Throw in your nugget of knowledge!

badgerer

badgerer

New member
This idea might not work, but it's worth a try.

I've decided I won't start my recording until my exams are over (they start tomorrow, end in 17 days), so until then I'm going to be gagging to record!

So until then, maybe the experts who browse this forum could regale us recording newbies with a little nugget of info? Just whatever, little recording tips that are always useful! What do you think?
 
c7sus said:
ALWAYS sing into the front of the mic!

NEVER lend your nice condensors to your buddies!
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Lol, good start. :D

For what it's worth, my suggestion: spend time on getting your equipment sounding good before you jump in with recording! May sound obvious, but I'm always very impatient, I have to learn to restrain myself! (oo er)
 
The harder you work during recording to get it to sound good, the less you will have to work when mixing.

Cy
 
Yo Badge-MAN:

Sit for a while with your favorite drink -- Mine is a Martini.

Think through a plan and sketch it. Like what bass sound, what keys, what type of meter -- but, kind of let the drums float until you sit down at the keyboard. [using a drum machine of course]

Of course you will pick what song or what type of riffing you want to do. Sometimes I just like to sit and plink until a melody breaks out and then I go back to the sketch.

Enjoy because recording your stuff is a wonderful fun event.

Green Hornet:D :D :p :p :cool: :cool:
 
Don't rush to record without some thought as to song structure and arrangement. I am so guilty of this! Many, many retakes for nothing.
 
Yo Bear of Da Blue:

Your ears don't THINK and neither do your eyes. So, now we are left with the "grey matter." It does matter.

Hey Bear: You've got a few months before hibernation?

Love that Bear. Can you bear it?

Green Hornet :D :D :p :p :p
 
If using your computer, hit SAVE often!!! Back up your projects on cd for safe keeping. If you catch yourself saying "I'll fix it in the mix" RECORD IT AGAIN! Ditto if you catch yourself saying "It's good enough".
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
LIsten with your ears, not your eyes!
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You'd be surprised at how many people watch the meters before they listen! It's even worse now with computer recording showing you nice little graphs of your tracks...!
 
Never settle for a track or tone that is "Good Enough"







For THAT is the biggest difference between the Great mixes, and the Good mixes on this board!
 
Cool! Let's see what I've learned that may not always seem obvious:

1. The signal chain starts with the room, then the musician, then the instrument, the mic, the pre, FX, then the recorder. Don't be worrying about the end of the signal chain when the beginning sucks.

2. Recording costs money. Get over it.

3. Don't own a studio that isn't insured, and don't post up original material that isn't copyrighted.

4. Cheap condensers can sound good through cheap preamps, but cheap dynamics only sound great through great preamps.

5. Make sure everybody uses the same tuner, and always use some real key. You may want to use a piano later.

6. Using great mics and great pres with cheap cables is just plain stupid.

7. Don't drink carbonated beverages when tracking with condensers. The gurgling is brutal. Same deal with tracking on an empty stomach.

8. There is no mic that's especially good for female vocals, or hip-hop vocals, or gay vocals, or Republican vocals. There is no way to tell what mic and pre will sound good on any particular singer until you put them up on that singer in that room, on that song, in that mix. The list of mics that *might* work is the same in all cases.

9. The piece of gear that will work best is not always the obvious one. Sometimes it's not the Avalon, it's Joemeek.

10. Just because you are using a POD doesn't mean you are going DI. Plug it into an amp and cab, and mic it up. It will usually sound better. Use the cleanest amp you have, reference monitors work very well.

11. The heart and soul of a studio is the mics, and the pres. It's not the processors, the software, the recorder, your Mo Phatt, or anything else. Processing bad sound won't result in good sound.

12. Most importantly, have fun. If recording is work, it will suck. If recording is playtime, you will sound better. If you're not having fun, stop. That's why you own a studio, so you can record when it's the right time. Try to remember this along about take 37.-Richie
 
c7sus said:
AMEN Richard!

I'm gonna try to make a living out of fixing peeps rooms. It's the first thing everybody here should be noticing when they fire up a condensor for the first time, and the last problem MOST guys want to address.

I'm working on designs that will be affordable enough for homereccors. I KNOW that my stuff will blow Auralex away, and be able to fix problems Auralex will NEVER be able to address.......

Just try hanging a slot resonator on your MaxWall...............
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hey c, i aint tryin to bust yer balls here,just asking a legit question.
you admittedly cant make a recording worth a shit.how is it that
you are now gods gift to sound treatment?
 
Really cool posts guys, with a couple of exceptions. I wanted this to be a helpful thread, not a flame war. c7sus, I know he was bein an ass but PM the guy if you wanna argue with him please! Back to the original topic?
 
badgerer said:
Really cool posts guys, with a couple of exceptions. I wanted this to be a helpful thread, not a flame war. c7sus, I know he was bein an ass but PM the guy if you wanna argue with him please! Back to the original topic?
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Agreed, it was a pretty cool thread until the war started. Great post Rich!!

kt
 
So, how do you know if your room is causing you problems?

Short of obvious things like refridgerator noise or blatant slapback, how do you know that the room itself is what is limiting you with a given set of equipment?


Aside from when I am tracking vocals, the room I am rec'ing in has not really presented me with any problems that I can hear yet. I am having a hard time getting vocal sounds that I like, but haven't really spent as much time focusing on those yet as I have getting sounds for other acoustic instruments. So far, an upright Bass, 2 nylon string guitars, and a steel string acoustic all sound *Pretty* good to me. (As I say, the jury is still out on this room and vox)

I am just wondering what this most likely means. I mean, I see a lot of people on here saying that their room is giving them rheumatism, the heebie jeebies, or the gout, or whatever, yet I can't discern any real problems with mine.

Is it possible that I just got lucky (for some instruments, at least) with my old bedroom, a bunch of carpet on the walls, and the strategic placement of my sleeping dog while tracking these instruments? Or is it more likely that my ears/mics/pres are still so bad that anything short of recording in a missle silo would probably sound good to me?


Quick overview of my equipment, in case it helps (what the hell, it is a novella already):

Marshall 603s and MXL 2001 condensers (love em) and a Shure sm57 are my main mics, but I do have a collection of various dynamics also. Running into a Aark Q10, and my power amp is a Hafler P1000, which powers Tannoy PBM 6.5s. (Oh, my gear gives me a chubby, it does....)
 
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