Stemp's Studio LLC

21/10/2021

I did some tweaking on my website, let me know what everyone thinks.

https://www.stempsstudio.com/

20/10/2021

Check out Gab Chi's album https://theunfinishedmusicresearchprogrammelondon.bandcamp.com/releases

It's very atmospheric and very dynamic.

11 track album

18/10/2021

Here's a short video where I go over setting up a mastering session.

13/10/2021

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse by saying this but, due to the amount of mixes I've received in the past that were close to clipping, I feel the need to say it.

Stop recording so hot and stop making your mixes so hot.

In the old days when music was tracked to tape, the rule of thumb was to record as hot as possible without clipping. This was to escape the noise floor inherent in tape.

In early 16 bit digital recording, that rule also applied as that also has a high noise floor.

Nowadays with recording done in 24 bit, the noise floor is very low. You can get away with very quiet recordings.

So don't record hot and don't focus on making your mixes loud, focus on making them sound dynamic and amazing.

07/10/2021

I've noticed A lot of studio pics online that show quite a collection of gear, sometimes $10,000 worth.

What I have also noticed is a startling lack of acoustic treatment in these studios.

As a musician, when you seek out a studio to produce your music, what matters more to you? Lot's of gear or lot's of treatment?

18/05/2021

My grandpa used to paint cars for a living.

Being a perfectionist, he was always finding little flaws in the paint job.

But he often ran out of time and couldn't fix them all.

He would give it back to the customer expecting them to pitch a fit about the flaws.

But often they'd go, "that looks awesome!" And drive off.

It's the same with your music.

Often flaws that are apparent to you, aren't even noticed by the listener.

18/05/2021

Exporting your tracks as mp3s is a horrible idea.

MP3s, unlike WAVs, are a compressed format.

Information that doesn't seem too important is discarded.

Now as a playback format MP3 is fine, because the information lost won't really be noticed.

But when you're getting tracks mixed or mastered, there's either going to be plugins applied to it.

Or it's going to be run through analog gear, or a mix of both.

Plugins are applying digital signal processing to your tracks, that's going to compound the lossy compression.

Analog gear involves converting from digital to analog and back again.

A lossy process that isn't a big deal when your working with 24 bit WAVs.

But it's a big deal when you're working with lossy compressed MP3s.

And then when that's all done, if you upload it to streaming, guess what's going to happen?

The streaming service is going to re-encode it in a lossy format of its choice that follows its standards.

So really if you're a musician or producer, you shouldn't be dealing in MP3s at all.

Your music should stay as a 24 bit WAV all the way through being uploaded to streaming.

Let the streaming services convert your music into a lossy file, they know what they are doing.

18/05/2021

CD may be dead but the need for physical media sure isn't.

I've got a buddy who's really into Gretta Van Fleet.

One year a mutual friend bought him a copy of their album on vinyl.

It's the same one he listens to on Spotify all the time.

But he was overjoyed by the gift.

Even though i'm pretty sure he doesn't have a record player.

Streaming is awfully convenient, but there's a lot of people that miss the physicality of music formats.

Vinyl is a very neat, retro medium, and it doesn't sound too bad.

It's the perfect collectors piece for fans.

So while releasing your music on streaming is a necessity, vinyl I would argue is also just as important.

18/05/2021

Does your music feel like an expensive hobby?

You've probably poured your heart and soul into your music.

But it doesn't quite sound like it belongs on spotify next to your favorite artists.

It's because your music is missing crucial final polish.

Mastering.

Now, mastering isn't a dark art, but it does require a certain mindset.

And really it requires a dedicated objective environment.

But I have both of those things.

I provide organic analog mastering that turns your great mixes into great songs.

07/05/2021

I once tried to master my own music.

Without any professional training, and without a proper listening environment.

All I had were a few online tutorials and a pair of nice headphones.

As you can probably guess, it didn't go so well.

I used headphones because I didn't trust my listening environment.

If you have some experience mixing, you know mixing on headphones is a no no.

It's the same with mastering.

And that wasn't even the worst part of my attempt at mastering.

I had no idea what to do with an eq in the mastering phase.

All I really did was screw up the phasing of the tracks with a stereo widening plugin.

Then ruin the mix with a multiband compressor.

It was probably the lowest point I've ever been with my productions.

Since then I've learned how to master properly.

I've learned how to set up an objective environment with objective ears.

That took a lot of dedication on my part.

So if you want to master your own music, you have to dedicate an environment, and part of your mind to it.

Or you can go to a professional that has done just that.

23/04/2021

Are you having trouble with your mixes?

A Lot of artists record and mix themselves nowadays.

At first it seems easy, but the nerves quickly set in.

You keep obsessing over the details of your mix, wondering if it's good enough.

What you need is a set of objective ears to go over your mix.

I'm a mastering engineer, I give your mixes that final polish to prepare them for release.

Part of that process involves making sure the mix is the best it can be.

And when it isn't, I push back with clear instructions on what exactly to fix in the mix.

So if you're feeling nervous about your mix, just go ahead and send it to me.

It's probably a great mix, and can be turned into a great track once I'm done mastering it.

But if it isn't, I'll work with you to get it there.

23/04/2021

I'd like to talk for a minute about Limp Bizket.

They're certainly a polarizing band, but I don't want to talk about that.

I simply want to mention what happened when I was listening to their first album in my car the other day.

One of the songs had horribly tracked drums.

It's not something most people would notice.

But it sounds like the drums were simply recorded with a room mic, and nothing else.

You can hear the whole kit, but the drum kit doesn't have the punch that comes from close micing at least the kick and snare.

And then individually eqing and compressing them accordingly.

But you know what?

I bet nobody else listening to the record noticed.

I work on music for a living, I have to have a critical ear for the production side of music.

Most of your fans aren't me, they don't know how to properly mic up and track a drum kit.

And they don't actually notice if said drum tracking was done 100 percent by the book.

Really all that matters to them is that the track sounds good.

What am I getting at with this story?

Your mix is fine.

The track you wrote, recorded and mixed, is probably great.

You're just bogged down by all the details of your track.

When you track and mix a song, you intimately go over every aspect of it.

I've run into this in the past with my own mixes.

You find a tiny part, and you think, "that's not perfect, people are going to notice"

They're not going to notice.

I'm not saying get lazy with the production on your music, far from it.

I'm just saying, people aren't going to pick apart your mix like you do.

03/03/2021