Category: Resources

The 7 System Dwarves

The 7 System Dwarves

The official mascots of Rational Acoustics. These seven little gremlins like nothing more than to give your sound system their own distinctive voice. Sure, they’re friendly enough when encountered as a balanced group, but hanging out with any one of them for too long can drive you to distraction — or worse. Don’t be fooled by their diminutive stature and (sometimes) cute appearance — these little offenders have a long rap sheet filled with everything from simple charges of disturbing the peace to more flagrant offenses like system hijacking and mix vandalism

Sound Design Live — Between The Lines

Interview with Michael Lawrence from Rational Acoustics and Live Sound International about fighting feedback while mixing monitors from FOH.

Sound Design Live — Between The Lines

I was a guest on the Sound Design Live podcast hosted by Nathan Lively. We talked about mixing monitors from FOH, workflow, and how I’ve mostly (but not completely) managed to avoid artists vomiting on my mics.

Tips & Tricks — The Pultec Passive EQ Collection | Universal Audio

Tips & Tricks — The Pultec Passive EQ Collection | Universal Audio

It’s almost impossible to walk into any commercial studio and not see at least one Pultec EQ in the rack. In production from the early 1950s to the early 80s, Pultec EQs have played an integral part in nearly 50 years of recording history — from tracking to mixing to mastering. Universal Audio has recreated three classic models from the Pultec line with the Pultec Passive EQ Plug-In Collection: the EQP-1A Program EQ, the MEQ-5 Midrange EQ, and the HLF-3C Filter Set. All offer a ton of practical and musical possibilities.

UAD offered up some settings to show off the Pultec EQs. I made some presets for Logic Pro X ‘Vintage EQ’ plugin. Similar results when I pass the audio through the Logic built-ins.

Settings Vintage Tube EQ — UAD.zip

The Difference Between VCA and Sub-Groups in Mixing

The Difference Between VCA and Sub-Groups in Mixing

by David Bawiec, iZotope Contributor July 24, 2019

VCA and sub-groups are useful tools in your mixing practice, but serve different purposes.
VCAs and sub-group busses can be easily confused. Here’s your primer on the difference and when it makes sense to use one vs. the other.

The examples are from Logic Pro X. In a simple sense Logic implements Folder Stacks as a VCA and Summing Stacks as a Sub-Group. By using the stacks you get convenient “tracks” in the Arrange/Tracks window.