Re: [Harp-L] EQ'ing for harp

["john merx" <mxharpguyl@xxxxxxxxx>]

Nice. You're a towel. That's a great bit o history there and much
appreciated.

On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 12:42 PM, Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
> >?  I recently used a mixer that had 2 knobs for mids. I know that
> >basically, harp players usually turn up bass and lower trebles, but what
> >do ya'll do with your mids?
>
> I can't recommend this enough: monkey with the knobs until it all sounds
> good to you. Or at least take the advice you get here as merely a starting
> point.
>
> When I got my first recording rig in 1996, Samplitude Studio for the PC, I
> figured I'd call all the engineers I knew who owed me favors and they
> would
> give me some of their recipes.
>
> HA!  It wouldn't matter if you saved a family member from certain death,
> engineers do not tell you anything useful unless you work under them for a
> long time.  Trade secrets are trade secrets.
>
> I was a little bummed at first, but then it occurred to me: my whole life
> as a musician has been about NOT sounding like anyone else, about
> developing my own approach and then developing a new one.
>
> So I dove in and came up with recipes of my own.
>
> There are too many legends about what is right and what is wrong.  Always
> go with the opposite of what people tell you is wrong and develop from
> there.
>
> Here's an example of why you should go with your ears.  I played my first
> recordings for a guy I worked with who was a soundtrack composer who
> engineered his own recordings.  His axe was guitar and he was a monster,
> and he really knew alot about recording guitar.  I was kinda hoping he
> would give me some pointers.
>
> He listened to a few tracks in great stillness.  After that he looked up
> and said "Your guitar sounds incredible.  What mic did you use?"  I told
> him that I had a piezo on my Martin D-18, and I just went straight into
> the
> computer with a cheap direct box.
>
> "No, no, really, what mic did you use?"  I wasn't kidding, I just went
> direct.  He told me that wasn't possible, that it was universally known
> that going direct with an acoustic guitar produced a lousy sound.
>
> I'm glad I didn't know that when I was mixing that record.  I don't think
> this guy ever believed me.
>
> You'll learn alot more about how to eq your harp by playing with it until
> it sounds great to you.
>
> A friend of mine, one of the engineers who kindly let me develop my own
> approach by not telling me anything useful, worked as a tape op at Bell
> Sound in NY in the 60's.  At that time, if you looked at the Billboard
> chart you'd often find that 75% of all the records on it were either
> recorded, mixed or mastered at Bell.  There were four studios, each the
> fiefdom of a genius engineer.  Nobody else was allowed to engineer in
> those
> rooms, just the one guy.  Each guy had his own sound, one that had made
> many hits.  You hired the engineer and the room because you wanted his
> sound.  You didn't ask how he got that sound.
>
> My friend assisted one of the geniuses.  The first day he was in the room
> he couldn't help but notice that a towel hung in front of the Pultec
> compressors.  Nobody was allowed near the compressors.  The settings on
> those things was a key to the engineer's recipes.  It took months before
> the engineer trusted him to see the settings and to adjust them at his
> instruction, when necessary.
>
> Arrive at your own settings and then hide them behind a towel.
>
> K
>
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