Yes, the spec. on the HS80M monitors is extremely good ... Going down to 42 HZ whereas the NS10S went down to 60HZ.

When used with the HS10W the system will go down to 30HZ which will give an enviable overall response ... If that is what you want.

Studiospares now do an exact copy of the NS10S ... Called the SN10 and at a price of £92 for a pair must be worth a shot. I have recommended them to quite a few members and have not had a complaint.

It is important to realise that the monitors will only sound as good as the studio environment. The room has to be totally dead and the speakers have got to be mounted away from any surfaces both behind and underneath ... They also have to be powered by the most powerful amp. you can afford .... unless they are self powered.

Regards

DEC [Cluskey]
mailto:dec@makehits.com

You don't know whether you music is getting better unless you have regular demo consultations with Dec - the one the Pro's use: UK 01323.728005 [+44.1323.728005] http://www.makehits.co.uk/demo.htm 

Answer:

G****

I have written loads on this subject ... check out www.makehits.co.uk/artintro.htm .

My advice stretches back as far as 1996 when I was advising song writing guys [particularly with little dosh] to use Atari and hard disc recording ... still a system which is preferred by a lot of big dosh making producers. It is bomb proof, a dedicated system which can be much faster and more flexible than Protools and Logic 7 ... You would be surprised how many times I use it. It is slow saving however ... that is the only drag.

My main system and the system I see used most is Protools .... Industry Standard throughout the world ... I can send stuff to any studio in the world and they can continue the session.

So what should you go for as a go ahead song writer?

Protools HD is the thoroughly professional system working on Apple Mac G5 platform. Cost? Basic around £13,000 but that is only the basic and it only starts there.

Protools LE can produce astonishing results ... but you have to know how to produce and get the most from the gear ... that will take 18 months of constant work with Protools. And that is providing you have proper monitoring and a proper sounding studio. It is worth remembering that you are buying a system not a sure way to produce hits ... think of it as buying a set of Brain Surgeon's surgical instruments - does that mean you can perform a brain operation?

I would suggest you get the Digidesign 002 rather than the Mbox2 as an audio/midi interface. It is dearer but the in/out facilities are much better.

Mbox system with Mac G5 will cost you much less than £2,000 ... the Digidesign 002 version will add around £500 to that cost.

Again, it will take you minimum 18 months to get a great sound. But then you are in there with the 'big boys'.

What you will never see in magazines or reviews is the way you will be limited massively by the CPU [Computer Processing Unit] .... the limitation is in the processing ... which means you will always have to be careful when using plug-ins ... you will quickly run out of power .... it is important to learn the tricks of bussing the FX plug ins etc. You will also have to be careful how many audio tracks you use. 

I personally use stand alone FX units and compressors .... I also use a lot of stand alone sound modules [Triton, Motif etc.] with the Protools HD in mega studios they use self powered plug ins which cost over £1,000 each.

I do not have personal knowledge of Logic 7 [I always go for 'Industry standard'] ... I am told by song writing pals [John Lodge and Justin Heywood - Moody Blues] that overall it is a less powerful tool and the performance is not up to Protools perfection ... it is more favoured by guys involved in mostly Midi production, although they use it when co-songwriting between London and South of France.


You can always talk to me on the phone in detail.

Regards

DEC [Cluskey]

mailto:dec@makehits.com

'Makehits Demo Consultation Service' the Industry Standard critique service used by the industry to tell will a project make money...Dec at his best! A full CD of Dec's comments plus a 17 page critique and a copyright certificate. Check out http://www.makehits.co.uk/demo.htm or call UK 01323.728005 [+44.1323.728005]

Answer:

<<<<<<<<Unisons would take up minimum 8 tracks for a 'today' sound. Extreme>>>>>>>

Not when you are dealing with commercial money making release records.

<<<<<<<When you say Unisons, would that mean the same vocal in several octaves?>>>>>>>

Unisons are exactly the same melody either sung by the same singer 4-8 times or different singers all singing the same melody.

There is a whole art to this. If the singer/singers simply track the melody using the same vocal tone and performance the result will simply be the same original sound only louder. The trick is to picture the eventual sound you require .... i.e. Enya or Beyonce or Justin Heywood or my band [we started the whole 'covered' unison singing idea] .... The word 'covered' means "not full voice" .... It's a breathy very close to the mic. Sound .... Usually panned extreme left/right.

This cannot be achieved with auto doublers or multi voice settings on FX units ... They are similar to the A.D.T. machines of old [Automatic Double Tracking] . You can, incidentally, get A.D.T. on a modern Protools/Logic set up by simply copying and pasting a track and delay it 5-10 Msecs.

RSS [Roland Stereo Sound] can enhance multi tracked unisons enormously as it pushes the perceived sound way out past the speakers left and right. The Roland Hard Disc recorders have this effect as standard.

If the unisons are done by one person [as I do] that person must be very conscious of producing the required eventual sound ... Meaning that he/she should shift mic. position for each track of the unison vocal and also adjust the timbre of the vocal, the density, loudness, quietness and the breathiness .... It id definitely not a case of singing the melody as a solo and then simply tracking it 8 times. I even use different mics for some of the tracks. It is all about creating a huge frequency span with the vocals .... The last few tracks should be almost completely breath with no notes. When compressed the breath sounds wonderful.

Octaves are a different thing altogether .... We get the required octave sound again by tracking until the unison sound is what is required and then adding the octave, sometimes up, sometimes down ..... And sometimes both [Earth, Wind and Fire]. The down octave was much used by Texas .... You learn to add sufficient tracks of the underneath octave to create the required sound without muddiness ... Then you stick to that for each section of the toon requiring octaves. The high octave sounds was almost a prerequisite of Motown hits.

Status Quo used the octave idea for their entire vocal sound ... Simply double tracked.

The reason for so many tracks in unison is that if you just two track, then the sound can be very out of tune [early Scissor Sisters?] .... Like a piano when one of the two strings is out of tune .... By adding a third string, or track, it smoothes out the 'out of tune ness' ... Then four, five, six, etc. By the time you get to 8 you have a gorgeous lush totally in tune, full frequency sound. That is why a choir will have 8 tenors, 8 altos, baritones and sopranos.

Brian May, like myself, is an expert at vocal arrangement and the use of all the unison, octave and triple octave sounds.... Plus six part harmony [or twelve part on my latest production for Italy]

Regards

DEC [Cluskey]

mailto:dec@makehits.com

You don't know whether you music is getting better unless you have a demo consultation with Dec - the one the Pro's use: UK 01323.728005 [+44.1323.728005]

http://www.makehits.co.uk/demo.htm

'Harmony' is a bit of an ancient concept ... Good in the days of Everly Brothers and Beatles [and early Bachelors] .

We nowadays concentrate more on vocal arrangement ... As in when you take away the drums and all the instruments the vocals still hold up as an entire arrangement.

It springs from the valid concept that a hit mix is the vocals and drum mix ... All the rest is purely the frame around the picture.

So, vocal arrangement in song writing can be as much as five differing ideas working at the same time ... Solo lead, harmonies with the lead, repetitive hook backing, ad lib solo vocal , ad lib rap type vocal ... All at the same time and all in differing frequencies so they can be heard. The most used trick being a telephone voice which really sticks out.

It is worth considering the relative [positioning of the vocals, as in, how far away they sound. This is a great technique and worth practicing. It's called dynamic perspective.

Examples can be: most Beyonce tracks, Justin Timberlake, SWV [RIP], Sugababes, Christina Aquilera, most USA Hip hop commercial tracks. 

Because we have almost unlimited tracks available we can layer harmonies so that we have four tracks [usually] of each individual harmony line ... Unisons would take up minimum 8 tracks for a 'today' sound. Extreme left/right treatment is practically essential in the stereo spectrum.

Yes, you can approximate that sound with vocal doublers etc. but there is nothing like the real thing. 70 tracks of vocals just sound awesome ... As I heard tonight when a pal came round to play his next release .... So many vocals ... And awesome.

Finally it is essential that the vocals 'jump' ... Not just recorded to sound 'correct' but recorded to create a commercial 'hit' sound.

Regards

DEC [Cluskey]

mailto:dec@makehits.com

Just released:- "57 Secrets of a Hit Record" ... - 260 pages of the Secrets plus the CDrom Analysis Software and Audio CD to ensure that your music is a Potential Hit www.makehits.com/57Secrets.htm
or call UK 01323.728005 [+44.1323.728005]

Compressing a group is normal practice in mixing [not recording]

You simply assign which of the channels are routed to a pair of groups [left/right in the eventual mix]... Assign them by the grey buttons at the top part of each fader.

The compressor will affect the way the groups sound and you will adjust the mix to make best use of the compressor.

You will still have the original recorded information on hard disc or Protools, or whatever you are using to record...so there is no danger of destroying any original material with over compression.

A golden rule is to never compress when recording ... Compression can never be undone [just like reverb]

The only instruments we compress when recording are guitars and maybe bass.

Regards

DEC [Cluskey]
mailto:dec@makehits.com

Just released:- "57 Secrets of a Hit Record" ... - 260 pages of the Secrets plus the CDrom Analysis Software and Audio CD to ensure that your music is a Potential Hit www.makehits.com/57Secrets.htm
or call UK 01323.728005 [+44.1323.728005]

Nathan [this advice shall be deemed legal or accounting advice within the meaning of any law at present or in the future]

I assume the name is for UK use?

It is an exceptionally complex area of law and really one for the experts.

There are various points to consider:

1) The copyright of the trademark rests in the depiction of the name .... Consider MacDonalds ... A familiar name, impossible to trademark ... But the way the name is presented pictorially is trademarked [in each individual country]

2) You only arrive at a complicated legal situation if your band [with a particular name] gains great success. Then the other band may claim against you, but only in the country where their trademark exists. My band had success with the name 'The Bachelors' while our record company had a band on their books with the same name! The band were livid but could do nothing about it.

3) Trade marking is an expensive exercise, must be repeated in every country you do business and at the end of the day, any dispute will involve a legal battle... Best to disregard trade marking.

At the end of the day it is best to avoid problems by having an original name .... It is easy to check this .... Check on my links pages www.makehits.com for band name registration... It is then easy to check with Musicians Union and Actors Equity whether they have bands registered with that name.

Nathan, I would feel you are worrying about the minutiae of our business instead of concentrating on what will attain success and fame.... song writing and music making .... Be careful.

A Name has never given instant success to a band.

DEC [Cluskey]
mailto:dec@makehits.com

Just released:- "57 Secrets of a Hit Record" ... - 260 pages of the Secrets plus the CDrom Analysis Software and Audio CD to ensure that your music is a Potential Hit www.makehits.com/57Secrets.htm
or call UK 01323.728005 [+44.1323.728005]

 

I wondered what you make of the whole Myspace revolution?  Question (7) Hi Dec,  I wondered what you make of the whole Myspace revolution happening?  Obviously good exposure but then people can just download your tracks for free-- maybe nice for a tasty sampler. It seems more and more execs are expecting you to have a Myspace page-- looks like it will eventually replace the old demo/CD because on Myspace you can have linked "friends" which gives execs an idea of whether anyone actually listens to your stuff or not.  It also has space for pics / bio / select tracks so really is analogous to the old paper envelope.  Thanks for the great read and sound instruction.  Regards Mike Renwick

  

Yes, Myspace is more convenient than a 'webpage' with slow downloading and dodgy links ... which meant that no one in the Industry would actually follow a link to a music guy's site.

Also the danger factor was huge .... recently we were hit twice [big time] by following links ... one from a supposedly reputable source [Ty Cohen no less]

We picked up 'Moviepaz' which is virtually impossible to get rid of ... took two days for experts to get rid and 'Movieland' - another nightmare parasite.

Until Myspace, no executive would stop work to follow links to listen to slow loading, 25 years too late cr*p .... despite what the mags said. At least now they can log on quickly and get an overview of the band's following and work.

MySpace is an essential tool today ... we have yet to see how this monster organisation will turn it into a money cashcow.... which I can foresee is the ultimate aim.

Regards

DEC [Cluskey]
mailto:dec@makehits.co.uk

Just released:- "57 Secrets of a Hit Record" ... - 260 pages of the Secrets plus the CDrom Analysis Software and Audio CD to ensure that your music is a Potential Hit www.makehits.com/57Secrets.htm
or call UK 01323.728005 [+44.1323.728005]

   

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