But you can’t hear the results.

And really, the one thing that is arguably more important than the gear you use, is the ears of the person who is using it.

That’s why my list is dominated by DVDs. You get to hear what you are being taught and you can do it through the monitors you use to record and mix your own music.

Not that books and magazines don’t have their place, because there are some great ones out there, but they are at their best when combined with some first hand knowledge of the sounds you are listening for.

UP FRONT. I RECEIVE NOTHING FOR LISTING THESE PRODUCTS.

I simply find them incredibly useful. Did I take every piece of advice, they offered? No. I made choices based on what I want from my studio. These resources all provide the reasons why they make their choices, so you are free to stray where you feel it appropriate.

NOTE: All of the DVD resources use Pro Tools as the DAW and Reason gets a little love as well, but the concepts explained in the lessons can be ported over to whatever DAW you use.

The focus here is on the sound and helping you create your own as professionally as possible.

So here are the resources and why I recommend them:

1. Pro Tools HF_SC – (DVD), Kagi Media

This was my go-to resource when I was faced with using a general contractor to convert my basement into a studio with control room and live room. I used other resources as well and even had a professional come out at one point for a fast consultation, but there is one area in particular the DVD made the difference for me:
I learned about having the contractor give me a second electric line separate from the house. Because of this, I have my own dedicated 100 Amp circuit (equal to the power directed to the entire rest of the house) for the studio without worrying about the fridge kicking in or the central air conditioning possibly causing a breaker to trip while I’m working.

As a whole, the DVD runs through the entire build in of a true project studio, not a half million dollar room, and they explain what they are doing and why. There are also guest professionals offering additional info.

Even if you have your project studio set up, there are some areas this DVD might be able to help you.

2. Mix It Like A Record – (DVD), Kagi Media

I own several DVDs dedicated to mixing. All of them are good, but this one in particular, not only took me step by step through a mix session with multi-platinum Latin Grammy winning Mixer/Producer Charles Dye, it gave me background on what the pros are talking about when they refer to “analog sound”.

He offers some of the plugins that helped him get a Grammy from a mix done “in the box”, what the plugins offered and how he used them. If that isn’t enough, he offers the concepts that are worth considering if you are truly looking to develop your own unique sound and create mixes that ‘breathe’.

I recommend this DVD as the first one to grab when learning mixing. Especially if you are actively buying mixing plugins. What you learn here will definitely inform your choices one way or another.

3. Multi-Platinum Track Editing – (DVD), Multi-Platinum Pro Tools

This DVD will take what you learned from Charles Dye regarding overall concepts of sound and performance and focus this information on the individual instrumental tracks.

In Track Editing, you will take a 5 hour turn through a professional track editing session where you can gain a superb understanding of editing, pocketing and time compressing audio regions.

Brady Barnett, a multi-platinum credited independent producer, recording engineer, arranger and one of the premiere Pro Tools editors in the industry walks you through his every decision giving you an over the shoulder view of the kind of detail that separates pro from wannabee.

Instruments covered include guitars, bass, percussion, loops, keys and leads.

4. Multi-Platinum Vocal Editing – (DVD), Multi-Platinum Pro Tools

Here, Brady Barnett takes you through 4.5 hours of tuition on getting perfect vocals through editing, pocketing and time compressing.

Lead and backing vocals are addressed here while you peek over his shoulder again getting a play by play on his every decision and the logic or emotion behind it. Every vocal phrase of the song is covered giving you true insight on what you need to get out singers during a session for you to get the job done in the mix.

Combined, these DVDs will take you a long ways with developing your sound if you suspend judgment and simply take in the information they are offering that applies to you and giving consideration as to why you part ways with certain decisions.

That last resource is going to break the DVD trend. Yes, there are other great DVDs out there, but I feel that what’s listed above combined with the following book will give you a true shortcut towards bettering your mixes.

5. Mixing With Your Mind – (Book) Michael Paul Stavrou

The book is expensive. But can say in all honesty that after roughly four podcasts discussing the proper use of compression, dozens of magazines trying it break down, books and even the DVDs taking up the topic, no one has made the use of compression as simple and effective as this one book.

The book offers a LOT. But the pages dedicated to compression alone are worth the price.

Following that, I now am a convert to Stavrou’s technique for finding the sweet spot when placing microphones and I have added perspective in recording vocals and have even adjusted the height of my seat when in the mixing position based on this book and have heard the results.

The MXL Mic Pac Plus

To make this fair, I Googled the microphone package I like for this exercise and picked a big online retailer. That retailer doesn’t charge shipping or tax, so we’re already saving money. I decided to buy new because that is easier for you to duplicate. You can most likely find better prices on gear using eBay or Craigslist, but again, it isn’t likely we’d find the same prices at different points in time.

I Googled the mics first, because as a package, I thought this might be the hardest thing to find. It’s also the first place you can screw up your sound and we don’t want that, at any stage. For the microphones I chose the MXL 2003 & 603 Microphone Pac Plus. At $169.95, it is a steal and you get two good sounding mics that between them, can handle voice, acoustic and electric guitars and piano.

When proper mic positioning is used, you can get a good amount of clarity out of both mics, then if you feel like, you can rough the sound up after you get your takes down.

Sure the sound on them is good, but since we are talking about mass produced, cheap Chinese manufactured mics here, let’s safeguard against problems and buy the 3 year warranty for $34.99. I did when I bought my pair, and a year and half in, used it. They replaced my MXL 2003 without a fuss and it has worked fine the past four years since.

Personally, I only use the MXL 2003 with the ‘high isolation’ shockmount that runs an extra $29.74. The clip mount that comes with the 603 has worked fine for me, so I never bothered buying the high isolation shockmount for it and futhermore, never regretted my decision. The retailer wants me to buy the warranty on this, but I don’t think so. Let’s move on.

Since we’re going to have people singing into these sometimes, we’re going to need a decent pop filter. It will do double duty by containing plosive sounds such as ‘p’ and ‘b’ while the singer is going for it, and it will keep their spit out of our mic. Need further convincing?

I went with the Nady Metal Pop Filter in Black at 14.99. Honestly, this one I haven’t used, I use a Steadman metal pop filter after my smelly mesh pop filter broke apart. Since then, I will only go with metal pop filters, but the Steadman isn’t in our budget today. You could still opt for a slightly cheaper mesh pop filter like the one I used, but really, the last thing you need when trying to get a good performance out of a singer is for them to be disgusted with the hygiene of your pop filter. With the metal pop filter, a couple good swipes with a damp rag and cleanser and you’re ready for all comers.

We’re also going to need a mic stand. I prefer boom stands because they are more versatile for different micing needs and since we have two mics, let’s get two stands. There might be times where we want to double mic an instrument or throw up a room mic.

I’ve had good success with the ProLine Metal Boom stands. I still use one I bought back in 1989. This will run us $67.98 for the both of them and let’s not forget cables. You don’t want to skimp too hard on cables because they are carrying your signal. Since we might need to swap out a cable in the signal path to troubleshoot why no sound is coming into our interface, let’s grab a couple 25 foot Mogami Silver Series Microphone cables. Together they will set us back $45.90.

So we’re not done, but we’ve thrown quite a few good things in our cart. Let’s see what our running tally is looking like for a minute.

$363.55.

Hmmm. Not much money left, so we’re going to have to get a little extra creative from here on out. Both of our mics require 48v phantom power to pull down sound, so we need a preamp that can supply that. We also want a preamp that isn’t going to throw a lot of unwanted noise into our signal which some do, especially in the price range we’re looking at.
I’ve only used two different mic preamps within our current budget and of the two, my preference is the Presonus TUBEPre Microphone Preamp. It’s a mono tube preamp with phase inversion, a 20 dB pad and transparent sound for $129.95.

This brings our total to $493.50.

But wait. There are a few other items still found in the signal chain, namely EQ and Compression. How do we afford both of those for $6.50?

Well, here’s how:

EQ with mic placement. Experiment with placing the mic at different distances from the sound source and at different angles (on or off axis) in relation to the sound source. Switch between all the mic choices at your disposal when you can—without killing the vibe of the session, of course. In short, experiment.

These are techniques that will still benefit you even as you improve your gear selection. Your ears will develop and you might find that you will get the sounds you’re looking for much quicker than twiddling with knobs on gear or plugins. I have outboard EQ for when necessary, but still normally record tracks where I use mic placement to get the sound in the first place rather than fixing it later.

Compression is normally used by beginners for the sole purpose of preventing clipping during volume spikes from sound sources. You can get this done for free using your ears, knowledge of the singer’s performance and your fingers on the input gain of your preamp or mixer.

Even though I own four different compressors, I still learn the way the performer is working the song and adjust the input stage manually as we record. I use the compressors when I have one take to get it right, or if I want to print the effect of the compressor on the sound source while recording.

How to protect yourself against identity theft

To complicate things, not every thief has ill intentions. Sometimes the perps unwittingly steal our identities from us while trying to help.

Whether the goal was malicious or not though, when it happens, we’re left wondering how we fit into the world and based on that, where to go from here.

In my case, the question of where to go next has resulted in a very long public silence while I move in one direction for awhile and then another completing nothing. The years worth of ‘helpful’ advice I’ve absorbed along with my own demanding nature left me unsure of where to begin again. It’s been a long time since I was the artist.

But using the following steps, I’ve got myself back on track and with a focus I haven’t had for one of my own project in ages.

I thought I’d pass them along in case they might help you. Keep in mind, you don’t have to be an artist to use them.

1. Act, don’t react. Never make important decisions while desperate. I’m no therapist, and we all have our own stories, but whatever you have to get past, get past it before deciding.

2. Build your support team. This should only include people who are willing to listen to what you are about and who will support your vision for what you’re going to be about. Which takes us directly into our third recovery tactic.

3. Limit further disclosure of your next steps. It is very likely that there will be family members or close friends who are not part of your support team. Depending on your circumstances, they may still be a part of your life and that’s your choice. They don’t need to be privy to your game plan though. In some cases, you may reveal some of what you’re up to outside of your inner circle, but even then, confine it to people who in some way have earned your trust.

4. Start small. Sometimes you just need a win. Define what, in your mind is a reasonably sure triumph. Note that your idea of a victory is personal and may not be fully understood by even your supporters. That’s okay. There will be time after your first success, to follow it up with more ambitious efforts. But, first, get that win.

5. Keep your head up. This is a process, and depending on what you’re attempting to achieve, it could be a long one. While on your journey, it is natural that horrible scenarios of failure will creep into your psyche, especially if you meet with setbacks. When you need to, lean on your support team and most importantly, keep fighting.