Download - Casio SA-10 Basic EXS | Download Casio SA-10 Ultrabeat Preset

Any one using logic can load the EXS sampler instrument into the EXS24. This will save a few minutes mapping a basic drum kit. You still must download the wav files from the Bedroomproducersblog.com website.

I also added a basic Ultrabeat preset using the same wav files. The Casio SA-10 sounds are super retro when you start playing with them in Ultrabeats step sequencer. IMPORTANT: Remember there are no wav files included here. You must downloads them from Bedroomproducersblog.com. When you load the kit for the first time Logic will locate the wav files for the kits on your hard drive.

Most mixing engineers agree that the vocal is the most important part of the track but there are no hard fast rules when it comes to mixing. Some engineers will work on a mix and start blending everything from the start, others will take the vocal and work on it by itself for hours until it sounds perfect on its own. The way i approach a mix will often depend on the style of music I am mixing. With a style like dance music you might only have a few vocal tracks and if they are not just right there is no place for anything to hide. Hip Hop on the other hand the vocals are still important but the crowd will rock to a beat that is hitting hard weather the vocals are good or not. Hearing the vocal for the first time will also help you make that decision. The better the artists is the less will need to be done to it. No one spent hours editing Frank Sinatra’s vocals in Protools and then pitch correcting them with melodyne or autotune. The recording engineer put a a mic in front of him, he sang and it sounded good. If a vocalist doesn’t not have a lot of talent then your going to start with the vocal. Try both ways and see what works for you. Go slow. Stop and listen.

Peter Weis
Composer, Producer, Engineer

Here is a screen shot of the arrange page.

The actual wav samples can be any place on your hard drive and Logic will find them. The EXS sampler instruments files must be placed in your Sampler Instruments Folder.

1. You can find this folder by going to your Macintosh Hard Drive.

2. Next  open up the folder that say Library.

3. Next open the file that says Application Support.

4. Next the folder that says Logic

5. And finally the folder that says Sampler Instruments.

6. Drag the EXS files you downloaded to this folder.

7. When you open up the EXS instrument and browse your sounds you will now see these new EXS Sampler Instruments in there.

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Distortion on recorded tracks is one of the biggest problems I find when mixing music by people learning to record. Unfortunately the only real way to fix distorted tracks is to record them over. While you are recording vocals you want to make sure you are not capturing any distortion. In the following video I’m going to explain where distortion problem usually occur and some basic ways  you can prevent them. In the tutorial I’am using Logic Studio. If you are recording with another program like Protools, Cubase or Sonar the same principles will apply. What will be different are how your the levels will look.

Please leave comments and questions below. Your feedback is important.

An Example of what a distorted vocal track looks like compared to one  that is not distorted.

The top track has distorted parts. You can see the top of a few parts have a square shape to them. The bottom track in comparison is not distorted. Each part has a rounded triangular shape to it. Using this technique is a very easy way to spot distortion if you are having trouble hearing the difference.

Find The BPM Of A Beat Using Logic Studio from drumsandsounds on Vimeo.

There are many situations when using Logic Studio where you will need to find the tempo of a beat, instrumental or sample. Using Logic’s built in tools you can find the exact bpm of a track  so that it can be locked into the grid for easy editing. With an instrumental locked to the BPM tasks like copying and pasting parts become much easier. If you are doing production this also makes it easier to add additional parts and instruments on top of a sample.  You can follow the steps below while watching the video.

Find The BPM Of A Beat In Logic Studio
 

Import the track into Logic from Itunes or another location such as your hard drives, desktop or audio CD.

Next listen to the track and follow along while you count 2 bars.  When the beat starts you will count 1  2 3 4, 1 2 3 4.

With the scissor tools make a rough cut at the beginning of beat 1 of the first bar. Make another cut roughly where the 2 bar ends.

Switch back to the Arrow tool. Double click on the the section of the beat you just cut out. This will open that section or region in the Logic’s wav editor.

This is where you will fine tune your cuts so that the to bars loop perfectly. To do this drag the anchor point on the left lower corner to the start of beat 1. Usually there will be a kick drum sound here.

Move over to the right now and adjust the where the 2nd measure ends.

Preview the loop, and listen. Adjust the start and end points as needed so the loop sounds perfect.

When the loop is a perfect 2 bars go click back in the arrange window and select a loop area of 2 bars in the timeline.

Double click on the region one more to open it up in the wav editor.

From the FUNCTIONS menu select ADJUST TEMPO BY SELECTION and LOCATORS. Once you do this Logic’s tempo will change to the tempo of the loop.

Go back to the arrange window and drag the loop to the start of a measure.

Like everything in Logic Studio there a few other ways similar results can be achieved.

Please leave all questions and comments below.

Get your beats mixed for as low as $40 per beat.

Use the Save Copy As option in the File Menu and make sure all the options to include assets are checked.

This takes everything you need and stuffs it into one nice new folder that can be zipped.

After you are done zipping the file you can use one of these free online services to send the large file to another person.

YouSendIt.com
TransferBigFiles.com

Watch the tutorial and follow the steps.

Saving A Logic Session – Method 1 from drumsandsounds on Vimeo.

1. Always stay in record. Once the vocalist is in front of the microphone stay in record mode as much as possible. The perfect take my come at anytime. Typically musicians and artists tend to rehearse comfortably and then freeze up when the red light goes on. Lie. Tell them your not recording , just for them to practice. You’ll get lots of great takes to use in your final vocal comp.

2. Make adjustments to the microphone and artist. Moving the microphones distance and or direction from the artist can change the sound being recorded drastically.  Don’t over look the simplicity of this. Experiment with different amounts of space between the artist’s mouth and the microphone.

3. Solve your recording problems as organically and natural as possible. Before you reach for the pre amps and compressors to boost and limit signal ask the artist to take a step back from the mic or get closer to the mic. Encourage the artist to sing louder or softer as well to help you get a good level.

4. After a take of a section has been recorded mark it. Make notes of what phrases of a tke were really good and what parts were bad. This will only take about 5 seconds per take. this will save you a huge amount of time during the editing process

5. Make sure the artist is comfortable with what they are hearing in their headphones. Check from time to time during the session to see if anything needs to be lowered or raised. Every artists is different. Some artists want to hear the beat an almost none of theme selves as they are recorded, other singers or rappers might want the beat very low and their voice very loud. Give what they want and they will perform better.

6. Don’t make the headphones to loud. Loud headphones will be picked up in the mix
later on especially as track counts add up and vocals are doubled and tripled.

7. De Bling. Take off anything that can make noise during the recording. This includes jewelry, bracelets, cell phones, ipods, ect. There is nothing worse then having to trash and great take because some ones south park ring tone went off during the recording.

8. Try a different microphone. If you have more then one microphone available take a few seconds to try it. Different models of microphones and different patters will give a different feels to a recording.

9. Take command of the session. Never be afraid to tell the artist they need to back up from the mic, sing louder, or sing softer.

10. Make Changes. As the session goes on the artists will get more comfortable and louder or more tired and softer. Keep an eye on your levels and make adjustments to your pre amp and mic positioning as needed.

11. Watch out for reflections. If your vocal sounds strange you could be recording a reflection of the sound from something else near by.  Music stands are great at creating reflections because they are usually very close to both the artists mouth and the microphone. You can get a piece of felt fabric to cover the music stand to minimize this. Other causes of reflections can be near by walls or hard surfaced floors like wood or tile.

12. Make sure you are recording to the proper side of the microphone. If you pre amp is way up and things sound strange take a peek into the booth and make sure your microphone is facing the right way. I have a piece of tape with a happy face on it on the front of my microphones to make a clear distinction between the front and the back. Before you laugh you would be surprised how many times an artist gets in the booth and starts touching the microphone and playing with things.

When recording vocals it is very important to remember that small things add up to make the difference between a great vocal recording and an awful one.  Good microphone technique also does wonders for people recording on a budget. With a $200 microphone and a decent soundcard it is possible to get extremely high quality results recording in your home.