Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
- Thread starter gilaltom3
- Start date
ratherdashing
Kablamminator
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
Compressor.
Everything needs a compressor.
Everything.
"But Matt, my amp has lots of ..." (slap) shut up. Put a compressor on it.
Compressor.
Everything needs a compressor.
Everything.
"But Matt, my amp has lots of ..." (slap) shut up. Put a compressor on it.
gilaltom3
New member
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
I completely agree with that lol. It's the first thing I found out when I started recording things...
"Why does it sound like crap?" was the question I always asked after laying a track down. Then I discovered compression and every track (even the master track) gets some.
I completely agree with that lol. It's the first thing I found out when I started recording things...
"Why does it sound like crap?" was the question I always asked after laying a track down. Then I discovered compression and every track (even the master track) gets some.
Binnerscot
New member
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
LOL! :fing2:
LOL! :fing2:
F
Funkfingers
Guest
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
Microphone placement is an art in itself. The only way to learn how to do it in your sound room is trial and error. Same goes for creative use and abuse of compression.
In my opinion, the single most important thing to have when recording is an opinion of what you are attempting to do and how you want the finished product to sound. It is also advisable to keep an ear open for the occasional happy accident if/when one arrives.
Microphone placement is an art in itself. The only way to learn how to do it in your sound room is trial and error. Same goes for creative use and abuse of compression.
In my opinion, the single most important thing to have when recording is an opinion of what you are attempting to do and how you want the finished product to sound. It is also advisable to keep an ear open for the occasional happy accident if/when one arrives.
F
Funkfingers
Guest
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
BTW, my definition of happy accident extends to less than perfect audio representations of extraordinary performances.
Case in point, Happy by The Rolling Stones. One day, when recording had not been scheduled, Keef came up with the germ of a song. Producer Jimmy Miler took to the drumstool. Bobby Keys shook a tambourine. A guide track went down but the atmosphere on it was such that the full band could never better the original "rough" version.
BTW, my definition of happy accident extends to less than perfect audio representations of extraordinary performances.
Case in point, Happy by The Rolling Stones. One day, when recording had not been scheduled, Keef came up with the germ of a song. Producer Jimmy Miler took to the drumstool. Bobby Keys shook a tambourine. A guide track went down but the atmosphere on it was such that the full band could never better the original "rough" version.
DankStar
Her Little Mojo Minion
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
back up your stuff. computers fail, stuff gets lost forever. I don't do it enough.
write down everything - the tuning, the settings of every piece of gear in the chain, the mic placement, the equipment you used, and tabs of riffs, harmony sections, and solos you'll probably forget if you ever want to go back and work on it again or re-do a tune.
read your manuals. I don't do it enough. we all ask dumb questions, the answers to most of which are right there in our manuals.
back up your stuff. computers fail, stuff gets lost forever. I don't do it enough.
write down everything - the tuning, the settings of every piece of gear in the chain, the mic placement, the equipment you used, and tabs of riffs, harmony sections, and solos you'll probably forget if you ever want to go back and work on it again or re-do a tune.
read your manuals. I don't do it enough. we all ask dumb questions, the answers to most of which are right there in our manuals.
P.A.Foholic
New member
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
This. Low gain + double/triple tracking = huge wall of sound.
Nowadays I'm also making two bass tracks: the other for distorted bass sound (if needed) and the other one for the "low end."
If recording/sampling drums, don't over compress snare. It will lose it's bite and attack if compressed too much.
Well thought panning is also important. Try to make "own space" for every instrument.
My few amateur cents. =)
This. Low gain + double/triple tracking = huge wall of sound.
Nowadays I'm also making two bass tracks: the other for distorted bass sound (if needed) and the other one for the "low end."
If recording/sampling drums, don't over compress snare. It will lose it's bite and attack if compressed too much.
Well thought panning is also important. Try to make "own space" for every instrument.
My few amateur cents. =)
Last edited:
mwalluk
New member
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
I would elaborate further on this.
When my band goes into the studio, we would have close to 10 guitar tracks. It's best doing levels of cascading gain, yet never going above 6-7 on the dial.
If you have the ability, it's nice having different guitars, amps and speakers for one song.
I would elaborate further on this.
When my band goes into the studio, we would have close to 10 guitar tracks. It's best doing levels of cascading gain, yet never going above 6-7 on the dial.
If you have the ability, it's nice having different guitars, amps and speakers for one song.
Shadow1psc
New member
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
Put your VST 'spacial' effects on an aux bus (Chorus, Reverb, Delay, Compression), and route through that as needed. Use less VSTs per track, save your computer some resources. Don't mix with headphones. Ever. Get the dinkiest set of powered monitors if you have to, just don't mix with headphones.
Read books, join forums. If you want to record on the cheap, go digital where possible. The less you have to worry about mic placement in an untreated room, the better you will sound. A little bit of reverb will mask the 'flat' digital recordings. A pure signal is a beautiful thing. Likewise, when recording digital, always take the option to route your dry signal at the same time if you can. I'm not a huge fan of VST modeling, but you can do some cool things with it, and it can make double tracking easier.
If you want to move towards all analog, EVERY LITTLE THING MAKES A DIFFERENCE. Type of mic, placement, type of speaker, type of floor, type of walls, room length/width. It's endless, and there are entire books on acoustics and sound wave theory. Learn how to makeshift your own bass traps, mic screens and keep spare bits of particle board around.
There's really about a million tips I could give/you could find, but at the end of the day, the biggest one I could give would be to always be listening. Play. Record. Listen. Repeat this as often as you possibly can, you will only get better by honing your skills. You'll learn things about your instruments, style and environment that there aren't simple catch-alls for. Never stop doing this. The only way to get better is to keep repeating the process. Record for other people, offer free demoing, get as much variety and outside input as you can.
Put your VST 'spacial' effects on an aux bus (Chorus, Reverb, Delay, Compression), and route through that as needed. Use less VSTs per track, save your computer some resources. Don't mix with headphones. Ever. Get the dinkiest set of powered monitors if you have to, just don't mix with headphones.
Read books, join forums. If you want to record on the cheap, go digital where possible. The less you have to worry about mic placement in an untreated room, the better you will sound. A little bit of reverb will mask the 'flat' digital recordings. A pure signal is a beautiful thing. Likewise, when recording digital, always take the option to route your dry signal at the same time if you can. I'm not a huge fan of VST modeling, but you can do some cool things with it, and it can make double tracking easier.
If you want to move towards all analog, EVERY LITTLE THING MAKES A DIFFERENCE. Type of mic, placement, type of speaker, type of floor, type of walls, room length/width. It's endless, and there are entire books on acoustics and sound wave theory. Learn how to makeshift your own bass traps, mic screens and keep spare bits of particle board around.
There's really about a million tips I could give/you could find, but at the end of the day, the biggest one I could give would be to always be listening. Play. Record. Listen. Repeat this as often as you possibly can, you will only get better by honing your skills. You'll learn things about your instruments, style and environment that there aren't simple catch-alls for. Never stop doing this. The only way to get better is to keep repeating the process. Record for other people, offer free demoing, get as much variety and outside input as you can.
P.A.Foholic
New member
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
I bet this is one of those "golden rules." Keep things tight = sounds good, even if your rig doesn't, haha
I bet this is one of those "golden rules." Keep things tight = sounds good, even if your rig doesn't, haha
DrNewcenstein
He Did the Monster Mash
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
This. I used to just roll the drum machine and lay down my awesome riff and then throw a solo on it and then lay down my bass track and dump it to a cassette to go in my car.
After a while I started paying attention to what was too loud or too low or needed more work. I stopped listening to just how awesome the guitar sounded, but to how awesome the bass and drums did not sound, so I went back and learned to work on those.
Recording others also gives you perspective on how other people prefer to sound, and helps spread the message that your live guitar amp and your recording speakers are not going to sound the same, so stop saying "more bass, man, my cabinet rumbles more than that!" :lol:
This. I used to just roll the drum machine and lay down my awesome riff and then throw a solo on it and then lay down my bass track and dump it to a cassette to go in my car.
After a while I started paying attention to what was too loud or too low or needed more work. I stopped listening to just how awesome the guitar sounded, but to how awesome the bass and drums did not sound, so I went back and learned to work on those.
Recording others also gives you perspective on how other people prefer to sound, and helps spread the message that your live guitar amp and your recording speakers are not going to sound the same, so stop saying "more bass, man, my cabinet rumbles more than that!" :lol:
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
Re: Any and all recording tips from any gurus or people who make music themselves
Think about the mood you are trying to set for your music. Perhaps it's supposed to be bleak, dark and soul-sucking. If so, focus less on tightness and punch for a bit and really think about what kinds of tones and textures will bring that out (Alice In Chains - Dirt, not the clearest sound but has the mood suits the music). If you want to get people pumped and inspire awe, that's when you break out the expensive tube amps and punchy production (Mastery's instrumental EP). But then perhaps it needs to be less clear and needs extra evil and menace.
Just some things that are rarely thought about in production.
Think about the mood you are trying to set for your music. Perhaps it's supposed to be bleak, dark and soul-sucking. If so, focus less on tightness and punch for a bit and really think about what kinds of tones and textures will bring that out (Alice In Chains - Dirt, not the clearest sound but has the mood suits the music). If you want to get people pumped and inspire awe, that's when you break out the expensive tube amps and punchy production (Mastery's instrumental EP). But then perhaps it needs to be less clear and needs extra evil and menace.
Just some things that are rarely thought about in production.
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