Hey beeps,
I think what you're doing is really cool. Just be careful when sharing stuff as some of it is a bunch of crap for the sake of someone feeling powerful on the net. I can't tell you how many misleading vids I've found....and then people post them thinking they are helping when in reality, they *could* actually be hurting.
I know you know how to gauge this stuff, but I still wanted to put it out there to you. I try my best to respect and appreciate the stuff I see from others at all times....it's just so hard to share this stuff when you:
a) aren't using the same recorded material as they are
b) using the same gear
You can of course approximate, but let's face it, some of this stuff is way out there. This is why books on the subject depress me while I see all these supposed guru's getting praise....for what? Showing you how to mix on an SSL in a 5 million dollar facility using stuff you may never own in this life time?
Just remember....and I know you know this, but it's important....
Recording and sound is never a preset or a lesson when it doesn't use YOUR sounds or gear. I'll argue that point with anyone that wishes to jump me. You can't teach a person how to compress THEIR guitar sound correctly if THEIR guitar sound does not exist. You can't teach how to compress a bass or snare if the sound a person uses is not the subject. You can give an approximate, but is that really helpful?
"Well heck, how did you learn Danny?"
Sound identification. Instead of learning all these techniques and helpful videos, listen to the sounds that are on them. If something sounds great to you, log that sound in your tool box even if you have to record a snip of it. See man, the problem with learning this stuff isn't the lack of techniques or understanding. The problem is learning what is and what is NOT a good sound source.
For example, if you were to get the multi-tracks of guys you admire as engineers both super pro or guys on this forum, the one thing you would notice is....they sound great with little to no tweaking. THAT is success and what makes this field 1000 times easier.
I read about all these techniques and p-comp etc.....none of that is really needed IF you start with sounds that can stand on their own. We don't need compression tricks and all these work arounds really. You start with a good sound, you add several good sounds, you end up with a great track. It's really cut and dry. The hard thing for guys like yourself is it may not be in the cards to get better gear. Guess what....it's not as important as people make you believe. I have a gazillion tracks that I created while beta testing using a crap mackie console and a Realtek soundcard. I think the tracks sound as good as some of the stuff that has been commercially released by known people.
In one small comment....
The key to this field is good sound from the source and a good monitoring environment to make the right decisions.
Have the above and you're 90% there.....I swear. There isn't a technique or lesson that can help as much as the above. So when you're watching these videos, don't concentrate as much on the technique as the sound you are given. Now, if the technique shows you how to deal with a crappy sound, that's worth learning about. But the main thing you need to learn is how to judge good sounds.
That said, "good sounds" can be subjective so you have to really know when something is genre specific or just bad. To me, some of the late 60's and 70's drum, guitar and bass sounds were terrible. Too much tape or mufflers on drum heads, basses that sounded like dead strings, guitars that were harsh or abrasive. Now, as I grew older and actually learned about sound.....my appreciation for those sounds changed. Though I am still not a fan of some of those sounds and feel some were recorded poorly, I now know what is good and what really is crap.
In the 80's things were over processed and effected....I did like some of the guitar sounds from that time though. But even there.....so much processing and reverb on everything, it was a mess. BUT.....there were still amazing sounds on all instruments that came from there.
90's to present....we have a little over-processing with compression but things are more natural in certain areas. It's sort of like having the rawness of the 60's and 70's minus the dead sounding instruments along with the snap of the 80's minus the effects. I really like where production is going now especially in country music where you can actually be an engineer and use more than compression on a band. And man...the guitar players just get sicker all the time! Especially now that country is more rock oriented. Lyrics are cheese....but the music/players/production is sickness.....in a good way of course. :)
Anyway....do what you're doing man. But on the side, try really listening for instrument sounds as well as experimenting on how to get them to sound that way on your own. Sometimes you'll come close, other times you'll fail....and still other times you may even nail it exact. This is what really helps you learn. If you ever get a hold of some of those professional multi-tracks that get passed around here and there, hearing those in your environment can really teach you a lot. Especially when you hear how bad they sound all alone soloed up. LOL! That will teach you how important it is to have instruments work "in the mix with others" over having something sound like a million bucks all by itself.
Good luck with this stuff beeps....just be selective and teach yourself to really hone in on what a good sound is all about on various instruments while learning new things. A technique is just that, just a technique. A group of good sounds can speak volumes for themselves and usually become a good sounding song. :)
-Danny