the hardest one to describe because people who have no idea of what warmth is use the term freely. So what warmth is to  you and how you perceive it will be different from others because the term is used so loosely. Dave Pensado (shot out to the Pensado Students Facebook group) says warmth is another word for dull, and I partially agree. Where bright deals with high frequencies, warmth deals with the low to low mid frequencies. Tubes are associated with warmth because they add harmonic distortion (the good kind of distortion) to the those frequencies. This is what people are referring to when they say tube warmth. Where I partially agree with Pensado’s statement is that a warm signal can sound a little on the dark side, and like I mentioned earlier dark can be associated with dull. So now we have warmth, the word everyone loves to use for a good sound, and dull, a negative adjective in the same sentence describing a signal.

I hope I did a good job explaining these terms in my own words and this helps other understand what these terms mean. The only way to get your own definition of these terms is to listen to the gear and make your own assumption. Companies like Softube do a great job at emulating hardware in software, so demo some of their plugins and study how each sound different. If you're looking at getting some new gear and didn’t know what to go with then use this to help decide on what you need based on the sound you’re after. And you can always email me for my opinion on gear if you need it.

Lindell Audio new 500 series products to retail at $299!

I was browsing on Alto music’s site and came across the new 500 series from Lindell Audio and saw the price was $299. My first impression was Alto screwed up the price listing. There is no way a mic pre with a pultec style eq, FET compressor, and a pultec eq can be $299 each in a 500 series. So to confirm this wasn’t an early April Fool’s joke I emailed Lindell Audio asking if this was the correct pricing and received this reply.

“Yes it’s very true, we are being very aggressive with our pricing. $299 is the price. We expect to ship in late July.”

So there you have it, For well under a grand you can get three 500 series modules for the price of what you normally pay for one. So this makes me wonder. If Lindell Audio can make aggressively priced 500 series, why can’t anyone else? I often notice the price of the smaller 500 series products are not far from the rack versions of the same unit. My audio friends close to me know I have been contemplating getting a API lunchbox and some 500 series pieces for a while. With these products from Lindell Audio I am very tempted to buy all three. Products like empirical labs docderr, Chandler Little Devil Pre, and Inward Connections Brute makes me step closer to the 500 series, but the Lindell Audio 500 series makes me take a huge step.  


For more info visit http://www.lindellaudio.se/

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Why would you pay for something and leave it behind? Don't Forget Your Session Data!

Why would you pay for something and leave it behind? Would you go to a game store and buy a video game and leave with just the receipt? Thats whats your doing when you leave a recording session without your session data. Quite often I get artists who want me to edit their songs by making a clean version or want me to mix it, but all they have is the rough mix from the studio. The rough mix in a way is like your receipt from the store. It shows what you purchased as a rough mix shows what you did at the studio that day. So when your friend says bring the game over so we can play, you have to say well its at the store. Same as when I ask “do you have the session data?” And the reply is “it’s at the studio.” When it comes time to do more with the song and you don’t have the session data, then you ultimately have to re-record the song, or as in my analogy you have to repurchase the video game again. When you leave the session there should be at least two people who has your session data, and one of them is you as the artist. If you have a personal engineer then they should keep a copy as well. If you’ve hired an engineer that works at the studio then the studio should keep a copy on file. Most studios will have you sign an agreement saying they will keep your session on file for X amount of days, months, etc. If you decide you don’t want to work with that engineer or studio anymore you can bring your session data to another studio and pick up where you left off. And you should never pay extra for your session data from a studio. If a studio tells you they can’t give you the data and try to charge you for it I would not do business with that studio. I have not seen this happen but I can see a studio doing it to make sure they keep your business. If they are the only ones with your session data then you have to go back to them to record. I wouldn’t be surprised if a studio has attempted to pull that off. Bottom line you should always get your session data before leaving a recording session. I know everyone is happy to get the rough mix of what they did but the session data is far more important. Its yours, you paid for it, so don’t leave it behind.

3 Ways to Spot an Amateur Engineer's DAW Session

3 Ways to Spot an Amateur Engineer’s DAW Session

3 ways to tell if your DAW session is professional or amateur. If you fall victim to any of the following then consider doing these in your next session and watch your sessions become more efficient. Also your mix engineer will thank you.

1. Not labeling your tracks - This is the biggest one. When I get a session that has audio 1, audio 2, audio 3, etc I send it back to the artist or engineer that sent it to me, or I charge extra to label the tracks myself. As a mix engineer in my opinion its not my job to label your tracks, and by doing so it takes time away I can spend mixing. Labeling your tracks will keep your session organized, and good organization means more time, and more time equals more money.
2. Session is at the default tempo of 120 bpm - Having the correct tempo in a session is good for two reasons. 1. Its makes it extremely easy to copy and paste hooks through out the song and move verse’s around. Without the correct session tempo you will be stuck nudging tracks around trying to get them placed properly. 2. With the correct tempo the mix engineer will be able to set up tempo based effects like delays.
3. sends and buses not labeled - This one, like not labeling your tracks, has to do with organization. If you set up a headphone mix or reverb bus for the artist, do yourself a favor and name it. After a couple of sends it can get confusing on which sends are sent where.

These three steps will help speed up your sessions in the studio. I was assisting on a recording session one day and the lead engineer told me to turn down the send of the reverb on the vocal. I go to do it and there were four sends set up on the vocal........unlabeled. So now instead of going right to the reverb I have to play process of elimination to find the reverb send. And trust me, the longer you take to do something in the studio, the more the artist or client can start to wonder or assume you don’t know what the hell your doing. If you ordered at a fast food restaurant and the cashier took 10 minutes poking around the register trying to put in your simple order what would you think? You’d first think what is taking so long, then you’d assume they didn’t know what they were doing. Its the same way in the studio with a client  for the time. Your behind the register and they are giving you their order.

MIA Dallas 2012

So this past weekend I had the pleasure of doing a presentation on audio engineering at a seminar in Dallas, TX called MIA (music industry academy). I learned a lot from from other presenters there who spoke about finances, public relations, brand management, music business, and marketing. Events like these are put together to educate but also to network and build relationships. I admit I haven’t networked in Nashville since moving here like I should have, and this event has motivated me to do so. 7 years ago, while living in Memphis, I would never have missed an event or chance to network in Memphis or surrounding areas. One thing Kevin Shine said that has stuck with me is that you can’t do it by yourself, and I strongly agree. Every successful person has a team behind them. Though you may not see them, trust me they are there. If your like me and believe that “if you want something done right do it yourself” than it can be hard to accept this, as it was for me. The more success you gain the more you will need people to help with certain tasks. I’m not to the point where I have so much work that I need an assistant engineer yet, but when I do get to that point I will definitely be adding one to my team.

People underestimate the importance of networking, especially at events like MIA. As engineers we have to put up with a lot of people’s [expletive] and its gets easier to judge people the more you do it. We know when someone is serious, and we know someone is full of it. People at events like MIA makes it easy for me to take them more seriously because if you weren’t serious you never would of took the time to show up in the first place. To get ahead in this game you have to move forward and higher to separate yourself from the competition. Events like MIA help you do just that with an abundance of knowledge and networking opportunities to help build your team. Even if I know a lot about the subject of a presentation I still attend because there is almost always something you can take away from it.
Back to MIA though, DJ Go Lucky and DJ SupaKen spoke about the DJ game. This really opened my eyes to a lot. There’s so much that goes on in the DJ business that I was not aware of. Producer Erotic D gave a very informative class on music business. I advise everyone brush up on your music business chops, nobody wants to be screwed. In most cases (thankfully not me) it takes getting screwed before you take music business seriously.
In closing I want to thank Shay at Opulent PR and event management for inviting me and giving me the opportunity to speak at MIA, Kevin Shine for the time he took to sit down with us, Erotic D for giving us a tour of his newest studio in the Dallas area, and everyone else who gave presentations and those who attended MIA. And I want to thank Razzo’s on North Central parkway, and Benedict’s on Belt Line rd for amazing meals while we were in Dallas. Can’t wait for the next event!

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