newton bach // Blog

I've come to the realization, and I'm completely embarassed to admit it, that proper sound treatment of my mixing room is as important, or even more important than all the fancy plug-ins I'm tempted to buy. I have a great set of Alesis studio monitors, flat response, but I couldn't figure out why my mixes always sounded like they were in a box when I took them outside and gave them the "car test", they never translated well to other sound systems. Was it the limit of what my DAW could achieve, or maybe the plug-ins added small sample delays giving a hollow sound, when I tried to EQ why could I not detect changes unless they were drastic?

The answer, is the environment in which I mix the music. So far, I've gone to my local music store and purchased three 2 x 4 panels and two "bass traps", all made of foam, black, and really they look kind of cool. Just these few additions have changed how I hear the mix by alot. But now, I want more! There's still a boomy bass resonance throughout the room, and these commercial panels are just way too expensive to treat the entire room.

I call this part one because I'm still in the middle of the process, but I thought I'd share what I'm doing because either it may help, or some of you acousticians can give some helpful advice. This is essentially a non-technical, trial and error process for me, I'm an ear player on bass, so I've got to go with playing this one by ear too.

I don't want to spout out all kinds of theories about bass traps, but here is one of the best resources I've found, that's not too technical for the average guy: http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html and there's lots of great info at http://www.realtraps.com

I work in construction in real life as an electrician, and I've talked to professional insulators on the job, and they had no idea what corning 703 or 705 was, and actually I'm not really sure myself. However, on further study, it appears that that the material is consistent with the density of what we call "mineral wool", which in construction is normally used for stuffing big holes for fireproofing. I went to my local commercial building supplier (not home depot or ace harware) and got five 2 x 4 x 4" thick sheets for 41 bucks. I also bought a box of cheap 2 x 2 ceiling tile. What I'm planning to do is to cut the 2 x 2 sheets in half, and the 2 x 4 batting in half longways, and dressing it up with some wood molding, covering all four walls at the top. In other words, there will be a 12" strip around the room at the top at a 45 degree angle, I will place the ceiling tiles cut in half at even intervals, with space inbetween, to hold the insulation, then dress the entire construction with some cloth. The important thing is to leave an air gap between your actual construction and what it rests on, ie the ceiling tile. I picked ceiling tile because I feel it will still reflect some higher frequencies, but will be a more sufficient barrier in combination with the mineral wool to not allow the bass back into the room, I believe it will allow the lower frequencies to pass one way, yet, remove sufficient energy for their return. Anyway, that's the hope :)

I can really say that most of the mixes out there in this contest are excellent, and even if there were 100 winners you wouldn't be able to capture the best mixes. You can check out my mix at http://www.indabamusic.com/submissions/show/1476 really appreciate you drop a comment on my page or here on the blog, let me know what you think. This mix is like a story... it starts at the club, everythings crazy and happenin', suddenly your lady realizes she's deep into you and she brings you somewhere where you get to be alone together, then the smooth lovin jamz surround you till the end of the song. A friend of mine and I redid the backing tracks entirely, in a relative key that still worked with the original vocal. The competitions tough, please gimme a vote if you like the mix :)

This is amazing, Vectorstation 2 recommended a guitarist for my session at http://www.indabamusic.com/sessions/newtonbach/17548 and he turned out to be someone I've known for years but we lost touch, check out the posts about our encounter with Jaco.

Alicia Keys is looking for a background singer for her As I Am tour, go to http://www.aliciakeys.com/tourtheworld for more info. Hope this works out for someone here at Indabamusic!

I'm looking for a dramatic drummer who is comfortable with a feel like a daughtry/nickelback ballad. Someone who can get the tracks up and can actively work on a project.

I wish that all the talented people I've ever met, had the drive to make it happen.  Be true to the music that inspires you, and those you work with. Happy holidays all!

2 things freaking me out lateley, 1) why does the google home page have a rank of 9 out of 10, and why can't i find a rapper who wants to duet with the most excellent JoLynn on my Pop n Fresh project, quite frankly methinks things is all out of whack right now

I've made Indaba my Music home because there is such a great amount of talent here, and now with the hard work of some very talented "indabites" we're about to wrap up a great session, I'd like to ask everyone in the Indaba Community to let us know if we did em proud, check out the "post production mix 2" on the project page at http://www.indabamusic.com/sessions/newtonbach/1133 (should be the last file) and please DO post your feedback here.