Home Recording a Band Demo

[Deaconblue]

Hi,

I am currently a guitarist in a rock/jazz band, as well as the mixer of the songs we record. I have a good basic amount of knowledge about recording techniques, mixing, etc. so I want to be able to self-record my band's Demo Cd using my own equipment and editing software. Even though it is a Demo cd, I still want to make it sound as professional as possible, so I want to know if anyone here has any tips or advice on how to plan and record an album on your own? I specifically have a few questions about how to master the recording:

1. Does anyone have any tips on how to reduce distortion in a recording, but still make the recording loud?

2. Is it possible to a degree to master a recording on your own and if not are their any companies you recommend that can master a recording for a good price?

3. When I mix a song, how loud should I be mixing at? Do I mix at a normal loudness, or try to mix at the highest volume so that the final recording sounds loud?

Thanks,

Deaconblue

 

[jonnyc]

You really need to focus on making the mixes sound good before you worry about mastering. Also, do you really want to bother mastering something that's simply a demo? From just the few things you said it seems like you may end up setting yourself up for disappointment. Go over to www.tweakheadz.com and read the guide. It's very extensive and can really really help you figure out some things you may be misinformed about.

PS When mixing, you want to leave plenty of headroom for the Mastering Engineer. However for a demo, I'd just get the over mix decently loud(without clipping) and leave it at that.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

(they call me) Deaconblue ,

Questions 1 and 3 are related and pretty complex questions to which very long detailed answers can be given, or short incomplete (and perhaps misleading) answers can be given. If you're willing to do a little homework, what I'd recommend is doing some research (both via Internet search and perhaps a couple hours in the music section of your local Borders bookstore or library on the topic of "gain staging". It's an entire topic on how to set the proper signal levels all along your signal chain from microphone to recorder. Getting the gain staging right is 90% of the solution to both of those questions.

As far as question #2, yes it is possible to master your own stuff. Very general rules of thumb are

a) the better your tracking and mixing, the stronger the recommendation that you *not* master it yourself unless you just don't have the money. If you have a pretty darn good mix on your hands, outsourcing the mastering will be worth the investment

b) if you're making a recording intended for fairly mass duplication (a couple hundred copies or more), or if you're making a demo that may be sent to radio, indie labels, A&R, etc., then it's definitely recommended to invest in pro mastering. If you're just making a handful of copies for friends and family, for MP3 Internet demo, or to pass out to a small number of small clubs for demo for live gigs, and you are really tight on budget, then mastering yourself may be the more reasonable way to go.

Those are just general guidelines to give you an idea of the lay of the land. If you want to talk to some great MEs who'll steer you right and treat you right, check out

www.masteringhouse.com
and/or
www.massivemaster.com

G.

 

[slidey]

(they call me) Deaconblue ,

learn to work the saxaphone........baba bump I wanna name dada doo

fuckin' ace

aye I concentrate on getting the sources right & the mix should happen it'self to a large degree

is it an analog or digital setup??

getting the distortion down & maintaining the loudness is to do with getting those mountainous peaks down

I'll take the opportunity to direct you to the font of compression knowledge Southsideglen's "compression uncompressed" & that should help you a lot