Recording Techniques: Setup Trumps FX

I have always had a “jack of all trades” mentality when it comes to music, a fact that has been both beneficial at some times and detrimental at others. Rather than seek out an experienced keyboardist to record with me, I am more likely to try and learn the keyboard. I like things this way, because it means I can constantly make large strides in progress. Music is a passion and hobby, not a means of income, so I only really compete with myself. As such, it is rewarding to gain know-how with a new instrument, and easier than elevating one skill to elite level. In the spirit of this outlook, I have taken on the endeavor of learning to record and produce music on my own.

In a series of posts (link to Pt. 1 here), I looked at some of the major sticking points on my endeavor to produce music. Today, I seek to discuss a valuable lesson which a wise, professional audio engineer taught me: when recording audio, a good set-up will take you much further than any after-effects.

Anyone who has produced in the digital age knows about the HUGE amount of plugins that exist. With computers, you can potentially make any recording sound like basically anything you want. This all sounds good and dandy, right? Wrong. While plugins are very powerful tools, they are hard as hell to use. Unless you have years of experience, you probably can’t get your effect to fix a track. Herein lies the problem: it is too easy to approach your recording in a basic way, and expect to fix everything with effects.

What I learned from watching a recording guru in action, is that making every consideration with acoustics will always get you closer to the goal. He fiddled with microphone and amplifier placements, sometimes only moving equipment a half of an inch, and found a great sound within the room. Couple with this a few tweaks on pre-amp levels and panning, and an electric guitar recording went from good, but generic, to breathtaking and alive. And all of this happened before effects.

The takeaway here is that a good set-up will make things easier when you actually have to mix everything into a song. With a stellar recording, you might need to only make minor tweaks with plugins. This is something to consider, and an easy way to improve your tracks.

Preparation for Inspiration

Recently, I had a rather unfortunate event attempt to derail my songwriting. Someone stole my backpack, and I lost some important things. While the bag contained many items of monetary value (which suck to replace), I also lost something of value I cannot describe. I lost a notebook which held approximately six months of song lyrics. Between quick jottings and full songs, a lot of time went into this art. When you lose paper, it stays gone. In this week’s post, I want to share some thoughts on how you can better protect your music, and even prepare yourself to capture your ideas more accurately and easily.

While I did like writing down my lyrics with a pen, the method had a few drawbacks. For one, the journal was clunky. I could not carry it everywhere, and often times I would think of a lyric, and then forget it before I got a chance to write it down. It was also not terribly forgiving of mistakes. When fine-tuning a song, I would often resort to scratching out my errors, making things messy and hard to read.

With the loss of my journal, I’ve taken advantage of the fresh start forced upon me by going digital. I have found a fantastic app with which to write all of my songs. It is called Evernote, and it even carries over across many different platforms (computer, tablet, phone, etc.). Mistakes can easily be deleted, and my music stays better organized. Additionally, if I get a random idea for a lyric, I can capture it more reliably, thanks to my smartphone compatibility. Overall, this app is proving itself useful, and has helped with my songwriting. While I am bummed about the loss of my journal and its contents, I aim to take full advantage of this new start, and plan to enhance my music.

A Week in Pictures

This week was one of dogs and sweets. Could I possibly need anything else?

A curious “listening ear” as she waits for dinner.

Studying without dessert is silly at best.

It has been wild seeing this dog grow up. She used to be so tiny in my arms.

Halloween at its finest…

A puppy mentor-ship between a wise old Airedale, and a naive Pit…