I was taking a moment today thinking about how every new project that I do sounds worlds better than the last. In listening back to past mixes, every thing I don’t like about it glares at me through the playback medium like a gremlin laughing and cursing me…. damn you mistakes, damn you. I try to reflect on what it was that I did that led to those mistakes, and what I could have done to make them better as well as what I can do in the future so that they don’t happen again. It’s a bitch to not have a project turn out how you first intended, but it’s rewarding to have the next one turn out even better than the last, knowing that I am progressing in my recording skills. So, below is a quick list of some mistakes I have made and learned from. A lot of this will seem common sense to those of us that have been doing this for a bit. Think of this as a “heads up” for some newbies and a point of humor for everyone else! Check it out, and feel free to add your own so we can all benefit from this!
1.) Good cue mixes - rediculously important for performers to nail their parts, especially singers. I underestimated the importance of this at first
2.) In tune guitars/instruments - This should be a no brainer, but until I learned how to intonate guitars/basses I had some shitty sounding tracks.
3.) Learning what good sounds to get! - This takes practice, a lot of A/Bing, and the right gear, right player, right room.
4.) Acoustical Treatment (Auralex, etc) - For those of us recording in homes/bedrooms, this is THE most valuable tool. Tune that room up, cut down on the boxy, over reflective sounds and it will make getting sounds that much easier!
5.) Buy once! - Do a lot of research, and save until you can afford the gear you want/need. Save yourself from a viscious cycle of buying low end/crappy gear and then having to resell it or scrap it to get the gear you really wanted but couldn’t yet afford. You obviously need gear to get started, and by all means don’t spend $15,000 to find out you aren’t passionate enough about recording to stick with it, but when it comes time to upgrade, go for the right pro piece. It will help you get the sounds you’ve been wishing for.
6.) S.I.S.O (Shit In, Shit Out) - If you record a crappy singer in a crappy room through a crappy mic, a crappy preamp, into crappy converters, and monitor on crap, it will sound like crap. Get it?
7.) Get good converters! - Get as good of converters as you can afford from the get go. Then monitors, then mics and preamps. If you buy a nice preamp or mic, you won’t get the full benefits out of them without the right converters and monitoring.
8.) Get a good attitude - from studio experiences in my own band, being a now-it-all pompous engineer/producer trying to teach every band a “lesson” is just annoying and condescending. There are ways to get your point across and share your knowledge and experiences without talking down to bands. Every one has to start at the bottom, and learn as they go. And remember, you work for the band…THEY are paying YOU!
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