Dave (solo): Jefferson Theatre + Live At Home Sirius Broadcasts (mastered by djamieb)

[samiota]

what happened to the dave speak in the jefferson theatre show? he doesn't say a word.

[benney]

Thanks for taking the time to do this

[djamieb]

Originally Posted by samiota

what happened to the dave speak in the jefferson theatre show? he doesn't say a word.

Hi! The full show is still available on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4mqdVHk-Vs). That includes all the DaveSpeak you're after. I just did a version where it's all music so it flows from song to song.

Originally Posted by benney

Thanks for taking the time to do this

You're most welcome!

[Xcacel]

Originally Posted by djamieb

Hey, bud! Thanks again for the compliment, first off. I appreciate that! And sure, I’d love to try to answer the questions you wrote!



I’m also on a Mac, and I’m using Logic Pro X, which I love.



To spread the stereo image a bit, I’m using a plugin during mastering that spreads specific frequencies further out to the left and right channels rather than coming right down the middle - this helps create more of a stereo image with those different frequencies popping out in both the left and right channel. It makes the sound more enveloping and truer to how our ears actually hear music.



Great question. A bit of light compression, or “glue compression”, helps to catch some of the transients or “spikes” in an audio file so that they don’t overwhelm the listener or stick out in an obvious way. Transients can be anything from the initial crack of a snare drum that lasts just a microsecond, to a guitar strum that was too heavy, or a single note being sung a little louder than every other note in that phrase, etc. Doing a little bit of compression helps to catch those sharp bursts of audio and tame them down so that they don’t jump out of the mix and distract you from everything else. It means the compressor is only really catching the big transients that last a microsecond, bringing them down in volume to match the music around it. This allows for a much smoother listening experience, where you don't feel like you need to constantly have your finger on the volume button in case a loud part is about to happen.



I haven’t made a tutorial, no. Maybe I will someday! There’s tons of good resources out there on compression and stereo spread, though. I'd also look into dynamic EQ - it's basically like an equalizer compressor, where it only kicks on when certain frequencies get louder than the threshold you set. For example, if there’s only certain parts of a song where an instrument hits a boomy frequency, like when a guitar/bass note creates that whoooom sound, you'd set up a Dynamic EQ to lower the volume on that specific frequency ONLY when that frequency crosses a certain volume. That’s how I learned this stuff - tons of research, reading articles, watching videos and masterclasses online, and asking friends who are in music production.

As far as plugins that I think are essential to get started with basic mixing (this is by no means comprehensive, but these are 2 tools that I use on absolutely every single mix) - get a good compressor and a good dynamic EQ. Waves is a company that makes excellent plugins for people of all different levels of experience and they often have sales so you can get their plugins for around $30-$35 each if you’re patient. A good starter kit would be the Waves CLA-2A compressor and the Waves F6 Dynamic EQ. I’ve used those on so many mixes; they both make it really fast and easy to dial everything in.



Sure thing! Hope that makes sense and that it helps!!

Fantastic explanation.
It is beyond my capacity, mainly in terms of time consumption to get the tools, which are pro-tools: I did the learning for video-editing a while ago, and it took a while, to master the basics. It is quite similar, I guess.
Anyway you opened a new world to me, thanks.

[djamieb]

Originally Posted by Xcacel

Fantastic explanation.
It is beyond my capacity, mainly in terms of time consumption to get the tools, which are pro-tools: I did the learning for video-editing a while ago, and it took a while, to master the basics. It is quite similar, I guess.
Anyway you opened a new world to me, thanks.

My pleasure, bud! Glad it helped!

[Pottsy]

djamieb,

Your work on all of these has been excellent! Before I download off dreamingtree, are you planning on cleaning up the Dave/Carter Warehouse session? Because if so, I’m going to wait for that before snagging the one out there already. Thanks again!!

[Charlesp]

Thanks Jamie, these are excellent!

[djamieb]

Originally Posted by Pottsy

djamieb,

Your work on all of these has been excellent! Before I download off dreamingtree, are you planning on cleaning up the Dave/Carter Warehouse session? Because if so, I’m going to wait for that before snagging the one out there already. Thanks again!!

Thanks very much! I appreciate it!

And nah, you should go ahead and snag the Dave/Carter Warehouse session if it's out there on dreamingtree. It was already mixed and mastered for the video that The Warehouse put out; they did a terrific job with it, so I think that's fantastic as-is.

Originally Posted by Charlesp

Thanks Jamie, these are excellent!

My pleasure!! Thanks for the compliment!