Archive for the ‘Recording Tips’ Category
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
by Jon Goad
A couple of years ago, I read a book called “Guerrilla Home Recording: How to Get Great Sound from Any Studio”. A neat tip that I picked up from the book is to record the signals from both a DI box and a miked bass amp to different tracks. Then you can blend the two tracks together to get a different tone for different songs. You’ll get a very clean tone from the DI box (because it’s coming straight from the bass guitar’s pickups), and depending on how hard the amp is driven, you’ll get some grit and distortion, and more color from the miked amp. I’ve used this technique with some limited success. (more…)
Posted in Recording, Recording Tips, Signal Processing | No Comments »
Friday, July 30th, 2010
by Jon Goad
As the owner of a recording studio, one very common question that I’ve been asked is, “can I record a cover song and put it on my CD?” To which I’ve usually answered, “you can, but you have to get what is called a ‘mechanical license’, and it can be kind of a pain. If you’re serious about it, just go Google-search ‘mechanical license’”, to which most people respond with a “deer-in-the-headlights” kind of look. (more…)
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Friday, May 21st, 2010
by Jon Goad
When discussing modern recording techniques, you can’t get far without someone bringing up the topic of compression. If you’ve seen a compressor in the mail-order music catalogs or online music store, but never understood what it was or why you might need it on your recordings, sit tight. (more…)
Posted in Live Sound, Recording, Recording Tips, Signal Processing | No Comments »
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
by Jon Goad
It’s been my experience that many drummers both young and old have a real lack of knowledge when it comes to tuning their drums. A properly-tuned drumset will not only sound good, but it will also motivate the drummer to want to practice and play more. It’s kind of like the difference between driving a old beat-up clunker and racing around in a new sportscar. (more…)
Posted in Drums, Recording, Recording Tips | No Comments »
Friday, November 6th, 2009
by Jon Goad
When connecting a mixer to a digital audio interface or multi-track recorder, you normally connect the Direct Out jack of each mixer channel to a track’s input on the interface. For example, let’s say your kick drum mic is connected to channel 1 of the mixer. If you wanted to record the kick drum to track 1, you would connect the channel 1 Direct Out to the track 1 input of the interface. You would then connect the channel 2 Direct Out to the track 2 input of the interface, etc. Using the Direct Outs in such a way takes each channel’s signal post-fader and post-EQ and sends it straight to the recording device. This allows you to record that one instrument (and only that instrument) to its corresponding track on the recorder or in your DAW software.
But what if your mixer doesn’t come equipped with Direct Outs? (more…)
Posted in Recording, Recording Tips | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
by Jon Goad
When you’re ready to do any serious recording, the question inevitably arises: should I, or should I NOT use a click track? If you’re new to the term, a “click track” is a track that is played in a musician’s headphones while they are recording to help them keep in time. Because the drums help to form the foundation or backbone of a rhythm track, the click track is most commonly used when recording the drums.
(more…)
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Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
by Jon Goad
Choosing a studio for your recording project is not a decision to be taken lightly. Choosing the right studio can mean the difference between a shining success and a miserable failure of a project. Following the guidelines below can help you along in this all-too-important process. (more…)
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Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
by Jon Goad
If you want to make the most of a recording session, remember these four simple tips:
- Bring Your Equipment
- Maintain Your Equipment
- Practice in Advance
- Bring Printed Materials
(more…)
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Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
by Jon Goad
Introduction
If you’ve never recorded in a professional studio before, it will be helpful to familiarize yourself with the recording process before you ever step foot in the studio. From start to finish, the process of recording a song includes several steps:
- Pre-production
- Setup
- Tracking
- Mixing
- Mastering
(more…)
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