My Take on Music Recording with Doug Fearn
Doug Fearn draws on his 50+ years as a recording engineer, record producer, studio owner, and pro audio equipment designer to explain the art and science of recording for the audiophile, music lover, and people in the music recording industry.
Episodes
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 20...
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 limita...
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...
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. Instea...
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...
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 ...
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 ar...
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 n...
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 ...
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 ...
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...
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 recor...
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 m...
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...
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 pr...
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, bu...
Ever since its announcement, I have been interested in learning more about Dolby Atmos. I was skeptical at first, primarily because of my experience with “Quad” back in the 1970s. That 4-channel concept never gain any popularity with either the listening public nor in the recording community. I presumed that Atmos would be similar, just more speakers. The early demo sessions I attended left me convinced that this was ...
Compression and limiting are tools we use to modify the dynamic range of the music we record. In this episode, I present a brief history of where this technique came from, how it evolved over the years since the 1930s. I discuss the various ways that compression circuits work, from the variable-mu vacuum tube, to the optical compressor, the FET, the VCA, the PWM, and the digital limiters. I explain how these different...
This is part 2 of the Audiophiles Guide to Music Recording. You can listen to part 1 at
https://www.buzzsprout.com/942952/14335456
Or you can access part 1 wherever you listen to podcasts.
My Take on Music Recording is primarily aimed at people in the professional recording world, but there are a significant number of listeners who are music lovers and audiophiles. This episode provides an overview of...
My Take on Music Recording is primarily aimed at people in the professional recording world, but there are a significant number of listeners who are music lovers and audiophiles. This episode provides an overview of the recording process for them. However, I think even people in our profession might enjoy how I attempt to explain the recording studio process in layman’s terms.
This reflects my experience and how I work...
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