Maybe this should go into the Newbie forum but...

hokypokynose

hokypokynose

New member
...what's the point in paying so much attention to tracking? What should I do and pay attention to while tracking? I always just put the microphones in the best position possible, set all faders to unity or as close to as possible, leave EQ flat, and adjust the trim til the musician's can play their loudest without clipping. I adjust all eq and stuff while mixing. Am I tracking the way I should? Is this even the true form of tracking? I feel stupid. Everytime I think I'm smart I come up with some question that makes me feel stupid.
 
Paying attention to tracking means -

1) using minimal signal chain (only put gear in the chain if it's needed)

2) use the right mic in the appropriate spot for the job

3) get tone/timbre set correctly at the source before reaching for EQ on the pre or board

4) do you REALLY need compression or do you just put it in there because you THINK you have to use it?

5) make sure what you hear coming out of the monitors (NOT headphones) is what you want the track to sound like

6) make sure the track is sitting well in the mix as you track (meaning you did your job!)

But anyways, it sounds like you're doing the right stuff so far! ;)

Bruce
 
Thanks.

Bruce, I think I'm doing everything the way you said except for 5 and 6 because I do things in one small room so I would have to blow both my monitors and my hearing to do those. I also never compress coming in. I add compression to a track via pluggin during mixing if needed.
 
Bruiser....

5) make sure what you hear coming out of the monitors (NOT headphones) is what you want the track to sound like

I remember a thread where on a remote recording you mixed drums through headphones....being a 2 day session you had the luxury of taking the tape back to HQ for listen, but how much tweakin did you peform on day 2?? could you have gone with the tracking on day one with the headphone mix?(provided the playing was ok).

Just wondering as most of my remote recording is a one day thing.
 
I made some EQ and placement adjustments based on what I heard back at the studio, and then the mics nor the EQ was touched again for the 2 days of actual recording......

I would have much preferred monitors there, but it wasn't possible... at least the Beyer 770s make good references (provided you can still check on monitors before committing yourself to a record!)

Bruce
 
Hmmm...alright if your recording to tape, soon i'll be using a HD24 once im setup to record i'll have to transport the whole unit back home.

Maybee i could make use of the backup feature remove the drive and whack it in my pc???

My reference would be in WAV format i suppose that would give me a good indication...
 
Yeah - I had rented the entire rig, so I simply took the ADAT tapes back with me to the studio for checking....

There's the solution -- you'll simply have to buy yourself a 2nd HD24!!! :p

:D :D
 
HEHEheheheh ha ha...yea. Maybee if i win lotto! :)

Na seriously could'nt i just whack the drive in a hot swap cradle in my PC?? Even just to listen to the wav's individually?
The files would appear in a new directory would'nt they??

Oh but if i recorded in 24bit then i would need to import them into a program hey, because windows media player cant read it.

Is there a desktop media player that will play 24bit files?
 
Sound Forge has no problem reading the CD24 discs that come from my masterlink.... (MasterLink CD24 files are 24-bit files stored in AIFF format...)

It would be worth the experiment...

Bruce
 
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