F A N D A N G O R E C O R D I N G
Getting prepared for recording
|
F A N D A N G O R E C O R D I N G
Getting prepared for recording |
|
Choosing the
studio is the first part to good project planning: the next part is the
preparation for the recording session. Be rested and show up on time; do not
bring friends, this is about hard work. Use comfortable and quiet clothes; the mic's
are very sensitive, so avoid unwanted noises. Make sure the band has rehearsed a lot!! I cannot stress enough the importance of this statement. The quality of the sound comes mainly from the musician's fingers. Make sure you have all setup tempos for your songs (know the BPM, it is useful to know it when you do not use a click track), and it is a good idea to get used to play along a click track. If you have never used the click track, then do not try right in the middle of recording session, it's not going to produce results. Also, if you sing and play an instrument at the same time, try to get used to only play or sing; it will be easier to get a better sound recording the instrument and the voice separately, even tough, I have to say it, the technical aspects are less important than getting a great performance on the tape. A well rehearsed band will have an easy
recording session. Recording is hard work, it makes no sense to argue whether it
should be a solo over one or two verses; studio time is expensive, rehearsal
time is not, there will be enough pressure anyway, so have all the song
arrangements figured out and have fun with the tunes. Do not forget the old
saying: “less is more” and “more is less”. It always takes time to do the set up for the session. Be patient, recording takes longer than just playing the song. The mics and level set up are essential for the recording quality, so be prepared to wait. Try to help having your gear ready to go before the session, so the time is not wasted. Consider laying the drum tracks for all the song you want to record in the first sessions- the drum set up is laborious and it can take time. On the next session, the band can go into overdubs and save time. Always listen carefully at what you just recorded!! The engineer may not be able to know that something is wrong in the performance; and sometimes you can point sound problems to the engineer! Saving money by not listening is a huge mistake! Always remember that, if you want to get a very personal sound, you need time to experiment; without experiment, there would be no "Sgt. Pepper's..." or "Time"- Pink Floyd, or Phil Collins's gated drums and so many others.
Write down the title of each song; provide as many details as you can, including the key of the songs (or the key for each part of the song). This is really helpful at the editing stage - for voice correction and for instruments like acoustic bass, strings, etc. Specific
preparations: Drums: The key of a good sound lies in a good sounding drum set and the drummer himself. Do not forget that in some of Led Zeppelin's songs, John Bonham was recorded with three microphones. And what a sound! It doesn't matter how good the studio equipment, if the drums sound like crap there is not much that can be done to improve it. So, make sure you have a new set of heads, both top and bottoms. Tune them a day before the recording session; once you're in the studio they'll probably sound different, but it will take you less time to retune them. The truth is that so many drummers don't know how to tune their drums! You just have to practice and change heads (at least take them out and put them back as a practice) and tune, and listen, and then you'll get it right! Pay attention to the seating of the heads! The type of music influences also the tuning: for jazz, the kick is rather tuned high, not muffled or just a little. For hip-hop a low tune is advisable, so you get the "boom"! Check out www.drumdoctors.com or www.drumveb.com which offer advices and tips for drum tuning.
Check for squeaks and
rattles and fix any unwanted noise. The engineer will help you control the sound
with gel pads and rings if necessary, until the desired sound is achieved. If you like to hit
hard the cymbals, consider rehearsing before you go into the studio and try to
hit them softly; this helps a lot in getting an overall good sound through
overheads. Do not forget to bring spare sticks. Based on experience, more often than not the drummer is a great musician, but many times he doesn't sound great and that happens when he usually listens to somebody else perform and he doesn't listen to his inner clock. If the drummer is pushing and pulling it's not necessarily a big deal, as much time as the natural groove is there. The click track is a great solution, I recommend rehearsing with it and use it while recording, a lot of the most experienced drummers are not using it. Bass:
so many basses hum!!! Try to solve this problem before entering the studio,
otherwise it can take a lot of time to fix it and time costs money. Check for
the action and reduce the fret buzz. Check the pots and electronics and, if you
use some effects, make sure you know the
presets. In medium and smaller studios, the common way of recording the bass is
through DI boxes- the best being Avalon and Aguilar, but there are some others,
much cheaper, still with a good sound. The drums and bass are the foundation of the tunes, so make sure everything is
done right about them. Hum and buzz is a major problem; once recorded there is
not much you can do about it. Guitars: Have new strings and break them in; also, always have a spare set (as a tip, have some pine matches and clean the strings with them; another solution is to buy a GHS Fast Fret brush). Check all your pots and electronics. Know your amp settings. If your amp needs to have the volume at 10, consider a THD hot plate or a Marshall Power Breaker (they allow you to reduce the volume while the output tubes are run at full speed). I strongly recommend the use of these devices, they also allow you to have a very good tone running the amp at lower levels, which can be a huge advantage at gigs, the house engineers will love it and and help you get a good sound. Here, at Fandango, we went even further, we bought a vintage low power 5W tube amp- a Vasco, made in 1957, excellent for hard/heavy/crunchy type of sounds, and a DR. Z 18W amp, so we can get "that" sound at low levels (5W is as loud as a trumpet) and we know the guitar players will love it- we play guitar too. There is one thing tough: you and your bandmates are very much used with your guitar sound, and it can be difficult to accept other sounds. If you're a perfectionist, try and record a guitar line a few times, using different amps and cabinets, and then compare them. You may want to do it if your project is a CD or a demo for the majors, for a small demo better save the money and go with what you are familiar with! Have the sound set up before, store the presets in your effects, but also look what the studio has to offer, you may find some better alternatives. Use good cables and check your effect boxes for noise; check the action and adjust to avoid fret buzz. Always install new batteries in your stomp boxes before the session or in your guitar preamps if they have active hardware or piezo preamp for acoustic guitars. Again, Fandango can help the guitar players with a fantastic guitar pedal board, with boutique pedals- see equipment. Keyboards: save all the settings so they can be easily recalled. If you have a large set up with different sound modules, use a mixer so you can feed a stereo signal. This saves in the end a lot of time. As a general rule for your instrument,
make sure you bring all the accessories. Nothing is carved in stones;
experimentation can lead to a very particular and beautiful sound and
you don't want to miss this opportunity. If the band uses midi tracks,
pre-production is mandatory. Regardless of the sequencer used during
pre-production, the sequences can be dumped into the computer and then you can
use either yours or the studio sound modules. In case your sound modules are not
the best, see if the studio has units like Kurzweil, Moog, Korg, Oberheim, Waldorf,
Access, Nord Lead, Novation, etc. Always think to add live instruments to a sequenced
track - percussion, cymbals, tom fills, live bass tracks or live guitar tracks.
The best solution is to hire a session musician to lay down these tracks. In the end, not really important from the sound point of view, but definitely interesting, bring your video camera and use it. You're going to like it later when you see it, it is going to be the proof of your hard work, so many people think that recording is easy and you know the reality; who knows, over the years it may be a very rare thing and part of music history! |
|
Questions, info, contact: florinb@fandangorecording.com or call 416 579 5569. Copyright©2001 Fandango Recording Toronto, at Leslie and Lawrence |
