photo by Oracio Alvarado
The rise of the home recording studio has had a huge impact on the way we produce music. These days songwriters have become do-it-yourself recordists with an affordable DAW, a few mics and a pair of monitor speakers. Say what you will about the sound quality, but the trend is certainly here to stay.
Today I’d like to share a simple tip for getting the most out of your performance on a recording when you’re playing the roles of artist, engineer, producer and studio assistant all at the same time.
It’s important have a solid understanding of engineering and microphone techniques to produce a recording. Any experienced producer knows the importance of spending hours and sometimes days just placing mics and getting sounds– by that I mean doing solidifying the tones, room acoustics, and overall “sound” for your project.
All of that setup time can be grueling, especially if you’re bouncing between chairs or rooms to hit record and then play your instrument. Once you have finally dialed in the settings your going for, you hardly have any energy left to perform the song!
The key is to step away for a while before you start laying down real takes. Go out to lunch. Have some down time. Get some sleep and start fresh the next day. Do something to get you away from the studio for a while so you can come back refreshed and ready to give all you can to your performance.
Before you step away, be sure to keep everything in place so that when you come back, all you need to do is sit down, pick up your instrument and hit record. Leave the mic stands set tightly, the chair set exactly right, the amp and effects knobs dialed in, the computer on and the session loaded up. It might be a good idea to leave a sign on the door, marking your fragile set up off limits to nosy roommates, toddlers, or pets.
In the end, your songs will benefit from an energized performance. Starting fresh for a new recording is crucial to maximizing your creative and emotional output. Give all you can to your music, and don’t let the mechanics of a recording session hamper your creativity.
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12/13/2008
9:04 am
Andrei Popa
You clearly need a positive attitude when recording something, but I’d like to stress on the dimensions of “staying fresh”. It would probably be a good idea for any other activity, but you have to bear in mind that when playing an instrument, in my case guitar, warming-up is not an option, especially before recording something. To minimize the time you spend preparing for recording instead of actually doing it and being in shape at the same time, consider, for example, a more digital approach. I’m not an advocate of digital guitar modeling but:
1. It takes a lot less to configure than a pedal board -> amp -> mic -> recording interface chain
2. It always sounds the same
3. You can tweak things faster
I find that by itself, it never sounds great, but if you put in a context - good drums, good bass and etc. - it’s really, really GOOD. Not amazing or astonishing, but it does the job done, and sounds better than decent.
A quick example - there’s this guy on youtube from South Korea, his username is halcyon1871 that plays really well and does a lot of good covers. He uses a Line6 recording interface and the Line6 modeling software and he sounds really close to the real thing.
The key with digital is not overdoing it.
12/13/2008
10:07 am
Brian Casel
I agree that using digital amp simulator plugins certainly saves a lot of time compared to firing up an amp and wiring a physical effects rig.
In the past, I’ve been surprisingly happy with the plugin, Amplitude. I’ve also heard great things about Amp Farm, but I have yet to get my hands on a copy.
For me, I tend to go the plugin amp route for quick compositions and instrumental tracks for TV.
When it comes to my songs and album projects, I definitely prefer the real thing. There’s nothing like driving through some real tubes.
12/14/2008
6:04 am
Andrei Popa
“There’s nothing like driving through some real tubes.”
Yeah, no doubt about it.
I’ve checked out Guitar Rig (2 & 3), Amplitube, Gearbox and Waves’ GTR3 (just a little).
Guitar Rig is the overall best choice, Amplitube has really good cleans, great delays and harmonizers but really awful distortion and while Gearbox isn’t bad in any way, it isn’t exactly my cup of tea.
I previously owned a Line6 Toneport GX, but back then it didn’t run on 64-bits and I needed some money for an amp, so I sold it. I wish I could try the new Pod Farm that also runs on 64-bits, but it requires a Line6 interface. I was thinking of investing in something more flexible this time.