Why Being Creative and Complex Isn’t Always the Answer

Way back in the day my band was recording a demo.

I wanted my lead guitar part to sound really weird, like a plunky, glass-brittle’esque sound.

That’s a weird description I know but I couldn’t figure out how to make my electric guitar sound like that.

I even went so far as to put the condenser microphone inside a beer glass so see if I could make it sound “glassier.”

Stupid I know. It only sounded muffled and weird.

I abandoned the sound and went in a different direction because I couldn’t figure it out. Later I realized how easy I could’ve accomplished that sound if I would’ve just looked for a simpler solution.

The sound I wanted from my guitar wasn’t a guitar sound. The plucky, stringy sound would’ve been easily recorded with a ukulele. The nylon strings and the small and sometimes brittle sound the ukulele has? That’s the exact sound I was looking for and I just didn’t realize it.

Sometimes the answer to your crazy endeavors is simpler than you think. Realizing that you’re running in the wrong direction is the hard part.

It’s not that you need to look outside the box for a solution. Putting a pint glass over a microphone is plenty thinking out of the box. No, it’s more about taking your head out of the box and looking at it from afar.

Sometimes you’re just too close to the problem to see the solution.

For simple solutions to your recording and mixing problems, grab the Strategies Bundle and get started on care-free productions.

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About Audio Issues and Björgvin Benediktsson

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