Recording - October 2012 - 28

After that, any additional FX, strings, etc. Lastly I have my vocals and my following vocal aux channels. For my FX order on aux channels, I usually do my eq and then add compression. I also usually have separate aux channels for reverb and delay busses, and often I have automation set—especially for delay so there’s some variation, or so it doesn’t get too muddy during the chorus or when the words are closer together. Do you have special editing tricks to help improve your mixes? In the editing process, it’s good to be as meticulous as possible, clean up any pops, clicks and always use your cross faders. This is something you don’t want to get lazy about. When editing doubled vocals or harmonies, I like to make sure breaths aren’t doubled up, because it sounds messy, so I will usually leave certain breaths on the lead vocal only and cut out the rest. How about comping? I use this process for vocals, electric bass and guitars. To keep things organized and streamlined, I record, say, the lead vocal to one mono audio track and use the “virtual” or “hidden” tracks on the same

make a legendary song that can rock the world is present at all times and you are the key to unlocking this door—keep this as your inspiration! 2. Allocate your time. Discipline yourself and make sure you are spending as much time as you possibly can every day learning and practicing your software, writing music, attending lectures, watching online tutorials, and definitely take music theory lessons to learn the basics. 3. Network. Constantly be building bonds with others in the industry. Be bold and be persistent, but there is a fine line to do this politely without coming off as being too aggressive. Mingle at parties, hand out business cards and CDs. Offer to do a remix for a band. Perform regular outreaches to others in the industry, take people out to lunch and do not forget to follow up with them. I also recommend attending regular jam sessions. Reach out to your community and see when musicians are getting together, bring your synthesizer, guitar, drum machine and a small amp and go rock out for a few hours. Don’t worry if you haven’t had much music theory training—it’s about having fun. Less is more, almost always with music so just play two or three chords, lay down a simple groove or just hit a few simple notes. Don’t overplay—really listen to what other people are doing and then learn how to contribute without trying to steal the show. 4. Learn about the business side of music. If you want to become a professional music producer you will absolutely need to know the ins and outs of music publishing, licensing, contracts, labels, etc. The industry is complicated and everchanging, so read trade journals like Billboard, Rolling Stone and blog sites like musicindustryblog.com regularly. Read books like All You Need To Know About

Celeste Lear

Celeste Lear’s Music Arsenal at Boutique Electronique Studios: DAW platform - Macintosh G5 quad tower Monitors - Tannoy Reveal Active Mixer - Mackie 1202 Keyboard - Korg Triton Interface - Avid Digi 002 Preamp - Universal Audio LA610 Microphones – RØDE NT2000, AKG C1000, Shure SM58 and SM57 Bass – Ibanez SDGR Guitars – Ibanez Artist Series semi hollow body, PRS, Takamine acoustic. Amp – Rivera Clubster 45 DAWs – Avid Pro Tools 8, Ableton Live 7, Propellerhead Reason 5, Native Instruments Traktor, Serato. VSTs - Rob Papen SubBoomBass, Native Instruments Massive and B4 II, Arturia Minimoog V, E-MU Proteus VX, IK Multimedia AmpliTube Headphones – AKG K 240 The Music Industry, Music Law in the Digital Age, or The Musician’s Guide To Licensing Music, but make sure the editions you’re reading have been recently published, because the industry is changing so frequently! 5. Allow yourself years to become masterful. Yes, it will take you years. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your recording studio, your reputation, brilliant tracks or remixes. Be humble when you are beginning and know that there will always be more to learn. Work hard, but take it slow. 6. “Choose your battles” - find a genre and stick to it. I should talk, because my albums are a hodgepodge of different genres of music, but if there’s something I’ve learned it’s you can strengthen your chops by picking a general genre or style, such as “Glitch hop” or “Chillout” or my favorite, “Crunk”, and keep yourself working within those musical boundaries. That takes some discipline for a lot of us artsy types, but it will help you in many respects, such as finding where your strength and talent truly lies, clearly defining your skill set to attract potential clients, and for fans to be able to find you through keyword searches. 7. Use what you’ve got to get what you want. People always want shiny new gear, but it’s expensive and also takes a while to acquaint yourself with and learn proper technique, so just stick with the basics, get your DAW and use the factory plug-ins that it comes with, then learn how to use something like Native Instruments Massive or Moog’s Minimoog first, and then expand on from there when you can afford to. Learn the basics of synthesis so you can be creating your own sounds on most any soft-synth with parameters. Fly by the seat of your pants! 8. Be realistic. Not everyone will be able to make enough money to live off of in the music industry. This is the sad reality, the market is oversaturated with

channel for the other takes. When I have about 5 good takes, I listen back to each of the takes and separate the regions with the best parts (I like to label them too). Then I create another mono audio track directly underneath the vocal track and drag and drop the best parts into that final comped track. I have good stamina in the studio and can really work until I feel like I’m starting to strain. After 5 or 6 hours straight with the same song I feel like I begin to lose objectivity and get ear fatigue, so I’ll give myself a break, go to the gym or something, and then come back later that night or the next day fresh. I also use this time to bounce the track down to reference the mix in my car.

On Motivation
I understand you have some tips for young people getting into music production—would you share them with our readers? 1. Respect yourself. The value you bring to the industry is your own unique vision of the combination of art and science that is music production. Be proud of the fact that you are delving into an endeavor as vast and complicated as music and music technology. Every time you sit down in your studio, a chance to
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RECORDING October 2012

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Recording - October 2012

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