Category Archives for "Recording"
Many of you reading this may not be recording a trombone anytime soon, but I thought that this comparison of 9 different mics was interesting nonetheless. Paul The Trombonist played into a number of mics that varied greatly in price so you could hear the difference between them. There’s no conclusion on the video about […]
Continue readingIf you’re recording a live performance, then you want to pick up some of the audience to make it sound realistic. Here are some techniques and considerations culled from the latest edition of my Recording Engineer’s Handbook. “Audience recording is both the key and the problem with live recording. It’s sometimes difficult to record the audience […]
Continue readingEngineer/producer Eddie Kramer has a resume that’s a mile long, but the credit that he’s forever tied to is Jimi Hendrix. I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time with him a few yeas ago, and he gave me this great interview for The Recording Engineer’s Handbook. Here’s an excerpt from his […]
Continue readingBy my count, there are 8 “constants” that we find in vocal recording. These are items or situations that almost always prove to be true. Just keeping them in mind can save you a lot of trouble in the search for a sound that works for you and your vocalist. Here are a few tips […]
Continue readingGeoff Emerick is one of the 5 engineers to work with The Beatles and is probably the one most identified with the group. Other than his great book (Here There And Everywhere: My Life Recording The Beatles), you don’t hear him speaking very much about the experience. He goes into great detail in this recent interview for […]
Continue readingJust like the acoustic bass (and just about all instruments), a great bass sound is dependent upon the instrument itself, the player, the amp, and the room. The player has to be able to achieve the tone you’re trying to record with his fingers first and foremost. This excerpt from the 4th edition of my […]
Continue readingThis is one of the best drum miking walk-throughs I’ve ever seen. In the video below, Neil Dorfsman (Dire Straits, Sting, Paul McCartney, Def Leopard, Bruce Springsteen to name just a few credits) covers how he mikes a drum kit, and he has several unique approaches that I’ve rarely heard before. Actually I’ve heard of most of […]
Continue readingRoom mics bring an overall finish to the drum sound and help to glue it all together. In many cases, they’ll fill in the sonic holes in the drum mix and make all the individual drums sound more like a complete drum set. That said, many times they are positioned rather randomly without much thought. […]
Continue readingWhile we live in an period of unlimited DAW tracks, there’s still much fascination with the time where there were far fewer variables, and that means the mono world of the 50s. In that era and the one that immediately followed, mixing held little resemblance to today, since all the magic took place in the recording. Placement […]
Continue readingWhen it comes to a live drum sound during a tracking session, sometimes the smallest details can make a big difference when you consider that there are usually multiple mics involved. Changing one thing can sometimes make a difference, but sometimes it’s the fact that many small adjustments have a cumulative effective on the overall sound. […]
Continue readingIf you’re doing a session in Los Angeles and you want your drums to instantly sound great, then your first call is to the Drum Doctors to either rent a fantastic sounding kit, or have your kit tuned. Ross Garfield is the Drum Doctor and you’ve heard his drum sounds on platinum recordings from Bruce […]
Continue readingThere are few guitar players that you can truly say are influential, but Randy Rhoads is certainly one of them. His playing on Ozzy Osbourne’s initial solo album set the guitar world on fire, and for many metal players, it’s still the bar that everyone aims for. When “Crazy Train” exploded onto the radio guitar players […]
Continue readingMic placement may be the most important part of recording since a change of half-an-inch can sometimes make a huge difference in the sound. Finding that correct placement isn’t always easy though, so here’s an excerpt from my Recording Engineer’s Handbook 4th edition to give you some easy tips to find that “sweet spot” quickly. “Quickly finding […]
Continue readingOne of the keys to an initial basic tracking session running smoothly is the information that you receive pre-session. Here’s a recording checklist from my Recording Engineer’s Handbook 4th edition that shows the some of the info that really helps to receive in advance of the session. This will usually be provided by the producer, artist or band […]
Continue readingPerhaps the greatest detriment to a session running smoothly is the inability for players to hear themselves comfortably in the headphones. This is one reason why veteran engineers spend so much time and attention on the cue mix and the phones themselves. In fact, a sure sign of an inexperienced engineer is treating the headphone […]
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