Recording Tips - We Can Fix it in the Mix ...Yeah!

(...If not, we'll just do it over again ...sometime.)

It's very difficult to fix something that was done completely wrong in the first place. If a part was played improperly or with a horrible sound, the person doing the mix can do very little or nothing to fix it. They will end up spending more time doing repairs than doing a mix, and the overall quality of the work WILL suffer. If you want a serious recording, go to a serious recording studio to get it done. But if you want to learn what recording is all about, you may want to try it yourself. Just don't expect professional results ...yet.

Microphone selection and placement is fundamental to recording success. Whether you're going to record everything on two tracks or 24 and then do a mixdown, make sure that the sound technition is listening and recording in a proper control room where they can't hear the sound from anywhere else but the studio monitors.

The bass drum and bass guitar sound is the governing fundamental factor for the overall sound of the song. If this is done properly the rest of the mix has better chances of sounding good. Make sure the bass drum is sounding good right from the start, then place the microphone inside. Play with its position on a flat EQ at the mixer until you get the best possible sound. If there are 'funny noises', investigate until you have found the cause and do what you can to eliminate them ...a little oil on a bass drum pedal axle, or tuning it properly can do wonders, for example.

The bass guitar can be put through a DI box, picked up through a microphone, or plugged straight into the mixer. Experiment until you've achieved the best sound. The playing style or the instrument itself could be at fault, so make sure you get a professional opinion on the matter and resolve it accordingly.

Saturated Ears

I know you're all really wanting to finish the job in the quickest possible time, but it's important to note that after a certain time, your ears will become saturated and your (subjective) opinion will make you think that a certain sound or mix is just right when it's not.

When you get back to listening to it a day or week later, you'll notice things that you didn't notice earlier, or it might even sound horrible. In this case, my advice would be to do things one step at a time with breaks in between to give your hearing some time to reset. Try listening to some professional recordings of the style you're doing after taking a coffee/lunch break then get back to work. Hurried work is worried work! With experience, you'll notice that this process goes much quicker and you'll be able to do it well in a shorter period of time.

Stay Focused

Before recording, take out a notebook, make a game plan and stick to it. Take note of what was done right and what was done wrong during the recording process, so you have a reference for your next project. This notebook will be your companion during the process, so always have it within arms length. Do exactly what you intended to do in the first place. You will realize what you did wrong (thanks to your notes) and find a way to better it (through careful research). If you work haphazardly, you will get haphazard results. Knowing a specific problem is half the solution.

Recording All at the Same Time

I highly recommend this for beginner bands doing their first recording. It goes quicker than track recording and once you've got it set up, you can record all the songs you want in one day, or two.

Make sure you've got all the mics and inputs you need (absolute minimum requirements):

-bass drum
-snare drum
-hi-hat (optional, but recommended)
-2 overheads
-bass guitar input (mic, line in to mixer or DI box)
-guitar(s)
-keyboard inputs
-other instruments
-vocals

Make sure you control the gain on every microphone, as you will regret having a distorted sounding instrument on an otherwise well played version of your song. You want to avoid having to record it all over again because you didn't control the input gains.

As a general rule, condenser mics are best for hi-hats, overheads, acoustic instruments and vocals. The bass drum should be recorded with a large, hard membrane mic, intended for the job (click on "bass drum" above for examples of these). A typical choice of microphone for the snare drum, and also the guitar and bass amps is the Shure SM57. If you choose to mic the toms also, you can also use the SM57, or use a set of mics intended for the job -this will give you greater control over your end result.

You can use your PC, a digital recording station, or even a reel to reel tape recorder to record, but if you intend to master the recording, it's a good idea to get it on a digital medium, unless you have the equipment to master analog recordings.

If you can, separate the drummer and the amplifiers from the rest of the group and record using headphones, as you can gain better control of the recording process. There should be a sound proof control room with monitors and headphones for the recording technitian. Put everything through a good mixer and only tweak the EQ's if you find it totally necessary to do so. Make sure the sound is right at the source first, then check mic placement then (if necessary) equalize.

Spend some time experimenting with microphone positioning and do some test recordings as you go. When you've achieved the best possible sound, start recording.

The next day, listen to what you did and, if necessary, you can do some mastering. But I'll leave that for another day.