Mackie Tracktion 3

[John Bell]

I have been using fader automation to clean-up a demo recording of DEAD BY TEN, recently recorded in my studio.

Tracktion 3 is so easy to use, but the remaining bugs really do mess you around.

So that I still have manual control of all of the track volume faders, I used a second set to use as soft mutes, that I automated to cut out unwanted drum and guitar noises.

All was going great until one of the additional automated faders suddenly stopped responding, but the original one did respond.
No matter what I did it wasn't having it, so I had to swap them around, without disturbing the automation curve and points.

I got there in the end, but it's these gremlin bugs that spoil what is otherwise a very user friendly recording software.

Also, as I am using an iMac Core Duo, I cannot allow the CPU meter to get any more than 35%, otherwise it throws a wobbly.

I case you are wondering about the name of the band, they are apparently light-weights when it comes to drinking, so by ten o'clock in the evening, they are hammered.

Cheers, John.

[John Bell]

Dead By Ten, collected their re-mixed demo CD's last night.
I had managed to complete the changes that they had requested and they were very pleased with the results.

They are now off to do their own duplication and in-lays and then distribute them to suitable live music venues, in the hope of getting some gigs.

These are live takes with no overdubs or comping, with just a bit of editing to remove unwanted noises and the odd mistakes.
It was not mastered, with just an IK Multimedia analogue limiter plug-in on the main output, to control the peaks, prior to normalizing.

If I engineered their live sound at their gigs, I could achieve that overall sound for them. John.

[John Bell]

Jaywalkers recorded their second demo in my studio yesterday.
5 tracks of their own compositions from their 4 piece outfit.

I recorded the full band and lead vocal, using low monitoring, then overdubbed the backing vocals and additional lead guitar parts using head-phones. It was their preferred way and produced a great live sound.

The band were very pleased with the basic tracking mix with no filters and the Tracktion 3 software did everything that I asked it to and nothing else. It was a very productive and happy session.

I am looking forward to mixing it down.

[John Bell]

Rory (BASS) visited my studio on Saturday, to advise on the mix-down the Jaywakers demo session.
After 4 hours working on 1 song, adding level and reverb automation, he was satisfied, but realized it was not as easy as he first thought. However, he did like Tracktion 3.
The other 4 songs will have to wait until the new year, but in the meantime, I will use any spare time to mix the others in the same manor, until Rory has time to re-visit. John