DIY Recording Guys

Revisions are perfectly natural. They're what happens when two people love a piece of music very much but don't completely agree on how it should sound when finished.  These waters can be stressful to navigate. Do you push back on comments? Do you shrug and accept any feedback you're given? How do you communicate your opinion effectively, tactfully and while strengthening the relationship instead...

The acoustic guitar! There are MANY ways to record this beautiful instrument - all perfectly usable. But which one is the right sound for YOUR project? This episode will point you firmly in the right direction.  You will learn:  How different parts of the acoustic guitar sound when you point microphones at them How to get a great stereo sound out of a single performance using either an XY pair or...

We would all love to be able to send our songs to a professional mastering engineer but sometimes a DIY master is appropriate. Maybe you're on a budget. Maybe you're just fleshing out a demo. Maybe you're DIY to your core and this is the only option you'll accept. Navigating the world of mastering can be tricky. On this episode we take you through a quick but effective process for DIY mastering th...

Where in the world was Ben? He took his new wife to the lava tubes! Where no one will ever find your body. Also, the guys talk about using templates, patch bays, re-amping acoustic instruments, how to test new gear and plugins, mastering, and more! Sorry for the poorer than usual sound quality. We're still having some issues with our recording software :( Where to Find the Guys Free DIY Recording...

We often want that big, wide stereo sound. It's immersive. It's massive. It's what we hear in our head when we think about what our song should sound like.  But what in the world is stereo width and how do you control it?  What if you only have a mono source to work with? Can you still get that source to sound wide? Of course you can! You're an audio wizard, aren't you?! On this episode you will l...

Ah plugins. Ubiquitous in he advertising feeds of all DIY music producers. These little bits of software seem to do magical things to audio and there's so many of them! What are they? How do you use them? Got any sweet tips? You know we do! On this episode, you will learn: A bit about the history of plugins About different plugin formats Plugin versions vs. standalone versions of software How emul...

Ah the sound of REAL brass in a recording. It's a beautiful thing but how in the world do you record these loud beasts? Today, we're talking to Eric Skazzini - who plays tenor sax in the timeless ska punk band Voodoo Glow Skulls - about how he was able to track killer sax tracks for the latest Voodoo record in his spare bedroom. You will learn: Basics of mic selection and placement Why a second mi...

This week, the guys have a few drinks and answer solicited and unsolicited questions.  You will learn: What are the most important things when trying to run a studio A simple way to understand and start using EQ Recording in different spaces and why natural room reverb can be a good or horrible thing The tell-tale signs of a "home-made" production Why you can't really get massive stereo guitars wi...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us. OK, we've talked about recording guitar and bass DIs a LOT. Is this episode any different?  Yes! There are ALWAYS more things to test within your signal chain. On this episode Vadim takes you through his latest guitar DI recording experiments. He tried four different tests: Old strings vs n...

Sweet sweet compression. Everyone loves it, but when should you actually be using it? And if you do decide to use it, how should you go about setting a compressor up?  Good questions! That's what we're talking about today.  On this episode you will learn: About the 4 major controls you will see on most compressors and what each of them does About why a compressor is really just a friendly, mix ass...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us. It's sexy. It's mysterious. It's the subject of a million nerdy blog posts. It's compression! Compression is probably the subject of the most "Top 10 Tricks" videos on the internet (unverified, wild-ass claim) but to really understand and get something out of all of these videos, we first n...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us. You probably have that one friend that swears by a piece of gear they saw in a video online. Ben has a friend like who made statement to the tune of: "you can only get great guitar tone by recording a signal through a good DI box".  Of course, the guys were skeptical. Is this true? Can you...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us. Writing a song is hard. If you've ever tried it, you already know this!  You need so many pieces to "solve the full puzzle" of creating a song and, in most genres, the lyrics and the melody are the biggest pieces of that puzzle.  Because of this, they're often the hardest parts to write but...

On Episode 62, Ben and Vadim spoke to Davies Roberts of Flare Audio about trusting what you hear and sound as an irritant. On this bonus episode, the guys review some Flare Audio passive ear inserts. If you're interested in Flare Audio products and would like to support the DIY Recording Guys podcast, please shop using our affiliate link: https://www.flareaudio.com?sca_ref=676476.z8WJgmm5He

If you're interested in Flare Audio products and would like to support the DIY Recording Guys podcast, please shop using our affiliate link: https://www.flareaudio.com?sca_ref=676476.z8WJgmm5He Every now and then you'll hear a song or a sound that makes you back into a corner and clench your fists - at least figuratively.  It's happened to both Ben and Vadim with certain cymbal sounds on albums, t...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us. Do you remember how you picked your first DAW?  For most of us, it's something we just fell into. Maybe a DAW came with your interface. Maybe you had a version a friend gave you when you were 15 and now you're just "used to it".  The good news is that it doesn't much matter what DAW you're...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us. Ever wonder about the tonal difference between a Les Paul and Telecaster? Sure, these guitars LOOK different. You may even associate them with very different types of bands or genres but do they SOUND different?  Guitars are expensive and most of us only own a choice few. Fortunately, on to...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us. DIY recording means doing EVERYTHING yourself, right? You write write the song, you record the song, you mix the song, you master the song, you release the song, you promote the song, you play the song live. You're DIY and you're proud about it. Is that always the best way to get from Point...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us.  Communicating about guitar tone (whether with your bandmates, your producer or even yourself) can be difficult. We've all heard terms like "crunchy", "warm", "beefy", "nasally" but what do these terms mean? Are they part of a common guitar language that we can use to communicate to each ot...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us.  Audio production software moves faster and does more amazing things every year. As it does, it becomes hungrier for processor power and memory. If your old computer is struggling to keep up with your sessions and you're finding yourself constantly looking for workarounds to workflow ineffi...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us.  DIY Recording enthusiasts typically don't have a ton of time on their hands. We're busy! And studio time is precious. Often we only get an hour or two a day (or maybe even a week) to spend working on music in the studio and any time we spend in the studio NOT working on music can be incred...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us.  In more genres than not, vocals are THE thing. The bread and butter. The enchilada. The rug that ties the room together.  Nailing the vocal production can elevate a good song to greatness. Miss the mark on vocal production and even a great song will likely fail to capture people's attentio...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us.  We've all had the frustrating experience of being unable to record because of the slight delay between when play (or sing) a note and when we hear it back in our monitoring system. To make matters worse, sometimes it seems like the problem is worse than others! What's going on? This is cal...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us.  Way before you hit record and start committing those final noises to your hard drive, you need to arrange the "pieces" of a song. This can be daunting - especially when we're talking about arranging music for a whole band's-worth of musicians and a whole album's-worth of music! How do you...

If you enjoy our podcast, please leave a quick rating . It only takes a minute and it means the world to us.  The audio interface is kind of like the Grand Central stations of the typical DIY recording studio. All of the audio coming into and out of the computer needs to go through the interface. It's an absolutely critical piece of a home recording studio but how well do you actually know your in...