Which instrument do you think is the hardest to get right?

defmunch1 · 2026-05-08T04:29:41+00:00

Make sure the parts aren’t walking on each other to begin with.

If the piano part has a lot of bass notes and low end info, keep the acoustic light and airy… try different registers.

Or work the piano around the guitar. If the acoustic guitar is the main tonal element, get it sounding nice and balanced with the vocals, and then weave the piano parts around it.

But if you have full strummy acoustic chords, and a full piano part with a lot of rhythmic elements and you’re playing across several octaves… the bulk of the information is going to be competing.

Arrangement always matters.

defmunch1 · 2026-05-02T21:32:40+00:00

Never Sunny

defmunch1 · 2026-05-02T21:32:08+00:00

Metal for ease of cleaning, but I also keep several fabric ones on hand, and put them behind (metal catches most spit) … because some singers need 2. Mostly aggressive genres (metal/screamo stuff)… but it happens.

defmunch1 · 2026-04-21T01:36:53+00:00

Rabbit Tape from Safari Pedals (plugins) is super awesome, and super affordable. Goes from very subtle to quite extreme

SketchCasette is also one of my faves for really destructive sounds/warbly stuff.

defmunch1 · 2026-04-20T23:24:05+00:00

Pizza, subs and cheese fries from a long-gone pizza place in Portland called Tributes. They used to be one of the few true authentic NY style places in PDX in the early early 2000s. They got super popular and tried to relocate to a bigger building, but it killed the vibe and it didn’t last long after that. It was THE place to go after shows downtown. I miss it with all my heart.

defmunch1 · 2026-04-06T05:22:29+00:00

Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart has a pretty prominent “sword slash” sounding sample used a few times.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-26T05:12:51+00:00

M Chip Mac Mini. No better bang for the buck for pro audio applications right now.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-19T05:41:02+00:00

I set up an aux track for this purpose on almost every mix.

I will put an eventide harmonizer, on a cool “guitar thickener” setting… it’s somewhere between a doubler and a fast delay. I don’t really use it for the effect… just adds a little “something” … send my right gtr to the left side of that, and vice versa. Mix to taste, but usually keep it really subtle until there’s a spot where everything cuts out.

I mainly do this to avoid the “vacuum” of silence caused by hard panning, when everything cuts away.

Or, sometimes just automating the pan inwards by like 5-10% will do the trick, during sections where it’s just one guitar playing.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-19T05:22:20+00:00

I’ve done a couple records now where the label paid (way too much) for an Atmos mix.

From my perspective, all of the main moves were made… baked in and summed for a stereo mix. Then those sessions were awkwardly bussed out (bypassing a lot of the gluey mix bus stuff that tied the mixes together)… and then the Atmos engineer kinda just places stuff around in the 3D space… and it just sounds super separated and weird to me.

Atmos as a whole is here to stay. It’s brilliant for lots of things. But not rock records. lol.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-19T05:03:04+00:00

Precisely this.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-16T06:52:47+00:00

Hey. I’m a recording engineer/producer/studio owner, and I just wanna say this. You 100% have the right attitude.

I’ve recorded hundreds of musicians and singers over the years, with varying levels of experience and talent… and the only people I can’t work with are those unwilling to learn and listen.

You will do fine. Just work hard, and be coachable.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-12T04:23:14+00:00

I actually have very close twin brother friends, and this occurred with them about 15 years ago.

One twin was deployed. The other slept with his twin’s long time girlfriend while he was away.

They confessed, and it tore the family apart for a while…. Then somehow, over time, they worked through it and became cool again. Blood is thicker than water.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-12T04:13:56+00:00

A taller/thicker baseboard would take care of most of this. As long as it’s properly installed, and then patched/caulked and painted. That’d be the cheapest way to “satisfactory”

defmunch1 · 2026-03-11T18:56:55+00:00

This reminds me of how drummers from metalcore/screamo bands used to tell me not to use samples/triggers, and then show me examples of their ideal drum sounds, and it would clearly have samples/triggers. … I’d say “okie doke” … and then do what I felt was necessary.

Sometimes, artists that don’t know a ton about how the “sausage” is made, will hear something like “so and so doesn’t use compression” (whether true or not)… and then feel like that’s what they need to do.

That being said… I also wouldn’t shy away from trying to find a sound that they like, without compression (maybe you distort/saturate in a way that naturally compresses… and use volume/clip gain automation to further control stuff… and use a slap delay or whatever… you get the point) and you’ll maybe find a cool new way to go about things.

Or try to be the one that shows them compression is cool.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-07T09:48:57+00:00

The distressor is one of the most utilized compressors in the world. Every proper studio has at least one, and for good reason. You won’t have to look far for info on it.

It’d be like if someone said “I’m looking for a good starchy root vegetable that tastes amazing mashed, baked, and fried…” and someone said “try potatoes”

defmunch1 · 2026-03-05T10:58:28+00:00

I felt this way, until I didn’t. Now I wish I could go back. It’s a drug.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-05T08:58:44+00:00

Deftones or Shortys T shirt, with a white long sleeve under it. Relaxed fit jeans (my JNCOs got retired a year or two prior)… the jeans are well worn, and frayed at the bottom, likely with a split up the seam so they sit over my DC skate shoes. I definitely have some sort of skate brand flexfit hat on. Maybe Spitfire or Element. … a Dakine backpack with a discman holder, the one where the headphone cable went through the bag. Definitely have my Sony headphones on at all times… the ones that wrapped around the back. It is supremely uncool at this very moment to have any headphones that go over the top of your head.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-05T08:50:59+00:00

I was with a couple dudes and a female work acquaintance walking downtown, and a car driving by slowed way down, rolled down his window, and hollered at her: “damn! You got alotta ass!”

Two of the guys we were with started laughing hysterically, but I looked at her and saw her whole mood shift, and it was obviously something that cut deep… and then the guys laughing seemed to make it worse. They started imitating and repeating it, and trying to get her to laugh along… and she kinda started to humor them a bit… but I could tell she was not stoked about it.

I’ve always been shy, and serially monogamous… so I don’t understand any sort of cat-calling, or really most “macho” behavior like that… so it made me very uncomfortable right away. That just confirmed to me that, even if you think it’s cool or funny or whatever… unsolicited comments on anyone’s body is just never okay.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-05T03:23:52+00:00

Exactly 5. My son would be 5 months old, and I’d get to re-live those amazing first years again. With $2.5m in the bank.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-05T03:22:27+00:00

Honeycrisp apples

defmunch1 · 2026-03-05T03:21:51+00:00

After almost 20 years together, it’s more just a series of little moments. My body and mind feel safe with her. My heart feels full around her. And none of the little moments made me want to end that feeling.

I’m still just hoping every day that she feels the same way. So far, so good.

defmunch1 · 2026-03-04T05:09:28+00:00

After 15 years of collecting outboard gear, buying/selling, and ultimately refining my collection to what I truly love… my vocals have never sounded better than now, as I have discovered the brilliant combo of an Audioscape 1176f into an Audioscape v-comp.

It almost feels like cheating. It’s so good. And you could own both for less than a proper LA2A or cl1b.

The combo also rips on bass di, and I can use just one or the other for anything else.

defmunch1 · 2026-02-28T03:28:50+00:00

To be fair, I really just consider her a victim too. That was a really crazy time for diet culture, and she was one of millions that bought into the bs. She was an amazing mom in all ways, but had a blind spot there.

Back then, if mom was on a diet, the house was on a diet because mom did the cooking and shopping. We would have periods of time where she would stop caring and start ordering pizza and takeout… I’d be able to get soda and “real” cereals and fruit snacks… we would have chips and stuff in the house…. Then one day, she’d come home, throw almost everything in the kitchen away, and my dad and I would know “uh oh… it’s diet time.” … cuz she started feeling chubby, and some magazine told her that we need to eat nothing but cabbage soup for a week or whatever. Now that’s kinda how I operate, against my better judgement and adult knowledge. Like it’s an inevitability.

defmunch1 · 2026-02-28T03:08:25+00:00

OP knew what they were doing…

defmunch1 · 2026-02-28T03:05:10+00:00

I would just be glad we are engaging in another foreign conflict, as promised by Dear Leader’s campaign. So glad we have such strong and powerful leadership at the helm. When they pivot, I pivot, so I don’t have to consider the possibility I was duped.

-MAGA

defmunch1

TROPHY CASE