Good Articles on Acoustics and EQ http://www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html Waves L1 but Free: http://www.yohng.com/w1limit.html Some interest: www.looperman.com (audio tutorials) http://www.hamptonplace.com/tonedepot/recocont.shtml (recording tips) MusicXP.net prosoundweb.com DIY Microphones http://prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/buildmic/buildmic_16_1.shtml http://www.jdbsound.com/art/art520.html http://www.linkwitzlab.com/sys_test.htm#Mic (higher max SPL) http://www.geocities.com/ferocious_1999/md/micpreamp2.html http://mp3forkidz.com/mic/ DIY MIcrophone PAD http://www.uneeda-audio.com/pads/ Drums for Hire HC: crypticglobe www.crypticglobe.com Recording Software: www.kreatives.org (Free) www.n-track.com (cheap) reaper Plugins: http://www.madtracker.org/plugins.php http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~thman/start.html Sound Proofing http://www.foambymail.com/Products.html Acoustic Treatment http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html Cheap Headphones: http://www.itrstudio.com/moreme.html http://headphone.com/ Mastering Services: http://www.xarcmastering.com/ http://www.har-bal.com/ htp://massivemastering.com http://www.euphonicmasters.com http://www.peerlessmastering.com/splash/ Digi 001 Info http://www.digidesign.com/products/digi001/ Multiple computers to spread out FX http://www.fx-max.com/fxt/ DIY Mic Preamps http://www.seventhcirclestudios.com/ The Project Studio Handbook http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm CHEAP Mics: http://www.speakerrepair.com/ (SM57/58 clones) http://www.sonshineaudio.com/ (OM-450 SM57/58 clone) http://www.shsint.net/ http://www.shinybox.com/ www.superlux.us www.red5audio.com EQ ON GUITAR: I usually find when mixing that i nearly always put a stereo Massenberg GML 8200 EQ across the rhythm guitars, if the sound has been recorded cleanly ie no strange fizz or bottom end boom, then the same type of frequencies tend to be boosted on most of my mixes. Frequency wise it's usually around 8-10 khz for the air 4-6 khz for the bite area, usually 1.5 khz for the in your face effect, 400hz for the note of the guitar, and around 70-100 hz to pick out the weight of the cab.The boost amount just depends on what has been recorded, just turn it till it sounds good. This method has worked on many albums i have worked on including Heartwork Carcass, Burn my eyes Machine Head, Chimaira self titled, Bullet for my valentine, The Poison. Plugin tip: For an amazing VST reverb (mac or PC) see www.artsacoustic.com - worth the price. I like all the stuff from www.kjaerhusaudio.com and www.voxengo.com In particular - the GEQ-7 eq is so smooth it will make you really hate your Cubase channel eq The GCO-1 compressor, or newer versions, is very nice Elephant2 is an amazing limiter - and the AnalogFlux Suite is worth it for the TapeBus alone - makes Magneto sound like crap. The chorus is brilliant too - it stopped me buying a real analog chorus, because nothing else sounding like an analog chorus until this came along. These third party plugins will totally transorm Nuendo. TIps: - snare seems a bit weak and dry compared to other drum sounds. you might wanna try to add more space feel and bottom end to it. one trick to create punchy kick/snare combination is to first mix the snare and kick the way you want, so that they make a good couple, and then add another drum track with only kick and snare (they should be dry). then compress it a bit with about 2-5:1, fast release and pretty fast attack. then mix it to a bit lower level than the original track. that should give a nice punch+life there. Guitar tip: Ok, as some of you will know I have been going to school learning about Audio Engineering. I have just learned a guitar amp miking technique that was developed by Mark Opitz who has recorded a lot of big Australian bands including: AC/DC INXS Cold Chisel So the guy knows how to capture a killer guitar tone. This technique takes a LOT of the guess work out and is almost infalible if followed ocrrectly, I will be honest and tell you I selfishly considered keeping this to myself, but here it is for all to share. Some of you will already be doing something similar to this - thats great. Some of you will just be placing mic's around hoping for the best sound possible... This technique will work on anything from a Fender Princeton to an ENGL stack. Hope this helps a few of you out.. Here it is: Firstly if you are using a quad box, you need to find the "best" speaker in the box and mic that speaker only. You will need: 1 Dynamic Mic - Sure SM57 1 Large diaphragm condenser - AKG C414 You can use any large diaphragm condenser provided it can cope with high SPL like a Neumann U87 or U47 Fet. The AKG has a 10db pad on the mic so always pad it down on the mic not at the desk. The Condenser mic compliments the 57 by capturing top and bottom end that the 57 can't hear. So the effect your getting is like a dovetail of the two mics. Now The critical aspect of this setup is to ensure that the mics are placed at RIGHT ANGLES (90 degrees) to one another. From above, the two mics form the tip of an invisible triangle, and this apex MUST correspond with the centre of the speaker cone. eg: spkr -------------- \ / m1 m2 The distance from the speaker determines the room component in the overall sound. Closer in achieves a tighter recording, further away increases the room component heard by the mics. Facing the amp from directly behind the two mics you should be able to see the centre of the speaker cone through the crack between them. To accurately see the speaker behind the mesh grill use a small torch. Unlike a lot of studio mic set up's this technique must be dead on the centre line this way the top end of the speaker is captured by the mics but without a sharp, unnaturally bright sound that you would get by facing the mic dirrectly at the speaker, because they are at 45 degrees to the top end source and capturing the body of the speaker also. We're now facing directly at the bottom end emenating from the speaker. In an x/y config where the two capsules are EXACTLY the same distance from the speaker, and INSIDE the radius of the speaker (i.e closer to the speaker than the distance from the centre of the speaker to its outer edge), the mics will effectivly be facing the two sides of the inwardly projecting paper cone. Once the mics are placed in their visually correct position (don't assume this will sound right yet), make sure they are working by bringing them up in the studio monitors panned to the centre (mono). Once the two mics are at similar volumes in the monitoring, flip one out of phase and fine tune their positioning until they start to substantially cancel each other out (the out of phase character should sound thin and horrible compared to the in-phase tone). Then flip them back in phase and BANG, there's your guitar sound! With this technique you should find that the sound you get from the amp is exactly the same as the one you'll get in the control room. Good Luck Cheers -Ben