We've said before - don't forget headphones as your budget for your recording studio…Invest in one or more good sets of professional headphones for use with your music recording software.
You want a set that is
as neutral as possible
made for the recording studio
Headphones made for consumer listening will color the sound, so avoid them.
But what about Noise Canceling [tag]Headphones[/tag]? Are they worth considering?
Here's the first of 3 articles which go into some depth to answer this and discuss the merits of different models of noise canceling headphones, from Sony, Bose and others….
After all the hard work of writing and performing your music, no one would blame you for thinking you're finished. But you're not! You've just entered the production stage…
This series of 3 posts will discuss the three parts of the music production process:
The problem with so much choice of affordable home recording gear, is that you have even more ways available to you to foul up your glorious electric guitar sound.
Effects in the thousands, modeling amps, pedal boards you can dance on, virtual mics, and whatever the latest gadget is, can all be marshaled into your sonic armory.
But some times, just sometimes, its good to remember that "less is more". Or, put another way - "KISS" - "Keep It Simple, Stupid"!
So, how do you "KISS"?(!) Let's get back to the basics…
Just one string a bit flat can ruin an otherwise monster take!
Electric Guitar Tracking
But how should you capture the electric guitar signal?
There are several techniques used to record electric guitar:
This first method is simple and efficient:
No room
plug the guitar into a direct injection (DI) box
connect DI box to your mixer
…with these main advantages:
complete isolation of the sound
no sound leaking from other instruments
clean signal ready for transformation through your effects unit into whatever you imagination creates
What you lose is your characteristic live [tag]electric guitar[/tag] sound produced by the combination of guitar, amp, speakers and maestro!
On the other hand, you may prefer this second approach…
Small is Special
Maybe blasting through your giant 200-watt stack would disturb the neighbors. Very likely it would. But you don't need this kind of power in the studio - you can get away with a much smaller rig.
Think about the soaring guitar tones on Eric Clapton's "Layla" - created on a small Fender® Champs. (See video below to watch Eric Clapton playing a live version of Layla.)
Try using a small tube amp along with a Shure SM57. That'll deliver an authentic rock guitar sound you can't beat.
Microphone Moments
Of course, you can place the mic anywhere in the room you like. But why not start with the obvious - right in front of the speaker… A little off-center should give you a little bit richer tone, but the bottom line is, the sound that works for you is the right sound.
You can experiment with moving the mic to different places in the room and you'll get some variation in resulting tones. As you increase the distance between mic and speaker, you'll get more room sound in the mix.
Final Touches
It's a good idea to flavor the sound somewhat help it fit into the feel your song. If you can, use a little compression to smooth the signal. Adjust the EQ to your own preference.
"Hi Ken, I've just set up my new DAW, and the sound is tinny, feeble, hollow. Sounds like it's been recorded in a metal tube somewhere a long way away.
This isn't what I paid for…Am I doing something wrong, or should I send the gear back?"
So why is it that their new digital recording gear doesn't sound anything close to what they expected?…
Here's some sound advice, written a few years back by: Richard Dolmat
You know your songs are great (and so does your girl/boyfriend, family, pets etc), and you finally decided to record an album in a real studio. That’s great!
But what actually happens when you get there?
When you finally do pick the perfect studio, one that you feel comfortable at, there is a certain routine that must be followed in order to get the best performance and the best recording for your budget.
1. Tune Your Instruments.
This also includes your drums and any tunable percussion instruments you may have. There is absolutely nothing worse in the world than to have a perfectly written song with a perfect performance be ruined because someone didn’t take an extra 2 minutes to check their tuning. Tuning takes a few minutes; a recording lasts forever.
2. Be Well Rehearsed.
You’ll be surprised how many bands suffer shock when they get the final recording bill. The main reason for this is because they confuse rehearsal time with recording time. Rehearse at home, in the garage, at your uncle’s house; anywhere but at the recording session. When you arrive at the studio, you should know your songs inside-out and be ready for the red light.
3. Practice with a Click Track.
A lot of drummers aren’t able to play with a click track. Make sure yours can. A click track is essential in getting a good basic rhythm track that the rest of the band can lock in to, and to sync-up loops and delay times. Read more
The human voice - most of us like to hear our own, don't we?
But we also love to listen to singers and speakers whose voice has a beauty, distinctiveness, power to convey passion, that makes it stand out from all others.
And we can enjoy this, thanks to techniques, proven over the years, for recording vocals.
The human voice - a remarkable and intricate instrument. Just consider:
it has a wider dynamic range and bandwidth that puts ordinary musical instruments to shame
your voice is unique - just like everyone else's!
Some have the breathy, highs of the pop diva; others a resonant, operatic basso profundo. In between, each person's voice is without a twin, anywhere.
So how can a recording engineer produce vocal recordings of such distinction that the vocalist's instrument is displayed in the best possible light?
Your role is to make the best decisions of how to capture the essence of this instrument faithfully, and with as much art as your skills can muster and your tools allow.
