Essential Studio Effects and Processors

Recording & Mixing

Paul White and Hugh Robjohns talk us through four essential studio effects that every music producer or mix engineer needs to know for creating an effective mix, placing them in order of importance and giving an insight into how they can be used effectively.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:21 - Effect 1: Reverb
02:11 - Convolution Reverb
04:28 - Reverb Controls
05:53 - Using Aux Sends
08:00 - Effect 2: EQ
08:57 - EQ Filters
11:44 - The Shelving Filter
13:40 - Parametric EQ
14:17 - Cutting Vs Boosting
15:26 - Effect 3: Delay
16:21 - Where To Use Delay
17:40 - Effect 4: Compression
18:43 - Setting Threshold and Ratio
19:51 - Soft-Knee Compression
20:33 - Tweaking Presets
22:08 - Other Controls
26:02 - Parallel Compression
30:11 - Creative Modulation Effects
30:58 - Using Effects Sparingly

Paul White Biog
Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing.

He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.

Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!

http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/

Hugh Robjohns Biog
Hugh Robjohns has been Sound On Sound´s Technical Editor since 1997. Prior to that he worked in a variety of (mostly) sound-related roles in BBC Television, ending up as a Sound Operations Lecturer at the BBC´s technical training centre. He continues to provide audio consultancy and bespoke broadcast audio training services all over the world, lectures at professional and public conventions, and occasionally records and masters acoustic and classical music too!

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