This four-part series is designed to help you, the home or project studio engineer, focus on the right things to make a great record. Whether you’re behind the board for the first or fiftieth time, here’s some recording advice born of personal and shared experience.
A great record has to start somewhere, and a lot of it starts before the first microphone gets put in place. Most great records start with careful and intelligent decisions about songwriting, arranging, and recording strategy. Making a great record is no easy task, and to pull it off you’ll need to have a focused attitude throughout the entire recording process. You may need to view each component in a different light than you have before.
Before delving into how to make a great record, let’s start by defining the term. Great and perfect are different words, with different meanings. When it comes to making a record, technical perfection does not necessarily equal a great recording. In some cases, it’s actually the opposite. Perfection can sound plastic, not real, and not emotive. Perfection can be crisp and clean, but only greatness can curl your toes up in your shoes. Don’t mistake one for the other.
Of course, you want to have the highest sonic fidelity possible, but don’t miss the forest for the trees. The purpose of making the record is to record the performance of the artist. The humanity and imperfection of the performance – vocal enunciation and timbre, the weight of the pocket created by the rhythm section – that’s what matters. That’s where the real magic lies. Maybe you don’t need to worry about the finger squeaks on the strings. Maybe they add a little magic to the take. Every song and arrangement can create opportunities for great moments to be captured within each performance.
Your goal as the engineer is to capture as many of these moments as you can, as faithfully as possible. Then highlight them in the most flattering and compelling way, and weave it all into a single, awesome, CD. Are you ready? Good!
But wait! Don’t go diving into that mic closet just yet. You’ve got a lot of work to do before you turn on the red light. Adequate pre-recording preparation allows you, and the rest of the group, to focus entirely on the music while the red light is on. You’ve got the best chance of catching the good stuff when everyone involved is prepared and focused 100% on the music.
First, you need to be sure that the songs and arrangements are as strong as they can possibly be. Do you really need 16 bars of intro, or would four do it adequately? Does every instrument need to play during every second of every song? Have you left room for intensity to build? Have you created as much musical space and dynamics as possible? Are you sure that the songs themselves, not just the volume level, are creating the tension and release? Most importantly, do your songs grab your audience and not let go?
Consider what kind of sound the group has, and why your audience loves you. Do the arrangements allow each musician’s part to add to the song, or is everyone playing just to hear themselves? Keeping the audience in mind is absolutely crucial. If you’re a prog-metal band whose fans own every Dream Theater and Rush release, make sure your songs adequately display your chops, because that’s why they will buy the CD. If your group’s sound is based on a show-stopping lead vocalist, you’d better make sure nothing gets between those pipes and the listener’s ears. For hip hop acts, every single beat and syllable had better make your head nod – anything less, and the record will be perceived as average at best and left on the shelf. Your group’s audience will have expectations. Realizing what those expectations are allows you to exceed them.
One invaluable asset overlooked by too many recording groups is an unbiased outsider, someone whose ears the group trusts and whose opinion they respect. Identify this person, and get them involved early. He or she will need the knowledge to know how to tell the great from the good, the courage to share an honest opinion, and the diplomacy to keep group trust. This kind of constructive input is the best way to put you in touch with the real strengths and weaknesses of the songs and arrangements. You need to be big enough to consider criticism in order to revise the music into better, stronger material, because there is just no substitute for great songs on a great record. The best songwriters know that revision is critical – it’s the one and only way to make a good song great.
Once you’ve got the songs and arrangements where they need to be, it’s time to tighten up. Record rehearsals with a handheld recorder or podcasting mic, and get copies of the practice to every member of the group. Listen to parts, be honest and critical in identifying weaknesses, and fix them before recording starts. Every member should be able to easily and confidently play every note of every song, so that the group focus during recording can be on the overall song performance and not on individual parts.
There’s also the simple matter of the equipment you’re using. You’ll need to rely on every piece to perform without issue, so make sure it’s all in studio shape. The guitars should be accurately intonated and set up, the drums should be tuned and have lubricated moving parts, the piano needs to be in tune, every cable, knob, and switch should tested and crackle-free, and all your amps need to be fully functional and problem-free. Gear problems can ruin a great take, and trying to diagnose, find, and fix problems when everyone’s in the recording mindset can suck the morale right out of the session. You’re not going to make a great record if everyone’s stressed out and sidetracked by gear gremlins.
Finally, get a game plan together for the way you intend to record. What spaces and equipment are available to you? How many inputs can you record simultaneously, and how does that affect your strategy? Do you have a microphone for each channel you’ll use? You’ll need at least one other person with some audio knowledge for setup and level checks. Who will help you operate the recording equipment? Get the best microphones you can get your hands on. SM57s and SM58s are a great baseline for instrument miking, because they're prevalent and relatively inexpensive. Among your network of friends, you can probably scare up what you need if you don't own it already.
If you’ve got the means to buy or rent specialty instrument mics, check out the Sennheiser e609 and e906, which are tailored specifically for guitar amps. The Shure Beta 52a provides a massive kick drum sound, and a matched pair of small-diaphragm condensers like Neumann KM184s work superbly as drum overheads.
A quality condenser for vocals and other delicate overdub parts is an absolute must. If you don’t own one, can you borrow one or will you need to rent? You don’t necessarily need to drop $3k on a brand new U87Ai, but you should really at least be in the range of an Audio Technica 3035, 4040, or Shure KSM27 - and you’ll notice a difference if you can get your hands on a Rode NTK, Blue Baby Bottle, AKG C414 or Neumann TLM103.
Once you’ve got the sound, the songs, the gear, and the plan, you’re ready to start recording. Tune in to our next installment to learn how to catch the great stuff when the red light is on.
Thanks to Paul Elliott of Disc Makers SoundLab for his input and assistance. Learn more about the SoundLab at www.discmakers.com/soundlab/.
