Ocean's Edge Music

Well campers, it’s time to change things up a bit. I’ve decided that the timing is right to deal with an audio topic that’s a bit more personal and more controversial. It’s hardly a new topic but the subject I’m referring to is the debate over the use of analog vs. digital mixing consoles. Which [...]

A few basics on the use of ambient effects in mixing live audio.  For those new to mixing audio, I decided to address some basics on using and understanding the need for ambient effects. Though this is very basic for some, I think it is still a topic that needs a little explanation for the [...]

To the average person, it would seem that all microphones are created equal – “you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all,” or “a mic is a mic.”  But to anyone who is exposed to life in the pro audio world, it quickly becomes apparent that there are a multitude of different types, designs, shapes, sizes, [...]

Well, as promised in my last tirade about the use of compressors in mixing live audio, I will attempt and describe the most common set of adjustments available on your average audio compressor/limiter. Though some compressor designers throw in a few more controls to make it even more interesting (i.e. “knee” adjustment, side-chain filters, etc.), [...]

What’s a noise gate…and how do I use it? In an earlier tech note that I called “Stage Mud”, I casually mentioned the use of noise gates to help in taming what I call stage mud. I’ve had many people ask me about what noise gates are used for and how to adjust them. So [...]

This topic is yet another very important facet of audio production that could use some clarification, particularly in the world of church audio production (where many of the hard-working soldiers in the trenches are volunteers). To illustrate this, and hopefully clear up some of the misunderstanding, I’ll use an email inquiry I received concerning the [...]

Here’s yet another area that I feel is neglected by many a sound engineer. Back in the dark ages of audio, audio mixing boards generally consisted of a small number of individual channels with a single master output control. As audio consoles grew in size, so did the challenge of mixing. At some point, someone [...]

This installment of audio tips has a similar theme to the last one, in that we will continue to deal with methods for cleaning up unwanted artifacts in the mix. We previously dealt with the use of high pass filters to clean up unwanted audio clutter and cloudiness. In this case, we’ll examine ways to [...]

This installment concerns the use of high pass filters in the mixing process. I have found this to be one of those mixing basics that is often misunderstood and neglected, yet one of the most important tools found on the mixing console. For those new to audio engineering (and some not so new), the high [...]