Lining Up Phases in DAW?

[younglai]

I've heard people mention that they recommend lining up the phase of different tracks of the same source in their DAWs... I was wondering if, when you have multiple tracks of drums recorded, you would recommend aligning the phases of all the tracks (eg nudging the snare/kick/tom track(s) over to align with their corresponding hits in the overhead mics).... If so, which track would you use as the basis to align the other tracks too? The overheads? To what degree would these edits affect the sound of the drums?

Ethan

 

[dustbro]

This is a great trick, and I do it all of the time. I use the Snare as my guide track and align everything to that. I was skeptical at first, but a buddy of mine sat down with me and went thru this whole A/B test, and the aligned drums won hands down. They were more clear, and the transients hit harder. It gives the drums the ability to move the speaker cones in and out without any opposing forces.

 

[tomtom]

This is something you should pay attention too:
When using plug-ins, you create delays that are a few samples long (depending on how much processing is needed).
If you use different plug-ins on different tracks of the same source (like a drum set), you're creating different delays on each track. You are creating phase problems, that will damage your overall sound. Look for the track that has the most delay (most daw show you how much delay is involved) and adjust the other tracks accordingly to time match them.

I'd like to add that when you multiple mike a source, there is always a phase difference between the tracks. That's the whole point of multi-miking. Don't expect room mics to be in phase with close mikes on your drum kick. The phase difference can make your sound richer. Only adjust the tracks if you feel that something is wrong. With good mic placement, you don't need to touch it...

T.

 

[Johnjm22]

Look for the track that has the most delay (most daw show you how much delay is involved) and adjust the other tracks accordingly to time match them.

Interesting, does Pro Tools show you how much delay is involved?

 

[pontuso]

Look for the track that has the most delay (most daw show you how much delay is involved) and adjust the other tracks accordingly to time match them.

Interesting, does Pro Tools show you how much delay is involved?

Yes! If you Command-click twice in the volume-display(in the Edit window or Mix window) you will get the delay (in samples) that is induced by the plugin. In protools 6.4 in the mixwindow you´ve got a "Delay Compensation View" and if you activate delay-compensation the tracks will automatically align to the track where the plug in causes the longest delay.

 

[dustbro]

If you use different plug-ins on different tracks of the same source (like a drum set), you're creating different delays on each track. .

This is not an issue if your program has automatic plugin delay compensation, like Nuendo has.
Doesn't SlowFools 6.4 now support PDC?