I wrote this up for my sister a few years ago (circa 2004) when she was about to go into the studio. I just came across it again and figured it might be helpful to other people, so here it is. I learned all these tips from personal experience. Some of the specifics might be a bit dated now that everything is done on computers, but the general principles still apply. Whenever I wrote "he," read "he or she."
A Dozen Practical Recording Tips
(For singers and musicians going into a professional studio for the first time)
by Theodora Michaels
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Make sure track notes are clear and complete.
To say you're doing a "recording" is really a misnomer, because as you'll see you spend more time listening than actually recording. You record a particular part once, then may have to listen back several times to decide if the take is good enough to use, whether or not it's better than other takes of the same part, where an edit might be needed, whether the edit (if needed and done) was done well, what effects (if any) should be added, and how it fits in with the other tracks. Thus it's vitally important that the engineer keep careful notes about what is recorded on what track. He'll almost certainly have a special form for this, which you should insist on seeing after he's made some notes, to make sure that what he's writing is clear. Don't just take his word for it that he's keeping track of everything. Look for yourself! Even if he says he's keeping careful notes, 1) he may be lying to get you to spend more time in the studio listening back to things, 2) he may think he's keeping careful notes but is actually careless and forgetful, or 3) his notes may look perfectly clear to him now, but won't make any sense to you, another engineer who works with the tapes some time in the future, or even the original engineer if he looks at them some weeks or months or years down the road. If in doubt, keep your own notes as well. Then keep all notes with the master tape. The notes don't have to be anything fancy, just (at a minimum) what instrument is recorded on what track. ("Track 1: mijwiz take 1.") If more than one instrument is on a track, it should specify the times of each instrument so you don't record over one by mistake. This is especially important if parts of the track are blank, where it would be easy to assume the whole track is blank and record over something by mistake. (Track 1: mijwiz 0:56 - 1:23, oud 1:46 - 3:10.") If you record two tracks of the same thing and decide to use only one, mark clearly which one you're using. Often an engineer will just indicate this with an asterisk but added notes don't hurt either. ("Track 1: mijwiz *better take*. Track 2: mijwiz (not using this take).") -
Tracks can't be fixed in the mix.
A mix is just that -- mixing the different tracks together. You can add effects and cut parts out, but you can't "mix" a track into something better than what was recorded. If a particular take doesn't sound good to you, whether it's your performance or the way it was recorded, trust your instincts and record it again. Don't believe the engineer when (note I say "when" not "if") he says "we can fix that in the mix." Think carefully about what's really wrong with the take, and ask the engineer for specific details about how he's going to fix it. If it seems like there's no way to fix it, or if the proposed method would take longer than doing another take -- insist on recording it again. -
On vocal punch-ins/edits -- don't just listen to the singing.
There are very few singers who are good enough (or lazy enough) to do every song in one take. So you'll probably want to do some punch ins or edits (exact technique depends on what format you're using) on the vocals. Some engineers are much better at this than others so for the most part you're at their mercy, but you should know how to tell if they're doing a good job. Often when a vocal edit sounds bad (in other words, if it's obvious that an edit was done), it's not because of something in the singing. It's because the engineer cut into a sound just before or just after the singing, usually the sound of your breath, or your mouth opening and closing. If you listen super-carefully to any recording, you'll notice that just before every line you can hear the singer inhale quickly. (Some pop-song engineers cut this out, which makes the song sound over-processed.) It's very quiet and it's one of those things you only notice when it's missing or damaged in a bad edit. So if you're listening to determine if an edit was done well, listen for these sounds. -
Start every track with a countoff or equivalent.
Say there's a track that starts with pennywhistle only. Then after recording the pennywhistle and some other instruments, you decide that you want the very beginning of the song to have some percussion too, coming in at the same time as the pennywhistle. How do you know when to come in? Even if you're the only musician, and even if a song starts with only one instrument, give a "1, 2, 3, 4" (or to "7" or "15" or whatever the heck weird time signature you're in), or make a tapping noise, or something, so that it's clear on the tape exactly where the song starts. It's easy to edit out the countoff in the final mix. Same thing if there's a long period of silence on a particular track -- depending on the order you're recording the instruments, you may need to have a click or a count in there so you know where you are when you go to record everything else. The engineer can probably provide you with a click track (like a metronome) if you need, but don't rely on it for parts of the song where it's not needed. If you follow a click track throughout the song, it can sound unnatural. Also some people's rhythm gets worse when they try using a click track if they're not used to it. -
At the end of a song, let the instruments ring out to dead silence.
There are various ways to end a song on a recording. One of the most popular is the fadeout (which DJ's used to like because it let them talk over the end of a song, or start a new song while the old one is still playing -- but this is all done by computer now). Leave your options open -- if there's even a remote possibility you might want a song to fade out at the end, when you've played through to the end of the song be careful not to muffle the strings, turn down the volume or make any weird stray noises. Let the strings/cymbals/whatever ring out on their own until they're completely silent. It will seem like a ridiculously long time, but be patient. Only then should you put down your instrument and say, "How was that?" This way the engineer will have a nice long, clean ending and you can make the fadout as long as you want. Innumerable songs have weird-sounding or short fadeouts because the musicians started talking or putting down their instruments before the song was really over. -
Don't have the gate set too high.
Sometimes engineers use an effect called a "gate" to make recordings sound cleaner. The purpose is that once the sound being recorded gets below a certain volume, the gate translates this into silence instead of a very quiet noise. This can be useful, for instance if you want to record an electric guitar but not the faint static hum it makes when you stop playing. But I've heard recordings where the gate was set too high and kicked in too soon -- making things sound clipped and overprocessed. For instance, a cymbal gets quieter then just stops dead when it should still be ringing out. Just another thing for you to know what it is if you hear it. -
Don't try to fix every mistake.
I think it will be very obvious from your recording that you're a talented musician, so don't worry about what people will think if there's a small mistake here or there. Mistakes can be good, because 1) they add character, 2) they'll make people think you recorded everything in one take even if you didn't, thereby increasing people's appreciation of your musical skills, and 3) they can create cool sounds you wouldn't have thought of. Also remember that even if you know what you meant to play, that doesn't mean anyone else does. And there's always the jazz musician's trick: if you make a mistake, play it the same way again right after, so people think you meant to do that!Curse trivia fact: on "Starfall" there's a tambourine accent in the middle of the song. That's actually on the guitar track, and we didn't know it was there until we started mixing. We're still not sure how it got there, but probably a tambourine fell off a shelf while Kevin was recording his part. We decided we liked it, so the producer made it repeat and panned it back and forth to make it into an effect. Now Rob adds a tambourine hit when we play that song live, so it sounds like the recording.
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Instruments must be in perfect working order.
If you have one string that always buzzes a little on one fret, or the intonation is slightly off, no one will ever notice when you're playing a live show, and you might not even notice yourself because you're used to it. These little things will sound unexpectedly, glaringly horrible on a recording. I don't know about the availability of experts for your weird instruments, but if you have access to any, it may be well worth it to have your instruments professionally inspected and set up before the recording. You're spending a lot on the recording; it would be a shame to have the whole thing marred because one instrument wouldn't tune properly or whatever. All technical difficulties are greatly magnified on a recording. -
There is no one "perfect" take or mix. Know when to stop adding tracks and takes.
Untalented musicians/songwriters have it easy: they're lucky if they can come up with one good way to write or record a song. But talented musicians have a quandary: because they come up with so many good ideas, it's hard to know when to stop or how to choose which is best. So remember that if you've recorded three different versions of something and they all sound good, it's probably because they all are good in different ways. You could drive yourself crazy trying to decide which is best -- so just go with your initial instinct and don't keep going back and forth. Or you can let the engineer or a trusted friend pick. Same thing with adding tracks -- know when to say "when." Not every song needs every instrument. Sometimes simpler is better. -
Think about and test how the song will sound on crappy speakers and on headphones.
It's easy for a song to sound good on top-quality professional studio speakers. Some studios also keep a crappy pair of small speakers on hand to see if it sounds OK on them too. The engineer might even bring a copy out to a car to see how it sounds on a car stereo. If they offer to listen on other speakers once in a while while they're mixing, take them up on it, and if they don't offer, you might want to ask. Also remember that things can sound very different on headphones. Give thought to what instruments should be on what side, and whether you want anything to pan back and forth. Think about whether each instrument should have its own "space" or if they should be blended together. Should the positioning of the instruments somewhat replicate what you'd hear if you were listening to a live concert, or should they be positioned in a physically impossible way for special effects, such as a flute suddenly at your left ear, then at your right, then sounding far away? In rock (and I assume other genres), how the instruments are positioned has changed over the years, partly due to improved recording techniques and partly just due to changing styles, so the right/left positioning can make a recording sound like it's from a particular time period. -
Know your own listening biases, and probable biases of the engineer/producer/mixer.
Find out what instrument(s) the engineer plays, because he'll probably make that one louder. I've noticed that engineer/drummers tend to make the drums louder, engineer/guitarists tend to make the guitar louder, etc. They don't know they're doing it and they'll be offended if you point it out, but they do it. Also be aware of your own biases. Personally I always like the left side a bit louder than the right (not a hearing problem, I've had it checked) -- that's just how recordings sound good to me. So I know that if something sounds like the left side is a bit too low (or the right a bit too loud) to me, it probably sounds right to other people. Think about how you set your stereo. Do you always want the treble higher than other people like? Or the bass? Or do you like some other unusual setting? Know how much you change things from the norm to your own tastes, then set it back by that much when you're making something to sell to other people. -
Be aware that recording techniques have "fashion trends."
Obviously the sound of recordings has changed over the years. I used to think this was only due to changes in equipment, but at some point I figured out that sometimes there's no technological reason for a particular change, it's just that something is popular for a while and then it isn't. Take double–tracking of vocals. This is where you record the exact same vocal part twice, then blend the tracks together so it sounds fuller. They started doing this in the '50's, and since then it's been "in" a few times and "out" a few times. Now it seems to be "out." So how you record something can make it sound modern or dated, regardless of the newness of your equipment. But ultimately you should go by what works with your own style. There are singers who have great voices but are terrible at double-tracking -- who double-tracked because it was in at the time, but would have been better off not.
Good luck with your recording!