Ideas – Greg Douras Audio

Compression Before or After EQ?

It’s a commonly asked question: should you equalize before or after the compressor? Much of the online advice is “it depends”. I think we can give a better answer to aspiring mix engineers. What does EQ before compression versus after compression do for us? EQ before compression affects the frequencies that the compressor acts on.Continue reading “Compression Before or After EQ?”

The Best Mixing and Mastering Plugins

Every producer is looking for an edge to make their audio stand out. You want your track to shine brighter than the others in your genre, right? What’s the easiest way to do that? Figure out what plugins your favorite producers use, and buy them, of course! In this article, I’ll explore ways to buildContinue reading “The Best Mixing and Mastering Plugins”

Idea Harvesting

Where do your ideas come from? This is a common question asked of artists and other creative people. Austin Kleon, among others, is famous for encouraging folks to “steal like an artist”. In that spirit, I’ve found a couple NPR Tiny Desk Concerts that show some interesting audio production ideas that I thought were worthContinue reading “Idea Harvesting”

Remove reverb & echo in Logic Pro X for free

I was editing a voice-over for a client recently, and it sounded like it was recorded in a living room or kitchen with hardwood floors. There was lots of resonance and room tone! With more recordings being done at home, I wanted to share how you can remove reverb and echo from some of yourContinue reading “Remove reverb & echo in Logic Pro X for free”

Vocal Booth: build or buy?

As promised, here is a longer post about building versus buying a vocal booth for voice over recording. This is a cost-benefit analysis of building my booth. Cost When making my decision to build or buy a vocal booth two considerations were at the front of my mind: The cost of building a booth TheContinue reading “Vocal Booth: build or buy?”

Watch This

As someone who creates things for people, this video is inspiring. It’s 70 minutes long, but it’s worth it. It digests the complexities of creating things for people. I thought the most helpful ideas were: – Make work you care about for people who care. Who do you want to work for? Who should youContinue reading “Watch This”

Where it counts most

After listening to hours of audio books and building my studio, I find it is possible to worry too much about audio quality. The noise floor in your studio only has to be good enough. Because the broadcast medium or network connection that sends your work to consumers will almost certainly be noisier than yourContinue reading “Where it counts most”

Save the world, listen to audio books.

I’m reading a book called, Hello World. It’s about the history of design, and how to design well. Good design makes a product desirable, useful, and valuable. Audio books have elements of good design. They help us use our time meaningfully because we can listen to them while we commute or wait. They are easyContinue reading “Save the world, listen to audio books.”