Behind The Scenes For Bobstgirls Project.

[Jamie French]

The solo scene and photo set that this video refers to will go live on July 4th over at www.bobstgirls.com

This is a behind the scenes look at the making of the music for the scene which Bob commissioned me to write and record.

Other than that the video is pretty self explanatory.

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Making Music For Bobstgirls - YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXeVrV7iJIs)

[nysprod]

I really like the part of the song that begins around 5:45...that's the hook to build the song around...

[Kevin Dong]

Great video! You are very talented!

[moonunit7]

Pretty cool, Jamie.
I do the same thing with Logic Pro. There's actually a lot that goes into recording your own music. The part I'm just now getting better at is Mastering it. I've been trying for a really long time, but am just now getting comfortable with it.

[Jamie French]

I highly recommend mastering be left to the professional mastering houses who use analog equipment if it's in your budget. I always pony up for my band's full length albums to be mastered professionally.

Having said that... The key to mastering if you're doing it from home involves a hand full of simple steps. I'll point out things you may very well already know if only for the benefit of anyone else reading this.

1. Make sure your mix is as flat as possible. Be sure to mix your projects on speakers that are designed for the job. Headphones won't cut it, even studio grade cans. Home stereo speakers will color your sound in a way that essentially makes your mix lie to you. Home stereo speakers are designed to enhance and color sound. What you're looking for is the flattest frequency response possible. I mix on a simple pair of powered KRK Rokit 5 studio monitors. $300 no muss no fuss flat sound at an affordable price. Make sure you understand the appropriate frequency range of all your instruments (frequency charts are easily Googled) and mix them accordingly. Example: you'd never dial up 240k in a guitar track. Always scoop out frequency, never raise. You can get the exact parametric shapes you are looking for by scooping your valleys below 0 db rather than pushing your peaks above it. Never scoop more than -3 db at a time. This will help insure a true sound... if you find you are trying to fix in the mix then you may want to think about re-recording your source. Be it mic placement, a better sounding amp, etc. Turds can not be polished. (Pro Tip. Record and render mixes in 24bit / 48k. Master down to 16bit / 44.1k)

3. All other effects aside... if you are using compression, say on a bass drum. tred lightly. Step 4 will insure you never have to lay the compression on thick in the mix for that punch you are looking for. Punchy master comes later, flat mix comes first.

2. If you don't do anything else do this... Maintain headroom. In order to master a mixed down stereo track you have to allow for proper headroom in your mix. Make sure your final render sits between -8 and -6 db and you'll be providing exactly what your compressor and master limiter need to do their job.

3. Compression and limiting. For mastering, these are the only two post mix signal processing items you'll ever really need assuming your mix is flat and has appropriate headroom.

There is no need to spend any amount of money on a VST limiter or compressor. Due to the limitations in digital mastering the math involved in creating a compressor and limiter is pretty ubiquitous whether it's a no-name free plugin or a Universal Audio 1176 simulation. The following will do just fine:

Compressor: http://www.vstplanet.com/VST_effects/Bundle/SilverEdition.rar
Limiter: http://www.vstplanet.com/VST_effects/Compressor/classic_master-limiter_v106.zip

I'm including screen shots of settings I use to great effect in order to get you started.

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http://www.deadgirlproductions.com/thing.jpg

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Here's the end result of everything I've said and shown you in the example above. It's not 'radio perfect' but it's clean, punchy and louder than a remastered Beatles record at the very least.

http://www.deadgirlproductions.com/RED.mp3


Hope this helps. Happy mastering, J.



Pretty cool, Jamie.
I do the same thing with Logic Pro. There's actually a lot that goes into recording your own music. The part I'm just now getting better at is Mastering it. I've been trying for a really long time, but am just now getting comfortable with it.

[moonunit7]

Pretty tight.
I agree with almost everything you pointed out, with the exception of Mastering (or even mixing) with speakers. I used to feel that way, but not anymore. I don't make any money from my songs and do it more for shits and giggles. Nevertheless, I find the mixing through speakers only works if you have very flat sounding speakers in a room with perfect acoustics. When I use my beautiful sounding Beyer DT770 Headphones, I don't have to worry at all about room acoustics. I like hearing exactly what I'm mixing down to. Once I get close, I play it through my car system, home system and iPhone to check it and make sure.

Logic comes with some amazing compressors, reverbs and other DSP. I also purchased lots of other plug-ins to add to them.

I used to have the PD-500 pedalboard, but I recently sold it when I bought a Fender Mustang amp with built in interface and unbelievable effects. I still have a gazillion stomp boxes, wahs, etc... if I need them.

I often close mic my guitar amp(s) and use 1 sm57 up close and a condenser about 10 feet back, but now I mainly use the mustang straight through. It depends on which guitar I use. I have 3 Strats, 2 Teles, a Jazzmaster, Les Paul Goldtop, a Martin acoustic and a P-Bass. I also have a USB digital drum set, but used the sounds within Superior Drummer or Logic. I have the exact same USB keyboard that you have as well.

For my interface, I use a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 and sometimes use the Presonus AudioBox 4x4. I used to use Tascam interfaces, but the latency was dreadful. Almost 0 with the Presonus.

[Jamie French]

Rokit 5's are designed for people who mix in less than ideal room shapes, (bedrooms.) So long as you have them at ear level and sit as far away from them as they sit apart, then dedicated monitors are the only way to go. Mixing in cans is what leads to ear fatigue and all the trial and error 'car hopping' that all us home recording enthusiast use to do at some point. I don't get paid for my music either, (I refuse to get money tangled up with my music) which is why it's even more important for me to do things as correctly as my resources will allow, as 100% of the value of my effort lays solely in the final outcome of the finished piece.

[Jamie French]

By the way... what do you play music wise?

[moonunit7]

I play my own version of rock n roll. Doesn't really sound like anyone that I know and don't really stick to one style (although I tend to have a more bluesy solo style). I used to play in a band that played mostly originals, improvised a lot and played whatever we felt like at the time. As you can imagine, that didn't go down well in DC clubs in the 90's. But we kinda knew that going in. At the end of the night, we were lucky to have enough money to eat at Dennys at 2am.

Nowadays, I noodle around and if I stumble onto an idea, riff or phrase, I spin my office chair around, launch a Logic template and have a go. Usually after recording 8-9 tracks, I scrap the whole thing and start over, with ideas I stumble onto during that process. The last song I recorded began as a really weird atmospheric concept, but by the end, had morphed into a rock song about the horrors of traffic, lol. I'm halfway through what will probably be my last album.

I have no one to sing my songs, so I do the best I can with the vocals (which is pretty bad), but since it's basically my friends and family hearing it, it doesn't matter too much. I try to write decent lyrics, but that's for others to decide.

If you'd like, I could PM you a link to some of my songs. I don't put them on Youtube or iTunes or any other public place. Like you, I'm not in this for the money.

[alexjaneTS]

Seriously impressive!

[Jamie French]

Yeah, do that. Maybe I can help you flesh out some stuff and vice/versa.


I play my own version of rock n roll. Doesn't really sound like anyone that I know and don't really stick to one style (although I tend to have a more bluesy solo style). I used to play in a band that played mostly originals, improvised a lot and played whatever we felt like at the time. As you can imagine, that didn't go down well in DC clubs in the 90's. But we kinda knew that going in. At the end of the night, we were lucky to have enough money to eat at Dennys at 2am.

Nowadays, I noodle around and if I stumble onto an idea, riff or phrase, I spin my office chair around, launch a Logic template and have a go. Usually after recording 8-9 tracks, I scrap the whole thing and start over, with ideas I stumble onto during that process. The last song I recorded began as a really weird atmospheric concept, but by the end, had morphed into a rock song about the horrors of traffic, lol. I'm halfway through what will probably be my last album.

I have no one to sing my songs, so I do the best I can with the vocals (which is pretty bad), but since it's basically my friends and family hearing it, it doesn't matter too much. I try to write decent lyrics, but that's for others to decide.

If you'd like, I could PM you a link to some of my songs. I don't put them on Youtube or iTunes or any other public place. Like you, I'm not in this for the money.

[runningdownthatdream]

Its really cool that you take the time to make these videos and share your insight. You're a very talented person and it seems you're genuinely interested in helping others - ever considered teaching?

[Jamie French]

Formally? No... there just isn't time to take on the responsibility and do it any real justice with everything else I have going on. If I have any wisdom to impart it'll be made accessible by people simply paying attention to things like this. I learn all of my lessons the same way... paying attention to the people who's creative output I find valuable and deciphering their approach or by adhering to flat out lessons they may give everyonce in a while. I really appreciate the compliment.


Its really cool that you take the time to make these videos and share your insight. You're a very talented person and it seems you're genuinely interested in helping others - ever considered teaching?

[runningdownthatdream]

Formally? No... there just isn't time to take on the responsibility and do it any real justice with everything else I have going on. If I have any wisdom to impart it'll be made accessible by people simply paying attention to things like this. I learn all of my lessons the same way... paying attention to the people who's creative output I find valuable and deciphering their approach or by adhering to flat out lessons they may give everyonce in a while. I really appreciate the compliment.

You're welcome. The serious effort you put into the things you do - porn or music - is very evident. Keep doing you!