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A Guide to Successful
AN INTRODUCTION
Recording can be a frustrating and time consuming business. In this guide we examine how to get the best
quality recording from the equipment and facilities available to you in school.
There are no hard and fast rules when it
comes to recording. Many artists record music
using various methods and combinations of
instruments.
Professional studio musicians are experts at
playing in time with previously recorded tracks.
They can follow a partial recording keeping
good timing and they tune their instruments at
every opportunity. They are familiar with the
critical scrutiny their playing comes under and
are well used to playing under lots of pressure
and with tight time deadlines. These attributes
take years of practice and experience to build
up.
In school,
youre unlikely
to nd highly
experienced
engineers and
studio
musicians but
this doesnt mean you cant achieve a
professional sounding recording. By following a
few easy steps and paying heed to the hints and
tips contained within this guide, you can create
a good quality recording.
A handy guide to
help you get the best
from your sound
engineering
RECORDING
Everything you need to know for that perfect recording
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1. Planning
This rst step is perhaps the
most important one in the whole
process. Fail to prepare- prepare
to fail!
The rst thing to decide is
which song to record. Some
songs are great for sound
engineering and some are not so
good. Bare in mind that just
because its your favourite song
doesnt automatically mean its a
great candidate for recording. Try
to pick songs that are structured:
Verse, Chorus, Verse Chorus etc
and have a fairly consistent
tempo. This means that you will
be able to play along to a click
track. If the song has lots of
varying tempi it will be harder to
get all of your artists to play in
time. Keep it simple.
Next, decide on your
instrumentation. Guitar, Bass and
Drums? Keyboard?
Try to stick to instruments
that are easily accessible. For
example, you may want a
massive Indian Nose-Flute solo
in the middle of your song but
where will you nd one? And if
you do - who will play it?! Use
the instruments and musicians
you have available to you.
Teachers and instructors
will be happy to play for you.
Let them! This is not about
your ability as a performer,
rather your ability as a sound
engineer. Your job in this is
to get a good recording, not
to play all the instruments.
2. Make a track plan
Plan out which instruments will be on each track, who will play them and how you will
record them. This means you are prepared when the recording session starts. Singers/
Performers will not thank you if they have to sit around while you decide how to mic them
up and what track they should be performing onto.
A track plan should look something like this:
TRACK 1 TRACK 2 TRACK 3
Instrument
Lead
Guitar
Bass
Guitar
Electric
Drums
Track Used
1 2 3
Recording
Method
Mic up Amp Direct
Injection
Direct
Injection
TEN TOP TIPS
The ten essential tips to follow for a great
recording.....
Make sure you tune all the instruments before you record. Check
they are in tune with the other instruments on the recording not just
with themselves!
An easy to
follow guide for
sound
engineers
Dont Forget!!!
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3. Set up a good studio environment
Make sure the studio or recording room
is as tidy and comfortable for the singer or
instrumentalist as possible. Theres nothing
worse than tripping over leads, untangling
mic cables or having to adopt yoga
positions so your headphones will reach the
socket! Good ambience and good vibes will
lead to a better performance. (Honestly!)
Singing or playing on recordings is a
stressful business and the more you can do
to put the artist at ease, the better. Finally,
reassure the artist that any mistakes can be
corrected.
4. Direct Injection or Mic?
An important decision to be made - Do
I use a microphone to record the instrument
or plug it in directly to the recorder?
Unfortunately there are no hard and
fast rules here. Sometimes its the sound of
a specic amp you want to capture and not
the guitar itself. This would need a mic
obviously. But sometimes its not that
important.
Here are a few tips tho:
! Electro-Acoustic Guitars:
Plug them straight in. They have in-built
mics anyway so they usually sound great.
!Electric Guitars:
Mic the amp up. Amps give guitars the
sound we know and love so its worth the
extra e"ort.
!Bass Guitars:
Usually these can be plugged straight in.
They actually sound much cleaner when
you use direct injection. The only exception
would be if you want lots of distortion, like
in a heavy metal song. In this case you
should mic up an amp. And examine your
musical taste!
!Keyboards:
They sound rubbish through amps. Always
plug them straight in.
5. Choosing a Microphone
If youre using a microphone, you need
to think about which kind. There are two
main types:
Condensers These mics pick up
everything. They are very responsive and
capture every ne detail of the sound. This
is obviously an advantage when recording
the ne tones of a singer. However, they will
also pick up the 2nd year class in the next
room, the violinist practicing next door and
the road works in the next street. The best
time to use these mics is when you can
guarantee a quiet recording session. Finally,
condensers also pick up the echoes and
ambience of a room so if you want a dead
sound you will need to use them in a small,
deadened area (a booth).
Dynamics Dynamic mics are mainly
used for live performance. They are much
less responsive than condensers and
subsequently dont pick up any unwanted
noise - only what you sing or play straight
into them. The downside of this is that you
may lose some sound quality. However,
they are great for recording things like
backing vocals, loud guitars and tuned
percussion.
If you're not sure which mic to use,
audition several before making a nal
choice. Di"erent mics will produce
noticeably di"erent sounds.
WHICH MIC?
Dynamic Mic
Condenser Mic
Great for:
Groups of instruments
Ambience Recordings
Acoustic Instruments e.g
piano, violin, flute
Overhead micing e.g cymbals
on a drum kit
Great for:
Live performance
Single direction instruments
e.g sax, clarinet
Toms and snare drums
Backing vocals
Next:
Mic
Positioning
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6. Positioning a mic
Position the singer four to eight
inches from a condenser microphone,
and one to two inches from a
dynamic. Dont let them kiss the mic
like they are the lead singer from
Slipknot. The mic will get slobbery and
the sound is rubbish.
If micing an amp, experiment with
the distance and angle of the mic until
you nd what works best. Dont be
lazy here- the best equipment in the
world will sound awful if used properly
so take the time to get everything set
up the way you want it.
7. Use a pop lter
This is really
important as it reduces
plosives.
In plain English,
every time the singer
sings a word that begins
with P or B a gust of
air shoots from their
mouth causing a pop
noise in the recording.
Using a pop lter stops
this happening. It takes
all of two seconds to screw onto the
mic stand so dont be lazy about this.
8. Set up a good headphone mix
When recording a new performer,
take out unnecessary instruments
from the headphone mix. If a singer
prefers not to hear twenty guitar parts
and only sing along to one, ne. They
are not insulting the other nineteen;
they simple hear the key better in their
head when the mix is less
complicated. This makes it easier to
pitch their vocals.
Ask your performer what they
want to hear in their headphones.
Getting a good mix will mean they
perform better.
8. Monitor the recording level
When recording, constantly
monitor the recording level. If the
sound peaks into the red area, the
sound will distort. You cant go back
and x this later so its very important
to prevent it happening when actually
recording.
On the other end of the scale, if
the recording level is too low the
singing/playing will sound too quiet.
Turning it up to the max later will only
create a huge hissing
9. Try to record complete takes
Whenever possible, record the
whole part even if the performer has
made a mistake. This keeps the
punching in and out to a minimum.
This will enable you to get a better,
more natural performance from the
performer. If necessary, make a
composite track composed of the best
parts of several takes.
Shania Twain and Madonna
recorded several complete takes of
their recordings. Then once everyone
else had gone home, the engineer
stayed behind and took the best bits
from each recording and pieced them
together. For example - taking the
chorus from take 1, the verses from
take 2 and the last high note from
take 3.
This process means you get a
polished recording but is only possible
if you record the whole thing several
times.
10. Write down all your settings
Finally, write down ALL of the
settings. Fader positions, gain level,
reverb, EQ, mic & preamp choices,
and positioning information. If you
need to rerecord any of the vocals at a
later date (which is probable), your
notes will make it possible to recreate
the original vocal sound.
It also means that you wont have
to enter the Booker Fiction Prize when
writing up your logbook.