Amateur Recording Project

This is quite an exciting blog for me. After a quick reshuffle in my band, I've taken over as lead singer, we decided we needed to get some recordings down. In the past I've always considered booking a studio or asking someone with plenty of experience to help engineer and produce. This time, I turned to myself, and our good friend Jim. This blog is going to be all about our current project, and how you can go about your own. 

There are 5 key stages to any good recording - writing, planning, tracking, mixing, mastering.

1. Writing - this doesn't involve your producer at all really. Its so important that your band (or artist) is familiar and comfortable with the song they're recording. The reason being, they can play to the best of their ability without thinking too hard about what they're actually playing. Don't go trying to record a song you wrote an hour earlier - it's going to be a real headache. 
2. Planning - next up is a stage many people miss out and I think its really important. If you plan out your recording, when things are going to be recording, what mics you'll use, how long its all going to take (realistically). Here, bring your producer into play. Let them know about the song and what your ideas are. Jim and I talked in a lot of depth about what ideas I had for the song and how we'd get the best recording. Plan it out and you're recording is guaranteed to be improved from a shabbily planned affair. 
3. Tracking - probably the most amusing part of recording, but also the most stressful if you're time pressured. I could write you a 10,000 essay about tracking but the most important thing is to be well planned and give yourself time. If you've followed the past 2 'phases' then you'll have fewer problems with tracking. But quite regularly on amateur recording you're likely to have problems. When we recorded kit for our track it took Jim and I a good 30 minutes to sort out why we couldn't get any sound from the headphone output. These little slips can compromise a recording massively. Spend some time also placing mics and getting the correct sound - don't just rely on EQ for the best results. 
4. Mixing - once you've got all your tracks down you can start to mix. This involves levelling your tracks (turning them up and down to balance all the instruments), EQing and adding FX. At this point you're somewhat on your own because it vastly depends upon the nature of the recording and the quality of it. Spend some time mixing as well, making sure you open up plenty of space in the mix and ensuring everything you've recorded can be heard. Aim for some subtle little parts that will make your recording stand out. If you have time and you're not happy with something, go back and re-record or add parts. Extra percussion, guitar parts etc can make the world of difference. 
5. Mastering - something I understand very little about. What I do know is is that your mix needs to be great by the time you master it. You don't want to be relying on mastering to make it sound good for the simple reason that good mastering is something difficult to master (oh I'm so amusing...). I suggest if you really want to get into mastering I'm not the person to ask - Jim is going to be mastering my new track whilst I shout at him to tell him to make it sound better!

This is a really brief summary about amateur recording. But if everything is well planned you're more than capable of doing a decent recording (if you know enough about recording in the first place). Keep an eye for the videos of us recording the new single and post any questions below.

Peace, Linus