Épisodes

  • Mic Techniques For Stereo Sound
    May 15 2025

    In this episode, David Mellor continues his exploration of microphone polar patterns by discussing techniques for capturing stereo recordings. He examines how the choice of polar pattern and microphone placement can be used effectively to achieve a balanced and immersive stereo image.

    Chapters
    00:00 - Introduction

    01:10 - Defining Mono

    03:08 - Binaural Recording

    04:24 - Defining Stereo

    05:28 - Number Of Mics And Placement

    06:58 - Polar Patterns

    07:48 - Figure of 8 Demo

    09:09 - The Blumlein Pair Configuration

    11:05 - Coincident Cross Pair Figure Of 8 With Demonstration

    16:53 - Coincident Cross Pair Of Cardioid With Demonstration

    21:35 - Mic Spacing - The ORTF Configuration

    24:31 - Mic Spacing - Omnidirectional Without Angling

    27:28 - Medley Of Configurations

    29:38 - Summary


    David Mellor Biog
    David Mellor got his start in pro audio through the Tonmeister course at Surrey University studying music, piano performance, acoustics, electronics, electro-acoustics and recording.


    He went on to work at London's Royal Opera House, with responsibilities including sound design, front-of-house operation, stage monitoring and electronic design satisfying the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Karlheinz Stockhausen. David has also had over 600 works published in the field of production music. Notable uses of his music include the BBC's Horizon, Fahrenheit 911, and the Oprah Winfrey Show.


    David has been actively involved in Audio Education since 1986, teaching students of City of Westminster College and Westminster University, also returning to guest lecture at Surrey University. From 2001 until recently David has offered courses in audio online with Audio Masterclass.


    David now enjoys making YouTube videos for his 84,000 subscribers and releasing music on streaming services and Bandcamp for his dozen or so listeners.


    YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@audiomasterclass

    Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/6OkaDx4vB4O2ssUA5p4M8g

    Bandcamp - https://davidmellor.bandcamp.com/


    Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

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    31 min
  • Creating A Filter Pan Effect
    Apr 10 2025

    David Mellor discusses how to create custom effects in a DAW without relying on expensive plug-ins. Here he demonstrates his approach to creating a filter pan effect using an EQ with high-pass and low-pass filters, highlighting how custom effects can help give your music a unique edge.

    Chapters
    00:00 - Introduction
    02:05 - Pan Effect

    03:02 - Mono Pan

    04:30 - Static Pan

    06:21 - Music Track

    06:42 - Creative Pan Effect

    09:00 - Pan Effect Using A Low-Pass Filter
    13:23 - Crossfading Using Filters
    17:15 - Effecting Individual Instruments


    #slatedigital #infinityeq #protools

    David Mellor Biog
    David Mellor got his start in pro audio through the Tonmeister course at Surrey University studying music, piano performance, acoustics, electronics, electro-acoustics and recording.


    He went on to work at London's Royal Opera House, with responsibilities including sound design, front-of-house operation, stage monitoring and electronic design satisfying the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Karlheinz Stockhausen. David has also had over 600 works published in the field of production music. Notable uses of his music include the BBC's Horizon, Fahrenheit 911, and the Oprah Winfrey Show.


    David has been actively involved in Audio Education since 1986, teaching students of City of Westminster College and Westminster University, also returning to guest lecture at Surrey University. From 2001 until recently David has offered courses in audio online with Audio Masterclass.


    David now enjoys making YouTube videos for his 84,000 subscribers and releasing music on streaming services and Bandcamp for his dozen or so listeners.


    YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@audiomasterclass

    Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/6OkaDx4vB4O2ssUA5p4M8g

    Bandcamp - https://davidmellor.bandcamp.com/

    Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

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    21 min
  • Using Tube And Tape Plug-Ins
    Mar 13 2025

    In this episode, sound-designer Eddie Bazil looks at ways of enhancing a variety of individual tracks and full mixes using plug-ins that are designed to achieve the retro warmth and cohesion of tapes and valves.


    Chapters

    00:00 - Introduction

    01:32 - What Is Harmonic Distortion

    02:32 - Advances In Music Production Quality

    04:47 - The Introduction Of CD

    05:59 - Triodes And Pentodes Vacuum Tubes

    06:47 - Analysing Harmonic Content

    07:56 - Example 1: TR-808 Sub Bass

    10:35 - Example 2: Affecting A Whole Mix*

    12:39 - Example 3: Adding Saturation

    15:07 - The Benefits Of Tape

    17:26 - Example 4: Applying Tape Effects To A Bassline*

    20:59 - Example 5: Adding Tape To Beats

    23:47 - Example 6: Enhancing A Piano Track

    26:56 - Summary


    * Demonstration track ‘Puppet’ (Examples 2 and 4), written, performed and recorded by John Walden. Vocals sung by Yvonne McKeown.

    #voxengospan #SummitAudio #T-RackS #Kraftur #Aphex #SSL

    Eddie Bazil Biog
    Eddie Bazil launched his music industry career at the age of 17 as a synth programmer for a range of Electro / New Wave bands including Art of Noise, Spandau Ballet, Pet Shop Boys, Bobin, Paul Dee, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, Jets Orchestra. By his 20s he was working as a sound designer for Akai, Roland Emu/Ensoniq, eventually signing on exclusively with the latter. Later, due to a growing demand for software instruments and libraries, Eddie started to develop libraries for various software manufacturers, including Native Instruments, Kiesel, Sound Effects Library, Arturia and Propellerheads. A meeting with Phil Allen, a Capital Radio DJ, resulted in the company Samplecraze, which Eddie has spent 20 years developing as an educational resource. At this time he trained in music production and soon gained a number of prominent contracts working with some notable artistes such as Busta Rhymes, Greensleeves, 9 Bar, SFP, Sleeveless, Chris Campbell and Gam Productions. He contracted to Island Records and Chrysalis as a producer and remixer, plus was commissioned to write the score for Macbeth that ran at 2 Way Mirror at Alexander Palace for the Cambridge Shakespeare Company. His ongoing development of Samplecraze has led to him offering educational workshops and classes, releasing four books via PC Publishing and becoming a contributor and forum moderator for Sound On Sound. Recently he has established The Audio Production Hub for online education and been invited by the Recording Academy to become a Grammy judge.
    https://eddiebazil.co.uk/

    https://samplecraze.com/


    Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

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    29 min
  • Introduction to Guitar & Amp Modelling
    Feb 18 2025

    Paul White delves into the fun world of modelled guitars, amps and cabs, that cannot only make your songwriting and studio sessions more creative and unique, but can also greatly assist with streamlining live performances.

    Chapters
    00:00 - Introduction
    00:12 - Techniques For Modelling Amps And Cabs
    04:22 - Amplifier Cloning
    05:49 - Compression To Improve Tonal Quality
    07:58 - Adding Room Ambience
    09:41 - Cleaning Up The Sound With EQ
    10:51 - Guitar Modelling Options
    13:05 - Why We Have Split Pickups
    16:24 - Non-Guitar Sounds At Your Fingertips
    18:12 - Modelled Bass Guitars

    #BossVG800 #MODOBass2

    Paul White Biog
    Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing.


    He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.


    Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!

    http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/

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    21 min
  • Creative Ways To Manipulate DAW Effects
    Jan 21 2025

    In this episode, Paul White looks at some creative ways that you can manipulate the standard plug-ins found in your DAW, using them alone or in combination with one another, to create some unique sounds, effects and rhythms.

    Chapters
    00:00 - Introduction
    00:08 - Hard Tune Effect
    01:39 - Processing Speech
    03:15 - Fast Pitch Processing
    04:04 - Using Match EQ On Guitars
    06:07 - Distortion And Reverb
    07:14 - Adding In Pitch Shift
    07:41 - Reverb And Distortion
    09:07 - Adding More Reverb And Delay
    10:02 - Using Distortion On Drums
    11:30 - Using A Rotary Speaker On Drums
    12:43 - Using An Impulse Response With Convolution Reverb

    Paul White Biog
    Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing.


    He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.


    Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!

    http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/


    Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

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    16 min
  • Gear Of The Year 2024
    Dec 12 2024

    Paul White and Hugh Robjohns pick their software and hardware highlights from the gear they've reviewed in the last 12 months.

    Chapters
    00:00 - Introduction
    00:24 - Lynx Hilo 2
    02:49 - Blackstar Polar 2 / Polar 4
    03:39 - AEA TRP 3 Preamp
    05:40 - Logic Pro 11
    07:24 - RME Fireface UFX III
    09:57 - Dreamtonics Vocoflex
    11:33 - Hum Audio LAAL Limiter
    13:43 - FireSonic FireSpacer
    14:54 - Crookwood VU Meter
    17:03 - Nektar Panorama CS12
    17:42 - IK Multimedia Tonex One
    18:23 - Sound Particles inDelay
    19:19 - Sonnect SoundWire Interface

    Paul White Biog
    Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing.


    He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.


    Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!

    http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/

    Hugh Robjohns Biog
    Hugh Robjohns has been Sound On Sound´s Technical Editor since 1997. Prior to that he worked in a variety of (mostly) sound-related roles in BBC Television, ending up as a Sound Operations Lecturer at the BBC´s technical training centre. He continues to provide audio consultancy and bespoke broadcast audio training services all over the world, lectures at professional and public conventions, and occasionally records and masters acoustic and classical music too!


    Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

    Voir plus Voir moins
    23 min
  • Creating Musical Snippets
    Nov 20 2024

    For musicians and producers that struggle to finish tracks, Eddie Bazil explains the benefits of creating musical snippets and gives us some examples as to how we can tap into different moods, use sound design techniques to create something unique that becomes a useable addition to our musical catalogues and create pieces that stand the test of time.

    “Snippets and the creating of, serve to strengthen sound ideas, hone mixing and production skills, help to understand timing and flow, act as a testbed for song structuring ideas and are the playground for testing and mastering all manner of plug-ins”.

    Chapters
    00:00 - Introduction
    00:19 - What Is A Snippet?
    01:53 - The Benefits Of Creating Snippets
    04:26 - Planning Your Snippets
    06:07 - Sound Design
    06:53 - Example 1: Phased Pad
    17:33 - Example 2: Happy, Mood-Lifting
    22:01 - Example 3: Drama And Tension

    #SoundtoysPhaseMistress #FabFilterTimeless2 #EventideBlackhole #SteinbergGrooveagent #GforceimpOSCar3 #WavesOvoxVocoder #SteinbergHalionTrip #RobPapenAlbino #Kontakt #NIMaschine2 #AirHybrid3

    Eddie Bazil Biog
    Eddie Bazil launched his music industry career at the age of 17 as a synth programmer for a range of Electro / New Wave bands including Art of Noise, Spandau Ballet, Pet Shop Boys, Bobin, Paul Dee, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, Jets Orchestra. By his 20s he was working as a sound designer for Akai, Roland Emu/Ensoniq, eventually signing on exclusively with the latter. Later, due to a growing demand for software instruments and libraries, Eddie started to develop libraries for various software manufacturers, including Native Instruments, Kiesel, Sound Effects Library, Arturia and Propellerheads. A meeting with Phil Allen, a Capital Radio DJ, resulted in the company Samplecraze, which Eddie has spent 20 years developing as an educational resource. At this time he trained in music production and soon gained a number of prominent contracts working with some notable artistes such as Busta Rhymes, Greensleeves, 9 Bar, SFP, Sleeveless, Chris Campbell and Gam Productions. He contracted to Island Records and Chrysalis as a producer and remixer, plus was commissioned to write the score for Macbeth that ran at 2 Way Mirror at Alexander Palace for the Cambridge Shakespeare Company. His ongoing development of Samplecraze has led to him offering educational workshops and classes, releasing four books via PC Publishing and becoming a contributor and forum moderator for Sound On Sound. Recently he has established The Audio Production Hub for online education and been invited by the Recording Academy to become a Grammy judge.
    https://eddiebazil.co.uk/

    https://samplecraze.com/


    Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

    Voir plus Voir moins
    29 min
  • Essential Studio Effects and Processors
    Oct 14 2024

    Paul White and Hugh Robjohns talk us through four essential studio effects that every music producer or mix engineer needs to know for creating an effective mix, placing them in order of importance and giving an insight into how they can be used effectively.

    Chapters
    00:00 - Introduction
    00:21 - Effect 1: Reverb
    02:11 - Convolution Reverb
    04:28 - Reverb Controls
    05:53 - Using Aux Sends
    08:00 - Effect 2: EQ
    08:57 - EQ Filters
    11:44 - The Shelving Filter
    13:40 - Parametric EQ
    14:17 - Cutting Vs Boosting
    15:26 - Effect 3: Delay
    16:21 - Where To Use Delay
    17:40 - Effect 4: Compression
    18:43 - Setting Threshold and Ratio
    19:51 - Soft-Knee Compression
    20:33 - Tweaking Presets
    22:08 - Other Controls
    26:02 - Parallel Compression
    30:11 - Creative Modulation Effects
    30:58 - Using Effects Sparingly

    Paul White Biog
    Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing.


    He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.


    Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!

    http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/

    Hugh Robjohns Biog
    Hugh Robjohns has been Sound On Sound´s Technical Editor since 1997. Prior to that he worked in a variety of (mostly) sound-related roles in BBC Television, ending up as a Sound Operations Lecturer at the BBC´s technical training centre. He continues to provide audio consultancy and bespoke broadcast audio training services all over the world, lectures at professional and public conventions, and occasionally records and masters acoustic and classical music too!

    Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

    Voir plus Voir moins
    34 min