12 Key Take Aways From Recording Live In The Studio

Just like I said I would, I finished my in-depth report on my recent trip down to Mexico to record Los Borders, a funk fusion band.

In case you’re interested in the full report I thought I’d give you a quick tease preview.

For the full report I’ve now included it within the Recording & Mixing Strategies as a not-so-secret but unadvertised bonus.

Grab your tutorial package here:

www.audio-issues.com/strategies

Not interested?

No problem.

You can still learn something from my key take-aways from the recording session.

During Set Up

• Make sure the instruments sound good in the room before you even think about using your gear.
• If you don’t like how something sounds, change it.
• Working with limitations forces you to find uncommon solutions to problems. Sometimes that’s a good thing.
• If you don’t know how to do something, do some research and educate yourself.

During Test Recordings

• Test each instrument in every room. Instruments will sound different depending on where you put them, even in different places of the same room.
• Use portable baffles to isolate two instruments in the same room.
• Mics sound different with minuscule movements. Take ten minutes to experiment with different mic placements. You’ll thank me during mixdown.
• Beware of clipping. Take enough time to listen to both the quiet and loud signals of an instrument to get the best level into your preamp and into your DAW.
• Expect the unexpected. The Recorderman method wasn’t something I thought would work and it definitely wasn’t my first choice. However, it’s the sound that matters and that technique gave us the sound we were looking for.

During Recording

• Make your musicians comfortable. Their headphone mix must sound great to them so they can get in the groove.
• Show them how good they sound. Do a quick test recording of a few songs and let them listen. It will inspire great performances for the rest of the songs.
• Good musicians make your life easier. It’s not always possible but working with high-caliber musicians is such a pleasure. Make sure your musicians are well rehearsed and can actually play their parts.

As promised I’ve emailed all my customers with their free report as well as a bonus multi-track of one of their songs that you can use for practice.

Like I said before, both the report and multi-track are now included as a free bonus you get when you purchase any of the Strategies Bundle options:

www.audio-issues.com/strategies

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