I was recording vocals and wanted to beef up the sound without a bunch of effects or anything, so I simply placed two different different microphones in front of her. I panned each mic slightly (very slightly) to the left and the right in the EQ and got a nice full sound with the varying differences of each microphone.

Also, I really recommend the SE microphone filter.. It does a fantastic job of taking the ambient noise from a room out of the sound.

Aha moments:

When I found out what flat reference speakers give you when trying to make a mix translate.

When I learned that no headphones will provide you with what you need to mix. But they can serve as a POINT of reference.

When I learned the value of the opinion of laypeople who just hear music and could care less about frequency ranges and “technique”. A truly visceral opinion.

If you can’t get to an SSL bus compressor, find a decent emulator. The effect it has on programmed hip hop drums is astounding.

When I realized the benefit of finding sounds I liked and dealing with them correctly versus layering garbage over garbage, hoping for a miracle.

When I learned the value of using sends to maximize the efficiency of my computer resources.

When I realized how to cut troubling frequencies early in a signal chain before adding compression can save you a lot of time and headaches.

Key hip hop: when I realized that the masses of beatmakers who swear by the analog properties of an MPC were probably not the ones to listen to (because MPC’s are actually midi all-in-one samplers and not analog at all)

Key hip hop: there is no such thing as a magical piece of gear that will turn you into Dilla, and some of the best beats you ever heard were made with the worst equipment/software ever. Learn to use what you have.

Aha moment: music theory is key, even if you are just using samples and drums. (You have to know how the bassline should go)

Basically, as an utter noob, every session yields “aha” moments that while many think are obvious and should go without saying, they should never go unmentioned. I bought a beat from one of the most noted BEATMAKERS in LA once, and asked for it tracked out so my engineer can set up the pro-tools session, he said “what’s tracked out mean?” the idea of separating the elements of the beat for mixing never occurred to him. If I said his name, you’d die. Some things that are second nature even to a non-producer engineer like me were alien to him, and he was 10 yrs in the game at this point.

First time routing out the ‘mics’ from BFD2 into Pro Tools aux tracks, and then slowly pulling up the OH, Room, and Ambient mics from negative infinite to taste.

First time I finally got the concept of phase.

When practical application of ‘attack’ and ‘release’ settings on compressors started to get demystified for me.

First time automating feedback on a delay.

The first time I got so into the zone in a mix that I found I had been unconsciously anthropomorphizing the tracks in my mix as characters in a kind of narrative.