1. Production Project Assignment
2. Participation Agreement
3. Studio Rules
4. Studio L Booking Policy
5. Studio L Booking Procedures
6. Session Log
7. Studio L Microphone Inventory List
8. Microphone Application List
9. Microphone Input List
10. Studio L Layout Plan
11. Instrument Codes
12. Tape Log
13. Tape Log Codes and Instructions
14. Equalization Notes Form
15. End-of-Semester Playback Information Sheet
16. Where to Buy Tapes
17. Recording Tips
18. The Mix

Your production assignment for this class is to act as both producer and first engineer of two multi-track recordings.

The purpose of this assignment is to further develop your understanding and mastery of the multi-track recording process. You are expected to devise a project that will challenge you both technically and artistically.

As usual, it is your responsibility to arrange for musicians and to select the music to be recorded. As you have seen in the past, your choice of musicians, songs and musical arrangements is as important to the final result of your efforts as is your choice of microphones, mic position, instrument balances and signal processing.

You must discuss your proposed project with me before you begin recording. I reserve final approval rights on whether what you have in mind meets the criteria of this assignment. Before I can approve a project, I will need to hear a demo recording of the pieces that you intend to record.

Because, as always, you will have a limited amount of studio time, thorough pre-production planning is essential. You should become as familiar as possible with the music you are going to record before you begin recording. Pre-plan both how the music is going to be performed and how you are going to record it.

At our first scheduled individual meeting you must deliver and be prepared to discuss the following:

1. A rough demo of what you intend to record

2. LMU Recording Project Participation Agreement

3. Tracking Mic Input List

4. Studio Layout Plan

5. Track Sheets (preliminary)

You are expected to mix down to both the quarter-inch and DAT recorders simultaneously. You will hand in your original analogue stereo masters to me for grading and playback purposes. These must be assembled onto a single, clearly-labeled reel and delivered to me in a clearly-labeled box.

Evaluation of this project will be based on:

1.Pre-production planning and production management

2. Your performance as an engineer and producer

3. Technical and artistic quality of final production

4. Overall realization of your stated artistic goals and intentions

FINAL ASSIGNMENT

Due: Compilation Day

Reading your production journals is a consistently enlightening experience for me. They provide me with essential information about how things are going for you outside of class. Through them, I am able to monitor your progress in a way that talking to you and listening to your recordings can only partially communicate. Thank you for your cooperation and openness.

In your final journal entry, I would like you to reflect on the course that your project has taken during the semester. Please consider some of the following questions and then write a self-critique. You might think of this assignment as a "Project Evaluation" in which you critique your own performance this semester. Please keep in mind that the purpose of such an exercise is to provide you with an opportunity to learn through self-observation and reflection. Just as you would when evaluating someone else's work, try to be constructive and thoughtful in your remarks.

Think back to where you were at the beginning of this semester, in terms of your objectives for this course. What was your original conception of what you hoped to accomplish?

• Were your initial expectations for your project realistic and how far did you go towards achieving them?
• How well did you and the people with whom you collaborated live up to the standards you set for yourselves?
• Was achieving your technical and artistic goals easier or more difficult that you originally thought it would be?
• In the future, what would you do the same and what would you do differently, with regard to the how you went about approaching your project?
• After you leave school, how do you see yourself applying what you have learned in your Recording Arts classes?

  GO TO - Table of Contents

Student/Producer: ______________________________________________________

Semester: ______________________________________________________

Course #: ______________________________________________________

Participating Artist: ______________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Telephone #: ______________________________________________________

Title of musical selection to be recorded:______________________________________________

I have read all the above statements and the LMU CA Department Studio Rules and agree to all the conditions specified:

Student/Producer's Signature: ___________________________ Date: __________

Participating Artist's Signature: ___________________________ Date: __________

No one is authorized to use a Loyola Marymount Communication Arts Department ("LMU CA Department") recording studio without express written permission in the form of a sound studio booking form, which must be posted outside the door of the studio during the session. Unauthorized or undocumented use of a studio will result in loss of access to the studio and/or a fine. The LMU CA Department reserves the right to stop or cancel any session at any time it deems necessary.

FOOD, DRINKS AND SMOKING ARE NOT PERMITTED ANYWHERE WITHIN THE CONFINES OF A LMU CA DEPARTMENT RECORDING FACILITY. This includes the control room, main performance area and isolation booth.

No one other than authorized LMU students, staff or faculty may operate LMU CA Department recording equipment.

No one other than authorized LMU employees may repair or perform maintenance procedures on LMU CA Department recording equipment. Under no circumstances should anyone else attempt any repairs, calibrations, rewiring or reconfigurations of such equipment.

All LMU CA Department monitoring amplifiers and monitoring equalization units must remain at their fixed settings. Students may not adjust either a monitoring system or a cue system to suit their personal tastes.

Students who know of LMU CA Department audio equipment that is in need of maintenance or repair are required to inform the Sound Services office in writing, as soon as possible.

Excessive monitoring levels for extended periods of time pose a very serious health hazard. The student who booked a session is required to insure that the studio's monitoring systems are operated at safe listening levels during that session.

The student who book a facility has full responsibility for the safety and proper use of its equipment and for the conduct of his/her guests. When a session is completed, it is also his/her responsibility to leave the studio in a clean, secure and normalized condition.

• All reservations for studio time must be cleared with Mladen Milicevic, then registered with the Sound Services office. Unauthorized or undocumented use of the studio will result in loss of access to the studio and/or a fine.

• Booking takes place on a priority basis between 1:15 PM & 1:30 PM each Tuesday (RECA 356) or Wednesday (RECA 450) in Studio L. If a student is not present when his/her turn comes up, he/she looses his/her priority position for that week.

• Each week, students are able to book one session, up to four weeks in advance.

• No one may schedule more than one session for any given week, unless there are still open slots after everyone has had an opportunity to book time during that week.

• No one may book more than the total number of sessions allocated to each student enrolled in a given course during a given semester. If available studio time goes unused during the course of the semester, there is no guarantee that everyone in the class will have the opportunity to book all the sessions they would otherwise be entitled to.

• Once a student has booked a session, that time-slot becomes that student's responsibility and is counted against his/her total number of sessions, regardless of whether the student uses the scheduled time or not.

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 4

STEP 5

Thank you for your cooperation. Have a good session!

Producer/Engineer _____________________________________________________

Assistant Engineer _____________________________________________________

Date _____________________________________________________

Time _____________________________________________________

Others Present * 1.___________________________________________________

2.___________________________________________________

3.___________________________________________________

4.___________________________________________________

5.___________________________________________________

6.___________________________________________________

7.___________________________________________________

Actual Start Time: __________________ Actual End Time: __________________

Producer/Engineer's Signature _____________________________________________

ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS (guitar, strings, etc)
AKG D-12 (low FQ), AKG-414, AKG C-452, B&K 4006, Crown PZM-30, Electro-Voice RE-20, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

AMBIENT SOUND
AKG-414, B&K 4006, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87, Neumann TLM 170,

AMPLIFIRES
AKG D-12 (low FQ), B&K 4006 (low SPL), Electro-Voice RE-20, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

BRASS/HORNS
AKG D-12 (low FQ), AKG-414, AKG C-452, Crown PZM-30, Electro-Voice RE-20, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

CYMBALS/OVERHEADS
AKG-414, AKG C-452, B&K 4006, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87,

DRUMS (basic set: snare, toms)
AKG C-452 (pads), Electro-Voice RE-20, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

KICK DRUM
AKG D-12 (low FQ), Electro-Voice RE-20, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

PIANO
AKG D-12 (low FQ), AKG-414, AKG C-452, AKG C-460, Crown PZM-30, Electro-Voice RE-20, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87, Neumann TLM 170,

VOCALS
AKG-414, B&K 4006, Electro-Voice RE-20, Neumann U-87, Neumann TLM 170, Sure SM-57

VOICE/SPEECH
AKG-414, AKG C-452, AKG C-460, Electro-Voice RE-20, Neumann U-87, Neumann TLM 170, Sennheiser MD-421, Sure SM-57

FLUTE
AKG-414, AKG C-452, B&K 4006, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87

WOODWINDS
AKG-414, Neumann U-87, Sennheiser MD-421

ENSEMBLES
AKG-414, B&K 4006, Neumann KM-84, Neumann U-87, Neumann TLM 170

Artist:____________________________ Producer: ______________________

Session Date: ______________________ Engineer: ______________________

Session Time: ______________________ Asst.Engineer: __________________

Producer/Engineer ______________________________________________

Assistant Engineer ______________________________________________

Artist ______________________________________________

Session Date ______________________________________________

Session Time ______________________________________________

LMU Recording Arts tape log sheets should be attached to the outside of every tape recorded here.

NEVER record anything without making the appropriate notations on the log sheet. Essential elements to take note of include...

Written in ink:

• artist's name
• producer's name
• engineer's name
• assistant engineer's name
• session date
• sampling frequency

Written in pencil:

• program title (name of song)
• take #
• take duration
• tape location
• slate information
• "complete" or "incomplete" status
• engineer's and/or producer's comments ("good take", etc.)
• any technical problems (known or suspected)

The following abbreviations are widely used and understood and must be used by all LMU Recording Arts students on their projects.

• HS head slate
• TS tail slate
• NS no slate
• FS false start
• LFS long false start
• C complete take
• INC incomplete take
• PB playback (take has been played back and reviewed)
• G good take
• NG "no good"
• M master take
• OTM "out-to-master" (removed to master reel)
• OD overdub (additional tracks have been added to this take)
• EOT "end of tape" (no recording done past this point )
• TBE "to be erased"

Producer/Engineer ___________________________________________

Assistant Engineer ___________________________________________

Artist ___________________________________________

Session Date ___________________________________________

Session Time ___________________________________________

Class:

Producer/Engineer:

Artist:

Song Title:

Running Time:

GO TO - Table of Contents

STEADI SYSTEMS

6613 Sunset Bd.

Hollywood, CA 90028

Tal. (323) 464-2285

QUANTEGY ADAT S-VHS (42 min.) $ 7.⁹⁵ + TAX

GUITAR CENTER

7425 Sunset Bd.

Hollywood, CA 90046

Tel. (323) 874-1060

Mon. Fri. 10-9

Sat. 10-6, Sun 11-6

QUANTEGY ADAT S-VHS (42 min.) $ 10.⁹⁹ + TAX

STUDIO FILM AND TAPE

1215 N. Highland Ave.

Hollywood, CA 90038

Tel. (213) 466-8181

Open 24 hours

BASF (40 min.) $ 11.¹⁵ or $ 10.⁰⁶ with student ID + TAX

THE DRUMS

HOW TO GET A GOOD SOUNDING KIT

The acoustics of the room in which you are going to record the drums will tremendously affect the way your drums are going to sound on tape. If your recording studio is more on the "dead" side the drums you record in it are going to sound "tight". You are not going to be able to hear the room in which the drums were recorded. This type of drum sound is frequently used in R&B and some pop music.

If your studio acoustics are "live" the drums recorded in that room are going to sound much bigger and be more suitable for hard/alternative rock sound.

If your drums do not sound good live when you listen to the sound in the room, there are not going to sound any better when you put them on the tape. It is an absolute must to have brand new heads put on the drums a day before you walk into the studio.

You may get musicians that will bring to the recording session all kinds of drums that may be perfectly fine for live performances and tours but completely inappropriate for the recording in a studio.

Kick Drum GO TO - Table of Contents

The most versatile and useful size for the kick drum is 24-inch with Ambassador head with a black dot. If you want more "pop" sound from your kick drum you may opt to use a wooden beater while for more low frequency response you may go for the hard felt beater. You will also like to keep the front head off the kick drum so you can place all kinds of padding props inside the drum to control the resonance. If you have to much ringing you may even have your padding pillows inside the drum touch the front head.

Tuning the kick drum is also important and somewhat confusing. When you want your kick to sound lower you actually tighten up the head, because if you make it loose the lows will be so low that will become inaudible and you will hear only highs from the punch of the beater. Consequently if you want more sharp attack to the kick you will loosen it a bit in order to make the lows deliberately inaudible and emphasize the beater.

Tom-Toms GO TO - Table of Contents

The most useful size combination is 12" 14" and 16" for the floor tom. If your drummer uses more than 3 toms that you will probably go within an inch of the difference in sizes among the toms.

If your drummer plays hard than you should use heavier heads than if it plays softer. You want your toms to hold up sound longer.

It is good idea to keep bottom heads on the toms but they have to be tuned to the same pitch as the top heads so they'll vibrate sympathetically.

If your toms vibrate while producing an undesirable ring, you may have to consider damping the. You may use internal dampers but you'd get more control if you put some Kleenex or a cotton ball against the head. You should experiment with tom and bottom heads using these techniques.

Tuning the drums is very critical in a recording studio, which is not the case when playing live. You want to make sure that your entire drum resonates at the precise frequency. What that frequency is going to be depends on the song you are recording. If the song is in, say, key of C major, they the toms should be tuned to C 6/4 chord which is: 12" tom = E, 14" tom = C (middle) and 16" floor tom = G. The best way to tune the drum is to take it of the kit and put it on the drum stool that will damp the bottom head. Then you should play a note (on a piano or guitar, or whatever you are comfortable whit) that you want your tom to be tuned to and listen to that note then when the sound dies you should lightly strike the head close to the tension rods and play with the lug until it resolve to the desired pitch. Then you repeat the same procedure striking next to the every lug on the tom. When through, that strike your tom in the middle and check if it is in the "right" pitch. You should keep in mind that the drums cannot be tuned using the standard guitar electronic tuner. When you are tuning a drum you should always listen to the pitch of the very end of the drum sound. When you strike the drum, in its initial attack there is a wealth of partials which change the pitch up (this lasts fairly short) and then the pitch goes down and resolves to the note that is a mean average of the tones created when the head was hit strong. This resolution towards the end of the drum's sound is the note you want to tune to. When you get through tuning the top head then you can turn the tom over and do the same thing for the bottom head. Now the once the tom is in tune it may be ringing to much, that problem should be easily solved with dumping techniques mentioned earlier.

Snare Drum GO TO - Table of Contents

There are all kind of snares available and the best one is the FIRCHIE but I doubt you will get your hands on one of those, so you should probably stay with chrome-metal snares with Remo's clear Black Dot heads. Never use a hydraulic head because their sound does not last long to give the drum nice resonance. These heads are fine for live performances because of their durability - but in a studio, the best way is to forget them.

Tuning the snare is a matter of the tempo rather than harmony which was the case with the toms. If the song is fast then you want your snare sound to die away just before the new strike, you don't want the drum ringing over the next hit blurring the rhythm track. In that case, you will tune your snare higher to shorten the sound. Consequently, for the slower songs you would tune the snare lower in order to extend the duration of sound. It is not that critical to have the heads of the snare drum tuned at the same pitch, especially when dealing with the faster songs. If the song is slow and you want that extra thick sound then you may consider tuning it to the same pitch.

Another important matter to be considered with the snare drum are the snare wires. You have to make absolutely sure that they resonate only when snare is struck and nothing else. So, you should fiddle with adjusting the tightness of the snare wires and even go for a different kind of wires - broader or narrower ones. You may consider putting a piece of gaffer's tape across the wires to shorten their length and alter the vibrations.

All this is a matter of context that the snare is creating: a) within the entire drum set b) within the tempo of the song c) within the style of the music. So, experiment and listen what works the best. You may count ahead for having extra snares of different types and selection of snare wires.

Crash Cymbals GO TO - Table of Contents

If your drummer has lots of cymbals to choose from then you should go with ones that decay in time with music. Faster songs need faster cymbal decays.

In general, cymbals should have a nice continuous decay, so you don's hear a bang and then nothing. You also don't want a cymbal that shimmers in and out during the decay. You must also make sure that when cymbals are hit together they don't cause a phase cancellation. This will happen if they are to close in pitch.

Ride Cymbals GO TO - Table of Contents

This is the most critical cymbal because it is used for a time keeping purpose (like hi-hat) rather than the accents that crash cymbals are used for. In order to keep good time your ride cymbals has to have very pronounced "ping" so the attack of the stick is preserved rather than clutter of ringing. If your ride cymbal is bad you may consider using the sticks with the plastic-tips which will help the attacks to come through.

Hi-Hat GO TO - Table of Contents

If your drummer is playing hard then the heavier cymbals with lots of "clank" are preferred. For the lighter pop-oriented music the sibilant and the high end quality is extremely important. That is because each beat should be distinct with its own decay time.

MIKING THE KIT GO TO - Table of Contents

Close miking is technique used for miking each drum individually. In general, you should go for condenser mikes except for the kick and possibly the snare which can be miked with dynamic mikes.

Kick Drum GO TO - Table of Contents

Put the mike inside the drum using a short stand. If you want more of the attack then you should move your mike closer to the center of the drum and the batter. You should also make sure that the mike is aimed away from the floor tom pointing at about 30° off-axis.

Tom-Toms GO TO - Table of Contents

Position a mike 2-3 inches above the head and 2 inches inside the rim at a 30° angle. Make sure that you engage PAD switch to avoid the overload. Now, if you hear any ringing on the toms when the kick drum is played you should use some damping techniques discussed earlier to remedy the problem. The floor tom mike should be positioned carefully because it can easily pick up the leakage from the kick drum. Thus, you should position the mike away from the kick similarly you positioned the kick mike away from the floor tom. So again, 2-3 inches above the head and 2 inches inside the rim at a 30° angle away from the kick. Damping of the floor tom is really critical because it can pick up vibrations from the kick very easily - therefore, watch out for the ringing and get rid of it.

Snare Drum GO TO - Table of Contents

When miking the snare there are two things to be considered: a) leakage from the hi-hat, and b) picking up the snare wires. The first one is solved by positioning the mike away from the hi-hat 2-3 inches above the head and 2 inches inside the rim at a 30° angle, the second one is much trickier and may require using an additional mike from the bottom of the snare. This situation should be avoided at any cost, but if employed the bottom mike should more definitely be out of phase in relation to the top mike.

Hi-Hat GO TO - Table of Contents

Miking the hi-hat depends on the way the drummer plays. Generally, miking towards the center will give you more attack and miking towards the edge will render more sibilants. Again, with the hi-hat the main concern is to avoid the leakage from the snare so 2-3 inches above the top and 2 inches inside the cymbal at a 30° angle away from the snare should be fine. However, you should experiment with different placement varying the ratio between the center and the edge until you get what you are looking for.

Overheads GO TO - Table of Contents

These mikes play twofold role in miking the kit. They provide definition and clarity for the cymbals and they provide stereo imaging and the ambience for the whole kit. You should position these two mikes about a foot above the cymbals in a spaced stereo miking technique (x/y and ORTF are also acceptable if that is what you want, however the A/B will give you wider space but you should be always aware of the mono compatibility when using A/B). So, once you position the mikes you should have your drummer play the snare only and make sure that its sound comes from the center in A/B stereo image. If that is not the case then you should keep repositioning overhead mikes until you achieve snare being fused in the middle. When, that is done, you should go ahead and listen to the whole kit through the overheads and adjust the panning of the individual drums to match the panning that you are getting from the overheads. The best way to figure out how to pan the tom toms, if you are recording then onto two L+R tracks is to put the overhead mikes on one speaker (left or right, depending on which tom you are trying to pan) and then while listening to that one speaker pan the toms individually. What you should be listening for is phase cancellation while you searching for the right position. When you hit the correct spot the tom and the overheads should be in phase.

Room Mikes GO TO - Table of Contents

There are lots of applications where you would consider using another pair of stereo mikes in addition to overheads. These mikes should be raised much higher and spread much wider than the overhead mikes. You should picture this as a "V" pattern where the snare drum is at the bottom of the "V" the overheads half way up and the room mike on the top of the each side of the "V". Room mikes are very important in capturing the room ambience and the further away you place them the more room you will get.

EQ GO TO - Table of Contents

Now, after you tuned your kit and position the mikes you may go ahead and balance the whole thing with EQ. Important thing to consider here is that you can EQ the drums while recording them, but also during the mixdown. In general, I like to be less aggressive with cutting frequencies in this initial recording phase, because if you get rid of something at this stage it is nearly impossible to get it back in the mixdown by rolling back on the EQ.

Before I go into the EQ for the individual drums let me consider some commonalties that apply to the whole kit. If it jingles, than you should consider the frequency range from 5 kHz and up. If it bangs, than you should consider the frequency range from 1 kHz to 5 kHz. If it thumps, than you should consider the frequency range from 100 Hz up to 500 Hz.

Kick Drum GO TO - Table of Contents

EQ for the kick drum deals with several frequency bands. As much as the kick is a low pitched instrument the punch of the kick is really important in order to preserve its distinctiveness. Boost at 3 kHz and even between 5 and 8 kHz for that extra click if you need it. For the body of kick's sound boost 100 Hz. If you boost 100 Hz +10 dB then 3 kHz should be 6 dB and 8 kHz should be 1 dB, so 3 kHz is 2/3 of 100 Hz and 8 kHz is 1/10 of 100 kHz boost.

Snare Drum GO TO - Table of Contents

Boost in between 1 and 2 kHz, boost a little at 5 kHz and a little at 100 Hz.

Tom Toms GO TO - Table of Contents

When doing EQ for the toms it is important to hear them in the context of the song. They may sound beautiful on their own but not to fit in the relationship with other instruments on the track. In general you may want to preserve the sound of the sticks hitting the toms and that is 7 to 8 kHz area. Then you may add some at 3 kHz and for the bottom end add 100 Hz. However, for the really big body you may consider boosting around 500 Hz.

Hi-Hat GO TO - Table of Contents

Hi-Hat is an instrument that is difficult to mike and difficult to EQ, so the best approach is to do it last and listen how it fits within the entire drum set. For the sibilants you should look between 7 and 10 kHz. For the tip of the stick look around 5 kHz, and for the "clank" search between 500 Hz and 1 kHz.

Overheads GO TO - Table of Contents

The main purpose of the overhead mikes is to bring up the cymbals. For that reason you should roll back at 200 Hz and boost between 10 and 12 kHz. You may consider adding a bit at 3 kHz if you want to enhance the "bang" of the cymbals.

Room Mikes GO TO - Table of Contents

On these mikes you want to eliminate any low end rumble and enhance the very high end around 15 kHz. You are trying to preserve the "air" and the ambience of the whole kit. Be aware that in 15 kHz frequency range you may be picking up the studio noise such as the AC, but these mikes are not going to be all that loud, anyway.

Gating the Drums GO TO - Table of Contents

In my personal experience I always tried to stay away from using noise gates on drums, but sometimes it may become necessary to eliminate leakage and otherwise uncontrollable ringing. If you decide to use them try to go with low threshold and slower release in order to make the working of the gate inaudible.

Tape Compression GO TO - Table of Contents

If you are recording in digital multitrack format this is the one feature you cannot use. However, in analog format recording the snare at about +6 dB VU will give you distortion that will produce very strong and full sound. Doing this you will loose some clarity of the attack, but you can recapture that through the overheads. The same technique applies for the toms too. Do not use tape compression on anything else. This is only possible if you are doing multitrack but if you are recording straight to 2-track this technique cannot be used.

Last Advises GO TO - Table of Contents

While recording the drums you may find out that they produce all kind of buzzes, squeaks, whirs, and groans which are unacceptable on your recording. In that case you should go around and investigate where are they coming from and try to fix them. First thing you should make sure is that no drums physically touch any cymbal or mike stands. That the toms are tighten on the kick, and that the drum stool is not squeaking. The foot pedal may also create some squeaking.

In addition to these problems you may find out that the way you drummer positions the drums is not the most beneficial for the recording. If you find that the snare is set to low so it is picking up too much leakage from the kick, or if the ride cymbal is to close to the floor tom mike--then you may be in trouble because at this point you have to ask your drummer to reposition the drums and start playing the way he or she is not used to.

BASS GUITAR GO TO - Table of Contents

It is not absolutely necessary to place a new set on strings before recording session but it is highly advisable, because new string always sound better. Which strings your bass player is going to use depends on the style of music, but you should be aware what you can get from different types of strings. Round-wound strings will sound bright, flat-wound strings will sound mellow, and half-flat-wound will give you the combination of these two.

If your bass player is using active pickups than you should make sure that the batteries are new and try to replace them before each session.

MIKING THE ELECTRIC BASS GO TO - Table of Contents

Make sure that all the screws on the bass speaker cabinet are not loose. Raise the cabinet on the chair 2 feet from the floor. Pad the floor with a packing blanket in front of the speaker to avoid the reflections. Close mike the speaker and play at low levels in order to avoid overloading the mike. Place the mike about 3 inches from the speaker and but at an angle of 30° off the center. At this angle the mike should be pointing at a spot about halfway between the outer edge of the speaker and the center of the cone.

RECORDING DIRECT IN GO TO - Table of Contents

If your bass player is using the passive pickups than you have to use direct box to bring the loZ signal into the console. However, if the pickups are active you may have enough level to go directly into the line input of the console, bypassing the direct box altogether.

DIRECT IN + ACOUSTIC GO TO - Table of Contents

For this combination all you have to do is to split the guitar signal and send one line to the amplifier and the other line to the direct box. If you have enough tracks you may want to record these two signals onto two separate tracks or to combine them and record it onto a single track. The balance between the two is dependent on your personal preferences and the overall context of the song.

When using this combined signal approach you should make sure you are not running into the phase cancellation problems. Bring up the direct signal and then gradually bring up the miked signal and listen for the bottom frequencies. If the low end starts disappearing you have a phase problem. If your console has a phase inversion switch try to use it, if it does not you may have to re-solder the cables or use the phase inversion adapter.

Compressing the Bass GO TO - Table of Contents

Compression is almost unavoidable when recording a bass. So, you should use 4:1 ratio and mild -3 dB reduction. The position of your threshold will actually depend on the playing style of your bass player. If the playing range is wide but it peaks (slaps) only occasionally, you may keep you threshold fairly low to compress the slaps and lower the dynamic range while increasing the sustain of the bass. However, when recording a stand up bass you should try to avoid compression altogether.

BASS EQ GO TO - Table of Contents

Boost between 80 and 100 Hz, and boos also at 800 Hz. For the high end boost at 3 kHz and at 5 kHz.

When using the two combined signals try to boos at different places for the different signals so that they complement and enhance the overall quality of the instrument.

ELECTRIC GUITAR GO TO - Table of Contents

First thing you need to do is to figure out how you want guitar to fit onto the track. That will determine the technique you will use in recording the guitar. There are basically two general ways to go; non distorted and distorted, and everything in between these two choices. However, the process of recording guitar is more less one of trial and error and should not be approached with preconceptions. Always keep in mind that you are not looking for the best guitar sound on itself but rather for the best sound that would work in the context of the song.

One thing that is important to keep in mind is that you should try to make sure that the chords on an accompanying guitar are not played in the same frequency range that is occupied by the voice. This can be easily adjusted by shifting the chords lower or higher up the guitar's neck.

There are so many different types of guitars and amplifiers that is vary difficult to give specific guidelines, but some general points can be made. If you are looking for a clean sound than you should look for an amplifier that can give you warm and full sound at relatively low levels. On the other hand, if you are going for distorted sound than you should be looking for a high level performing amplifier and a microphone that can take a lost of pressure. When using the high level amplifier distortion then the room acoustics play an important role. In that case you will be using a room mike and what you get from the room sound is going to become a part of your overall guitar sound. Consequently, for a clean sound you will go with no room mike and will be looking for a rather dead recording environment.

You may also consider having two different amps and feeding the same guitar signal via "Y" cable into the both amps. That way you can record two different sounds and go for the best blend between them.

CLOSE MIKED GUITAR AMPLIFIER GO TO - Table of Contents

Close miking is used when you want to capture the sound of the amplifier alone and avoid the room ambience. So, you would lift the speaker cabinet of the floor and place deadening materials such as packing blankets around the cabinet. The mic should be placed six to seven inches out from the amp and aimed at the speaker on an axis about 30° off center. This means that you would first position the microphone at the center of the speaker and then swivel it about three inches so that is pointing roughly at the edge of the speaker.

CLOSE/DISTANT MIKE COMBINATION GO TO - Table of Contents

This technique is used when you are going after a power distorted type of sound. In addition to the close microphone just described you will add a distant room mike. This mike should be placed about six feet from the speaker and about two feet above the plane of the close mike. The exact distance is something that you should experiment with in the relation to your close mike, room acoustics, and the overall sound you are going for. However you should make sure that you place some packing blankets around your distant mike in order to avoid possible phase cancellations.

EQ FOR THE CLOSE MIKE GO TO - Table of Contents

For the bottom add 100 Hz, and for the body of guitar sound look between 500 and 600 Hz. The edge of guitar sound lies between 3 and 4 kHz while the sibilants are pronounced between 5 and 8 kHz.

EQ FOR THE DISTANT MIKE GO TO - Table of Contents

Distant microphone is used to give the ambience to guitar sound so you need to work on frequencies that give clarity and that is 10 kHz and above. The frequency that you want to attenuate is 200 Hz.

DI BOX RECORDING GO TO - Table of Contents

If you want absolutely clear electric guitar sound with lots of presence and no room acoustics, then you are going to use DI box. In general the sound of directly recorded guitar is not sufficient alone and could be used in combination with the amplifier sound. This is achieved by splitting the signal coming for guitar and sending one line to the console and the other to the amp.

ACOUSTIC GUITAR GO TO - Table of Contents

In recording acoustic guitar the room ambience plays the major component. If the guitar is going to be the sole accompaniment for a vocal, then you wan this guitar to sound as big as possible, meaning that you would need "live" acoustic space. On the other hand, if the guitar is going to be one of many accompanying instruments than you will look for a relatively dead acoustic space.

You are going to use close and distant miking techniques in order to capture the sound of an acoustic guitar. Close microphone should be aimed at the specific place of the guitar's body. What is that place going to be will depend on the type of sound you are going for. Again, trial and error can be used in order to determine that spot. In general, closer to the bridge will give you crispy high end sound while closer to the sound hole will render fuller and richer tone. When using a close mike on an acoustic guitar you should be aware of the guitarist's playing technique (fingerboard noises, banging the thumb against the body of guitar, etc.). The distant mike for acoustic guitar is used pretty much like the distant mike when recording amplified electric guitar and its positioning will vary depending on how much room ambience you want to capture.

EQ FOR THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR GO TO - Table of Contents

For the full bodied bottom you will boost 250 and 500 Hz. For finger picking you will boost in the range from 1 to 3 kHz, while for the rhythmic qualities you will look from 5 kHz and up. On the distant mike you will again go for the ambience above 10 kHz and possibly give some sparkle between 7 and 10 kHz. The bottom end around 200 Hz should be attenuated.

ACOUSTIC GUITAR COMPRESSION GO TO - Table of Contents

In classical recordings using a compressor is unthinkable, however in pop recordings the compression is very desirable. This is because the sound of acoustic guitar dies away quickly and compression may increase its sustain. You may go for 4:1 ratio and -3 dB reduction, but try to experiment with other settings too. Whether to EQ acoustic guitar sound before or after compression is an ongoing debate, you should try both approaches and see what sounds better for your application.

ACOUSTIC PIANO GO TO - Table of Contents

There are basically two way the piano may fit in the song. It can provide principal accompaniment to vocal (Elton John, Bruce Hornsby) or it can be used as just another "fill" instrument in the band. In the first case the piano part is a lush and full sounding instrument, but in the second case the part should be much simpler leaving enough room in the frequency ranges for the other instruments.

The problem with acoustic pianos is that no two instruments sound alike and you have to find a way how to get the best recording of the piano you are dealing with. In the best case you will be dealing with a "well-voiced" piano which has a smooth, even response, both in terms of volume and pitch, from the lowest note to the highest note.

In most situations you will use two microphones to record the piano. These mics should be positioned about six inches from the strings and a few inches down from the hammers. One mike should be pointing to the low register strings and the other should be pointing to the high strings. The closer the mike to the piano of the hammer noise you are going to get (rock piano). Consequently, the farther away from the piano, more of the rounded sound and less of the hammer noise (slow ballads). Whether you are going to record these two mikes on one channel (mono) or on two channels (stereo) depends on piano's role in the song. If it is used as a sole accompaniment for the voice and you wan it to sound bigger than life, you will go for the full stereo effect. Generally, pianos are not recorded in full stereo because it sounds unnatural to have low strings coming from one speaker and high strings from the other speaker. The only person who hears the piano that way is somebody sitting at the piano.

Another thing you should keep in mind is to make your miking technique appropriate to the playing style of your piano player (which hand is more emphasized). The excessive use of sustain pedals, that may otherwise sound great in the living room, generally can be damaging to the recording because of the harmonically rich reverb created that way. This reverb is hard to control and difficult to fit in the track, so try to use the sustain pedals as little as possible.

You should also always think about the phase cancellation problems you may run into when dealing with two microphones. This is cancellation is especially critical when you have the piano lid on. If you are looking for an open sound you would probably remove the lid completely. If, however, you want to isolate the piano from the room ambience then you should keep the lid on its lowest position and cover the piano shell with packing blankets. All in all, it takes lots of experimentation to figure out the best microphone positions and technique for the sound you are looking for.

EQ FOR THE ACOUSTIC PIANO GO TO - Table of Contents

As a rule, if the lower end of the piano sounds muddy you may try to cut around 200 Hz. For clarity you would look at 3 kHz and 10 kHz. In general try to make sure that your piano is not fighting with vocal for space in the range of frequencies dominant in the human voice.

COMPRESSING THE PIANO GO TO - Table of Contents

Compression can be used to fix several problems with piano sound. One is to even out the tonal response of the instrument, the other one is to enhance the percussive qualities of the hammers. This is achieved with slow attack settings on the compressor.

LEAD VOCAL GO TO - Table of Contents

The two most important elements in any hit record are the song and the singer. If either element falls short, so will the recording. Therefore, a great deal of care has to be taken anytime you put vocals on tape. Although the vocal may be one of the last tracks you record, it should be considered first when you sit down to work out the song.

When recording vocals you should make sure you record them in a "dead" space. Another thing that is very important is to make sure that your vocalist feels comfortable when recording. Provide a music stand and a stool, a glass of water, pleasant lighting, pleasing room temperature, and most importantly great headphone mix. This means that you are going to add all the effects that you may put later on the vocal track in the final mix, right onto the headphone mix. Even though you are not going to add these effects to the vocal track while recording, your vocalist should hear them in the headphones and feel that he or she sounds great. You have to make sure that your headphone mix is exciting (as close as to the final mix) and to do the utmost possible to please your vocalist. This should ensure an inspiring and exciting vocal performance.

You should also make sure that the vocalist does not wear any noisy jewelry or thumping his/her foot.

VOCAL MIKING GO TO - Table of Contents

Microphone should be positioned about one foot away and about 2 inches above the vocalist's mouth.

VOCAL EQ GO TO - Table of Contents

When applying EQ to a vocal it is advisable to use a narrow bands to eliminate the piercing frequencies from the track. This should be done very gently because if you apply too much EQ on a narrow band it will sound unnatural.

The fundamental frequency of the male singer's voice lies somewhere between 500 Hz and 800 Hz so you would not have to boost in that range. The sibilant area lies in the range between 5 and 7 kHz while the upper harmonics lie between 10 and 15 kHz.

VOCAL COMPRESSION GO TO - Table of Contents

Compressing the vocal is mandatory but you do not want to over compress. The ratio of 4:1 and the gain reduction of 3 dB should be fine for most applications.

VOCAL OVERDUBBING GO TO - Table of Contents

When recording vocals you should be aware of the vocal fatigue and make sure that you are doing everything expediently. Overdubbing and punching in vocal parts may save a lots of time and correct some mistakes but be aware of creating "weird" inflections. I personally like to get at least the whole portion, such as verse for example, in a single take. You may also consider recording several vocal tracks and then combining the best parts into a single composite track. You may also think of doubling your vocal track, which is usually more common in the chorus (refrain) sections of the song.

BACKING VOCALS GO TO - Table of Contents

There are lots of possibilities for recording backing vocals and here are the two extremes. The first one is to treat them individually so you can almost identify who is singing the backing harmony part. The second one is to record so many harmony parts that they seem like a choir in which individual voices are indistinguishable. The first technique requires a much higher degree of precision than the second one.

The miking technique for the recording of the backing vocals is roughly similar to the one for lead vocal. Depending on the number of singers and your approach, you will find out a need for a wider polar pattern and greater distance from the singers to the mike. You may mike several singers with one mike, or have each singer covered by a separate mike. The first option requires the balance among the vocals to be obtained by the relationship among the individual singers and the mike. The second one would allow you to do the balancing on the mixing board. The second option gives you also more control over the EQ. Another thing to consider is whether you are going to put several vocals on a single track or have a luxury of recording them on a separate tracks. As far as the EQ on the backing vocals go, you will generally not enhance the high frequencies too much because you want that range to be occupied by the lead vocal. Regarding the compression, you will not need as much as compression as you had on the lead vocal because the dynamics of the backing vocal parts are not wide as those of the lead vocal.

THE MIX GO TO - Table of Contents

All the elements of the mix are interrelated, and what you do to the sound of one instrument will affect all of the others. Therefore, you cannot treat the instruments as individual entities any more but rather like a part of the composite picture. This also means that you will constantly need to reevaluate the effectiveness of what you are creating, because each step you take will alter the balance of the mix. And the balance is the key to a successful mix. In the mix you are trying to create the blend of instruments with a cohesive structure, so that the listener has a point of focus. Thus, some elements will be made to play support roles while the more important elements, such as the vocal and the drums, will be made to stand out, so that they are the focus of attention. You may also use the mix to hide the weaknesses of the band you are recording. You should always keep in mind that this balance of instruments is totally subjective matter of personal taste, however some basic ground rules can be made. Here is one thing that applies to all mixes which is that the mix should be appropriate to the style of music and the song.

In the first instance, your focus should be on the instruments that play important roles throughout the song. For example, if you have a guitar solo in the middle of the song, you will make sure that it is as dominant as the lead vocal that ii is replacing. If there is a melodic hook on the keyboards that comes in and out during the choruses, you will give it some dominance too.

Your second concern is in how well the song builds. You want the recording to be exciting and the song will work much better if it builds to something. This is based on contrast and something to be exciting must be contrasted to something that is less exciting. So, if you think that you have exciting music all the time, you probably have something that is rather boring.

As a general rule, the more important an element is in the song, the closer it should be to the center. Also, low frequency instruments such as the bass should always go in the center because the frequencies below 400 Hz are extremely difficult to localize between the speakers. High frequencies are easy to localize and if you are going to play with panning that should be with high frequency sounds.

Everything that is "dry" in the mix will seem close and consequently "wet" things will seem further away. Dry elements are much easier to localize that the wet ones; so if you are going to pan, it is going to be more successful with dry that with wet sounds.

As far as the EQ goes you should make sure that you apply EQ in context of the entire mix. What counts is how well an instrument fits into the mix, not how great is sounds on its own.

GO TO - Table of Contents