Music Recording and ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement)

Here is a clip of a recent project. All the recording was done by me. I isolated the vocalist in a booth using a Neumann U87 as a cardioid microphone. I then used a side chain compression technique with my out board gear which was the Avalon 737. After I added EQ to his main vocals and the compression vocal track. The compression vocal track slightly panned to the right and up half as loud as the main vocals. After creating the main vocal stem I then applied online volume automation to give the vocals a realistic sound by replicating the changes in sound pressure coming from his voice. I then inserted my Ozone by Isotope plug in onto the main stem and began applying my mastering techniques onto the over all mix. The built in class A tube pre amp in the Avalon and the large diaphragm on the U87 combined really gave me that warmth and punch I was looking for in the talents vocals. All inputs were tracked into the Duality SSL board. I bypassed the on board SSL compression, and used the Avalon 737 instead.
       
          

My Sound Design Work on The Animated Movie "Sintel"

Here is a short clip played after an introduction that I've created with my logo. All the sound fx, foley,  music scoring and environmental sound is designed by me. During the fight scene I chose to use a lot of foley, and no music so that the audience can feel how intense the battle is between these two individuals. You can hear the breathing, the footsteps, the wind blowing through the mountains, and the metal of the swords banging as they fight for the death. All sounds were recorded and designed by me, through Pro Tools 11 DAW (digital audio workstation). With Pro Tools I inserted a virtual instrument Rewired with Reasons Propellerhead and used a 88 key MIDI controller to punch in my sounds and create my music over my previously made spotting session. The microphones that I've used for this particular project was the Neumann U87, a pair of AKG C414's, and the Earth Works. These audio signals went straight to my interface which is equipped with class IV dBx preamps while having the Waves Fairchild Plug in by universal audio inserted into my DAW system. Enjoy the show and don't forget the popcorn.

               

Most Recent Project in Music Recording

This is the most recent project I've worked on for artist Errol Space (R&B and Pop Sensation) from North Hollywood. The track was produced by Guru Doug. The song is written by Errol Space. Everything was recorded, mix and mastered by Victor Nguyen (2riffick). This song is real interesting. When you listen to it, you think its a love song about a certain individual, but its actually about mother nature. In this session I used a Studio Project C1 cardioid condenser microphone, going into a dbx type IV pre amp side chained with the Pre Sonus studio channel to get that warmth from its class A built in vacuum tube. The outcome was just as expected. I had to adjust the compression / parametric EQ controls accordingly on the Pre Sonus Studio channel, but once I did that, the sound was flawless. I beefed up the lead vocals with some of the techniques I spoke about on my blog titled "Create a Fuller Sound on Your Lead Vocals in Your Mix". This project was tracked, mixed and mastered by Victor Nguyen.

Outboard gear or software plug-ins?

You want to weigh out the pros and cons. If I got to choose one, and only one between the two, it 

would be outboard gear. My opinion is a subjective one and Ill tell you why.  Outboard gear is appealing to the eye then plug-ins. Outboard gear doesn't use processing power from your computer. They also have their own internal processing to prevent the computer from overloading. You're less likely to run into any glitches, or technical problems during a live show or recording session. The cons that I see in outboard gear is the bulkiness of all the equipment. In a studio environment the equipment can usually stay in the same place depending on how you have everything patched, but, in a live sound environment, you're moving equipment from show to show. Outboard gear is always more expensive then the plug-ins, because it cost more for the company's to build the physical devices rather then creating them virtually. Plug-ins can be great. You don't have to worry about carrying them anywhere. Download them on to your drive and use them as virtual gear on to your DAW (digital audio workstation). They don't cost as much as the actual hardware device and they take up no physical space. You can use them in live sound or even in the studio. The cons I see with this, is the amount of processing power it uses up. So if your going to stock up on plug-ins you better have a computer with lots of processing power. Another problem that you can have with plug-ins are the possibilities of running into glitches. Its running off digital software instead of pure analog signal processing. Use these pro and cons figure out what you need according to your profession.

Which Compressor Do You Use in Your Studio?

Your microphone first of all, is most important before even thinking about the compressor. In a situation when recording vocals use a condenser microphone. They have a greater frequency response, dynamic range and sensitive to change in sound pressure then most other microphones. A microphone that I would recommend for vocal recordings would be the Neumann U87. If you're looking for something that can fit into a smaller budget, I would recommend the "Studio Project" C1. I own this mic as well and use it quite often. Now you need preamps. Control boards and interfaces have built in preamps, but you want preamps that are reputable in the world of recording vocals. In this case I have a Lexicon U82s interface. This interface is equipped with class IV Dbx  preamps running on a high voltage supply to ensure a nice clean signal running from the interface into the DAW (digital workstation)  and a wide dynamic range. Now with a good condenser mic and some great preamps, we can get to the compressor. The compressor I would recommend, would be the "Avalon 737". This has a class A preamp using two vacuum tube triodes. Vacuum tubes are perfect for vocals giving them ultimate warmth and sheen. The preamps on the Avalon'sare amazing. Very low noise, considering that they are running on vacuum tubes. If this seems to be something that can not fit in your budget at the time, then I would recommend the "PreSonus Studio Channel". This Also runs off of a Class A tube pre-amplifier and has a built in compressor and parametric EQ .