Going direct

It use to be that going direct was normally reserved for getting super clean guitar tones. I’ve read where Billy Gibbons recorded a lot of his great guitar tones going straight to the board. Additionally I heard that Jimmy Page recorded “Black Dog” straight to the board (albeit with tons of compressors). Now does that mean you can get “that sound” just by plugging in your guitar to your recording machine? Probably not – keep in mind that the pre-amps and EQ’s on the multi-million dollar mixing boards’ sound pristine. Additionally, they have very expensive compressors that they run the signal through to fatten it up – but don’t let me discourage you – plug in that guitar and see what happens!

Fortunately they have some great products at a reasonable cost to help you out when running direct today. Companies such as BOSS, Line 6, Korg and Zoom are just some of the companies that make some decent direct boxes. I personally have an older Line 6 POD that I’ve used for years. Depending on how you set the sound I’ve found that sometimes you can get pretty convincing tones out of these boxes and with out having to go to the trouble of setting up amps and mics. It’s been my experience that if I’m using the POD with a clean or semi dirty guitar tone I can get a decent tone. If you’re looking for a guitar tone that is heavy distorted I find that the POD tends to not sound as real.

Mix it up

One thing you can do is mix “real” amp sounds with the direct sounds. Keep your “real” amp sounds as the “up front” guitar sound in the mix and on a different track use the direct sound as a background mix sound.

An additional cool thing is when recording a distorted guitar you can split the signal from the guitar so that one line goes to the amp and one goes straight to the board. Now you have a distorted signal and a clean signal. You can blend both together as is or you can affect the clean tone with different effects and experiment while keeping your original performance. I’ve heard of a lot producers doing this and getting good results.

Setting up mics on a cabinet

Getting a good sound when setting up a mic and an amp can be easiest thing in the world or the hardest. At any rate it should be not glossed over and time should be taking to make sure you have the best sound going. I’ve used all different types of mics including Neumann, AKG and Sennheiser. However for a good and relatively cheap mic you can’t be the Shure SM57. It’s the standard workhorse and I’ve had great results with it. Take time to experiment with placing the mic in front of the amp straight on and also at a slight angel (perpendicular to the angle of the cone). Also try different distances as all these factors affect the sound sometimes for the good and sometimes for the not so good.

Additional tips:

• If you’re recording a 4×12 cabinet then you can experiment with different mics on different speakers. Record all (at the same time) and compare the sounds.
• Try using a condenser mic about three feet away from the speaker for a cool sound to mix in with the close mic.
• Also you can mic the back of the speaker cabinet however you might have phase problems so be sure to hit the phase reversal switch on your pre-amp or mixing board
• Remember that when using a dynamic mic (such as a Shure SM57) the closer you put the mic the more bass response you will get. Conversely when the mic is farther away you will get more treble less bass.
• Distance=depth is the old Jimmy Page adage. Place a condenser mic at the other end of the room and blend that signal with the up close mic. You can get some natural reverb effects and the overall sound should sound bigger.
• Notice in the picture I have the amp on the Auralex GRAMMA (Gig and Recording, Amp and Monitor, Modulation Attenuator). It’s a device that’s used to float an amp or loudspeaker that yields nearly total acoustic isolation, resulting in a purity of tone. I believe it helps out when recording.

Recording Studio 101: The Electric Guitar from MyRareGuitars.com

Recording vocals for me personally is always hit or miss. Some days you sing great and some days you feeling like a first day reject for American Idol. You want to try to be consistent and prepared so I’ve got my own routine for practicing my vocals so that when the day comes I’ll be ready to go!

#1 Assuming that you will be tracking all the basic tracks in one day and cutting the vocals at some other time, have the recording engineer make you a copy of the song without the scratch vocal. This is sort of like a karaoke version of your song. Now in Los Angeles we do a lot of driving so this is a perfect opportunity for me to get some practice in! I simply play the CD over and over again while I’m driving and practice singing over the track. You’d be surprised how many times you can sing a four minute song in the space of a daily drive! Now incase you don’t drive or don’t spend a lot of time in the car do the same routine but around the house. The point is you want to get comfortable singing to the track so when the day comes you are somewhat prepared. Additionally, I make notes of any good ideas of a particular way of singing the tracks as to remember. Heck, if it’s a great idea and I really don’t want to forget it I’ll sing it into the voice memo feature of my cell phone! (Furthermore, I do this routine while listening to mixes as well but more on that later!)

#2 Now, while you at it, try to memorize the lyrics! Okay – I know this might sound crazy but I’ve had more then one singer try to record their vocal track while reading the lyric sheet. I don’t recommend this – not only is it distracting but it takes away from the performance. If anything you should have the lyric sheet there as a guide and nothing else.

#3 Partying the night before is probably not advisable. You want your voice to be in the best shape it can be in – remember that the vocals are probably the most important part of making a good recording. Folks can sometimes overlook deficient guitars, bass and/or drums but it’s been my experience that if the vocal is sub par then folks will regard it as “demo” quality. Okay – so I know what you’re going to say next, “I know this guy who could gargle razor blades, drink whiskey all night and sing great the next day”. I know those guys too and like most anomalies they are very few and far between. Not only do you want to take care of your voice but you don’t want you nose to be stuffy. I know myself that when I have a beer the night before it tends to swell the passages in my nose which in turn makes it almost impossible to sing without the nasally sound.

Pushing the red button!

Different producers have different ways of recording vocals. There is no right or wrong way and sometimes you can use a combination of the two. My preferred way is to have the singer warm up by signing through the song a few times. This gives me the opportunity to dial in the pre-amp, compressor and overall mix. Then we start tracking “for keeps” and stack up four or five complete performances. I’ll pay attention to certain areas to make sure that I have the whole song covered. If all goes well then I’ll “comp” a complete track out of the five. Comping a track means basically going line through line picking out the best parts then copy and paste them to a new vocal track. This technique usually yields good results because the performance sounds natural.

The other method would be to be to sing the song all the way through. Then listen to the track and “punch” in and redo a word or phrase. The only problem I have with this technique is sometimes the punched vocal doesn’t match the original performance. Additionally I think that sometimes it can wear your voice out faster singing lines over and over again.

Auto Tune!

Okay so there’s an effect called Auto tune which can “tune” vocals as well as other instruments. I’m sure everyone’s heard some recording with auto tune applied. I look at auto tune like using a fire extinguisher – it should be only used in emergencies! I’m not saying that it’s bad to use but if you can nail the vocal without the auto tune then strive for the best vocal you can! Let’s face it you there to sing and perhaps do this for a living – if that recording doesn’t represent what you can perform live – then it might come back to haunt you!

Which mic to use?

What about if you’re recording at your home studio and you want to track vocals – what type of microphone should you use? Well microphones are like guitars in the sense that sometimes a less expensive mic can do the job. It’s not always true that an expensive mic will mix and sound well with your voice. I’ve recorded a bunch with the Shure SM7 and I’ve been pleased with the results. However there is a good selection of good mid level priced condenser mic’s that didn’t exist 5 years ago. Read as much as you can and ask what other producers/songwriters are using. Some mic manufactures offer a trial bases where you can try it and exchange it if you don’t like it. You might try renting a mic for the day or over the weekend. That way you can see what works and you can also rent mic’s that would be out of your price range to purchase.

Recording Studio 101: Preparing the Vocals from MyRareGuitars.com

Recording Studio: Command Center

For the singer songwriter there are a few items to check. When I’m producing a solo artist who plans on adding the rest of the instruments later, I set up a vocal mic and plug the guitar straight into the board. This is called the “scratch track”. It will be erased down the way so the quality isn’t overly important. What is important is that the artist can follow the “Click track”. This is the all important conductor which everyone will follow so it is imperative that you can play in time.

1. Practice your tune to a metronome and note the setting. Remember that in the studio (even if it’s a inexpensive one) time is money and the less time you spend on cutting the basic tracks give you more time for more important things down the road.
2. Put new strings on your guitar! Okay I know this is a no brainer but you would be surprise how many people are clueless and while were at it how about changing the battery in your pre-amp with a fresh one?
3. Have a firm idea of how the arrangement should go. With today’s software certain things can be changed down the road and sections can be moved fairly easy but once again you?re spending time doing this and it might eat up your budget.

Recording Studio: The Amp Room

For the band many of the same rules apply:

1. Make sure the band is well rehearsed or has a firm idea of the song.
2. The band will more then likely have to where headphones while recording – to some people this can be a different experience especially if you’ve been use to playing live. Also you might have to record in different rooms and you might not be able to have eye contact. Make sure your endings don’t require everyone having to look at each other. Once again this is a comfort thing and depending on the size of the studio you may have to deal with it.
3. Make sure all musical equipment (amps, cords, pedals, guitars, strings, drum heads) are in proper working before the session begins. I recently did a session were the bass player didn’t even know his bass was active and didn’t know he had to replace the battery! I was like, “Didn’t you wonder why your bass sounded like a transistor radio?
4. Make sure your drummer has no problem playing along with a “click” track. (Sometimes it’s not necessary to use a click track but in most cases it’s necessary.)

Finally, keep distractions to a minimum.

1. Shut off your cell phone
2. Don’t bring any unnecessary people to the studio.
3. Don’t bring in drinks/food that can spill on the floor and equipment of the control room or studio.
4. Keep the band chit-chat down while in the control room. It’s hard enough to concentrate without hearing about your exploits from the evening before!

The studio owner is not there to baby sit. He doesn’t care that your Mom and girlfriend thinks you’re the next biggest rock star. He’s running a business! If you act professional you will get more work done. Moreover, the smoother the session goes, the more out the studio owner might be to letting you do extra tracking off the clock.

Additionally, you might want to ask if you can help set up/tear down the session – this can be a great learning experience and it will help you get familiar with recording equipment and recording techniques. Plus it might get you some free extra recording time!

Recording Studio 101: Preparing to Record from MyRareGuitars.com