Audio Signal Path - Music Production and Engineering

In today's session, Ken 'hiwatt' Marshall is following the signal path, one connection at a time! A solid foundation in audio signal path will enhance every single aspect of your productions, from the simplest voice over, to the most complicated mix!

[stanislavzalevskyi]

Absolutely best channel on YouTube for learning new mixing and production tips. Thanks for your content, Ken! You make fridays awesome;)

[TheAmazingSnarf]

thanks, Ken! another session of focused, concentrated learning- broken down for easy understanding. the surface of my work desk is a pad of large, tear-away paper. these papers allow me to map out, in boxy flow charts, sources and destinations for my signal. it's a test-bed, really- signal path combinations are nearly infinite with outboard effects, split-signal looping, parallel mixing, etc. the signal paths that i keep get copied into a notebook 'roadmap' for future reference. i learned early that i'm a visual learner, and if i want to retain something, it's best for me to actually 'see' a signal path in order to test and / or implement it. not going to lie, half of the fun for me is grabbing a bunch of cabling and adapters -and just seeing how much trouble i can get my signal into.

the gating!! i am so incredibly excited to begin using these methods! so many thanks, Ken! oh, and by the way, your track sounds super awesome. so creative!

[SahandOfficial]

The pink noise tip is such a simple idea, but it works incredibly well. Will have to try that real soon!

[nihkto]

It’s Friday night and I’m watching Ken’s latest video whilst enjoying my favorite signal path: Beer > Mug > Mouth Cheers!

[raverone]

Alright, I'm a hard sell, but after watching a handful of your videos, you've got my subscription. Now, your content is defintely better explained here than in most tutorials on youtube, but I think what won me over is the abundance of enthusiasm coupled with the "rock on" gesture as you point at your screen. Big ups dude. Keep em comin! You're doing good work.

[crissabater]

Great video Ken will certainly take inspiration from this. Cheers mate.

[Pete_Logic]

I’ve been toying with this idea using sidechaining in Logic Pro and the pre-fader sends and how to obtain them with this DAW have been on my mind for a while. Thank you very much for inspiring/urging me to delve back in on this subject! By the way, LOVE this “quirky” riff! Thank you Sonic Sensei!!

[siriusfun]

The 'Quirky Idea' puts me in mind of Butch Vig's 1998 remix of DM's 'In Your Room'. Nice! :)

[testube]

Definitely makes a huge difference depending on the gate settings. With the slower release setting on the gate, it sounds a bit like overuse of a noise reduction plugin. 😬

[BlackMan]

Ken... you have to show us your eurorack system!

[matthewsetzer]

I feel like im in Wizard school when i watch Ken's videos 🧙‍♂️

[roo]

There are roli drum packs that have similar sounds, and it’s so helpful to learn (a possible way of) how it’s made. Thank you so much, Ken!

[JacobSkriver]

Amazing, thanks for sharing those great ideas. Will be diving straight into gating for the rest of the weekend.

[virtualworldluxury]

incredible, my mind is blown. thank you

[RM]

I've been doing that my whole life since my first music record players and CD players tape players then hook them up to VCR my TV pretty soon the cable box auxiliary out to MP3 players nobody taught me nothing I was just all experimenting learning all this stuff yeah I get some crazy sounds a lot here and there maybe mess up a few systems but I learned so much and now I can hook up anyting. I remember plugging in my headphones into a microphone Jack and was able to record don't ask how? I really wasn't worried about it I was just happy it did it!

[maxmatson]

I used to have a Tascam 488 8-track cassette recorder. Man, I miss that thing! I also had this little old Radio Shack "realistic" brand. Delay effect for a karaoke machine, I think? It was straight up noisy Bucket Brigade style. I loved it! It had sliders on it instead of knobs. And I also had a "DOD death metal Distortion" pedal. And what I would do is since the 488 had 2 auxiliary sends on each Channel along with 4 band EQ is I would send the delay on auxiliary 1 and the distortion on auxiliary 2 and do the old trick of feeding them back into their own channel on the mixer. And instead of just doing the normal feeding back the auxiliary input into its own signal. I would cross feed the single from one and the other sending auxiliary 1 to 2 and 2 to 1 and it would Get this beautiful rhythmic wall of noise!🎧💫😵 That would create its own jarring and jerking rhythms. Cuz they're across modulating each other. I miss being able to do that..BrAp oN!!¡!✋✌

[JohnR-wfhh]

loved the "quirky" track wasn't quirky at all just cool as hell!

[RobNickel]

I’m curious to know where you went to recording school. I also went that route but my lack of musical knowledge/ability didn’t allow me the confidence to really follow through on the recording music tip. I wound up in broadcasting, which has been great, but I still like to make synth noise as a hobby. Tips like these are gold, thank you for your dedication and enthusiasm!

[fit_tan_club]

I learned that pink noise trick from Phil Collins.

[SogoTX]

I remember dealing with the, "Cable Monster" back in the day... the backs of my amp/effects racks and mixers looked like a giant squid exploded...
You also had to keep those 1/4 inch phone plugs (and sockets) SUPER clean, otherwise you would get unwanted random ***CRUNCH*** noises that would RUIN a performance or recording take... ;)