In recent years, a generation who never experienced working with tape have become nostalgic for it and are incorporating tape emulation plugins into their mixes and productions. Other times it provided a rich low end and compelling low-mid presence that missed when everything went digital in the 80's. It had a 'sound', but sometimes that sound interfered with the clarity of the recorded performance. I've spoken to a few engineers, such as Bob Ohlsson of the Motown fame about tape, and his thoughts were, that tape was a cumbersome experience that engineers fought with when it was the only medium for recordings.
Put in the time required to get these three 'pillars of the production process' right and the rest of it will be much easier.īased on two well known Studer tape machines, NRG Recording's A827 and Howie Weinberg's A80, the Slate team took a solid year and a half to capture the idiosyncrasies of these two beloved machines. Great performances of great songs arranged well make for great records. If the performance isn't there, no amount of fancy microphones, vintage gear, experienced processing, or level balancing is going to add that into the track. People are still triggered by emotion and experience. Their album releases, but is not met by the level of excitement they hoped for. They might have fronted the cost to track at a world class facility, mix with a chart topping mixer and master with one of the greats, but the album only sounds 'okay'. If you have a great song, arrangement and performance, the job of the engineer can just be presentation.Īll too often I've seen artists rush in and out of the studio with decent, but not great performances recorded. Great performances make the rest of the process easier. The engineer leaned over to me and said, "I have the easiest job in the world".
What came out of the speakers sounded mixed at the onset. Last year I was lucky enough to get to sit in and watch some master session players in Nashville cut a tune. It's a great primer into audio engineering and will give you the fundamentals you need to start micing things up with confidence.ĭon't wait for mixing or mastering for your song to feel like a great song, record it that way. One that I can recommend to you is "Modern Recording Techniques" by David Miles Huber.
Recommendation: I tend to value books over YouTube videos when it comes to audio instruction, as they've survived the test of time. So, even if you have the most limited microphone locker, there's still a world of possibilities for you to discover and try on your next recording. The same mic can sound different at difference distances and angles from the source. Try something new altogether and look up to those who've proven their salt at the skill. Don't be afraid to take time and find the right spot for that SM57 over the snare drum. There's so much to be said for proper mic technique and though some of the fundamentals can be gleaned from credible books on recording, much of it like any skill is practice, practice, practice. Even if you're working with synthesized music and a pop vocalist singing over the top of the production.your mic choice could be the difference between a soothing compelling vocal that works for the song or an out of place element on the track that sounds cheap and distracting from the experience of the song. Picking the right mics, their placement and proximity to each other is crucial in making records. I think I've proven it starts well before that, but I digress. Hopefully you've heard this before.mixing starts at the mic.