Home

THE MUSICIAN GUIDE TO MUSIC PRODUCTION

1. basic principles but some things are different Too many mixes done ITB in the box computer are sounding weak which suggests the idea that mixing in analog produces better results The reality is that digital mixing is more affordable than ever and too many people are doing it but not too many know how to really do it Like with analog it takes many years to develop the craft In digital there are some steps a mixing engineer should go through like gain staging in order to avoid clipping This is especially important where the hybrid approach is used to take advantages of both worlds and my favorite way of approaching the mixing process Regardless of the way the mixing is done all these top engineers work in an acoustically tuned environment and this is something you should be looking first when you are shopping for a mixing facility Digital or analog it doesn t matter if the sound is not properly heard and the acoustics of the room are messing with some frequencies creating peak and valleys in the room response The mix will not be good period Headphones are OK for checking a track detect problems that otherwise is hard to spot them But the bass can t be felt in your stomach the sense of close far and panorama are compromised and let s not forget that most of the time people listen to music through a sound system in an open environment home stereo boombox in the car in clubs The digital systems reached full
2. be audible at a reasonable level It is a bonus if the studio has more than one pair of monitors so the engineer can switch instantly to check the mixes Aside from the main monitors the other monitors should help give you an idea how a mix or master translates to the real world A pair of small Auratones can give you a pretty good idea on how a song will sound on TV sets they generally have nothing under 150 Hz or over 8000 Hz Some computer speakers a set of audiophile monitors and a boombox would definitely help when making decisions Look for a studio that includes an engineer in the rate The studio engineer knows the studio acoustics pretty well Yes you can hire an independent engineer but generally it s not worth it The studio engineer is familiar with the equipment and will solve problems as efficiently as possible as he knows his way around the studio Let him listen to the samples you have samples in the same vein as your music style and discuss with him how comfortable he feels about achieving that type of sound There s no point in hiring a sound engineer that s never worked with a jazz band if you want to record jazz for example During the appointment make sure you talk to the recording engineer He is one of the key players for the session the most impressive equipment will only sound as good as the engineer s ability to use it You re paying for him so make sure he is attentive willing to help you when you h
3. from that experience of all these years from what I learnt from great guys and it is my gift to you I hope it will help you better understand the process of music production recording mixing and mastering The e book is not meant as a technical guide Rather my goal is to try and present in a simple way the essence of the music production process how to prepare for it and how to get the best possible results I am confident that you will not be disappointed Florin Flo Fandango Content _ oe How to select a recording studio Recording explained 2 1 Recording in studio 2 2 Recording on location 2 3 DIY recording Getting prepared for recording Mixing Mastering 1 HOW TO SELECT A RECORDING STUDIO Finding and choosing a recording studio presents some challenges First in a large city there are too many studios and in a small city there most likely aren t enough So how do you know which one is the right one for you What criteria should you use The following are some thoughts that come from my experience both as a guitar player and a sound engineer When you finish reading you will probably be picky when it comes to selecting a recording studio But in all fairness strongly believe that the more prepared you are for the recording session the better the outcome and when you know what s involved you contribute to a more relaxed more productive atmosphere where everyone is happy and the pro
4. instrument requires a certain sound and there is no one type of microphone that fits them all If you want to record a piano a matched pair of omni Earthworks or DPA and a large premium condenser are the way to go especially for classical music and jazz Of course two Rodes or AT will do the job but you WILL HEAR THE DIFFERENCE For reeds nothing beats a good ribbon mic And staples like Royer Coles AKG 414 s and 112D Shure SM7 SM 57 SM 58 Electro Voice RE 20 and MD 421 Sennheiser are a good bet for drums percussion bass and guitars While the most important thing for getting a top quality product is the artist performance the studio has to be able to provide the right tools to capture that sound Regarding the preamps make sure the studio has premium preamps which are suitable for the style of music you are playing If you re a classical musician or for acoustic instruments a transparent preamp like Millenia or Earthworks is desirable for rock jazz and R amp B then Neve Focusrite Red Martech API Pendulum Audio Great River SSL Fearn Vintech Avalon are great options There s a reason the Millennia preamp is used almost exclusively all over the world for classical chamber choir music Of course great preamps are not cheap They cost thousands of dollars In your studio search you will be told how great Presonus ART and Behringer preamps are Here is the news they re not Sure they ll get the job done but you
5. low Throw some blankets duvets around to reduce the early reflections and if you need to dampen the sound Avoid recording vocal in the bathroom I suggest trying an electric guitar amp there for fun Natural reverbs are desirable if they are excellent otherwise if not that great once printed to tape you can t take them out Use blankets hung around the walls of the room to control the reverberation And even if the reverb is great you may live in a huge mansion it should fit the style of music you re doing so give that some consideration as well Recording yourself for some small projects could be very rewarding Feel free to try and experiment But as a rule of thumb when it comes to instrument sound try to capture the signal as clean as you can There are two schools of thought one the American one is to record clean and the other the British European is to print with effects Because of the lack of experience at mixing if you want to print with effects hopefully you know exactly what you re doing because once recorded you can t undo it so it is safer to print it clean If the effects are part of your sound especially for electric guitars use them all but the reverb Do not be afraid to experiment it doesn t cost you it is fun and you can get some spectacular results And in the end you can do multiple takes and choose later at mixing it doesn t cost you studio time Once you have the song recorded listen ca
6. or native plugins like Sonnox Oxford Algoritmix DMG Soundtoys Waves SSL Lexicon Altiverb etc Also make sure the studio uses good software for voice editing Melodyne or Antares Drums are usually a problem and a tool for drum replacement like Dr umagog which can be also used to add actually another drum can save the day Always ask to listen to some music have some CD s with you in the same vein with the one you re doing through the studio monitors The monitors are used to judge the tracks the mixing and the mastering If they re low quality there will probably be a problem The studio engineer is used to them and he can do an excellent good job but there are situations when you may be asked to make some decisions to accept or redo some tracks and you may not be able to have an objective opinion It definitely helps if the studio has 2 or 3 sets of monitors of different makes and sizes so you can check through all of them It helps even more if the monitors are made by ATC Barefoot Focal or Klein amp Hummel Yamaha NS10 s powered by Bryston a studio standard other good monitors are Adams Tannoy Dynaudio etc just ask to listen to your CD s and you will notice the difference They reveal easy any problems and allow an engineer to achieve great balance and imaging Ask about the studio policy when it comes to mixing If the same engineer that does the recording will do the mix ask him how soon that will happen after
7. recording Normally in cases like this you want the engineer to work a different project after your recording sessions then come back and do the mixing so he can be more objective For hip hop R amp B and rap or for any situation when you need pre production always look for high end synths and sound modules made by Moog Kurzweil Korg Waldorf Oberheim Nord Access Dave Smith Roland Ensonig etc Lately a lot of very good software synths have come out as well personally prefer the hardware that s not to say do not enjoy creating sounds with Omnisphere or use libraries from 8dio LASS Soundiron VSL and many of the libraries from Kontakt EMUx3 and Yellow Tools You can skip this paragraph it s going to be little technical but it gives you a better understanding of why a microphone preamp does a good job Most everyone knows that we have to avoid clipping during recording what is not widely known is that long before clipping many preamps exhibit an extreme distortion increase as they change from Class A to Class AB operation Therefore it is very important to have at least 6 dB between the peak level of the music and the clipping point to avoid a harsh sound The difference between the average level of the sound and the clipping point is known as headroom The bigger the headroom the better the sound The high end preamps have clipping points as high as 37 dBu 55 Volts while the semi pro and consumer equipment have 2
8. when it comes to business you have to be able to read between the lines frequently see an extremely well designed catchy website talking about the latest technological wonder the studio has as if that was the key to providing the holy grail of sound reproduction Well it definitely isn t but many artists don t know that and when they find out it is too late the train has already left the station There is this human element of liking something or not when you see it for the first time Remember that a beautiful website is just a marketing tool meant to capture your attention and is not a guarantee of a better sound So pay attention to the samples and unless it s a well known studio stay away from the ones that are not putting samples on their site and right off the bat you will have a pretty good idea about the recording quality the studio provides Be aware of the voice over beat samples the beats sound fine but they re done with synths software and hardware and they do not give you the real picture about the real sound capability If the studio has samples of a band jazz rock funk or some music where acoustic instruments were recorded that speaks volume about the studio capability both recording and mixing Check the photos if available they give good indications about the recording space Is it just a room or is it an acoustically treated room The equipment list indicates the level of quality achi
9. 0 to 24 In plain English in order to get a good sound the preamps have to have very high output devices and high voltage power supply which is very expensive you won t get that with 100 dollars per channel preamp These cheap preamps are good for the hobbyist recording engineer but they are to be avoided if you are looking for quality The good preamps or EQ include very high quality circuits and excellent transformers and when have to mic many tracks you ll understand it There are many small and medium studios and there is nothing wrong with them especially if they pass the lower overhead costs to you unlike big studios who can t afford to do so as they have a large overhead due to rent and maintenance Just make sure they provide comfort good acoustics and monitors and good equipment Beware though many people are recording with a computer a cheap console or preamp and cheap microphones My suggestion is to think twice before you pick the most inexpensive studio as your product will definitely reflect that A 200 mic or preamp can t provide the same quality you get from a 4000 microphone or preamp cheap mics made in China working exactly like Neumann is just plain marketing BS you know they have to make money too Not that they re terribly bad they can be useful but they re very inconsistent When you re putting a lot of effort into making a recording saving one or two hundred dollars at the cost of low quality is definit
10. Q is covered with using some effects like a chorus which change the tone enough and make the track sits well in the mix The engineer comes with a rough mix which will be presented to the artist producer so they can decide which way to go A good mix has strong and controlled lows the mids evenly distributed across among instruments and strong but smooth highs The mids are extremely important a great mix still has to sound good if you filter everything bellow 100 Hz and over 6KHz remember the old recordings from Blue Note label most of them done in Rudy Van der Gelden studio there are no strong lows or highs they were mono and they sound great in any speakers While the engineer has a certain view and tries to do his best what really counts is the customer opinion and the mixing tries to get as close as possible to what the artist producer has in mind Typically there are a couple of versions of the mix 1 the master mix the one everybody likes 2 vocal up 1 2 dB 3 vocal down 1 2 dB 4 the TV mix with no lead vocal often called trax used for TV karaoke 5 the instrumental mix It is a regular practice to prepare multiple versions of certain songs First is the album cut which usually stands out for artistic integrity then the AM version which is the radio mix with a length of 3 minutes or close and the dance mix for use in dance clubs generally longer around 5 6 min When you re budgeting for a project always consi
11. THE MUSICIAN S GUIDE TO MUSIC PRODUCTION All about recording mixing and mastering Florin Flo Fandango Fandango Recording Toronto Foreword The most important date of my life was my dance with music and I am happy I didn t miss it Truth be told I m unsure when the exact moment I fell for music was I just know that it happened when I was still rather young I had to sing in the school s choir right from the first day of school and being part of the school choir it was mandatory to attend the Philharmonic s matinees shows every Sunday So there was that When I was ten my parents forced me to learn classical guitar they loved music but to be honest the main reason for sending me to guitar lessons was to keep me busy keep me off the streets and out of trouble For the most part they succeeded Hilariously enough when I was about 17 I discovered the advantages of being a guitar player it was like being a magnet for girls right after the time I discovered rock But at a certain point in time I took studying music very seriously as I did physics and philosophy This lead eventually to my first visit to a recording studio Wow I was fascinated by consoles the process of recording I knew at that moment what I wanted to do So many years late and after a move to a new continent I got to have and do what I wanted and during this journey pick up some hard earned experience This e book comes
12. a huge mistake Listen to low volumes and ask the engineers to play the dry tracks no reverb or any other effect whatsoever Does it sound good If it does all is fine If it doesn t then analyze if you have to redo some tracks Do not rush decisions Better think twice try to be as objective as possible Always remember that if you want to get a very personal sound you need time to experiment without experimentation there would be no Sgt Pepper s Beatles or Time Pink Floyd or Phil Collins s gated drums Write down the title of each song provide as many details as you can including the key of the songs or the key for each part of the song the chord charts the general arrangement sequence the words This is really helpful at the editing stage for voice correction and for instruments like acoustic bass strings etc Bring a hard drive with you and have the engineer copy the recorded material into it A new one if preferable as usually the recording engineer will either want to use a new one or format an old one The reason is simple the workstations used in studios do not have antivirus programs as the antivirus software creates major problems with the audio sequencers So don t get upset if the engineer won t use an old hard drive unless he formats it Reloading from scratch a workstation and test it can take easy two to three weeks so nobody takes this risk Do not hesitate to ask for the engineer s op
13. ath without hum Basically if it looks half assed your product will probably sound like that too Check the acoustics for your style of music If you re into large orchestral sessions a large studio is what you re looking for But for pop rock folk jazz R amp B a smaller live room will do the trick Also get a feeling for both the recording and control rooms a good acoustic design goes a long way toward producing an excellent final product Speaking of the recording space think about the level of isolation you need if the act is a band In some cases microphone leakage is your friend especially for jazz bands recording together whereas in other cases isolation is required For most projects like pop rock isolation is required so check if the studio offers enough possibilities to achieve it vocal booth live rooms space etc Have some familiar CD s with you Ask the engineer to play them and listen from the mixing position Do you hear every detail clearly along with every instrument position Ask the engineer to let you sit in his chair and switch the monitors from stereo to mono and in that moment the sound should move right in front of your nose like you can touch it If it doesn t the room has bad acoustics and there is no way to get a good mix The studio acoustics room response is extremely important for mixing and mastering And DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYTHING LOUD Volume merely masks imperfections Everything should
14. c guitar in a rock typical song the body of the guitar is less pronounced but the higher harmonics are brought out In isolation it may sound harsh but it fits in the mix Each song is different and each mixing engineer has his personal approach when doing the mixing The engineer needs to understand what the song is all about what is the story and what is the best way to tell it The engineer has to understand the arrangement and identify the starting point like in disco the kick is everything or in jazz the melody and the musical dialog between musicians and then using panorama EQ dimension effects dynamics compression gating limiting he starts to build from the bottom up he has to figure out the direction of the song making sure it has the groove and captures the interest In modern music for some of the engineers the mixing approach is to build the foundation creating the triangle drums bass vocals and getting the main balance of the mix The drums may need editing and enhancing sometimes drum sounds have to be replaced or reinforced The bass and the kick have to be together complement and work extremely well with the vocal and the snare If this triangle is right the mix will be good Other engineers start with the driving element of the song and then build the foundation with it The vocals are undergoing editing breathing reduction noise removal from the tracks and subtractive EQ The voice editing pitch co
15. cabinet for recording guitars However remember that the sound lies in the musician hands ears and his playing ability The microphone s set up takes time and you don t want to take shortcuts here Having some music samples in the vein of the sound you re looking for is important the engineer will have a much better idea of the sound you re aiming for Microphone placement is essential let the engineer do it and if you already recorded some tracks into another studio and you got your sound with a certain placement let the engineer know about it Fine tune the placement until you get the sound you re looking for record a bit and listen in the control room through the monitors and adjust more if necessary As a principle for recording vocals the engineer will usually try with a couple of microphones to see which one is the best fit for the voice While generally large condensers like Neumann AKG Telefunken Lawson Sony Brauner Gefell Soundelux etc are the norm sometimes a dynamic or a cheaper microphone can prove to be the right tool In deciding which microphone suits the voice better use your ears only Don t fall for the mistake of picking up the Neumann no matter what because of its logo Experimentation is a major factor in getting a great sound it takes more time but it can bring something unique to your project The microphone preamp compressor chain is an important part of vocal recording The microphone preamp has
16. can t really compare a 1500 dollar one channel preamp with an 800 dollar eight channel preamp Look for a studio that has a couple of great different preamps so you can take advantage and get the best in different recording situations API Focusrite Red Neve or SSL are great for drums on the other hand when it comes to record or warm up a synth a tube preamp like Pendulum Thermionic or Fearn is a great way to go Pay attention to the vocal chain make sure there is a great vocal compressor like Tube Tech CL 1B or the LA 2A or eventually a Cranesong Trakker They do a great job without compromising the voice quality and when used properly you can t tell that the voice was compressed they ve got a magic touch Great vocal preamps are Martech MSS 10 very deep great for huge voices many consider this the Ferrari of the mics world Neve 1073 especially good for pop rock raspy voices Pacifica Telefunken V72 Hardy API As far as the vocal microphone you want to be able to choose from a selection of great microphones to see which one fits your voice best and make sure you are given to try at least one high end tube large condenser Always ask about the quality of the A D and D A converters If the studio uses tape that s not relevant but if the sound is recorded into a computer the converters are the first thing you want to look at There are audio cards with converters like Motu Lexicon Omega Digidesign Mbox 2 or Echo w
17. d corrections which usually prove to be detrimental to mixing There are so many famous songs where there are pitch problems or noises they would not be so famous if they would have been done perfect technically Lately with the evolution of DAW software and audio interfaces AD DA convertors and analog summing boxes the hardware processors can be easily integrated in the mixing process The hardware processors have their own sonic signature A plugin is basically a mathematical representation and in many cases they are emulating the real hardware with a pretty impressive accuracy However the sound of the hardware incorporates so many other things like transformers op amps etc A hybrid system brings together the analog and digital world You can spot right away the sound of a Neve or Harrison console a Chandler EQ and many others They are in fact part of the sound of rock music history There is definitely a sonic signature to both digital and analog and personally like to take advantage of both of them feel that the clarity of digital fits better classical and jazz music in many cases anyway while other styles rock hard heavy alternative punk etc latin country progressive jazz funk soul R amp B benefits from the character brought in by the analog gear like Neve Chandler API Neve Thermionic etc Of course it is a matter of taste and vision and a good engineer will do a good job regardless but it is goo
18. d to have tools handy and be able to select the best ones for the job and have an expanded palette of sound options The essential thing is to end up with a balanced mix which brings up the unique musical characteristics of the band singer etc 5 MASTERING Mastering is the last creative process that brings a musical project to its final sonic dimension Mastering is the process of taking the source the final mix to a data storage device the master from which all the copies will be produced Mastering takes care of the final assembly of an album ensuring that a collection of songs will flow from start to finish like they belong together in the desired order and with the right amount of space in between songs Mastering brings forward the best in the mixes expect mastering to enhance the sound add more depth and make the songs shine The better the songs sound the more records will be sold Mastering is equally important for the new formats that gained so much popularity as a result of the internet explosion as is for CD mastering The music need to be polished and sound good on the new generation of listening devices that are using the internet like ipods iphones ipads mp3 players computers Many projects are made on project or home recording studios where the monitoring system and the room are less than accurate definitely recommend having the mastering of these projects done somewhere else with an experienced engineer familia
19. dea of sound that is a starting point for the mixing engineer Getting in details every instrument vibrates at different frequencies at once Each sound has a fundamental and overtones the frequencies above the fundamental Each instrument has its own overtone profile its own timbre so we can make the difference between them These overtones put a different amount of energy in each harmonics as an example trumpets have a pretty even distribution of energy while clarinets have high energy in the odd harmonics like multiples of 3 5 7 of the fundamental Peter Schaeffer did a very interesting experiment he basically cut the very beginning of each tone and at that moment it was almost impossible to distinguish the instrument He proved that the attack of the sound is essential to its definition Another researcher Petr Janata proved through experimentation that when removing the fundamental of a sound it will be restored at early stages of auditory processing we listen to some stereo systems or in the car and we have the feeling that the bass is strong but in reality there is no bass there as the speakers do not go under 125 Hz what we hear are only the overtones of the bass All these are taken in consideration when doing a mix as there is a limited area where all the vocals instruments are occupying the space In isolation some instruments may sound thin but together they must gel As an example when strumming an acousti
20. der the time for mixing this is very important It is common to spend between 6 to 10 hours in the 16 plus tracks world and 2 3 hours for a voice over You may ask for compromises if your project is a demo for club promotion but it would be a mistake to do so for important projects Aside of the engineer experience there are a couple of important elements that have a major influence over the mix the room acoustics the monitors and the quality of the equipment hardware and software can t stress enough the importance of the monitors amp room acoustics in the mixing equation A good mix starts with an acoustically tuned room and a good set of monitors that allows the engineer to hear everything It also allows the musician producer to hear properly as ultimately they are the one asking for changes or making certain decision It is a bonus if the studio has a couple of sets of monitors so you can check and see how it sounds in the real world Lately there is a major dispute with arguments in both side concerning mixing ITB vs OTB ITB mixing in the box inside the computer OTB mixing out the box with a console summing box and outboard gear think that too much energy went into this subject and to me both ways can produce great mixes There are famous engineers using only software others working hybrid both software and hardware while the rest are swearing by the pure analog consoles Mixing in digital vs analog has the same
21. dio can be on par with one from a major studio What medium and small studios lack are the large great rooms some of them being famous like the Capitol recording room and people working who are the top professionals in the business But they also charge much more most likely outside your budget due to their overhead expenses Unless you are at the top of the charts or you have lots of money a medium or small size studio is the answer However be aware that a small or medium professional studio doesn t mean a laptop in the kitchen Carefully establish your recording budget Always split your recording budget from the total amount of money always think that almost half is needed for mixing and mastering The rest is for studio hours It always takes longer to record than you expect and watching the clock instead of focusing on your music may have disastrous results Don t panic and don t rush the recording stage Do redo some so and so tracks and delay the mixing if you have to You ll be glad you did You have a budget so automatically money will probably be the first criteria This is not the most important criteria but c mon let s be honest this is the reality at least until you re at the top otherwise you wouldn t be reading this So look for a studio that fits your budget Ask around word of mouth is an excellent bet The internet is a great source but you need to use it intelligently like with everything else
22. ds a poor performance or a poorly captured performance can only be masked to a certain extent in the mixing mastering process So you want to set yourself up for sonic success from the get go rather than relying on post performance trickery Always look for boutique quality and high end esoteric gear The most important things are the microphones look for names like Telefunken Neumann AKG AEA Lawson Royer Earthworks Brauner Blue DPA Schoepps Geffel mic preamps and EQ s like Martech Neve Millenia Massenburg Great River Pendulum Audio SSL Chandler Focusrite Red API Vintech etc and compressors Thermionic Elysia Tube Tech CL 1B LA 2A Portico Neve MBP Avalon Urei 1176 Distressor Cranesong Manley SSL API etc Do your homework and write down what the studio has to offer microphones preamps EQs and compressors and then take the initiative to do some research on the internet there are many forums with a lot of info like www gearslutz com where recording mixing mastering legends like George Massenburg and Bob Katz are moderators When it comes to microphones for a solo act a good quality microphone might be sufficient by itself But for a band you want to have access to different microphone flavors because if you overdub everything even with a premium microphone the final product will sound flat A good quality studio has to have a good collection of microphones because each style of music and each
23. duct you walk out with is of a higher quality than could be achieved by feeling your way around a studio by chance So you ve decided to record an album or a demo Well it s best to think of the whole thing as a major project that you have to prepare for by understanding all its aspects This is the most important thing You want a good quality recording without spending too much money Where do you start While you can t avoid spending money nobody records for free there are ways to maximize the results you re getting Choosing the best studio for your project and planning your recording sessions properly are the keys to a good product It takes quite some effort and patience but it will pay off in the end A good final product speaks not only for your talent but also for the recording engineer s work and the studio Know exactly what the purpose of your final product is It makes no sense spending a fortune in a major studio for a demo needed for promotion for a CD you want to sell at your gigs or through the internet Obviously when you have a contract with a major label you ll be doing your job in major recording and mastering facilities that s what major labels expect and also fund As said for most of projects a medium or small professional studio is your best bet This is not to say that you can compromise when it comes to quality Today due to advances in technology the quality you can get in a medium sized or small stu
24. e most complex part of the music production chain and would say the most important It takes years for a mixing engineer to get good at it that is the reason the mixing engineers are the highest paid in the industry Why is it mixing so important For starters hearing is way less objective than sight and much more open to interpretation and the way songs are resonating in people when they listen is different in each individual We don t know too much about how music reacts with our brain and how the emotional mechanism really works However a lot of research was done in the last three four decades and the results of these studies help us understand better how to put a mixing together Interesting enough with all the subjectivity almost all of us know when a mixing is bad or good The marks of a bad mix are easy to recognize vocals are hard to understand sometimes are too low or too loud or out of tune some instruments even if they are there seem to disappear at times some lead parts are too buried within the instruments sometimes it seems that the instruments vocals are not together like they perform in different spaces at times the combination of instruments doesn t fit you know something is wrong The marks of a good mix are even less complicated everything flows nothing seems to be unusual you feel emotion the groove is there you feel moved and comfortable and you feel like you want the song to keep on going it is that
25. ely a mistake In conclusion always choose the studio that makes you more comfortable and meets your recording needs What really make the difference are the engineer s ears and experience your musicianship the space you record in and the equipment that captures your performance 2 RECORDING EXPLAINED 2 1 Recording in a studio This article outlines the basics of the recording process The time you spend recording should be used properly so a basic understanding of the recording process is imperative especially if you re going into a recording studio for the first time If you have some tracks pre production or tracks recorded in another studio they are to be taken care of first and loaded into the workstation Make sure that the tracks are exported from the same starting point so no time will be wasted aligning them If you are doing these tracks yourself with software instruments their peak level should be somewhere around 6 dB at least under 0 to avoid clipping when exporting them would recommend recording them in mono and exporting them as mono files Have 24 bit 44 1KHz or higher 88 2 or 96KHz as a target when you record them and export them at the same resolution There are two approaches when recording a band The first is to have everybody play together and try to get a great performance which is the most important thing you have to have in mind when recording The studio in this case has to have the capaci
26. ely not enough anymore The competition in the music business is tough and you shouldn t make any compromise when it comes to the quality of your song Even a demo for promotion that has three songs needs mastering There is always a tendency to save money but in this case it can be too costly and can compromise your chances A R people agents and producers who are doing the screening of hundreds of tapes are getting tired too and you don t want them to concentrate to hear your music instead of listening to it they simply won t do it So unless your demo is for promotion in clubs we advise you to go for mastering and have that in mind when you plan your budget The mp3 files are very popular their problem is the inherent sonic compromise and loss in audio quality More and more acts are paying attention now to the quality of mp3 and understand that these files can be improved sonically through mastering the same way the regular songs are mastered Mp3 s are a fantastic marketing tool you don t want to compromise the sales because others have better sounding mp3 s Apple came with a new concept in their effort to control the sales of music for different platforms Their last format HD ACC basically allows the customer to play the music at the highest resolution that his player can do it iPod iPhone iPad etc In some cases it will be a lossless format in some not It would be useful to know how your song will sound on each one o
27. er levels which can be a huge advantage at gigs can tell you that the house engineers will love it and help you get a good sound One secret less known is this a small amp like a 5 to 7 Watts amp will sound huge in a small room Interesting enough a cranked up wall of Marshalls in a small space sounds bad however a small amp cranked up in a small space sounds like a wall of Marshalls Many of Eric Clapton recordings were done with some 5 Watts Fender amp in small recording booths and the sound is great On the other hand you and your band mates are very much used with your guitar sound and it can be difficult to accept other sounds If you re a perfectionist try and record a guitar line a few times using different amps and cabinets and then compare them Listen through the studio monitors and as a rule of thumb do not push the distortion Too much and it will sound weak Don t go overboard and use everything from the studio just because you can use only what makes sense Have the sound set up before store the presets in your effects but also look what the studio has to offer you may find some better alternatives Use good cables and check your effect boxes for noise check the action and adjust to avoid fret buzz Always install new batteries in your stomp boxes before the session or in your guitar preamps if they have active hardware or piezo preamp for acoustic guitars acoustic guitars sound best when miked but recording their
28. essions in consecutive days in order to cut the set up time Consider recording the drums and bass first for all the songs and then proceed with overdubs Make sure the band has rehearsed a lot cannot stress enough the importance of this statement The quality of the sound comes mainly from the musician s fingers and everybody has to feel confident when playing and this comes from proper rehearsals The studio is not really a stage so try to move less during the last rehearsals before recording Record yourself during the rehearsals even with a simple recorder Listening to the recorded material is a reality check for both the performance and the sound It is a good idea to show the engineer these recordings These recordings will help you identify problems with rhythm pitch even arrangements issues Have all the song arrangements finalized before you go into the studio There is no point to argue over a bridge or a solo in the studio Prepare the arrangements in writing for every musician Be rested and show up on time do not bring friends this is about hard work they will distract you in a way or another If you do however then bring the ones that are positive and cheerful but tell them to be quiet when recording Have a good night sleep before recording The vocalists should wake up early enough so the voice gets in shape by the time the recording starts Use comfortable and quiet clothes the microphones are very sen
29. evable if the engineer is good Be organized when you start gathering info about studios Take notes so you can compare them later You can establish a couple of criteria like price distance engineer equipment acoustics sound space even your instincts Notes are the best way to keep the track of what you found out Otherwise you ll forget details that may be important Make sure you know the quality you are looking for The days of a simple voice and guitar demo are long gone Phil Ramone said in an interview with Howard Massey The quality of a demo is so important these days you can t go anywhere with a piano voice or a guitar voice demo You can t do that anymore The music business model has changed a lot over the last three decades The way music is marketed and distributed has changed dramatically How to promote yourself and your music has changed too If you aspire to be signed by the major labels you need to get to them somehow or generate major buzz don t think there are too many A amp R people today that can envision by themselves how a song can be with a proper arrangement And even if they can they do not want to assume responsibilities that can cost them their job They expect a product that if it s not ready for distribution is very close to it You may have a music business lawyer who has connections do you really think he will give your demo to his connections if it doesn t sound right Better th
30. f you look carefully at the main commercial hits you ll discover they have the same structure When listening to the progressive rock bands like Yes Pink Floyd Procol Harum ELP the forms are different the way the attention is captured is different there is a different level of richness both harmonically and rhythmically there is definitely a deeper sense of how to use and group sounds Jazz overall is rich in harmony rhythm and improvisations and the natural side of the sound is very important Mixing is the next step after recording Don t proceed with the mixing right away after recording give it some time Doing the mix the next day won t help when it comes to objectivity As a precaution allow for some last minute changes if needed or maybe something that has to be added to the recording All the instruments have to be heard properly and there has to be a fit in between them There should a feeling that they are together not that they are playing in different spaces The song gets to be round polished with a good sense of tridimensional space In theory this sounds simple in reality it s much more complicated Every instrument carries different amount of energy in the frequency bands and they have to be worked out so they don t cancel each other and sound naturally together They have to be placed in space both stereo and depth The voices or leads have to stand out For every type of music there is a certain i
31. f them and yes the mastering is definitely a good idea and if you plan to sell your songs through iTunes make sure you tell that to the mastering studio and the mastering engineer knows what you re talking about The vinyl LP is coming back sales are up in the last couple of years When you plan to do it so you release a vinyl the mastering should be done accordingly the preparation and the guiding rules are a bit different than for the digital format Yes you can send your master CD to the printing house for making the lacquer vinyl but that s not the best idea The rules of the process when cutting the lacquer with the sapphire tip are imposing some special requirements There are some things you should know about mastering Mastering will clean a mix but there are flaws that can not be removed There are things you didn t notice in the mix but you ll notice them at mastering most of them can be corrected The mixes can be made brighter or heavier the stereo width can be changed and the mix can be made to sound tighter and together If a mix needs to be redone it should be redone no mastering can take care of that It is recommended to send a preliminary mix to the mastering studio and ask the mastering engineer opinion he can point to some problems that can be fixed in the mix The following is a guideline you can use to estimate how much mastering time a CD project will take 1 Roll on time assuming your mixes are in a dif
32. ferent format than a wav or aiff files digital or analog tape the loading of the workstation is done in real time Having your mixes burnt on CD as wav or aiff files saves a lot of time the loading is much faster If mixes are on tapes it takes longer 2 Mastering this step is quite hard to predict it depends a lot on the quality of the mixdown and the processing required This step includes the process of testing listening in various speaker systems and doing the necessary corrections 3 Roll off time the final edited and mastered project gets burnt onto a CD R master or finalized for the new formats The burning is done Disk at once to eliminate all possible errors so you won t have a problem at the CD manufacturing facility At the end of the process a mandatory second quality control with headphones will be performed to catch problems that can not be heard on speakers and make sure no abnormal sounds exist Regardless of the package we are listening to the master in a couple of music systems in the studio a regular house music system boombox car hi fi and low end speakers to make sure the final product offers an enjoyable experience to the listener in all the systems When looking for a mastering studio there are a couple of things you have to pay attention The loudspeakers and an acoustically balanced room are the most influential elements after the mastering engineer s ears and experience The maste
33. great action of course this is a matter of taste and a very good sound These pianos are a huge step above regular digital pianos and can indicate that a studio cares about the quality of the equipment it provides its guest Make note of other instruments guitars basses amps effects the studio has available You may need to cut a track with a different color or add an acoustic guitar or double some guitar tracks and you want to have some avenues available to explore You re not going into a studio to write a song but a little experimentation enabled by different sounding instruments than what you re used to can add an interesting flavor that really enhances your piece The single most important thing that all famous producers like Ramone Kramer Visconti Cherney Brauer Afanasieff Johns Parsons etc agree upon is getting THE PERFORMANCE And a great performance can be generally only be achieved when everybody in the band plays together feeding off each other s energy even if some tracks will be overdubbed afterwards or only the drums and bass are recorded A studio that can record at least 12 tracks simultaneously is a good bet in case you want to have everybody play at the same time Pay attention to the monitoring system while recording You want a multi cue one so each player can basically have his own mix and feel comfortable Even better is a headphone monitoring system which allows the player to control what the
34. hange the balance of the leads to the track bed so you give the mastering engineer some room to breathe and definitely get a better final product It is better to have the vocal too hot than too soft Use de esser at mixing for vocal it gives clarity and keeps the sound from becoming to harsh Also use an auto tuner at mixing we can not bring the voice in tune at mastering Pay attention to cymbals they are usually too hot bring safety copies of your mixes And if you id some rough pre master it would be a great idea to bring the original premixes So always make an uncompressed mix along with the compressed mix you have prepared during mixdown check your mixes before you submit them to us listen to them on good speakers and at different volume levels Make sure the mix isn t clipping Always mix in 24 or 32 bit even if the source tracks are 16 bit Do not sample rate convert Always leave some room at the beginning and the end of the song at least 10 sec and don t perform any editing or fading Never ever compress the stereo output buss unless this is really what you want export the mixes as wav or aiff files at 24 or 32 bit the higher the resolution the better and burn the files on CD DVD If it s a tape make sure it is properly labeled and marked Se ee If you had the patience to go through this booklet you probably understood that recording is a complex process Don t get overwhelmed by it common sense is y
35. hich provide a good sound but when it comes to a great sound with extremely reduced artifacts in the process of conversion from analog to digital for recording or digital to analog when listening look for mastering grade converters Prism Mytek Lynx Lavry Apogee When the track count is high you ll hear clearly the difference The aforementioned mastering grade converters are way more expensive compared with the rest and again there s a reason why These converters provide higher integrity to the sound and they employ very sophisticated jitter reduction technology In plain English they almost entirely preserve the quality of the sound during the conversion to digital or to analog Nowadays almost all release quality recordings include the use of hard disk recording and editing systems like ProTools Nuendo Cubase or Sequoia Few people know that in a tape based studio analog or digital at least 20 of your time is spent waiting for the tapes to be rewound after every punch in this is not a problem ina random access recording system like those mentioned above Certainly tape recording has its own advantages a lot of people swear by the warmth of the sound In fact they bring to the table some distortion that is pleasant to the human ear While digital recording at today s resolution is very accurate the sound of premium consoles like Neve SSL API Harrison is famous and you can hear it in all the major releases of pop r
36. ht experience to get the sound you re looking for because he doesn t work on regular basis with quality equipment so he doesn t know what can be achieved with it A common answer when you ask if the studio has some high end microphones and mic preamps is that the studio gets a fantastic sound with an unknown brand as they know really well how to use it While that may be true extremely rarely tough a good quality studio has to be able to offer you some options you can try and see which one provides the best results for you And by options especially for vocals mean tube large condensers with Neumann AKG Soundelux Lawson Brauner Telefunken Gefell Blue or Manley logos Understand that the performance of a single microphone preamp worth double the price of a 16 channels Mackie mixer is beyond comparison with the aforementioned Mackie Many engineers use a compressor when recording vocals but no compressor comes close to the Tube Tech CL 1B or LA 2A for vocal work The best engineer with the best equipment for the money you can afford this is what you have to look for As pointed out already the performance is the most important element in the recording process The sound quality comes mostly from the musician s ability to interpret his part Equipment will never replace that But good quality equipment captures the sound properly and gives the engineer the raw materials with which to do a proper mix and master In other wor
37. inion when you hit a roadblock Most of the engineers are were musicians and they have a lot of experience as they both recorded many acts and played Shut off the phones when you get to the studio ask what is the policy regarding food and drinks most likely they are prohibited in the control room Be well fed you need energy Try to keep the chit chat to low levels and avoid discussions or comments especially during the vocal recording Give space to the vocalist vocals are the most important part of the song Finally bring a notebook and a pen and write down things you should remember lately Have your Facebook and so on passwords with you so in case you want to post some snippets of what you recorded you can ask the studio to do it right away That helps keeping the fans excited Specific recording preparations Drums The key of a good sound lies in a good sounding drum set and the drummer himself Do not forget that in some of Led Zeppelin s songs John Bonham was recorded with three microphones And what a sound It doesn t matter how good the studio equipment is if the drums sound like crap there is not much that can be done to improve it Make sure you have a new set of heads both top and bottoms Tune them a day before the recording session once you re in the studio they ll probably sound different but it will take you less time to retune them The truth is that so many drummers don t know how to properly tune their dr
38. ink again If your target is to promote and sell your music and build your own brand through sales advertising gigs radio TV without getting signed with majors the good news is that this is very possible today Many musicians are doing it and internet plays a major role cannot stress this enough the internet plays a major role in the promotion of your brand Your music has to sound right in all the popular formats promoted on the internet That poses challenges from a mastering point of view and it s up to you to make sure the studio you select knows all about it Once you have a list of a couple of studios arrange some appointments head out and check the studios to get a direct feel and impression of what s being offered Here are some very useful tips when shopping around for a studio e Try to find a studio not too far from your place driving two hundred kilometers before recording doesn t help your performance and definitely adds to your bottom line Many times you have to come back for a re mix or some post production Make appointments with a couple of studios that fit your budget criteria and go and take a look e Do you like what you see and hear Does the studio have a pleasant and creative environment This is way more important than you think Feeling comfortable and confident is extremely important Stay away from studios in the kitchen hallways or rooms with cables laid out all over do not expect a clean audio p
39. irectly to the so called lacquer a form of vinyl which was used to create the metal stamper which pressed the melted vinyl into the discs played on turntables In 50 s all that changed with the introduction of the analog tape machines allowing a dramatic improvement in sound quality As the final product at that time was still vinyl the process of preparing the audio became critical having a major influence in the delivery of the songs and accordingly in their commercial success The technology advances in the sound delivery to the customer brought in a series of new formats for the audio product CD s SACD s mini discs and the new generation of files used to deliver music over internet The mastering ensures that the sonic signature helps the delivery and the integrity of the artistic message in any system while providing to the listener an enjoyable experience no matter where he listens Despite the evolution of the music delivery there are a couple of basic steps in the mastering process a Master Mixes preparation have every possible information handed to the mastering engineer like sample rate bit depth file format etc b Tape files transfer c Create song order editing spacing The song order is extremely important not only for the mastering process but from the listener point of view Think the song order having the flow of the album in mind d Processing levels this is the stage where the ma
40. ists ability to master their instruments account for 60 70 the rest being the room recording space the microphone placement and the type of microphones and preamps Consider laying the drum tracks for all the song you want to record in the first sessions as the drum set up is laborious and it can take time On the next session the band can go into overdubs and save time Make a written plan of what and how you plan to record what does it needs to be recorded first as it also helps what s coming next Be careful when recording with effects it may be better to record clean Once the effects are printed there is no way to take them out If a distorted guitar or bass is what you want it shouldn t be a problem But the delay or the reverb can create havoc at mixing Leave the addition of reverbs chorus delay for the mixing stage unless they are definitely part of your sound In jazz things are a bit different usually the jazz people know exactly what they want and they have a better understanding of the sound When it comes to rock pop etc where there are overdubs and a song may get to have many tracks it is better to leave the options open so there are more possibilities to create the space Always listen carefully at what you just recorded The engineer may not be able to know that something is wrong in the performance and sometimes you can point to sound problems Wasting money by not listening to the recorded material is
41. it roadblocks and does what you want A personality fit goes a long way You may or not have a producer Producing a song is not easy and having somebody who worked with many other acts means you get some objective ears judging your project and making valid suggestions It helps if the studio engineer is a producer too the experience he s gained with other acts will only benefit your project If you re on a tighter budget finding a studio operated by a producer is a pretty good bet If you ve done some pre production work at home some tracks you want to let the engineer know about it and he will tell you how to have the tracks prepared when you come to record on top of them so you won t lose time Nothing worse than paying money for an engineer to hit the convert button and charge you while you wait for something you could have done at home while eating wings and watching TV Always look for a studio that can accommodate a set of drums in case you need it So you won t have to record the drums into another studio And with more live rooms it is easier to record more instruments like drums and percussion at the same time and get a better performance on tape Speaking of instruments check if the studio has a piano if needed In small and medium studios space is a problem and you may not find a grand piano However the studio may offer some truly great alternatives like Roland V piano or Yamaha AvantGrand They have a
42. jor problem once they re recorded there isn t too much you can do about it Check the pots and electronics and if you use some effects make sure you know the presets In medium and smaller studios the most common way of recording the bass is through DI boxes look for Avalon and Aguilar but there are some others cheaper still with a good sound It s not unusual to re amp a bass sound at mixing so getting the sound free of hum and buzzing is paramount Bass and drums should be tight as they are the foundation of the tunes bass has a major role both in rhythm and as main support for vocals melody It is a good idea for both drummer and bass player to practice with a metronome In fact all class players have in common one thing the sense of timing Timing is a shared responsibility between the drummer and bass player Guitars Have new strings and break them in also always have a spare set as a tip have some pine matches and clean the strings with them another solution is to buy a Fast Fret brush and use it after playing then wipe the strings and the neck with 100 cotton cloth Check all your pots and electronics Know your amp settings If your amp needs to have the volume at 10 consider a THD hot plate or a Marshall Power Breaker they allow you to reduce the volume while the output tubes are run at full speed strongly recommend the use of these devices they also allow you to have a very good tone running the amp at low
43. maturity the quality they provide is outstanding Platforms like Avid ProTools and Steinberd Cubase Nuendo are used in the most professional facilities For years ProTools was the professional choice but in the last decade Steinberg which is now part of the Yamaha Group audio engine took over in my opinion quality wise Their open VST platform stimulated third parties to produce a plethora of plugins software Nuendo became the main force behind the sound in the film industry Nuendo and Cubase share the exact same audio engine While in North America Pro Tools still dominates in Europe Steinberg platform is the professional choice and trend This tendency will only continue because Apple is dropping slowly the bar in hardware as they shifted the attention from audio film industry to creating a hub for entertainment There are other platforms like Sequoia Logic etc which are good too The plugins industry brings to table some excellent software processors would mention here the Universal Audio UAD cards Sonnox Waves Lexicon TC Electronics Sountoys Altiverb Paul Frindle DSM Algoritmix Brainworks The digital systems offer some excellent advantages fast and accurate editing total recall capability clarity and at least in theory a large dynamic range at 24 bit recording it is 144 dB Unfortunately just because so many things are possible when working digital there is a tendency of going back and do all kind of adjustments an
44. ments and end up with quite complex arrangements on your own time A nice all around solution is a MacBook Pro loaded with Logic and with an Apogee Duet interface Logic is a pretty good all around program and it comes with a very decent library and virtual instruments Use a good pair of headphones when recording One major advantages here is that Macs are easier to handle than Windows computers and if you re not a computer geek you ll be up and running with a MAC in no time For the purpose of simple high quality recording this is a very elegant solution Do not buy a cheap microphone rather go and rent one or a matched pair Go for a good condenser like AKG 414 which has three patterns and is a great all around microphone for vocals acoustic guitar and others and a dynamic like MD 421 Senheiser for guitar amps percussion or an SM57 The AKG 414 is a standard studio microphone you can t go wrong with it Also rent one or two mic preamps Neve Chandler Focusrite Red Avalon dbx Blue or a channel strip try a Pendulum Quartet a Focusrite Red a Millenia STT1 or an Avalon Run everything through the preamps and make sure you don t go into clipping repeat avoid clipping Keep the peaks at max 6dB When you record at 24 bit it is definitely OK to record at a lower level than risk to get close to O and running into problems ALWAYS LISTEN AFTER RECORDING Do some research internet will suffice at this point about
45. ng for them Many of them believed that you can fix all the problems at mixing but that is simply not true Do it yourself can be a viable option provided you do it properly and you are willing to learn a bit about recording Also there are limitations to this process you can get a decent product that you can sell at gigs or showcase on the internet but it can t properly compete with a major commercial release Right off the bat everybody should understand that recording and mixing require a completely different set of skills Mixing is a very complex process and there is no way you can do it right on a 1000 box and a set of cheap headphones A single high end EQ plugin could be well over 500 dollars and a high end hardware EQ around 5000 so you can understand why these boxes are limited The listening environment is much more important than you may think and it starts with good monitors and an acoustically controlled space like we ve already talked about So if you decide that you want to go down this avenue would advise doing the recording yourself and having the mixing and mastering done in a professional studio First rule record at 24 bits period Get a multitrack that records at 24 bits you can either buy one or rent one Another solution though more expensive is a computer where you need to buy a good audio interface and along with a sequencer This path can be very rewarding as you can use samples and virtual instru
46. o help having your gear prepared properly see bellow specific preparations Once the instrument setup is done try not to move the microphones They are generally strong enough that s not the problem the problem is that their position affects the sound If they are moved accidentally let the engineer know so he can reposition them Make sure you have all setup tempos for your songs know the BPM it is useful to know it when you do not use a Click track and it is definitely a good idea to get used to play along a click track If you have never used the click track then do not try right in the middle of recording session it s not going to produce results If you sing and play an instrument at the same time try to get used to only play or sing it will be easier to get a better sound recording the instrument and the voice separately It is better to concentrate at one thing at the time however have to say it the technical aspects are less important than getting a great performance on the tape Experiment Recording is hard work it makes no sense to argue whether it should be a solo over one or two verses studio time is expensive rehearsal time is not there will be enough pressure anyway so have all the song arrangements figured out and have fun with the tunes Do not forget the old saying less is more It is widely accepted by the greatest recording engineers that when it comes to the sound quality the player band art
47. ock jazz music Unfortunately they are extremely expensive and you can find them only in the multimillion dollars large studios In the last couple of years the hybrid digital analog mixing that gives a more personal and organic sound became possible due to analog summing boxes Some of them have a unique and beautiful sound Chandler made by EMI Abbey Road Inward Connection Mix690 made by Steve Firlotte with the famous 690 Jim Hall op amps Fat Bustard made by Thermionic Great River MM20 Shadow Hills Neve 8816 X rack SSL While quite expensive they are more affordable than the legendary consoles and there are medium and small studios that have started to use them make note of studios that are using this approach these boxes again indicate a studio that has probably taken some pains to provide a really quality final product As some of the medium and small studios ventured in the hybrid analog digital mixing check to see what hardware are they using along with their plugins names like Eventide Bricasti Lexicon TC Electronics for space reverb delays Elysia Neve Cranesong Thermionic 1176 SSL API Avalon Empirical Lab Pendulum Manley etc for compressors and Neve Massenburg Chandler Millenia Avalon Pendulum API Weiss and Manley as EQ s are quite desirable Another thing to look for are the plugins used It makes a difference if you see the UAD Powercore DSP or Duende cards with the top plugins in the business
48. oms are acoustically treated and the people working there know what they re doing However it is quite interesting to note that almost none of the mastering studios are posting in their websites the room frequency response The reality is that in order to improve the room frequency response you have to invest tons of money and go through a long trial and error process until the frequency response gets to be within 3 dB versus the ideal graph at 1 48 smoothing octave resolution be it the Bruel amp Kjaer profile or a perfect flat one some are still debating this aspect The room response is essential for a proper mastering and here you really do not want to cut corners improper monitors and bad room acoustic are a lethal combination for mastering The equipment used both hardware and software dedicated to mastering is very expensive but this is the only way to achieve a proper sound dimension Mastering was perceived lately by many as just a means of doing the music sound louder but this the wrong approach The mastering engineer is if you want yours and your customer best friend He needs to ensure the listener loves the sound and in return the listener will appreciate the artist There is a loudness war out there on the radio but listening to overly compressed music is tiresome Let s talk about the mastering steps that are involved In the beginning around 1900 and up until the analog tape machine the audio was captured d
49. our weapon of choice because no matter what the business is common sense is the most valuable and most of the time neglected approach Hang in there and at the end of the road you ll have the chance to hope again because this is what music is a pathway to hope And going along this path you ll meet interesting people most of them passionate and consumed and spending time with them you ll have a chance to understand the essence of them all it is all about doing what you love doing the most You may not get to be rich in fact there are almost zero chances for that but you ll have a good shot at discovering yourself going through this entire crazy thing called music business
50. piezo sensors doesn t hurt Check the tuning if possible after each take The guitar can go out of tune after one take Also don t forget to relax over gripping the chords can lead to sharp some chords Keyboards Save all the settings so they can be easily recalled As a general rule make sure you bring all the accessories including the manuals Sometimes you may need to turn off an effect like reverb as that may create problems at mixing and this is when the manual becomes very useful Sound wise nothing is carved in stones while you have to have the sounds prepared experimentation can lead to a very particular and beautiful sound Putting the keyboard through a different amp may lead to something that really fits the song and you don t want to miss this opportunity Do not rush when recording better later than early later gives groove early sounds like out of time In some projects pre production is mandatory Regardless of the sequencer used during pre production the files can be dumped into the computer and then you can use either yours or the studio sound modules It s a good idea to have the midi files with you and try some of the hardware the studio has to offer especially if your sound modules are not the best If the studio has units like Kurzweil Moog Korg Oberheim Waldorf Access Nord Lead Yamaha it may be worth it to experiment Add live instruments to a sequenced track percussion cymbals tom fill
51. r with different styles of music working in an acoustically treated room using a high end speaker monitoring system with mastering grade A D A converters and audio cables and high end analog and digital equipment The list of the most important issues the mastering takes care includes e noise glitches and hiss removal de humming cause by the 50 60 Hz of the power supplies de clicking de scratching and de crackling for re mastering from vinyl e clean up the beginning and the end of each song and smooth out or create fades through editing dynamic or harmonic enhancement of the song or just make up for inconsistencies through EQ compression and multiband compression e optimize average and peak volume levels for proper loudness achieve the right sonic balance for the type of song country is different than jazz or R amp B add warmth and depth to your mixes correct and adjust stereo imagine if needed place songs in proper order and adjust the gaps between them create a sonic signature for all tracks sample and bit rate conversion adjust the song levels and make them match so the listener won t have to turn the volume up and down between songs e place everything into the format required for distribution and create the master from which all the copies will be created That could be the master CD the DDP but also other formats used for distribution over the internet A good final mix speaks for itself but is definit
52. recording rechniques how are the mics working and how to use them their patterns and how to position them when recording Try end experiment first don t settle for the first take Play the same thing use different placement scenarios compare You will hear the differences Many people use drum machines sync it with the DAW and run the drums separately kick snare toms one by one through the preamps and record them in separate mono tracks If you take your project to a studio to mix it it is a good idea to have the drums in separate tracks kick snare mic room and eventually the overheads can be in a stereo track If you are doing the drum tracks with samples using something like Addictive Drums Superior Drummer BFD or the sequencer drum program export them separately too mono tracks These software packages have also usually EQ compression and reverb but would advise to export the tracks without using the effects Pay attention to the meters on the workstation box they don t show you the whole story especially when it comes to percussion and it is very easy to go over without even knowing it Pay special attention to shakers cymbals and similar instruments Make sure you re not peaking over 10 db for these types of percussion instruments To record vocal and acoustic instruments try to find a quiet place in your house and try to choose the largest room When recording vocals make sure the reverberation is rather
53. refully to each track separately solo and then listen to them together Is there clipping Are there any distortion problems Is there any excessive noise Are the vocals clean Can you understand the words easily Listen to some music in the vein of the music you re doing Don t be afraid to compare Some people record everything themselves except the vocals and they go into a studio and overdub the vocals This is a very smart idea nothing beats a high end combo mic preamp compressor and an acoustically controlled space And that s aside from the fact that you can listen to your voice through some relevant monitors and get advice from the engineer whether or not you have to redo some parts do some more punch ins or what can be edited and corrected at mixing and what can t Also you do not have to worry about start stop tape finding places for punch in which helps maintain your focus on singing and the performance itself 3 GETTING PREPARED FOR RECORDING The following are some guidelines that can take you a long way toward getting a great recording If you plan a good schedule you don t have to do multiple set ups and that saves time and makes it easier to redo parts in case you find out next day that something went wrong It is always better to leave your gear overnight and continue the next day instead of doing very long recording hours where everybody gets tired Discuss with the engineer and schedule the recording s
54. removed a few seconds would be just great have a list with the tempo of each song this is needed because in order to maintain the flow of the album the very last beat of the first song has to stay in tempo with the downbeat of the next one This is called spread and is used in most of the cases include all ISRC codes with the songs in case you want them written we have to have them before we burn the master disc The codes are written on the CD in the sub code Q channel as every recording has its own code Each ISRC is a unique and permanent identifier for a specific recording which can be permanently encoded as its digital fingerprint They make possible to automatically identify recordings for royalty payments Each ISRC is 12 characters long first two for country next three for first owner allocated by RIAA next two for year of recording and last five designation code which is assigned by the first owner Type ISRC on google and you will get all the info in details bring with you some recordings that you feel are in the same vein with your music they will help the mastering engineer to get a sense of what type of sound you re looking for This is not about trying to copy somebody but rather to better understand the relation between your music and the sound make a couple of mixes of the same song make a vocal up a vocal down a solo up and a solo down you may be happy you did that The compression tends to c
55. ring speakers should have a flat frequency response provide a very detailed stereo image meaning excellent accurate phase response and controlled dynamics Good mastering speakers are very expensive between the most used are ATC s Duntech Sovereign Barefoot MicroMain27 B amp W Nautilus Tannoy Lipinski Paradigm etc They have an almost perfect impulse response a fantastic phase coherency and a stunning accuracy you can hear a half dB when added or subtracted They are meant to reveal all the details and are very clinical The room acoustic response is essential for a good mastering because it is so important to have a proper representation of the sound coming from the monitors Bruel amp Kjaer determined that the ideal room response should increase linear by 6 dB when sweeping from 20Hz to 20 KHz The measurements are to be performed by using a sweeping tone through monitors record it and analyze it Usually these measurements are done with software like Room EQ Wizzard and FuzzMeasure The results show the problems in regards to frequency response decay phase coherency impulse response The range between 20 to 300 Hz is extremely important and affects the mix to the highest degree due to the room modes and energy of the lower spectrum the normal variation on this frequency range is between 25dB to 40dB What you hear is definitely different than what s in the song in reality When going to a mastering facility usually the ro
56. rrection and intonation if needed requires experience and specialized tools like Melodyne or Antares In classical music things are a bit different even though the final objective is the same The editing and compression have a very limited role you can say it s somehow easier Attention has to be paid to dynamics and their preservation as they are definitely a major form of expression also the idea of space is different than in the modern music and the most important word here is natural High end realistic and credible reverbs are required as famous as Lexicon or TC Electronics are for natural acoustics Bricasti is unbeatable The mixing is different also because the way of capturing classical music is different The proper way to record a choir as an example is to use a Decca tree or maybe XY with the purpose of capturing the choir as a single instrument did see some recording a choir putting acoustic panels between the sections of the choir which is definitely not the way to go The performance and space is already there normally only fine tuning is required during the mixing if the recording was done properly In general terms the fundamental music mixing process consists of 1 Establish levels and panning 2 Editing and pitch correction 3 Equalization subtractive and shaping 4 Compression 5 Effect processing 6 Automate levels 7 Print the mix There are variations to this process like sometimes the need for E
57. s A good engineer first studies the space and based on it develops the best recording strategy As a client you can do many things to help the process which in the end influences both the quality of performance and recording An example try to schedule to record the songs where you have brass and reeds at the beginning of the session rather than nearer the end unless the artists are pros with a lot of experience there is a fatigue that occurs which can be quite annoying 2 3 Do it yourself recording DIY recording is a reality and more and more people are doing it It is amazing how technology touches our lives raises challenges and also makes things which were impossible just a few years ago become reality More and more musicians are starting to record themselves lured by marketing campaigns like Studio in a box and by the low price of the technology So they buy a multi track workstation like a Korg a Boss or a Roland they buy a microphone they read the manuals they do the recording and then the mixing these boxes are amazing aren t they tons of virtual tracks they have all the effects and EQ s and then they are surprised to discover that their product is very far from an acceptably commercial one Sound familiar Trying to save money makes sense and everybody does it but you have to do it wisely am giving these tips away because had many clients who were recording themselves and then coming and asking me to do the mixi
58. s live bass tracks or live guitar tracks The best solution is to hire a session musician to lay down these tracks That goes a long way toward getting a track that doesn t feel like made on computers or drum machines Singers Do not listen loud when singing as this can affect the pitch Always listen to the takes to see if you went flat or sharp Ask the engineer to give you some reverb in the headphones if that makes you more comfortable but do not exaggerate as it can affect the pitch and intonation Take breaks when recording Recording 6 songs and 8 takes for each one is a hard thing to do You need to have that in mind when you re making the recording schedule Start each take like it is The Great One but if something goes wrong slow down and relax otherwise you ll run out of steam Even if you will comp from different takes is better to do it from a smaller number of takes so take it easy In the end suggest you bring your video camera and use it You re going to like it later when you see it it is going to be the proof of your hard work Take pictures you can post them in your Facebook or MySpace pages and keep your fans updated and excited with the progress of your work Who knows 20 years later the footage and pictures may be part of music history 4 MIXING Mixing is the process of putting everything together to get great balance frequency range panorama dimension dynamics and interest Mixing is th
59. s they don t know anything about children need to be supervised and it is way easier to do it in a school setting Recording on location requires a great deal of experience each scenario is different Recording a chamber music group a choir a philharmonic orchestra or something similar requires certain techniques to provide both a good balance between the room atmosphere without muddying the vocals instruments and their clarity techniques like Decca Tree Telarc ORTF M amp S the use of Soundfield mics the Holophone the Schoeps KFM 360 designed by Jerry Bruck The microphone and preamp quality and transparency is essential think Schoeps Earthworks both mics and preamps DPA Millennia A live stereo recording is OK for a simple demo but for a CD release a stereo recording is just not good enough and that is the reason the aforementioned techniques are employed Recording jazz rock alternative requires capturing both the atmosphere and each instrument separately so it leaves a lot of open options when it comes to mixing The major challenge to recording on location is getting the best sound of the space maintaining clarity and capturing the small details While the acoustic space is well known to the engineer in the studio a different acoustic space requires new solutions different than those used in the studio An important aspect of recording on location is the careful planning needed for both the studio and the artist artist
60. sembly or choir to record in a studio with a very large room with good acoustics Space is always a challenge but you know there are some very nice halls and churches out there with great acoustics b The sound of the room hall church helps the type of music On the recording it becomes part of it Choir and chamber music definitely benefits from the natural reverb of the room Proper microphone technique provides more or less of the room reverb c Recording a concert show in a club or a different location with a crowd present The recording may not be as polished as a studio release but this is not the objective the scope of recording is to capture the performance the band s ability to entertain improvise and move the crowd personally like live recording a lot as it is all about performance and being a musician myself really empathize with that d Recording jazz is definitely about performance Jazz is extremely interactive it has so much improvisation and a lot of the spirit of the music lives in the dialog between the instruments Jazz aficionados love the live albums because it gets very close to the essence of human nature freedom and creativity e Recording on location can also save the day in some cases for safety reasons I ve recorded several excellent children s choirs at schools they produced a CD then the school sold the CD for fundraising Many parents won t agree to have their children go to location
61. simple The mixing engineer takes a song and through experience and creative decisions helps the story of the song The song is the single most important thing no matter if the idea is to showcase a song voice or a band The mixing engineer puts all of the instruments and vocal together like a painter puts colors in a painting He needs to support the song message and each song is unique so there are no rules and standards Arguably the most important factor that influences the quality of a mix is the song arrangement The musician composer band will have more success if he is good at song arrangement understands the sound of the instruments and how they are complementing each other to underline the melody and the song message A good arrangement pays attention to tempo rhythm pitch consonance and dissonance You do not need to listen to a whole song to know which one is it when people hear some chords in a certain order in an Eagle concert B minor F sharp major A major they start singing Hotel California or when the bass line starts people recognize right away Beat it of Michael Jackson Through arrangement you can capture the attention of the listener put him ina certain mood create tension bring or not a finalization of the tension suggest control and then take him out abruptly and move him into unknown Most of the commercial music operates in patterns that induce good mood rhythm without any major change i
62. sitive so avoid unwanted noises Leave the jewelry aside you don t really need them If you know you will try to use a guitar or bass that the studio has make sure you have comfortable pants that work well without a belt no studio engineer will allow you to play the studio instruments if they know there is a chance you can scratch it If you re a guitar player and plan to use a classical guitar that the studio has and if the guitar has French polish on top make sure you wear long sleeves as the French polish gets affected by the skin When you schedule the sessions arrange with the studio so the evening before recording you can set up the drums and the engineer sets up the microphone Make sure you tune the drums before the engineer places the microphones You can do a preliminary sound check and then leave the drums overnight in the studio The studio atmosphere is different and that can affect the drum tuning so first thing next day is to check the drums again do final tuning and microphone placement adjustments If you do all this in the first day of recording you ll get most likely tired and maybe frustrated and the smart way is to avoid it Double check for squeaks noises so you have time in case you have to do some fixes It always takes time to do the set up for the session Be patient recording takes longer than just playing the song The microphone s placement and level set up are essential for the recording quality Try t
63. stering engineer through the use of EQ s and compressors polishes the songs adding clarity punch removing the mud adjusting the imaging e PQ coding ID tagging process at this stage ISRC codes UPC EAN CD text and copy protection data are created f Dithering always the last step in the audio mastering process It basically adds random noise when converting from a high resolution format to a lower one like from 24 bit to 16 when creating a master CD g Final master creating and checking the master be it PMCD pre master CD or DDP file Disc Description Protocol Preparing for mastering Knowing how to prepare the mixes for mastering goes a long way toward a final better quality product The following are some useful guidelines you should be aware of book the session at least a week in advance so you have time to decide about any last minute question Make a list of the songs in the order you want on the final CD If you ask for certain editing please write it down also write down any other thing like raising the lows into a song etc Make sure you provide a list of the phone numbers you your producer and your band players can be reached bring the highest resolution mixes you can Do not buss compress when mixing except when the type of music is asking for quite rare anyway just make sure the mixes sound good if you would like to remove noise please include examples of the floor noise you want to be
64. to fit the voice and the compressor has to be transparent There are a couple of microphone preamps used quite often like Neve Martech Pacifica A Design P1 Great River etc but when it comes to compressors there are basically two that are used all the time because of their high quality and transparent sound the legendary Tube Tech CL 1B or the venerable LA 2A Always listen to what you have recorded you don t want to discover there are problems when the engineer does the mixing and come back for more recording On a later recording session the sound will be probably different it is almost impossible to match the previous set up the air humidity and so on will be different So listen after every 2 3 takes and one more time at the end of the recording session Sometimes people are tired but this is an effort that always pays off Yes it is costly listening is in real time but is completely worth it Break it down like this you can either budget for an extra hour or two for listening throughout your project or you can budget for doing two or more setup recording sessions after you decide you want to re record something because you re not happy with the original recording Which one s better for your bottom line The answer is obvious 2 2 Recording on location There are instances when it makes more sense to record on location as there are some advantages to it a It can get very expensive for a large orchestra chamber music as
65. ty to do this with enough isolation between instruments even tough leakage is not necessarily bad Later other instruments can be added overdubs or some parts need to be re recorded punch ins From the sound point of view recording each instrument separately is desirable because it provides easier control of leakage into the microphones This doesn t mean that a band will not play together let s not forget that the most important thing is to capture a great performance Recording will be done in stages whenever necessary the drums and the bass first with all people playing together if that s what they want then other instruments and voices done as overdubs While for rock alternative and pop this is a typical way of recording in jazz all the players are generally recorded at the same time the way they play is interactive and capturing the feel of how they re interacting is very important It helps a lot if each musician has their own mix or personal mixer so they feel comfortable As far as getting the sound right once you have your instrument set up and ready for recording the engineer will try to determine the best position of the microphone This process takes some time while there are some general rules for capturing the sound let s not forget that every instrument and microphone has their own acoustic characteristics The engineer will help you with some tips like gels and rings for drums or a different amp or
66. ums Tune and listen and then you ll get it right Pay attention to the seating of the heads The type of music influences also the tuning for jazz the kick is rather tuned high not muffled or just a little For hip hop a low tune is advisable so you get the boom Check out on the net where you can find many advices and tips for drum tuning Check for squeaks and rattles and fix any unwanted noise The engineer will help you control the sound with gel pads and rings if necessary until the desired sound is achieved If you like to hit hard the cymbals consider rehearsing before you go into the studio and try to hit them softly this helps a lot in getting an overall good sound through overheads Consistency on hitting the drums and where you re hitting them goes a long way toward a good sound Do not forget to bring spare sticks Based on experience more often than not the drummer is a great musician but many times he doesn t sound great and that happens when he usually listens to somebody else perform and he doesn t listen to his inner clock If the drummer is pushing and pulling it s not necessarily a big deal as much time as the natural groove is there recommend rehearsing with a click track and use it while recording Bass So many basses hum Try to solve this problem before entering the studio otherwise it can take a lot of time to fix it and time costs money Check for the action and reduce the fret buzz Hum and buzz is a ma
67. y hear in their respective headphones It s a funny human thing but each player wants to hear himself louder in the headphones A multi cue system enables this allowing musicians to be more comfortable and churn out a better performance Once you ve finished visiting the studios it s time to narrow down the list You may already have an answer but sometimes it comes down to 2 or 3 options All these options may do the job but now is the time to connect the nature of your project with the technical possibilities of the studio Some studios have only the latest technology some have the prized vintage gear that ensures a certain color to your sound A typical rock and roll has a different sound than R amp B and the tools used have a lot to do with it So let s dive a bit into the many aspects of the equipment used in a recording studio The studio equipment Many studios post on their sites Beware of long lists of equipment True although this would be more accurately worded as Beware of long list of crappy and cheap equipment What these studios don t tell you is how important the quality of the microphones preamps and compressors is It is OK to advertise that the engineer s experience counts for a lot but if you ask for a certain high end microphone for vocal or acoustic guitar that you know is part of your sound and you re told that the studio has to rent one it is only fair to assume that the engineer does not have the rig

THE MUSICIAN GUIDE TO MUSIC PRODUCTION

Contents

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents