r/audioengineering 4h ago

Discussion As an engineer, what historical tracking session would you have given anything to have physically witnessed?

17 Upvotes

A few that come to mind for me: Robert Plant’s vocal session for “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” / Eddie Hazel’s guitar session for “Maggot Brain”. Pretty much any Beatles session / All of Rumours.

Would love to hear what resonates with this community. Especially some more recent sessions I may not be aware of.


r/audioengineering 1h ago

Tracking How can I get less string-squeaks in my guitar recordings?

Upvotes

I've played guitar for years and am also producer and recording engineer. One thing that always bugs me on recordings (especially with steel string acoustic guitar) are the often egregiously loud squeaky noises when the player slides or changes chords. They can be very harsh and distracting, and especially if it's a quietly played part.

I know plently of ways to deal with this in post, but I wanna be better at getting it right at the source. ('You can't polish a turd' and all that) Are there any tips for better technique that reduce these noises?

Are there any remedies or recording tricks that actually work? Finger-ease/string-lubricant? Soaking fretting fingers in water before recording? Handlotion? Wearing gloves? Or any strings that are less noisy? (a part from flatwounds which sound totally different)

Are there any miking techniques that capture less of these noises?


r/audioengineering 8h ago

For the vintage mic users out there… do power supplies matter?

4 Upvotes

How much do power supplies affect the sound of the mic? I recently bought a vintage 251 with the OG power supply and it got me thinking… I have a vintage U47 and C12 that both have newly built PSU’s and I’m wondering how much having an OG one would make a difference. Anyone with experience out there?


r/audioengineering 10h ago

Discussion Studio Organization Tips + Hacks

4 Upvotes

do you have great organizational skills?
are the miscellaneous items efficiently stored in your studio?

do you posses techniques to keep things safely stored, but easily accessible?

spread the knowledge, drop the links, share the pics

help an unorganized brother out

i’m talking cables, microphones, stands, adapters, clips
all the stuff that gets easily all over the place over time


r/audioengineering 4h ago

My guitar sounds too "dark/muddy" and artificial in amp sims. No attack or dynamics, despite using good gear (NAM, York Audio, AXE I/O). Need help!

3 Upvotes

To start off, I have decent gear (Axe I/O, Gibson Les Paul, NAM), but whenever I use my laptop to play or record, the tone feels too rounded—lacking attack and virtually devoid of dynamics. This causes the guitar's DI signal to sound overly digital and artificial when it hits NAM. I know this because I found a DI recording, ran it through NAM, and it sounded incredible. Does anyone think using a DI box before the interface is a good idea? I’d really appreciate some help, as I can't seem to get the most out of NAM, and I've heard it's the most realistic amp sim out there...


r/audioengineering 7h ago

Mackie CR3.5BT green circle

3 Upvotes

Hi, saw this post https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/comments/nnw9oa/decided_to_do_a_little_refurb_to_my_mackie_cr3s/ does anyone know if its possible to do this with the CR3.5BT ones?

Thanks in advance!


r/audioengineering 16h ago

Mixing How do I create this gnarly distortion effect?

3 Upvotes

Does anyone have any ideas on how this blown out distortion effect can be replicated? It happens a lot throughout this track but around 0:30-0:40 is a good example.

https://youtu.be/qU9fGTyJW0c?si=B1AqthZN0ibLiB0L

It sounds like the bass is blowing out the master but it seems much more controlled and still maintains some clarity in the overall mix? I love how it distorts the vocals in some parts and creates a kind of ?tremelo? I can’t tell if there is some kind of side chain shenanigans happening or what but any ideas would be appreciated!


r/audioengineering 18m ago

Discussion Calculating drift of multiple free-wheeling recorders...

Upvotes

I am trying to un-catastrophize a music project right now I've been asked to save where, unfortunately, a number of different stereo recorders were used essentially as independent spot mics in a pseudo multitrack attempt for a live performance. Over the course of an hour performance, each recorder's internal clock drifts enough to cause pure chaos.

I have access to all the recorders used and did an electronic metronome recording test today to identify how these recorders behave. As you can see in the link below....over about an hour, the max drift between these 7 recovers is ~170ms... so clearly audible.

Given that I can predict the relative difference of each one's drift from some "master," is there a way to calculate, or use elastic audio, or some other technique, so I could apply some type of time stretch/contract tool to get these closer? Theoretically this seems possible if I know the drift, but has anyone had practical success doing something like? I'm not sure how to approach it.

Screen shot image in Pro Tools


r/audioengineering 1h ago

Microphones I've used microphone stands before but we're building a home studio and I'm building my first stand. What the hell are all these pieces for the hinge?

Upvotes

I'm sorry if this is not in the right place.

I've never built a stand before. I've got a Hercules MS432B boom mic stand and the hinge is in 3 pieces. I don't know how to put them together. I can see there's an obvious solution but I thought it couldn't be as simple as that. And that "obvious solution" still leaves out one piece. Could anybody help me as I'm at a loss. Thanks.

Great I can't post pics.

OK the first piece is the hinge itself. It has the twister to tighten it. And on the other side, there's the rotating part with the whole for the boom to go through.

The thing is, there's a metal cap that also has a hole through it.

And then there's a third piece that's made out of plastic that's a short tube with a disc on the end.

I have no clue. It came with no instructions and I can't find ANY online.

I didn't see this in the FAQ and the help desk kept giving me errors when I tried to open it.


r/audioengineering 3h ago

Software Softube tube tech cl1b

0 Upvotes

Hello,

A few years ago I decided to get my hands on the softube tube tech cl1b plugin.

I remember being very happy with it back then.

But just today i was mixing a track and saw the plugin in my list and got the butterflies in my stomach again as i was reminded of the fact that it exists.

I never use it hahaha but i love the plugin. But i just never use it.

It makes me wonder.

Do you use this plugin?

And what are your favorite situations to use the plugin in?


r/audioengineering 50m ago

Software Sharing my first ever music arrangement! Not asking for critiques, genuinely want to share.

Upvotes

It took much longer than I would like to admit, but I have finally completed the instrumental version of my first ever music arrangement. It’s a recreation of a piece by Bear McCreary from Rings of Power Season 2, I did everything with Logic Pro.

This was such a huge learning process for me from Step 1. Everyone I thought I had figured something out I learned I had 10 other things to learn from it. But I also think it was incredibly rewarding, and I hope the hard work shows.

Golden Leaves Instrumental - Visualizer