Right now my inbox is full. Full of wonderful emails from all of you. Whether a quick word of thanks or encouragement, or a series of questions about recording and mixing, the messages fly in daily. Now, I try to help as many people get better at recording and mixing as time (and experience) allows and I’m happy to do it. However, there is one question that I simply cannot stand to hear anymore.
Via Véronique Debord-Lazaro Flickr
The Worst Question Ever – “Should I…?”
Should I use Pro Tools instead of Cubase? Should I record at 96khz instead of 44.1khz? Should I use a small diaphragm condenser instead of a large diaphragm condenser? And the list goes on and on, every day. It seems innocuous enough of a question. These are people who genuinely are new (or newer) to the art and craft and want some guidance on “best practices” so their music can sound its best. But they are setting themselves up for failure.
Ironically in trying to get better, asking “Should I?” questions actually hurts them in the long run. “Should I?” questions start from a faulty premise: that there is a correct answer or a “right” way of doing things. The reality is, this craft has just about everything to do with personal tastes, and hardly anything to do with technical prowess. As Dave Pensado put it recently, “I can teach you how to get a great kick drum sound. But I can’t teach you what a great kick drum sound is.”
“Should I?” Questions Are Born Out Of Fear
The truth of it all is, the reason we ask “Should I?” questions is because of fear. We are afraid of screwing up. We’re afraid of not doing it “right.” Our whole lives we are conditioned to avoid making mistakes. Think about it. Our parents teach us to not make mistakes in life (personal, relational, legal). Our schools (at least in America) reward you for not making mistakes, and penalize you for making them. Our whole existence is a conditioned one that says “Don’t make mistakes. Failure is bad.”
It’s a total bummer, because all that conditioning does is create fear and eventual “analysis paralysis.” People today are so afraid of “making the wrong decision” that they don’t do anything at all. I see this all the time in the home recording world as readers desperately scour the internet for a crystal clear answer for which piece of gear they need and which technique is “best” in order to record and mix great music, expensing massive amounts of time and energy. And in the end they’ve created no music at all. They are frozen, afraid of getting it “wrong.”
Make Your Own Answers
In many things in life, there are clear cut answers. There are truths that are absolute, no matter what you think about them (take gravity for example). But the real beauty of creating music (i.e art) is that you can make up your own answers and truths about what sounds good. It’s a complete playground for creativity and discovery. You need to be confident enough to try things and see what happens instead of being a lemming, waiting for orders from Grammy award winning mixers and producers, or a guy like me.
In fact, all of audio’s best recording techniques and methods were “discovered” or “made up” by someone years ago. Do you think Glyn Johns was searching around internet audio forums looking for a great drum overhead miking technique before he recorded Led Zepplin? No, he just threw some mics up in a weird position and it worked. You can do the same thing.
All I Can Do Is Share My Experience
Let’s be pragmatic for a moment. You’re reading a website that delivers recording and mixing tips and tutorials. I get that. You’re here to learn. And I applaud you. I was doing the same thing 15 years ago: reading articles online, buying every book on Pro Tools and mixing I could find, and hanging out in studios with people smarter and more talented than me. I have learned (and am still learning) things that can help you in your quest for audio greatness. But all I can do is share my experience.
You, on the other hand, have to create your own experiences. You need to create a new worldview that is open to experimentation and possible failure. How else will you grow and discover something great? You won’t by trying to avoid making “mistakes” that’s for sure. Stop looking for validation for your gear purchases, your methods, or your sounds you’re getting. If you like what you’re hearing, keep doing more of it! If you don’t, try something else. Rinse and repeat!
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My name is Graham Cochrane and I'm the founder of The Recording Revolution, one of the world's most loved audio recording and mixing blogs with over 200,000 readers each month. 
Awesome. So since u never responded to my panning emergency…i went center pan hall…9,3 plate, n Far LnR room. You r awesome n now so am I. (Eye of d tiger plays in background)
Behind d dry also sounded great for room…God Bless rabbit holes
Dude. You think of panning entirely wrong.
Your verbs look like this (room(plate(hall)plate)room). Do you see the issue?
You have to think of your song as 3D space. Panning is left and right – volume is front and back – and EQ is up and down.
http://www.quadrophone.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/3D-Mixing2.jpg
This picture is a good one to look at. You could move the snare around by panning, EQing, and adjusting the volume. Whereever you wanna pan is your thing, your preference, but panning reverbs on TOP of each other is a bad idea entirely. You end up with a middle section thats WAY too processed and a blanket of reverbs that makes your mix cloudy and muddy.
…
This post is pressing for both reasons: our personal growth as creators and your sanity. To further assist, TapeOp did just open up a collective forum for asking and answering audio related questions.
http://tapeop.com/questions/
Chris I now dub thee Co-Awesome…definitely going to check it out. Going at things alone can get FRUSTRATING its good to know that exists.
Hahah no problem! I’ve gotten incredibly frustrated trying to sort Gearslutz forums and others, which always devolves into opinions and condescending attitudes. It looks like TapeOp is attempting to keep it on track and actually assist our fellow creatives.
Thats great…thank u for sharing. Yes you are right ppl forget you are literally betting your career and future on the info you receive. It deeper than Ego…I will definitely add tapeop to my daily routine.
If it sounds good then it is technically sound…. Sometimes. LCR Panning is a great place to start regardless of the technicalities. Listen to see if your parts are sitting well in the mix. Sometimes it’s not technical it’s placement and that space being too big or small for the frequencies you got crammed in there. Start drastic LCR and this scale in or out to make things fit…..
I’m probably off topic but I had to get that off my chest!!!
Cheers from Baltimore!!!
Stay Blessed
Graham,
this post is not only about music, or homerecording but something more that people have to apply to their lives.
“People today are so afraid of “making the wrong decision” that they don’t do anything at all.”
Keep doing what you do! I do not agree with everything you say, nor do I like how some suggestions for gear or the like come across as advertising. Still I highly appreciate that you do things your way, that you share your knowledge with us all and I want to thank you.
Greetings from Germany
Ben
Glad to have you around Ben.
Thanks for the reminders. I do alot of research and learning a out different methods and gear, but it’s true that experimentation with methods and gear are what has fast tracked my growth. I always say to clients it doesn’t matter how you get there, as long as it sounds good. Cheers
This fear of making mistakes holds people back in other areas, as well. I’m forever telling the relatively new drummer at my church that I’m not hearing him make enough mistakes at practice. If he’s not making mistakes, then he’s not trying to reach beyond what he can already do, which means he’s not growing. Being a new drummer, he still has a ton of potential for growth, but until he, until we, get past the stigma of making mistakes and learning from them, that growth will be a long time coming.
Great post!
Rob
For the sake of discussion… If you’re not hearing a lot of mistakes at practice, could it be possible that it’s because there aren’t any? I don’t know the entire scenario but if he’s been practicing on a piece for a while, it’s possible that he’s gotten it down and less likely to make mistakes… as the saying goes… “practice makes perfect”.
On the other hand, if the performance is so sterile… lifeless… and it drives you nuts, then that may be a case of avoiding making mistakes, then you have a point.
In general, we humans zero in on the negatives and tend to overlook the positives. I’m guilty of that. I need to give out more praises where it’s due.
That’s a really fair question. The simple answer is that he’s not making mistakes because he’s not trying anything beyond what he cam comfortably reach. When you hit a certain level that may be good enough, but he’s really a beginner, so I’m constantly encouraging him that we won’t get on his case for trying stuff he’s not capable of, yet. But, I’ve made it clear that I will get on his case if he always “plays it safe.” He’s a really good kid (I’m getting old, calling 25-yr-olds kids) and he seems to respond really positively to this kind of encouragement. It maybe helps that I’ve pointed out some of the mistakes that I make during rehearsal reaching for things that are a bit beyond me.
I love this approach. I have played in different bands for the past 20 years and I still experiment with every song I play. Even playing in pro cover bands I don’t play what the other guy played – I learn it, then bend it, then bend it some more. When I talk to young players and bands, I always ask tell them that I’ll never stop searching, even if I think I know, I do it anyway to see what happens. New to the recording thing (as you can probably tell from my current recordings!) I plan on taking exactly the same approach 🙂
Good is the enemy of great. You’re tempted to accept good and when I listen to music the better quality that I’m hearing the more emotional it becomes for me. And if you ain’t got emotion then what’s the point?
As a child, about 50 years ago, my parents tok me to the Detroit Theater Music Club to hear a virtuoso perform. There was a gorgeous gigantic pipe organ and an acoustic grand piano could be played from the organ keys (this was way before MIDI). The feature performer explained that he doesn’t need all this expensive equipment to sound good but it would sure help a beginner because playing a single note on that setup sounds magnificent.
A great player will sound great using just about anything. A novice needs fancy equipment for a chance to sound good.
This is a “wax on, wax off” moment. Question, “Master, what microphone should I get?” Answer, “Practice singing until you are a great singer.”
Question, “Master, what microphone should I get?” Answer, “Practice singing until you are a great singer.”
This is my new sig! LOL
I love this Article.. I tell people this all the time. Not necessarily just about music, but Life. The moment you start saying that someone or a group of people “should” be doing this or that.. you are perpetuating ignorance. Fantastic Advice and truly words to live by. Keep up the Good Work Brother!
Yep from now on I ignore all those who say “You should do this and that” which includes getting a job or taking “responsibilities”.
Thanks Graham, I love the process of learning a new thing and that is where I am at the moment with Mixing. You hit the nail on the head with this and I think this holds true for almost any area of life – we have to be confident in the decisions that we are making and not always looking for others’ approval. God gifted us all with unique abilities and made us to be creative beings, so we might as well exercise our creativity and use what He gave us, rather than just trying to copy someone else!
Absolutely! BTW Bob, I’ve totally been a reader of ChristianPF.com for years now! I noticed your gravatar and though you looked familiar. Thanks for your great site!
Great post. I’m guilty as charge. Need to screw more buttons and listening, instead of searching web for ideal settings etc. Thanks G
Great post Graham I agree with you because people is always afraid to fail and wants shortcuts to success but sometimes it won´t helps to grow the personal experience.
I recommend this awesome video TED about creativity don’t miss it!
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
this may darn well be the best TRR article ever published! i love it.
Realized that some months ago, thanks to you Graham. This Recording Revolution is helping people getting better, really better, not only imporving skills, but also helping people like me to find “our” way in this business. As always, thank you Graham!
Absolutely agree Graham. Its all trail and error method. Well that’s how I learnt. Never be afraid to experiment. 😀
First of all, an absolutely excellent source of information. I also know that your “bombardment” of information based in these types of emails can be overwhelming. However, for someone that has no idea of how to proceed based on a lack of experience, they may use a recommendation and emulate what sound they like. Altering from a base for some people is the only way. I teach technical subject matter and everyone learns differently. I would just ignore the questions and understand that left brained people will probably be more inclined to ask these types of questions. For what it’s worth.
Again, this is an excellent source of information and I appreciate your contribution to the mass as a whole.
Cheers..
Thanks graham for this great post
Eh. To me, that’s like when someone asks a guitarist about a gear-related tone question, and the response they get is “tone is in the fingers.” It doesn’t help the person asking at all. If Pensado “can teach someone how to get a great kick drum sound,” that may be enough help for the task at hand. If the sound starts getting better using Pensado’s tips, the beginner will begin to learn what a great kick sound is.
While I agree you shouldn’t need to answer ProTools over Cubase personal preference type questions, and stipulating that there is no ONE RIGHT WAY to do anything, there ARE some tried-and-true methods for doing things that can be a helpful starting point for a beginner, and can save them a lot of time. What Glyn Johns did with drums is became so commonplace, it is now called “the Glyn Johns method,” and it still works wonderfully. Why shouldn’t a beginner be pointed to something like that rather than groping around in the dark?
Yes, maybe having that info will prevent some “happy accidents” that they blunder into on their own. OTOH maybe the beginner will just waste hours of time on something you could have helped with in seconds as a “point A” to start with.
For example, micing an amp speaker. Of course there are many ways to do that, but why isn’t it helpful to say something like: “A very common (and inexpensive) method is to put an SM57 right up against the grill cloth between the center of the cone (for brighter) and the edge of the speaker (for darker). Move it around according to taste.” You can couch it as much as you want with as many caveats as you want about how many ways there are to skin a cat, but it gives them an actionable starting point. And that’s what beginners are looking for (IMO).
And that’s exactly why I created this website. I make suggestions all the time as starting points for people to emulate. It saves them time. But people need to take that a step further and experiment for themselves. So I agree 🙂
Several years ago after walking by my daughters piano every morning on the way to work I sat down and put my hands on the keys, I was hooked, my mistakes taught me that if you have a passion for sound you can play to an audience of one. Great post Graham.
This is great advice!
I am an amateur and I started only 3 years ago mixing electronica from loops and midi simply because I have wanted to do that for a long time.
I have moved through several inexpensive DAWs to settle on Reaper.
When the sounds I get are unsatisfactory, I have to first look at myself, what I’m doing. Only after that do I start considering more software or tools.
For example, I have finally gotten to the point where I am looking at a drum software purchase.
Love your blog, keep it up!
Cy
” The moment you start saying that someone or a group of people “should” be doing this or that.. you are perpetuating ignorance.”
Telling a group of teens with there pants down to their ankles that they should NOT run across highway traffic is not ” perpetuating ignorance”, it is sharing vital information…and this is an example, I am sure folks can apply it to other scenarios to show how WRONG this comment is in general.
“there ARE some tried-and-true methods for doing things that can be a helpful starting point for a beginner, and can save them a lot of time. ”
This is true, and most every one of them are covered in Mr. G FREE “5 Min” series…..and I feel for ya Graham.
You see these types of questions all OVER the net, and we feel it boils down to more than just fear, we call it lazy…really, Google your specific question and you WILL have all the answerer s that you need, INCLUDING all the “presets” that are used every day, for example…
How do you cut out mud in a muddy mix? (top of the list The Recoding Revolution)
How can I add punch to the bass & not cover up the kick?
Simple…but we feel that folks want to hear (read) someone explain step by step HOW to do something, this way when it does not work / sounds terrible they can say “It’s not MY fault, so-n-so told me to do it this way!”
Too lazy to do the work….
Good write up Graham, the best you have done in a few IMHO…
well whats right or wrong depends on who is on power. In EVERYTHING.
🙂
I know it sounds odd. But how do you think a recording in the car would sound. I can’t afford studio time and don’t have the space or privacy to record in the home. I’ve been thinking about it. Got a Sebring
I THINK it was Kevin over at Mix Coach that did / does this with guitar amp’s in a hatch back….works for him!
And as long as you are not driving while doing this, it should be safe… 😉 😎
Thank you for the time and thought you put into writing this article. It is appreciated.
This was one of my major barriers to overcome in my earlier years of purchasing software and equipment.
Thanks again,
James Dunlap
Composer
Good Post 🙂
This is the same with too much dumb questions in too many forums. They mess up good audio forums with such beginner questions. The problem with those peepz is, they are often too lazy to try something out, using cracked software and tryin to be a big producer w/o learning the basics and do some own science.
Thx for your work!
T
“The truth of it all is, the reason we ask “Should I?” questions is because of fear. We are afraid of screwing up. We’re afraid of not doing it “right.””
I have a saying; if you’ve failed nine out of ten times, you have succeeded….think about that one for a moment.
Unrelated to music, I just scored the most awesome job promotion where I work (if you live and breath in the US, you know my employer). A huge opportunity. I had been applying for and not getting other positions within my department. I am an Operations Project Manager type of person. The jobs I didn’t get I was well qualified for but I kept on running into persons applying that had more experience in how long they’ve led a team of subordinates etc. I could do the job and had led teams but just not as long. I was turned down a few times, Grrrr…then I had a recent opportunity for a project outside the department and the Project Managers were impressed enough that they pretty much ‘drafted’ me to the team. I’m now moving to our HQ, have a high exposure job doing exactly the kind of job I want to do AND I get paid more! Perhaps God had a plan.
Point being, I just kept on trying and eventually succeeded beyond what I hoped.
So, in the digital world of home recording…what do you have to lose?!?!?! Try it and mess up. Which DAW? They’re all good so do you homework and roll with one. I still use Garageband because I still haven’t maxed what I can do with it. Recording acoustic guitar? I just keep on mucking about to learn what are the ideal sounds I can get. What do I have to lose? It’s digital and free to try.
I am a big advocate of trying and failing. You learn and grow and improve. Which leads me to my other little saying I made up:
There is no such thing as failure, just previous attempts.
Good article. When I was new I asked all sortsa “Should I” questions to my friend and long time producer. Let’s just say eventually he snapped. Try everything instead of asking questions. If you fail then you know you’ll be saying.. hm. I shan’t. It’s like a painter asking someone, “Should I use this shade of blue?”
Your art, your choice.
Good analogy.
Great Post, Graham.
I really appreciate it a lot!
~Thanks again.
Michael
PS ~Now to dust off this dang computer and get to work!
Graham your so right!!! I used to think Gear was like magical! But only true application of the knowledge you gain is the only way to get better!!! As a newb I thought gear was the end all cause I had none. Now 3 Mac towers 2Mboxs, an Apollo, track16, MPC2500, countless midi comtrollers, synths and 2 mixers later….. I use only my pc, 40/40 mic, track16 and rockit 5 or my sennheiser headphones. All that other stuff is up for sell!!! (Well not all of it)
I have found that the gear I love is the gear I bought out of a need. Whether it was latency, talkback, CPU usage or software or hardware. It didn’t come from asking “should I?” But from trying and failing and asking…”How do I?”
Try try again. Cheers from Baltimore!!!
Stay Blessed
Well, if man has fear of mistakes, then the man has lost ability to enjoy playing (TO HAVE JOY IN PROCESS ITSELF). EVERYONE, “SHOULD I” QUESTION MAKERS: GO WILD AND DO WHATEVER YOUR IMAGINATION IS. Also there are several disvoverys in the world born out of “severe failures” (in real world case of how french fries were discovered) and in audio – Linndrum LM2. Synthesizers – subtractive synthesis (completely new instrument was born). Most of those “Should I” questions are just creative direction, not right or wrong, here.
“Most of those “Should I” questions are just creative direction, not right or wrong, here.”
How is that creative? The person asking is wanting someone ELSE’S creative input, and is not applying their own…
Graham you are absolutely the best guy for explaining things. You are naturally born Teacher. You should be nominated mate 😉 Thank you
Thanks Robert.
This is like going to McDonalds and the cashier lecturing you about cooking at home. After you learn common practice you can apply your own twists and flavors, seems like a slap in the face considering no one here invented mixing/recording but learned by imitation then grew from that point much like a child learning to speak. Ahh well maybe its just me
Awesome, and true article
I’ll just say it wasn’t possible for me to not get tied up in this question–hearing a completed track and having an imagination that meets with the finished mixes of Dave Pensado and Michael Brauer, it’s totally alien to work from scratch and not be able to actualize what’s actually there in mind for what I want to create at their level of quality
Because I know what it sounds like in my mind, and to begin with, I was desperate to be able to make things of that caliber and was limited on my resources, which led to that ‘should I’ anxiety especially when I’d hear how lousy of a final product I’d end up with in comparison
I still agree 100% with this article, and you’ve got my respect for putting this out there to encourage us artists in bloom with escaping that catch 22
please give me any solution. my ques is about audio recording through microphone..currently i am using audacity for recording.. i played a background music and listen through headphones and with mic i use to sing… but there is a problem.. when i have finished recording .. i played it and noticed that actually my recording do not match the audio.. i mean that at time of recording i sang at proper beats… but in output the background music remains same i.e. f9 but my recording slows down and mismatch the background audio.. 🙁 please suggest me any method to correct it 🙁 please..
please suggest as fast as you can..
actually i just have to record audio while playing background music.. pls.. suggest me..
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Awesome! I thought of it myself, but great to hear it out loud!
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