The Deli NYC #55 - Half Waif, NYC MixCon 2018

Clearing samples for use in music has become not
only a complicated legal process, but an expensive
one. So what happens when your production depends
on the implantation of “old” sounds?
Taking a chance on not clearing a sample is not always
an option if you want to be sure to you can get your
track out there (or actually make any money on it.) So
why not just take the time to create your own retro samples?
They’ll be yours to own. No legal issues. No funyc
mixcon 2018 - MIXING Tips
from
sonicscoop.com
Tip #2 How to“Vintagify” Your Own Drum Tracks and Loops
by Mark Marshall
ture conflict. And they’ll be 100% unique to your track.
To help you create even more convincing retro drums,
this article goes through some failsafe steps the author
uses to create convincingly old-sounding samples
for his own productions. You’ll even get to hear
some before-and-afters at the link below.
Here are some quick tips, for the in-depth article go to
http://bit.ly/VintagifyDrums
1. The most important part of emulating vintage sounds is getting
the instrument and the performance right.
2. Whether you’re recording live instruments, or starting with
sampled ones, keep in mind the sort of drum mic’ing that was
common in that time period - for instance, in the 1950s and early
1960s they didn’t use more than 2-3 mics on the drums (mono
overheads, kick and snare).
3. Tuning also plays a huge role in achieving vintage tones. For
example, the toms were often higher pitched and more open
than what a lot of modern drummers expect.
4. After you have a good drum balance happening, put a classic
compressor on the drum bus, like the UAD Fairchild 670 or
660. A little compression will do. We’re not just looking for dynamic
range control here, rather, the vintage flavor that specific
compressor adds.
5. Using plugins like UAD Studer A800, try to recreate the hiss
produced by the bouncing of tracks engineers were forced to
adopt in the years preceding multi-track tape machines - it’s
part of the vintage character.
6. Once you have the main sound down, try swapping samples
for kick and snare to see if they produce results that work better
in your song, but remember: the overhead is the star here.
Compressor plug-ins like the UAD Fairchild 670
or 660 [top] add vintage flavor to drums, while
tape emulators like the Studer A800 [bottom] add
tape hiss similar to the one heard in recordings
from the ’50s and ’60s.
32 the deli Summer 2018