Send us a text What makes a good engineer? There are many skills required, both technical and interpersonal. In this short episode I talk about some of those skills and how they apply to a recording session. email: dwfearn@dwfearn.com www.youtube.com/c/DWFearn https://dwfearn.com/

Send us a text Creating software plugin versions of actual hardware is challenging. Acustica did a superb job of creating a plugin version of the D.W. Fearn VT-5 Stereo Equalizer several years ago, called Ruby. And now MixWave has done the same for the VT-7 Compressor. In this episode, I speak with Taylor Larson, founder of MixWave, about creating the VT-7 plugin. Taylor explains the process for the VT-7, and other plugins that MixWave has developed. Learn more about MixWave and their product...

Send us a text Recording sessions can be technologically complex. There are mics to set up, cables to run, headphones to deploy, maybe patching in the control room, and software and hardware to configure. It is a lot for one person to handle. The job of assistant engineer has existed as long as recording. It not only spreads the work around, but it is also potentially a stepping-stone to becoming a fully-fledged engineer. In this episode, I talk about the role of assistant engineer. What are ...

Send us a text Since the advent of multitrack recording, the goal of most engineers has been to keep the sound of every instrument totally isolated from all the others. That makes our job much easier, since we can adjust the mix of every track as needed, and apply effects like equalization and compression to each sound individually as needed. But does that make the best recording? For some types of music, the answer is yes. But having all the players in the same room where they can see and he...

Send us a text I live and work in the woods, surrounded by wildlife. There are many species of birds and in the spring their songs are pretty amazing. Over the years, I have thought about recording those birds, but the background noise level was a problem. Although very quiet by most people’s standards, there is still a lot of man-made noise -- too much noise to make recording the birds feasible. But an opportunity arose in May of 2020 during the Covid pandemic when there was very little trav...

Send us a text Virtually all digital recording uses a format called PCM. But there is another digital format that works in an entirely different way. It’s called DSD, for Direct Stream Digital, and you might find that it sounds better than PCM. In this episode, I explain what DSD is, mostly from a practical, user, viewpoint. If it sounds better, why don’t we use it? Well, DSD comes with some serious limitations. I explain those limitations and the techniques used to get around them in the wor...

Send us a text Does audio quality really matter? Our society in general has seen a major loss in quality of goods and services. Music recording has not escaped this trend. In this short episode, I give some examples, some possible explanations, and a bit of guidance on how recordists can do a better job. It benefits the listener, even if they can’t even describe the difference between a good recording and a mediocre one. email: dwfearn@dwfearn.com www.youtube.com/c/DWFearn https://dwfearn.com/

Send us a text Most recording occurs in a studio, and the design of that facility has a major effect on the quality of the recordings made there. In this episode, I discuss some of the things that I think are most important for a successful studio. I don’t get into room design, soundproofing and sound conditioning, or even much of the infrastructure of studios and control rooms. I’ve covered a lot of that in previous episodes. Instead, I focus on the real-world, practical, aspects of what it ...

Send us a text Monitor speakers are a necessity for most of our recording. But I have always had a problem with the sound of speakers, and I explain why in this episode. Speakers always exist in a space with boundaries, even outside. Our control rooms tend to be small, and making a small room sound good for performing or listening is a challenge. The monitor speakers and the control room form a system. The acoustics of the room have a big impact on the sound. I also compare the sound of...

Send us a text Vinyl record sales have been increasing every year for a while now. Today, vinyl outsells CDs. Fans like vinyl for its unique sound, and the large format of the jacket. Record pressing plants are busy! Most are backlogged for months. The process of converting your digital mix to a vinyl record is complicated. The entire system of phonograph records is plagued by many deficiencies, which makes cutting the master lacquer disc a challenging art. How we record and mix has impact on...

Send us a text If you are working as a recording engineer, how did you learn your craft? A formal recording program? As an intern with an accomplished engineer? Or maybe you figured it out on your own. All are valid ways to get started. Many successful engineers used more than one approach. In this episode, I look at the various approaches, their pros and cons, and suggest ways that you might further your own education. Learning the art of recording requires time and effort -- and some innate...

Send us a text Using a single microphone, or one stereo mic, to record a musical performance all at once without any overdubbing can result in a recording that is very compelling to the listener. When everyone is performing in the same space at the same time, usually without headphones, there is a musical interaction that occurs that we often lose in the typical session using lots of mics, extreme isolation, and many overdubs. It’s not for every song or composition. Some music benefits from t...

Send us a text When you are just starting out in recording music, you are likely to need microphones. And if you have been recording for a while, you may feel the need to add to you microphone collection. But how do you make those choices? In this episode, I look at the criteria that I think are important in picking mics to add to your studio. Simply choosing a mic that is what other people use, or was on a hit record, is not always the best way to go about this. I provide a logical approach ...

Send us a text Joseph Arnold is a talented violinist that has played on a variety of projects I have produced. He is also an excellent writer, who just published his first book, titled, “Soul Force: How to discover your artistic purpose, create more freely, and make art that matters.” In this conversation, Joseph talks about his career path, his pursuit of art, and how his concepts of Soul Force guided him in his journey. We discuss his book, and its value to anyone who wants to create, well,...

Send us a text In this last of three episodes on the art of producing, I talk about my process for mixing. It is all part of the concept of a song from the beginning. Mixing is where everything comes together to create the version of the song that the artist and I have had. As an over-simplification, my approach is to turn up the things I like and turn down, or mute, the things I don’t like. But the details are much more complex than that and I explain what I do and why. I combine the masteri...

Send us a text This is the second of three episodes on the Art of Producing. In this one, I talk about the mics and equipment I use in my studio, and the reasons why. The example used for this series features an album project for singer-songwriter Corrie Lynn Green. It is an acoustic-based project, although there are some electric guitars and bass on some songs. I explain why I make certain decisions for this project, and how a recording with a different artist or genre would require a differ...

Send us a text The art of producing a record requires knowledge of music, mastering the technical aspects of the recording process, and an ability to work with people. This is the first of a three-part series about producing. In this episode, I talk about the role of the producer, using a typical album project for Corrie Lynn Green as an example. Not all productions will follow this example, since there are many different styles of music, different artists and musicians, that you may encounte...

Send us a text 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...

Send us a text 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 pro...

Send us a text 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...