Recording

How to Improve Your Home Recordings Using Acoustic Treatment

You often see them in sound booths, movie stages, and high end studios and they look like strange structures coming out of the wall...but what are these things?

Usually made of spongy or wooden material, they act as more than just a neat wall decor!

Acoustic treatment is a common practice in sound engineering which prevents unwanted frequencies from bouncing around your studio like a kid on a sugar rush. Sometimes in a standard room, the audio frequencies need a place to go so they travel and bounce off reflective surfaces, like your walls or floor. This can lead to muddy mixes, poor audio quality, and a poor understanding of what you’re actually hearing.

 

How does it work?

Acoustic treatment has multiple different forms to tackle its different opponents. Basic absorption is generally used to remove higher frequencies. These tend to look like pyramid or triangle formations sticking out of the wall and they do a great job at absorbing unwanted sound energy from the high end. 

But what do you do about that nasty low end?

It’s often annoying when your neighbours are having a party, and all you can hear is the roaring bass pumping through the walls.

In a process called “bass trapping”, engineers will equip bare corners of a room with bass traps  to create what’s called a “standing wave”. These are corner foam pieces that are designed to trap lower frequencies and keep the sound tidy.

And for everything in between, there are diffusers. These are oddly shaped treatment devices that rely on sound dispersion as opposed to absorption. To put it simply, these guys spread out the sound energy in various directions to avoid direct sound travel. It’s why standing in a gym tends to sound more loud and noisy compared to standing in a movie theatre.

For more information on how acoustic treatment works, here is an article from IntechOpen on acoustic materials.

But how can you apply acoustic treatment for your home studio?

 

Can You Build an Acoustic Diffuser…

There are many ways to equip your studio with an acoustic diffuser, but they don’t come cheap.

Amazon is currently selling home studio diffusers for $35 per square foot. But there must be an easier way to do this!

SoundAssured has an article covering the building process of an acoustic diffuser for under $20! You can find the article here.

For the most part, home studios mostly need absorption of mid-range frequencies. These are the frequencies that tend to mud up our mixes and sound. The easiest approach to constructing a midrange acoustic diffuser is to build what’s called a “skyline diffuser”.

This is best described as a single piece of wood with various lengths of foam rectangles protruding out. 

 

Conclusion

Acoustic diffusers are a common tool in the industry when it comes to basic studio sound design. Though when the truth is told, it is best to seek professional assistance when working in or building your home studio projects. If you have any questions or concerns around sound engineering and other services provided by Jony Studios, feel free to ask us in the comments!


If you need further help creating your own music, we offer audio production services that will help you elevate your sound and bring your song to life!

We look forward to being a part of your success.

Contact us here to get started.

 

How to Master Your Song on a Budget

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It comes as no surprise that automated mastering has changed the way artists produce and release their music. Gone are the days of investing your hard earned money towards a fancy, over equipped studio, only to find out you’re still a few hundred dollars away from actually finishing your release! There had to be an easier, more affordable way for indie artists to get their music quality up to par with the industry without breaking the bank, and the market supplied!

With services like eMastered, LANDR, and Aria the mastering process has never been easier or cheaper! Now for a small fee, artists can employ their very own “virtual engineer” to take their finished song and make it radio ready. But this inevitably begs the question: 

“What service provides the best solution for me to master my track on a budget, and is it worth it?”

Short Answer:

It depends.

 

Let’s Compare

There’s no denying that every artist is different, it’s what makes you special! 

That being said, you wouldn’t master Snoop Dogg’s latest release with the same technique for Burt Bacharach! Ultimately there is no “formula” when it comes to mastering. This only catalyzes the question of “is it worth my money for AI to master my music?”

 

eMastered

 
 

Leading the market in artificial mastering, eMastered has made its way into the hearts of independent artists around the globe. The service recognizes the hesitation around trusting a website to master your audio, and has shown attempts to work around that to satisfy customers. 

With various genre specific settings, 100% high-res WAV file delivery, and free testing before purchasing a plan, eMastered takes that extra step in ensuring quality for their users.

But is it worth the price?

The most affordable plan comes in at $168 for a yearly subscription, and the cheaper price tag ultimately comes with a cost.

eMastered is currently unable to upload and master more than one audio file at a time, and does not include any digital distribution services. As a result, this ultimately leaves another bill to be paid down the road. So how can artists get good quality results without requiring additional distribution fees?

eMastered Pros:

  • Professional, high resolution delivery

  • Easy customization and adjustment

  • Payment not required to test functionality

eMastered Cons:

  • Digital distribution is not included

  • Slow processing rate per track

 

Aria

 
 

With the highest price point in the independent market, Aria is taking an alternative approach by embracing analog gear and techniques into their automated mastering service. 

With the biggest selling feature being their 100% analogue processing, it gives artists seeking an “authentic” sound an opportunity to have a real time studio master. This simple, yet professional approach justifies the large price tag of $19/song, pushing artists towards the $600/year plan at 10 songs per month. 

This option might be suitable for noteworthy artists such as Tom Walker and Phé, but admittedly for independent artists, it doesn't not provide distribution or much customization for the high price range. 

Aria Pros:

  • Easy to use

  • True studio quality

  • Analogue processing

Aria Cons:

  • High price range

  • Noncustomizable 

  • No digital distribution

 

LANDR

 
 

LANDR is currently standing as the largest competition for eMastered in the eyes of independent artists due to the low price and simplicity of the service. 

With a rate of $48/year for the basic package, it provides artists with unlimited, quickly mastered audio. However, LANDR currently charges additional fees for better audio quality outside of the lo-mp3 quality, which isn't supported on all streaming platforms. LANDR is providing the cheapest, quickest compression tool to bring your volume levels up to par without much distortion. 

LANDR Pros:

  • Low price point

  • Easy to use

LANDR Cons:

  • Low quality export

  • Costs more to boost quality

 

What to do?

When an artist is looking for the absolute best way to get their tracks mastered on a budget, there is no single answer that works for everyone. 

Every service definitely has their strong and weak points, but the answer really is in the eye of the beholder. No artificial intelligence will get close to what an authentic mastering service can provide. In the world of independent, self funded artists, automated mastering may be an easy way to save a few dollars but you’ll never reach the quality of an experience mastering engineers' magic touch. For more information on automated mastering check out this article by Sage Audio.

 

Conclusion

When it comes down to music quality, the final master of your track is designed to accent and enhance your amazing mix. Mastering is the final task of making a great song become an amazing song. 

As Nathan Allen once brilliantly stated,

“Songs that aren’t professionally mastered are like Ferraris with no paint jobs.”

To learn more about mixing, mastering and marketing services provided by Jony Studios take a look at the website and a follow on social media @jonystudios.


If you need further help creating your own music, we offer audio production services that will help you elevate your sound and bring your song to life!

We look forward to being a part of your success.

Contact us here to get started.

 

Where to Find The Best EDM Vocals

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Are you making your own music? Are you trying to find vocals to add to your remix? There are many amazing resources for vocals, especially edm vocals. Most of these vocals cater specifically for original music or remixes.

In this blog, we will go over where to find the best vocal samples for your music.      

 

Where to get the best EDM vocals - Original Music  

There are many amazing places to find EDM vocals, that you can use for your tracks and we're here to help! 

Here is our list for the best places to find edm vocals:

 

Looperman.com is a good resource for vocals. On this website you are able to find many vocals uploaded by artists from all over the world. But one downside is everyone is able to upload on the website so vocal quality is not the best. So in order to find good vocals you're going to need to do some digging. Additionally, the singers who upload acapella keep all rights over their creation. So you are able to use acapellas for non commercial projects but if you're creating something else you have to contact the artist. This means the vocals can  be downloaded for free, but they could not be free.     

 
 
 

 On this website you are able to license edm vocals right from the artist, it is also the only website when you can do this. Artists create and upload toplines, acapellas and vocals that they can license to you for your own use. The amazing thing about volclio is creators are able to brown and purchase edm vocals non-exclusively and exclusively.

Being able to buy vocals exclusively is a huge advantage over other edm vocal websites because other websites focus mostly on providing vocal samples - which can be bought by thousands of producers. With voclio, one can ensure they get an unique and original vocal.

Additionally, you are able to find vocals from real artists- like mickey shiloh (who has written for Britney Spears, Jason Derulo, Janet Jackson and many more).      

 

If you are someone who has been producing music for a while now you most likely know of Splice. This is a monthly subscription, that gives you thousands of samples and free loops. You can also find thousands of royalty free vocals, in their samples.

But there are not many full acapellas on Splice. This means the majority of the vocals are one shots, vocal chops, or phrases that can make it difficult to piece together the vocals into a song. But, that being said you can still find high quality edm vocals on Splice.  

 

If you use Splice then you most likely have used some Producerloop samples. They provide many contrasting sample packs for different edm genres. Additionally, they have a wide selection of sample packs that can be purchased, these sample packs have amazing vocals in them.      

 
 
 

Function loop has some breathtaking vocal sample packs. Most of them have amazing one shots, acapella and vocal chops to choose from. The acapellas are of great quality and even include some talented vocalists.  

 

Where to get the best EDM vocals - Remixes  

Looking for edm vocals for remixes? Check out our list below. 

 

Wavo is also a great place for remix competitions. They don’t offer as many competitions but do offer more famous songs for remixing. Recently they have had competitions with songs from artists like Seeb, Tritional, Galantis and many more!   

 

Spinnin’ Records competitions are known as one of the most desired remix competitions especially for producers. Many people say a release on Spinnin’ Records can kick start your career. Because of this reputation, they have very strict competitions. Even if you're not trying to win, they have a great selection of tracks that are available for remixing.

That being said there aren’t many tracks available at once, but the patience is definitely worth it as you will find some great tracks for remixing. Also, if your remix is good enough you could even get signed by Spinnin’ Records!  

 

Skio Music is a great place for vocal stems specifically for remixes. They tend to have a variety of remix competitions that anyone can enter, also vocals are available for purchase through credit. The songs they have to use for remixing are usually high quality but lesser known.   

 
 
 

This website is an amazing resource for dj’s. They have a section where one can buy vocals and also stems from a wide selection of tracks. Additionally, you can buy stems and that too for only a couple of dollars. But many of the stems accessible are not “famous” songs, but the tracks available are amazing!   

 
 
 

Kreasound.com is a website where it really depends on your luck. You could either find some great tracks for remixing or not find anything at all. But, you should check out the website every so often because they do have some great vocals.

 

Conclusion

This blog provides you with the best places to find vocals for remixes and original music. There is a wide range of options to help enhance your music.

If you’re still unsure of which vocals suit you best or if you’d like to create some, contact Jony Studios to get our expert opinion/use our professional skills.

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If you need further help creating your own music, we offer audio production services that will help you elevate your sound and bring your song to life!

We look forward to being a part of your success.

Contact us here to get started.