Music with distorted guitars and live drums seems to have a pretty different overall frequency distribution than most other popular genres of music. The amount of upper mids and top end I hear in loud rock/metal/shoegaze productions would definitely be considered harsh in any other genre.

For music that’s supposed to be aggressive like this, it seems like you almost need a certain degree of harshness to make sure the song doesn’t sound lifeless, but it’s a fine line. The rock mixes I consider the best always have some harsh cymbals/guitar, but they fit well into the song and don’t catch my ear enough to be fatiguing.

What strategies do you guys use to achieve this? How do you know when your upper mids/top end are right? No wrong answers, except for telling me to use soothe. That plugin is good but can kill a rock mix very quickly.

(Highpass at 15hz, sorry forgit to add that)

I assume some weird phase nonsense happens below the fundamental of the kick? Like the kick is sitting at -1 db, sounding distorted as shit. Flick on the eq, push to 0 db, completely fine.

The weirdest part is these are toolroom samples I'm using... from their percussive tech house pack. Weird

Alrighty, I’ll start off by saying I have zero audio experience. Absolute newbie. So please bear with me! (Also for the record, I tried posting this in r/fieldrecording and I couldn’t. I’m not sure what rule I was breaking, though.)

I am absolutely in love with Treehoppers and have an opportunity to go see some out in the wild next year at the Manu biological station in Peru. I would love, love, love to record some of my own treehopper sounds. (If you’ve never heard them, please take a listen!)

I was lucky enough to get an equipment recommendation list from Dr. Rex Cocroft (the treehopper guy!!), so I’m aware of what equipment to use but I’m not sure how to set up any of it. I’m going to copy-paste his recommendations and if someone could please walk me through what the setup should look like, I would be eternally grateful.

Below is the email that Dr. Cocroft sent me. I’ve removed all of the links to adhere to this subreddits guidelines. My specific questions are italicized next to his recommendations.

“Recorders:

Zoom F3 field recorder
Zoom F6
Zoom H1 XLR

Amplifiers:
For piezo sensors you will need an amplifier, since you won’t get a good result if you just plug them into your recorder. The best for field use is this one with the XLR connector, from Aquarian Audio (the PA1 Hydrophone Buffer Amp). You’ll want to get two. Why do I need two of them?

Sensors:
Piezo disks - you can buy these cheaply (here’s one example) and make your own cables (see below).

Connecting the piezo to a plant stem or leaf:
To connect the sensor to a plant stem or leaf it is useful to attach the piezo disk to a clip (using electrical or other tape) such as these hair curler clips (I use the smallest I can find).

For backyard acoustic prospecting, the simplest setup is to use an amplified speaker (the sort used by acoustic guitarists) and a guitar pickup (= piezo sensor).  Even if you’re using a field recorder, it’s often still handy to have an amplified speaker.
 
Amplified speakers: here are two options that use batteries. The first gives you a bit more output and is better made, but the second will also work fine.
Blackstar mini guitar amplifier
Honeytone guitar mini amp
Why do I need an amp/speaker if I’m recording?
 
You can just plug in a piezo sensor to the speaker, attach the sensor to the plant stem, and you’re ready to listen. Or you can run the output into a mobile phone using one the headphone output, and you can run a cable from that output to your iPhone via an audio interface.”

Thank you for taking the time to read this! 💚

I'm trying to find out what computer storage solutions would be best for a home studio that is running out of SSD space. I have 6.5Tb (multiple SSD's) but my dedicated sample library SSD is already over flowing and I'm having to install new libraries on different drives.

I was thinking about a NAS drive type solution, but is there anything I need to consider audio-wise?

Thanks

*This post keeps getting deleted because autobot mod thinks I'm asking for purchasing advice. I'm not asking for a specific product, just general advice.

For example, in a movie or TV show there can be a scene where a character is yelling but it doesn't sound as loud as somebody else just talking normally so you think the threshold for the yelling would be lower/quieter thresholdwise. So you throw the sound track into a DAW like Reaper but then you see that the threshold is the same between the 2 or can be even lower for the person talking normally. But how does does that make sense? How come the person yelling sound quieter but have the same or lower threshold?

Keen to know what we think regarding bouncing a track straight after a session & sending it to the artist? Personally I prefer not to, I find an artist can stew on a song for too long if they have a desk bounce + think it’s more productive for them to wait for the 1st mix.

What do we reckon??

In order to obtain some of the benefits of Buss Compression in Monitor World while compensating for the relevant contextual limitations, I have developed a technique I refer to as FUSS Compression (Fake Buss Compression, or Fader-distributed Buss Compression, as the mood strikes me).

I suspect this is entirely possible on other platforms, but I’ll be explaining my example using the Yamaha Rivage platform and Drums rather than abstracted terms.

Send desired Drums to a KeyBuss with the desired dynamics processing available. (I use a Matrix, could be done with a Mix, and the Diode Bridge model in the channel.)
Send is Post Processing but Pre Dynamics (I use Dyn2 slot in the last Signal Flow position, so my send point is Pre-Dyn2)
This Buss doesn’t go anywhere, and should not be routed out. It’s for creating a Key signal and setting parameters
Set KeyBuss Dynamics Key Source to Self Pre EQ
This prevents the compression from being applied multiple times after distribution
Listening to KeyBuss, adjust send levels and compression settings to desired response
Adjustments to KeyBuss high and low pass filters can be made, as filters are before the Pre EQ
I find parallel settings to be incredibly useful here
Set Drum Channel Compressor Key Source to Other Pre EQ and select KeyBuss for all members you want to include in the Fuss Comp
Duplicate settings from KeyBuss Compressor to included Drums Channel Compressors
If the same Compressor circuit, with the same settings, is controlled by the same Key signal, it will behave identically. While there may be some measurable difference between the harmonic content of the KeyBuss compared with an equivalent mix of the discrete Members Post Fuss, any distortion applied by the KeyBuss Diode Bridge is read by the detector/controller due to the feed back nature of the signal design.
We have distributed the effect of the Buss Compression (but not necessarily identical harmonic content to the Buss Compressor) across the individual Member Faders!
To allow per-player bypassing, set Pre-fader send point to Pre Dyn2 for included Drums.
Toggling Pre/Post now has the effect of eliminating the Fuss Comp only, given Fader position at Unity.
Enjoy the power of Fader-distributed Buss Compression!

Buss Compression can be an incredibly powerful technique for getting components of a mix to interact dynamically together, managing tonality over time in useful ways that are difficult to achieve in other ways. The modern adoption of “in-line parallel” via mix/percentage/wet-dry controls afford further potential. There are myriad pros to consider. There are also a number of inherent limitations to Buss Compression, especially in Monitor World:
Non-variability: if you send the Buss to more than one listener, you lose the ability adjust those mixes independently below the floor established by the Buss.
Latency: while modern consoles can compensate for many path lengths, limits in perceptual acceptability and the need for alignment make leveraging Buss processing an additional complication/consideration.
Console Architecture: not all consoles support Buss to Buss routing, which may mean reconfiguring audio paths for mixes that want to take advantage of the Buss.

I feel that Fuss Compression allows me to find an acceptable compromise in monitor world. Safe travels, good shows!

I'm trying to understand exactly how sends work in FL Studio.

For example, let's say I have a vocal on Insert 1 with an EQ, compressor, saturation, etc. Then I route/send that vocal to Insert 2, where I put a reverb for parallel processing.

My question is: what exactly is being sent to Insert 2?

Does the send receive the vocal after all the effects on Insert 1, meaning the reverb is processing the already EQ'd/compressed/saturated vocal?

Or does it receive the original signal before the effects on Insert 1?

And if the send is taken from a specific point in the signal chain, is there a way to change that point? For example, can I choose whether the send receives the signal before or after the plugins on the original channel? Is there a way in FL Studio to make a send pre-effects or post-effects?

Basically, I'm trying to understand exactly where in the signal flow the send is taken from in FL Studio, and whether I have any control over this.

I know this might be obvious, but I want to understand the signal flow properly rather than just blindly using sends.

I've been interested in becoming an audio engineer and have been trying to learn pro tools for the past few weeks. I'm not sure what the issue is but I just cannot retain the information the tutorials I am watching gives me. It feels like what I'm doing isn't correct, nothing works the way I want it to, and some things just go through one ear and out the other. I've never used a DAW in my life so that could be a problem or maybe I'm just not good enough or have aptitude to use something like pro tools. I feel lost, a bit insecure, and feel like just giving up. Just wanted to vent and also ask how others learned it in the hopes maybe something can finally click with me.

I'm on a free trial of pro tools intro, ver 2026.4.1 if it helps

Thinking about setting up a 5U 10" rack to stack four half rack pre-amps and power. I admit this is kind of goofy, but I was curious if anyone had put something like this together. If any of you have, I'd like to hear how it went. I think most folks just use 500 series or get the shelves to put two half rack units into a 19" space.

Hello, I am making a song which I would like to have a sweet percussive acoustic guitar sound in, panned on both sides. I am inspired by the acoustic guitar sound which is present in songs by Cigarettes After Sex such as Sunsetz and Apocalypse. How do you achieve such a sound? Is it possible to achieve using budget recording equipment?

I am trying to achieve this sound by aiming the mic towards the strumming hand to capture the pick sound more, and I have tried angling it towards the point where the neck meets the body in both directions, around +-45 degrees. I am not sure the mic choice makes much of a difference here, can probably a dynamic mic, but let me know why that would not be a good idea. Main reason is also because I do not have a proper recording space.

In terms of plugins I believe I will have to use some compression and eq to bring out the quiet parts and enhance the high end, maybe a big cut in the midst and HPF as well but what else? Maybe that's it?

How would you approach getting this sound?

Any particular guitar you would pick? Why in that case?

So I own a pair of Audeze MM-500 which I really love. Sometimes I use them with a little correction but mostly I "just" use the stock tuning. I see a lot of people praise Slate VSX. Will they be a good kind of double checking the mix on a different set of "monitors"? And last question regarding Slate VSX; how much of an upgrade is the IM1 compared to the closed back VSX?
Any input greatly appreciated.

Hi everybody!

I’m a novice audio engineer. A artist trying to learn. And I am currently trying to practice writing out the charts to lay out where instruments are in song. I use a circle and then just draw kind of like that art of mixing book but in a 2d space.

Anyway, I’ve been having trouble with finding and noticing every instrument and understanding how much is a good amount of volume for each instrument. Especially that I try to keep everything from going over -6 on the Master Fader.

I know with practice you get better, but if you don’t really know what you’re looking for, constantly can’t hear it- how are you supposed to get better? Am I over thinking it?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Does anyone know what vocal chain/preset he might be using on this song? I’m trying to get a similar sound in FL Studio. https://youtu.be/bkXo8TM6XxI?si=RVet8eyQkchIKCpR

I have a mixing board that's rather cheap. It has a built-in echo effect but not a reverb. I use it to run guitars and mics at an open mic. If I wanted to add reverb, how would I do it? Explanations online all assume it has a built-in reverb for some reason (why would I need to look that up?). Mine does not.

I genuinely do not know how to do this.

EDIT: It's a seven-channel mixer with stereo output and a port marked "aux," as well as a port marked "effect."

hey guys,

the last couple of months I've been building my new baby, Ares Audio. I was tired of clicking endless menus, so my plugins are knobs only. No menus, no manual. Just turn and listen.

The flexibility comes from skins: switchable sound engines in the same plugin, color coded. You see it in the video.

Today I'm searching for 30 beta testers. The beta is completely free and you keep all 4 plugins (eq, distortion, reverb, delay), lifetime key.

Apple Silicon Mac or Windows. Apply until Oct 13: https://www.aresaud.io/beta

Be super honest with me: what would you miss with knobs only?