Workshop Modules
- Studio Diagnosis (from 1 hour): Benefit from Mike's expertise as a Sound On Sound reviewer as well as his wide-ranging experience of professional, project, and educational studios by requesting his opinion on your own setup. This module will comprise an on-site assessment of monitoring, acoustics, equipment configuration, and working methods, and will be followed up with a written report highlighting recommended improvements and suggestions for ongoing equipment procurement.
- Mics & Techniques For Vocals (2.5 hours): Learn what the most celebrated high-end vocal mics have in common, and how this knowledge can help you get the best out of your existing gear. Then discover why big-name producers so often don't use the 'standard' recording techniques commonly recommended in print. What do the professionals know that the textbooks aren't telling you?
- Achieving A Great Vocal Performance (1.5 hours): The quality of the vocal performance can make or break a record, and there's much more to capturing this than just setting up the mic. This module focuses on how psychology, session technique, and studio craft can help you get the best out of your singers, especially those with less recording experience.
- Mics & Techniques For Electric Guitars (2.5 hours): This module demonstrates the factors involved in miking electric guitars, from the simplest techniques to complex multi-mic rigs. On the way, you'll be introduced to techniques which have graced records by AC/DC, Guns 'n Roses, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Nirvana, QOTSA, The Rolling Stones, and many more.
- Mics & Techniques For Acoustic Guitars (2 hours): The bar is set high when it comes to acoustic guitar, and every different engineer seems to have their own way of recording this instrument. In this module you'll find out why different mics and rooms can help or hinder you; how you can navigate the guitar's frequency dispersion patterns; and what a range of different multi-miking rigs have to offer.
- Maximum Drums, Minimum Mics (2.5 hours): Setting up a dozen mics on your drum kit can leave you a lot of flexibility at the mixdown stage, but it's far from simple to get a good sound that way, even if you spend all day setting them up. What surprises many recording musicians is that numerous top-tier producers frequently capture the entire kit with only two or three mics, and their techniques will usually give much better end results in small studios within strict limits of time and budget. This module shows you how.
- Close-miking Kick & Snare (1.5 hours): For most modern music styles, the snare drum and bass drum rule the drum sound, and professional engineers have developed a bewildering array of techniques to catch them over the years. This module focuses on the factors at work, taking in mic choice, positioning, and blending, as well as kit preparation and baffling techniques.
- Mics & Techniques For Acoustic Pianos (2.5 hours): This module tackles the complex task of recording acoustic pianos, both grand and upright, for modern commercial productions. While important issues of mic choice and placement will be addressed in depth, you'll also learn how phase cancellation can impact on your options, and what steps you can take to deal with troublesome spill from other instruments.
- Recording Acoustic Ensembles In A Hurry (2 hour): An introductory module explaining how orchestras, choirs, folk groups, and other acoustic ensembles can be recorded in a straightfoward manner based around a stereo mic rig -- a technique well-suited to achieving good-quality recordings quickly and on a budget. The discussion will then be broadened to cover a number of supplementary techniques which can improve such recordings and deal with in-room balance problems.
- Ensemble Recording For Bands (3 hours): Recording a whole band in one go is a great way to catch inspired performances in the studio: no headphones, no click tracks, precious little overdubbing or mixing... just the musicians' natural energy preserved for posterity. The problem, though, is how to deal with spill between the instruments in this situation, because the more you try to get rid of it, the more you suck the life out of your mix. The solution lies in learning how to use spill creatively to enhance your recording, a method rarely encountered outside the most prestigious recording studios. This module explains how you can adapt this technique for the benefit of more budget-conscious small-studio productions.
- Stereo Mic Technique (2 hours):There are more than a dozen different well-established stereo microphone techniques -- but why? This module explains the reasoning behind these different rigs, and what the more exotic-sounding setups (Faulkner Array, Jecklin Disk, Decca Tree...) have to offer over the typical crossed/spaced-pair configurations used by most recording musicians.
- The CMT Shortcut Guide For Small Studios (4 hours): While the majority of CMT's recording modules go into depth about a specific instrument or recording situation, this module has been designed for those more interested in getting quick results across a wide range of common instruments. Based on his practical experience of the studio methods of the world's most respected engineers, Mike has hand-picked a shortlist of techniques which have consistently proven their worth even in cash-strapped studios and where time is tight. He'll deliver his verdict for drums, electric/acoustic guitars, bass, vocals, and piano, and will also provide potted guides to room treatment and phase problems. Following this, there'll be the opportunity to go into more detail about anything that's been covered, or to grill Mike on tactics for other specific instruments you're interested in.
- Track Spotlight (duration by arrangement): Mike's book Mixing Secrets For The Small Studio and Sound On Sound 'Mix Rescue' articles have established him as an expert in tackling real-world mixing problems. For this module, send him one (or more) of your own mixes in advance of the session and he'll then spend the agreed module time demonstrating the most important things you can do to take the sound to the next level.
- Live Q&A (duration by arrangement): An opportunity to seek advice on any aspect of studio production, including subject areas not directly covered through other modules. Given the intensive nature of CMT's workshops, it is recommended that at least 30 minutes of Live Q&A be added at the end of each module to allow for further discussion and clarification of the material covered.
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