Send us a Text Message. Our perception of frequency balance varies with loudness, a fact documented by Harvey Fletcher and Wilden A. Munson, two scientists at Bell Laboratories. In 1933, they published a paper called, “Loudness, its definition, measurement and calculation.” It was groundbreaking science in the field of human hearing, and has implications today for how we perceive music. This is especially important when we are mixing. In this episode, I explain the basics of the Fletcher-Munson Curves and how we can use that knowledge to make better recordings. email: dwfearn@dwfearn.com www.y ..read more

Send us a Text Message. Almost all pop music features someone singing. Getting the best vocal performance is crucial, since most listeners respond to the words of a song and need to be able to hear them. In this episode, I first discuss the human factors involved in getting a great performance from singers, mostly from a producer’s viewpoint. And then I focus on the technical requirements of capturing that performance using microphones, mic preamps, processing, effects, and mixing. Often there are problems to be fixed in a vocal track, and I review some of the techniques from salvaging a perfo ..read more

There are many things that are important to create the proper studio environment for creative success. Most of these things are pretty mundane, but they do make a difference. Examples I cover in this episode include microphone stands and accessories, music stands and instrument stands, chairs, headphones, studio lighting and climate control, and mic and other cables. It’s not the most exciting equipment we deal with, but it is still important to get it right. After 50+ years of doing sessions, I have some solid ideas about what works for me. I hope you will find these ideas and suggestions hel ..read more

Ever since its announcement, I have been interested in learning more about Dolby Atmos. I was skeptical at first, primarily because of my experience with “Quad” back in the 1970s. That 4-channel concept never gain any popularity with either the listening public nor in the recording community. I presumed that Atmos would be similar, just more speakers. The early demo sessions I attended left me convinced that this was going to be another dead end, like Quad. The early mixes I heard were gimmicky and did not serve the musical intent of the artist well. But as I was exposed to mixers who really u ..read more

Compression and limiting are tools we use to modify the dynamic range of the music we record. In this episode, I present a brief history of where this technique came from, how it evolved over the years since the 1930s. I discuss the various ways that compression circuits work, from the variable-mu vacuum tube, to the optical compressor, the FET, the VCA, the PWM, and the digital limiters. I explain how these different approaches affect the sound in different ways. There are often a lot of adjustments on a compressor, and I go through the most common controls you are likely to encounter and wha ..read more

This is part 2 of the Audiophiles Guide to Music Recording. You can listen to part 1 at https://www.buzzsprout.com/942952/14335456 Or you can access part 1 wherever you listen to podcasts. My Take on Music Recording is primarily aimed at people in the professional recording world, but there are a significant number of listeners who are music lovers and audiophiles. This episode provides an overview of the recording process for them. However, I think even people in our profession might enjoy how I attempt to explain the recording studio process in layman’s terms. This reflects my experience an ..read more

My Take on Music Recording is primarily aimed at people in the professional recording world, but there are a significant number of listeners who are music lovers and audiophiles. This episode provides an overview of the recording process for them. However, I think even people in our profession might enjoy how I attempt to explain the recording studio process in layman’s terms. This reflects my experience and how I work as a producer and engineer. I tend to carry over the tools and techniques that I have learned over the last five decades. They work best for me and my style of recording. I know ..read more

Music is meant to be heard in an appropriate acoustical environment. But many times, we have to record in a space that does not have the right sound to it. Artificial reverb is often the solution. In this episode, I talk about good room sound in a studio, and the earliest methods of creating a reverberation sound. That started with spring reverb, then acoustic echo chambers, tape delay, plate reverbs, and finally the digital reverbs that are used today on most recordings. I discuss the origins of those techniques for creating reverb, and the strengths and weaknesses of each, along with my impr ..read more

Every recording is made is some sort of space. It might be a room, and studio, a church, a concert hall, or even outside. The space where the music is performed, and where the microphones pick up the music always influences the sound of the recording. You might think that close-mic’ing in a dead room eliminates the contribution of the room, but it is still there, for better or worse. The room influences our perception of the performance. Our brain draws conclusions about the space. A listener may form a mental image of the musicians and the room, based on what they hear. Usually, most listener ..read more

How do we make our recordings better? I have thought about this for over 50 years and in this episode, I have tried to distill what I learned into a dozen general rules. The best way to make great recordings is to start with great performers. But even if you aren’t recording the best talent in the world, there are still ways to improve what you get. email: dwfearn@dwfearn.com www.youtube.com/c/DWFearn https://dwfearn.com ..read more