Pro Techniques from Jeff Balding

By Randy Alberts

	Jeff Balding

Balding is an in-demand, Grammy-nominated kind of guy. Based in Nashville for the past 12 years, he has worked independently and with longtime friend and producer Dann Huff for artists as varied as Faith Hill, Megadeth, Jewel, Barbra Streisand, Sadao Watanabe, and SHeDAISY. All this work makes Jeff the most challenging human in the business to get on the phone — but it's way worth the wait to get this likable and experienced recordist's feedback on how he uses Pro Tools|HD.

"Pro Tools allows me to get a lot done in one session, which gives me tons of options in the studio. I take my 48-output system everywhere. I also have a Pro Tools|HD system at home, for editing and the occasional last-minute overdub, and an Mbox to use on the plane, in a car, or wherever I can squeeze in those precious moments of comping."

Vintage Mics + Pro Tools|HD = Best of Both Worlds
Balding uses Pro Tools|HD with his collection of vintage mics and preamps to record artists such as Wynonna Judd, Shania Twain, Reba McEntire, and Lee Ann Womack. "For vocals, I usually use a vintage tube mic such as a Neumann U-269 or Telefunken 251 running into a tube preamp like a Telefunken V76 or Martech MSS-10. I may also use a Pultec EQ to add a little air to the vocal going in, but I don't usually record with compression. I like having the option later of how I compress the vocal, and hate losing that one high note that a compressor can destroy when recording."

His primary Pro Tools|HD rig includes three 192 I/Os, each with an additional D/A expansion board, a SYNC I/O, a SNS drive system, an AIT tape drive, and a removable SCSI bay. At home is a Pro Tools|HD 3 system with one 192 I/O and a removable SCSI bay. He uses FireWire drives for storage, and carts his porta-Pro Tools system around in the form of an Mbox, a pocket FireWire drive, and a G4 PowerBook with trackball. As for favorite plug-ins, lately Balding's been excited about his new George Massenburg MDW Hi-Resolution EQ. "I got it last week, and it is absolutely amazing. It's got an unbelievably smooth top end that's great for vocals."

Pro Technique 1 —
Using Beat Detective effectively on room-miked and multi-tracked drums
"Tightening up drums is not something I need to do a lot in this town of great musicians," Balding says. "There is that occasional track where I'll want the drums and loops locked relentlessly tight, though. Sometimes it feels like I'm trying to punish myself by tightening the drums by hand, one subdivision at a time, but I still do anyway. Other times, I'll use Beat Detective."

"If you're analyzing all the drum tracks together, some of the room tracks will probably have some confusing data for Beat Detective. I've found that by selecting only the kick, snare, and hi-hat tracks when analyzing the drums, then selecting the remaining tracks before separating and fixing everything, you can greatly enhance the quality of the job Beat Detective does on drums."

Pro Technique 2 —
Using turbo mouse quick keys for reference
According to Jeff, this tip is more essential to his work with Pro Tools than almost any other idea he's shared for this story. If you don't already own one, you'll need to buy a Kensington Turbo Mouse trackball for this tip — but he guarantees it'll be worth the investment.

"This is a big one," concludes Balding. "I could not work at the speed or efficiency that I do with Pro Tools without my four-button Turbo Mouse. This setup allows my right hand to select between the tools and leaves the left hand free to use the keyboard and access the Option key, Command key, "F" for fades, and such. Once you get used to the way you've assigned the various Pro Tools tools and functions on this device, you'll be amazed at how much faster you can work!"

Jeff's 4-button Turbo Mouse setup:
- Bottom left = click
- Top left = selector tool
- Top right = stretcher tool
- Bottom right = grabber tool
- Top 2 buttons together = zoom tool
- Bottom 2 buttons together = for easily switching between auto input and input only when overdubbing.