I Have GOT to Stop Clicking on YouTube Recording Tip Videos

[Anderton]

It just gets me upset. Yeah, there are some good ones, but jeez, they are so effing rare it's ridiculous. I can't believe the deluge of weirdass misinformation from people who've never had a record they worked on chart in their life.

 

My other beef isn't with the people doing the videos as much as with the cluelessness of the people watching them. I mean, you think most people would know by now that if you hold Shift while moving a control, it fine-tunes it...right? So I saw a video where a guy gave this as a tip, and there were a zillion comments about what a great tip this was, how it changed their lives, etc. Again, no diss on the person giving the tip - but he sure has a much better handle on how few people read manuals, or even bother to look up the list of keyboard shortcuts, than I do

 

I really don't want to sound like "hey kids get off my lawn," that's not what this is about. There are "kids" out there doing scary creative things with recording tools. Some of the best tip videos I've seen have been from people under 30. They've never had a hit record, they've probably never worked on a hardware mixer, but they have an insatiable thirst to find out cool stuff. And there are plenty of older people who lost that insatiable thirst, assuming they ever had it in the first place.

 

But overall, I honestly can't figure out why people are interested in recording if they think it's a paint-by-numbers thing where if they call up presets and believe "pro tips" that's all they need to do. I'm glad if they're having fun doing what they're doing, but I can't help but feel that in a year or so, they'll realize that the music they're making sucks, and so they'll move on to something else. Whereas if they'd just been THEMSELVES, they would probably find what creativity is all about. It's not listening to someone tell you how to twist knobs, it's about twisting knobs to find out what they do.

 

The present's so wrong...the future's where I belong.

[Joe Muscara]

Are there any good ones/channels you do recommend?

[KuruPrionz]

I watch one here and there.

I just learned from you about the shift key trick!

 

Last night I watched Warren Huart discussing how 10cc made "I'm Not In Love" and that was interesting.

I don't see myself ever doing the things they did but it is inspiring to ponder the idea of using our tools in new and different ways.

 

There is still much that has not been explored.

 

In the end, either the music is good or it isn't. With so many people attempting to create music now, mostly it isn't good.

At the same time, the money they spend may engender R&D that provides new and interesting tools or at least better tools at more attainable prices.

 

For me it's not a problem if people are exploring things they don't turn out to be good at or decide not to invest the time in.

There was only one way for me to know that I wasn't going to pursue playing the saxophone, luckily that died a swift death.

On the other hand, I spent considerable time becoming a photographer, was actually pretty good at it (well above average) and it took many years before I realized I didn't really care about it that much.

[Nowarezman]

Yeah, I cherry-pick Warren Huart YT episodes to watch. And Dave Pensado, too. I don't really think of these as "tip" videos - they are not as in-depth and thorough as, say, a series of courses at Berklee, but they are a whole lot more informative than the quick-shot "5 tips to perfect mixes" sort of videos.

 

But I think we've all come up against the vital point Craig is onto - that "learning" can actually get to be a distraction from "doing". Or maybe better said that "doing" is where the vital learning takes place. I'm very guilty on this point - I love to read synth manuals as a downtime/passtime activity, when I already know enough about any of my synths to keep me busy actually programming and playing indefinitely.

 

It's like folks who love watching cooking shows, but rarely whip up any of those incredible dishes.

 

nat

[Mike Rivers]

Another great editorial, Professor Anderton.

 

I just don't have any interest in knowing how someone else recorded something. If I'm faced with an unfamiliar instrument, I listen to it and pretty quickly find a mic and positioning to make a recording of what it sounds like.

 

I think the problem is that once an instrument or voice is recorded, people discover that this isn't the right sound to fit in with a project and spend time trying to make it into something that it's not, because there are so many tools available to do that.

 

I do wonder, though, when I read an interview with a famous engineer recording a famous artist who is asked "What's your vocal chain?" that's answered by naming a specific preamp, compressor, and equalizer between the mic and the recorder. It's what's expected these days, I guess.

[KuruPrionz]

 

I do wonder, though, when I read an interview with a famous engineer recording a famous artist who is asked "What's your vocal chain?" that's answered by naming a specific preamp, compressor, and equalizer between the mic and the recorder. It's what's expected these days, I guess.

 

The guitar magazines do this all the time. They will list every detail of a guitarists rig. If I owned that exact rig with all the knobs set the same, I would sound... just like me.

A friend asked me recently how I got my tones and I handed him my pick. 2mm thick, no give, you have to learn how to use it. He hated it and gave it back. He uses a medium pick and always picks as hard as he can.

So he will always sound the way he sounds, unless he changes. Not very exciting when you are writing for a magazine that sells product - "Here is a fifty cent pick, try it instead of the fifty cent pick you were using before."

 

A singer has an even more individual sound. Billie Holiday would have sounded just like Billie Holiday no matter what mic, pre or otherwise you put up.

 

An honest answer like "I think it's partly the vocal inflections of the people who raised her combined with the inherited aspects of her sinus cavity but most importantly, it is the depth of her very being and soul that brings out those sounds." That doesn't sell any microphones!

[Mike Rivers]

 

The guitar magazines do this all the time. They will list every detail of a guitarists rig. If I owned that exact rig with all the knobs set the same, I would sound... just like me.

 

I had someone in the studio asked me to get his perfectly good sounding guitar to sound like Doc Watson's D35 [i didn't know Doc every played a D35 - I think this was in his Galligher period]. I said "Want me to give you Doc's phone number so we can bring him in to play on the song?" He was taken aback, both, I think because I knew how to contact Doc - actually it was Mitch Greenhill's number, who was managing him at the time - and that I explained that if Doc played his (the player in my studio at the time) guitar, the recording would sound like Doc, and if he borrowed Doc's guitar (fat chance!) for the session, it wouldn't sound like Doc.

 

Doc was like that. No matter what guitar he was playing, no matter what the song, whether it was recorded in a big bucks studio or in a festival campground, when I heard the recording, I'd know it was Doc.

 

To me, there are a number of guitarists who sound, in a way, like Jimi Hendrix. Not being very sensitive to that style of music, I'm not sure I could tell one from the real Jimi, but I'll bet there are Hendrix fans who could rightfully say the same thing about him that I say about Doc Watson.

 

But you're right - that doesn't sell any hardware, software, or secret settings. But maybe it'll sell some records.

[Anderton]

I do wonder, though, when I read an interview with a famous engineer recording a famous artist who is asked "What's your vocal chain?" that's answered by naming a specific preamp, compressor, and equalizer between the mic and the recorder. It's what's expected these days, I guess.

 

If someone asked me that question, the answer would be "it's different on every song, but there will definitely be an EQ in there somewhere."

[Greg Mein]

Generally I'll go in search of a video only if I'm seeking some answers or specifics about a particular program or plug-in that I'm using and most times that's been successful for me. Manufacturer forums have helped me a lot also although there's often a limited number of people in the know there, I've occasionally been able to help others as well.

 

I'm not likely to get tangled up in the world of general knowledge videos very often, I don't see the value in that as they're using different equipment, methods and styles that likely don't apply to what I'm doing. Unless I'm doing gigs covering the hits, music at home is all about having fun and not feeling like I need to bang my head against the wall although I've certainly had my share of frustrating moments at the home recording console.

[Tom Williams]

As a rank DAW Newbie, I got some mileage out of YT how-to videos, especially during the first couple of Covid months when I started repurposing my music room for recording. Nowadays, a lot of knowledge is demonstrated rather than written down. (Hat tip to Mr. Anderton for several decades of great technical writing.) Videos certainly helped me to learn step-by-step how to realize my music in the absence of a full band.

 

I recently saw a video that purported to discuss the merits of those little mic isolation booths. Trouble was, the pppresenter repppeatedly pppopped his P's and B's. I quickly figured out that he was not going to help me learn to record voices better....

[Rusty Mike]

As a rank DAW Newbie, I got some mileage out of YT how-to videos, especially during the first couple of Covid months when I started repurposing my music room for recording. Nowadays, a lot of knowledge is demonstrated rather than written down. (Hat tip to Mr. Anderton for several decades of great technical writing.) Videos certainly helped me to learn step-by-step how to realize my music in the absence of a full band.

 

I recently saw a video that purported to discuss the merits of those little mic isolation booths. Trouble was, the pppresenter repppeatedly pppopped his P's and B's. I quickly figured out that he was not going to help me learn to record voices better....

 

Also a relative newbie here. I do watch some of the videos, but turn off (often quite rapidly) the ones that either don't apply to me or where I think the presenter is full of crap. I don't mix metal guitars or "phat beats", gladly sidestepping the lion's share of stuff out there. I stick to the common sense tutorials.

 

I have gotten good value out of several people, and have successfully applied some of the knowledge imparted on me. There's a fair swath of videos that don't apply to me, such as recording vocals. I'm only doing instrumental recordings, much of it is just my own In-The-Box virtual instruments or directly recorded stuff. For the big band mixes, the horns are recorded into microphones, but it's really only about gain, EQ management and overall blend. They're also recorded remotely using the player's own equipment, so I get what I get to fit into the mix. But I don't have to worry about isolation, plosives, autotune, correcting bad quality or any of that other stuff. I consider myself fortunate in that regard.

 

Some product reviews are helpful when they show how a product is used in the workflow or signal chain. Selected tutorials for products I'm learning to use are helpful, but, as I said, I'm quick to turn off the videos that waste my time.

 

Overall, no YouTube content is immune from bad quality and posers who think they know something. It's up to us to self-filter.

[KuruPrionz]

Another resource for finding instructional videos on your DAW is the provider of said DAW.

 

Check their webpages. There is a gold mine of well done and consistently useful videos and text documents for my chosen DAW - Waveform.

They are posted on YouTube but I can access both the manual (very well written and current) and the homepage for the videos from a link in the Help section of my DAW.

Or I can just go to the website, I have the link bookmarked.

 

Surely it is not the only DAW with manufacturer education? Our Mr. Anderton creates content for Presonus Studio One constantly, if that's your DAW there is plenty of information available.

 

I do know that many DAWS host user forums and those can also provide lots of useful information. In fact, one of my favorite universal search tricks is to search for my question with the word "forum" added.

I've learned how to fix my car(s), and various other things. For that matter, even Gearslutz has a helpful thread here and there. Cherry pick!!! What you want to know is more likely out there than not.

 

So yes, click away from YouTube and see what you can find.

[Greg Mein]

Back when I first got my Roland FA-08 and was incorporating it into my gig rig I discovered a great series of instructional videos on YT created by Ed Diaz. Later I saw Ed at Sweetwater Gearfest and thanked him profusely for those!

[SamuelBLupowitz]

My other beef isn't with the people doing the videos as much as with the cluelessness of the people watching them. I mean, you think most people would know by now that if you hold Shift while moving a control, it fine-tunes it...right? So I saw a video where a guy gave this as a tip, and there were a zillion comments about what a great tip this was, how it changed their lives, etc. Again, no diss on the person giving the tip - but he sure has a much better handle on how few people read manuals, or even bother to look up the list of keyboard shortcuts, than I do

I fully agree with the tenor and content of your post... except I must sheepishly admit I didn't know the trick about Shift. Probably because I've never read the Logic manual. Oops.

[Chip McDonald]

most people would know by now that if you hold Shift while moving a control, it fine-tunes it...right?.

 

I don't know, it always annoys me with a VST doesn't allow shift for fine control. I think we're still in the Model T days of UI "standardization" in some respects.

 

 

Dave Rat has a good channel, he's remarkable in presenting info with practical examples. For live sound people I would think it's a must, he should hold the title of "Master of Live Sound Tricks".

 

Dan Worral does a lot of good presentations of "obscure digital technical problems" on his channel.

 

 

But for the most part a lot of videos are rehashing basic things, or selling plugins with hyperbolic "WOW! I really love what that's doing to the top end, the presentation of body and air!", things that 98% of the viewers aren't going to hear and just be confused by.

[Anderton]

There are some topics that work best with video, and some with print. For example, demonstrating how a gain envelope works is ideal for video, because you can see how changing the envelope changes the audio waveform, and draw a 1:1 correlation.

 

OTOH the books I've done for Studio One are ideal for loading on your iPad so you can read along while doing things with the computer. It's kind of the only way to do step-by-step things.

 

EveAnna Manley (credit where credit is due!) suggested that I do audiobooks because then people could head what I'm talking about. I think that has potential, although the challenge is how to create a picture in the mind's eye about something like a compressor panel.

[Mike Rivers]

I look to YouTube instructional videos for doing things around the house or fixing the car. I couldn't figure out how to get to the adjustment "star" wheel in the rear brake assembly when trying to adjust the parking brake on my car. Someone suggested that I look on YouTube, and sure enough, that hunk of dirt that I was looking at was actually a rubber plug that covered up the access hole for the adjusting tool.

 

I'm not sure what an equivalent learning experience might be when it comes to mixing a song.

[Anderton]

I look to YouTube instructional videos for doing things around the house or fixing the car.

 

Same here! I had an electrical problem with my VW where the alarm would go off when I started the car. YouTube had several videos with reset procedures.

 

I'm not sure what an equivalent learning experience might be when it comes to mixing a song.

 

Me neither. It seems your ears will tell you if something's wrong, but unless you know how to identify what's wrong, then you won't know what technique you need to look up. For example, I looked up "how to fix muddy vocals." All of them dealt with adding EQ after the fact - not mic placement, different mic types, or rolloff switches on the mics themselves.

[Mike Rivers]

I looked up "how to fix muddy vocals." All of them dealt with adding EQ after the fact - not mic placement, different mic types, or rolloff switches on the mics themselves.

 

Individuals who produce content text, video, or whatever - tend to present the simplest solution that will let he reader observe a change. It makes you sound smart.

 

A video on how to fix muddy vocals from a microphone manufacturer will tell you how mic placement and choice can improve your recording. A maker of EQ, dynamics, and other processing tools will explain how to use their tools to improve your recording. Sylvia Massy will tell you that there's nothing wrong with a muddy vocal - try a carbon mic.

[KuruPrionz]

I look to YouTube instructional videos for doing things around the house or fixing the car.

 

Same here! I had an electrical problem with my VW where the alarm would go off when I started the car. YouTube had several videos with reset procedures.

 

I'm not sure what an equivalent learning experience might be when it comes to mixing a song.

 

Me neither. It seems your ears will tell you if something's wrong, but unless you know how to identify what's wrong, then you won't know what technique you need to look up. For example, I looked up "how to fix muddy vocals." All of them dealt with adding EQ after the fact - not mic placement, different mic types, or rolloff switches on the mics themselves.

 

 

It is good to know both things. Knowing how to record a clear sounding vocal is paramount but somebody may ask you to mix an already recorded muddy vocal, no?

I would use EQ to clean up the low end but probably parallel process harmonic distortion and blend it instead of trying to add trebles with EQ.

[Nathanael_I]

I find tips videos pretty useless regardless of topic. Music is a learning journey. We are all going from somewhere to somewhere. A bunch of random "tips" are just over useless. I don't have time for that. Sequenced, outlined instruction? Absolutely - I can progress linearly or skip to what I need. Most amateur YouTube is obnoxiously long. Contrast with the Ableton corporate videos on how to do something. They are all short, demonstrate the feature once and then end.

 

I do read my DAW manual and then adjust my workflow. I do take training classes. But who has time for random bits of random stuff delivered in a 5x too long form factor with bad lighting, editing and useless patter and diversions? Once you know how a compressor works, it is hours and hours of playing with one on drums, then on bass, then on voice to learn what they do and when and where one might want it. I ignore all presets in plugins. Useless. Listen - only reach for a knob if something needs to change and I have an idea what I want.

[Anderton]

I do read my DAW manual and then adjust my workflow. I do take training classes. But who has time for random bits of random stuff delivered in a 5x too long form factor with bad lighting, editing and useless patter and diversions?

 

I'm pretty proud of the material I choose to show on videos, because the videos are scripted. I never wing it. Scripting allows delivering a particular piece of knowledge that works best visually (i.e., seeing how something affects a waveform) in as compact a form as possible, and in my case, typically under a minute. But, I also believe that in many (if not most) cases, words with lots of images create a far more effective delivery medium than video.

 

The worst offenders are video manuals. I love PDF manuals because I can search on something I need to know, find it in seconds, learn, and move on.

 

Once you know how a compressor works, it is hours and hours of playing with one on drums, then on bass, then on voice to learn what they do and when and where one might want it. I ignore all presets in plugins. Useless. Listen - only reach for a knob if something needs to change and I have an idea what I want.

 

That's excellent advice. I think a lot of people forget that the object of presets is to let users save their own favorites, not force-fit someone else's favorites into your world.

[Nowarezman]

 

The worst offenders are video manuals.

 

There are video manuals???

 

Well, ok, I can see it. Like the good old days of computers before random access was a thing. Sequential access is so much more thorough, don't you think?

 

So I'm going to spell my name...let's start with "A". No, that's not right (erase erase). How about a "B"?? No, but surely I'm closer than when I started...(erase erase)....

 

nat

[Anderton]

 

The worst offenders are video manuals.

 

There are video manuals???

 

Well, ok, I can see it. Like the good old days of computers before random access was a thing. Sequential access is so much more thorough, don't you think?

 

So I'm going to spell my name...let's start with "A". No, that's not right (erase erase). How about a "B"?? No, but surely I'm closer than when I started...(erase erase)....

 

nat

 

My laugh of the day!

[Chip McDonald]

What I want is to have a camera pointed at the knobs while Famous Mix Engineer turns them. I can learn wayyyy more by watching the knob turn - and stop - while hearing what Bob Clearmountain/Michael Brauer/CLA/whoever is hearing.

 

I'd love to watch/hear Terry Manning quickly eq say 10 different guitar tracks from scratch, in a row. That would be exquisite.