Style, presence, image….what's cool to wear on stage for your live performance can kill in the recording studio. Kill your recording, that is…

On stage, what you wear creates 90% your image - some look great - bright colors and detailed designs. Most on-stage clothes are made of synthetic materials - like rayon, polyester, and nylon.

So you feel you perform better in your stage clothes, and so you head for the recording studio dressed the same. Oops! Wrong! Danger!

When you head for the [tag]recording studio[/tag], leave the fashion statements behind. That's for your stage audience.

Remember the 2 "C's":

• Comfort
• Cotton

Why?

The problem is - synthetic fibers (and animal fibers such as wool) easily carry electrical charge.

This means static electricity, which inevitably puts more pops and crackles on your recording tracks than in a plate of rice crispies!

Cotton, on the other hand, carries no electrical charge, hence no static electricity, and no rice crispies…

Recently, we had a client in the recording studio dressed in polyester from head to toe. Whenever she moved, she generated enough electricity to feed a Rice Crispies commercial through a dozen takes! It got so bad, that I thought she was about to float up and stick to the wall!

So:

• stay away from fashion statements
• choose comfortable cotton (that's 3 "C's"!)

Then all the sparks you generate will be under your fans!

For engineers:

Just in case - be prepared: keep a can of anti-static spray handy. You can save money by making your own with water and a little fabric softener (use about 8:1 ratio).

Tags: Recording Studio, Home Recording Studio, Music Recording