In this brief video series, sound engineer Adrian Hall demonstrates how he uses the powerful post-production capabilities of Austrian Audio’s PolarDesigner and OC818 microphone to make creative mixing choices.
Our friend Adrian Hall is a renowned producer, mixer, and sound engineer with a wealth of experience working on a wide variety of projects with artists at all levels of the music industry, from up-and-coming unsigned artists to top-name stadium-filling acts. Whether he’s tracking a live band with a studio full of musicians or mixing tracks on his own, Adrian is a technically adept and creative engineer.
The PolarDesigner app is Austrian Audio’s open-source plug-in created for use with our OC818 large-diaphragm condenser microphone working in dual-output mode. Used within your DAW, PolarDesigner allows you to manipulate previously recorded tracks, recombining polar patterns across up to five frequency bands—hours, days, or even years after the tracks were recorded!
To see the creative post-production possibilities of the PolarDesigner in action, check out the videos below.
In the first video, Adrian demonstrates PolarDesigner’s ability to alter the OC818’s polar patterns through a range of frequency bands, rebalancing the kit to punch up the snare, solidify the bottom end, and smooth out some hi-hat splash.
In the second video, Adrian experiments with PolarDesigner on a pre-recorded OC818 track, manipulating the polar patterns in post to add more life and character to the drum mix.
In the final video, Adrian works with a recording of a string ensemble made with two OC18s capturing left and right and an OC818 in the center. Again he demonstrates the amazing post-production flexibility offered by the OC818-PolarDesigner combo, dialing in some powerful tweaks to the polar pattern to really bring the string ensemble to life.
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