Hints for Studio Recording

Mastering in the Blue Room

Now don't forget your stool...

Please remove any damping you’ve added for rehearsal purposes, particularly if it is on the inside of the drum. It only takes 5 mins to add a bit of gaffer if extra damping is needed, but removing it can take a long time in some cases. If possible, bring kick drum skins with holes in the front for easy microphone positioning, but don’t worry if you can’t, there are ways around this. It doesn't hurt to clean the cymbals as well, it can add a little extra sparkle if they haven't got greasy finger marks and smoke machine oil all over them.

Something a little more manageable sir?

Hey Mr tambo man -
A little extra percussion can go a long way

Don't forget your pedals & power supplies!

When recording rhythm guitars there is a possibility that you could try tuning the guitar in a different way to make the playing easier. In the studio you can cheat, and only you or the engineer/producer need know. I know of situations where the guitar only had two strings on so that the guitarist did not accidentally hit the other strings! You can also use different tuning to achieve harmonics at any pitch desired.

As with drums, small (or even major) timing adjustments can be made later, so don’t worry - a single late chord needn’t wreck an otherwise great take. We can also chop out noises in gaps and stops and do fade outs in the computer, so please refrain from continually turning down the volume on guitar like you would in a gig. There are several reasons for this – guitar volume pots don’t tend to scale very well (they are often practically either on or off), your pots could be dirty and crackle, and guitarists frequently forget to turn them back up again then wonder why their guitar isn’t making any noise when they start the next take.

The hammond organ - no MIDI available!

Comping a vocal in Logic

Be creative! This is us recording the kitchen sink

Going into a recording studio is an expensive business, for many major labels the costs run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Even the world of struggling unsigned acts it is still relatively expensive. We have, therefore, put this page together primarily for people who are inexperienced at working in a recording studio environment and want to get the full potential out of a recording. If these seem a little self-evident, we apologise, but there might be something here of interest even to more experienced individuals. Also bear in mind that while many of our suggestions are the norm, rules are there to be broken (but it helps to know the rules first!). If there is a word you do not fully understand please check the terminology page.
	THE RECORDING PROCESS Basically, what the producer/engineer wants to record is a performance that is played in time, played in tune and sounds good. Bear in mind that whilst initially the sound might not be quite how you want it, in the context of the mix things can sound very different once relevant processing has been applied. When recording instruments we generally record it 'dry' i.e. with no effects on, because you can't take effects like reverb off a recording, but you can put some on later!! Drums can be triggered with different sounds if desired, in most circumstances we can even change guitar recordings to sound like they were played through a different amplifier! Current technology gives an enormous amount of scope for making alterations later on, particularly in terms of timing. However, it is better not to rely on these too much – whilst it might be possible to put a bass track together note by note in a computer it may well take less time just to play it right!!
THE MIX The last note has been sung, the last chord played and the last cymbal hit and everyone is ready to go home - wrong!! We have a mix to do. This is something that is overlooked by bands on many occasions. It can take just as long or even longer to mix a track as to record it, depending on the type of material. So beware – if you have booked a day in the studio and the recording takes 8 hours it may be possible to complete mixes in the remaining 2 hours, but it is not advisable. It is at this point that a great recording can suffer as the mix needs as much tender loving care as the actual recording. Setting up a decent mix can be quite time-consuming, especially with things like removing unwanted coughs and sniffs, noise and hum, headphone spill, drummers putting sticks down before cymbals have decayed etc. Before the onset of computer based recording that process could have taken hours! Nowadays it is a little easier, but it still takes time.
More often than not, almost every individual element will need EQ applied. Whilst they may sound great on their own already, in order to get everything to work well together frequencies have to be removed from one instrument to make room for another. Plus effects like reverb and delays must be carefully chosen and applied. More unusual effects and the addition of sound effects in particular can take a long time to get sounding right. And every track has to be set at the right volume. This is not a process which can be completed effectively when everyone present has spent the past 5 hours recording very loud guitars. Ears get ‘tired’ and this affects the way frequencies are heard. A very common consequence of rushed mixes are mixes that are too bright i.e. too much high frequency sound. So when preparing to spend time in the studio, remember to allocate sufficient time for the mix.
Mastering in the Blue Room	MASTERING An often referred to, but little understood process is the mysterious world of mastering. Mastering is processing done to a track after mixing and before the final product is created. It covers the overall frequency balance and dynamics of the track, as well as thing like ‘toping and tailing’ and doing fade ins/outs. If you have ever played a demo next to a professional CD and it sounded very quiet, the most likely cause of this is poor mastering.
DRUMMERS To get a great sound, we need a great sounding kit before we even put one microphone on it, and the drummer can assist us in this. Prior to coming into the studio try and get a new snare batter head as this will immediately improve the liveliness of the drum. Finance permitting replace the top head of the toms as well. Put them on before you come to the studio (why waste time and money doing it when you are there?) and tune them up as best you can. Make sure you keep the old heads as they could be made into 'hoops'. Also, as a desperate state if you go through a head and all the shops are shut, they can be used as spares!!		Now don't forget your stool...
Please remove any damping you’ve added for rehearsal purposes, particularly if it is on the inside of the drum. It only takes 5 mins to add a bit of gaffer if extra damping is needed, but removing it can take a long time in some cases. If possible, bring kick drum skins with holes in the front for easy microphone positioning, but don’t worry if you can’t, there are ways around this. It doesn't hurt to clean the cymbals as well, it can add a little extra sparkle if they haven't got greasy finger marks and smoke machine oil all over them.
...or your kit!	This may sound daft, but make sure you have got everything you need before you leave. We have had drummers turn up without stools, pedals, snare drums and occasionally the whole kit - the drummer assuming we had one in the studio but did not check first! One occasion the drummer had driven 50 miles to the studio, forgotten his snare drum and to save time had to hire one from a local shop rather than drive back home. When you arrive at the studio set up the kit and tune it if you are able. Don’t worry if you aren’t comfortable doing this – many drummers are unable to tune their own kit, and we are more than capable of doing it for you. We will then mic up the kit. Once all the mics are up and working we will need you to play to get a sound, this does not mean 'paling' one drum at a time, but playing one of your songs, this then gives us an impression of how you are going to be playing the kit and can adjust mic positioning or gain settings accordingly. If the kit sounds good it should only take a few minutes, there may be some 'tweaking' to do on the tuning, damping, and microphone positioning.
CLICK TRACKS It is a great benefit if the drum tracks can be at strict tempo, it makes overdubbing a great deal easier and increases the scope for MIDI parts and song structure adjustments. This is where the click track comes in. There are many different ways to approach this. If you have in the past only played to a very simple click and struggled with it, try some alternatives like a programmed percussion beat with lots of off-beats and 16s going through it. The problem with clicks on 4s is that, if you are in time, you cannot hear the click you only hear the click when you are slipping out of time. With a more involved click, you can hear it more often and play off it. It would be well worth trying to practice to different options before coming in the studio.		Something a little more manageable sir?
If you are a drummer who owns a drum machine or sequencer (some do!!) try programming something up before going into the studio - this will also establish the tempo or speed of the song. Alternatively, a simple solution for drummers who still struggle with clicks is to have the rest of the band lay down a guide track to the click, then have the drummer play along to the in time guide with no distracting click. RECORDING THE DRUMS Now is the time we have all been waiting for - recording. Getting the right headphone mix for each individual drummer is important. Do not be put off asking for the strangest mix in the cans, maybe you need a lot of your own kit sound but with masses of hi hat and no vocals, whatever the mix is you need, ask for it.
Hey Mr tambo man - A little extra percussion can go a long way	If you make a mistake whilst doing a take the best thing to do is stop, as sometimes it is not so easy to spot mistakes in the control room until later. If you are working with a producer he will have a lot of say, especially if he is being paid a large sum of money by the record company. Once you have a 'take' down listen to it carefully, sometimes without any guides or clicks as this will show up any real big boo boo's and 'lumpiness' in the playing. Bear in mind also, that if you have a great take but you miss a cymbal at one point, do not fret as another cymbal can be overdubbed later. It is also possible to trigger samples from drum beats, so if you want the bass drum to be more 'thumping', you can replace or even add another one later. With non-linear recording it is possible to do a few takes of one track and then edit together one good take from the best bits of each. Furthermore, given enough time and provided the track was played to a click, we can use our editing facilities to splice a drum take on every beat and move them all into time. This may sound a bit extreme but is exceedingly commonplace nowadays and it is also surprisingly difficult to hear where it has been used.
One more thing - cymbals can take as long as 10 seconds to decay so don't put your sticks down with satisfied grin until the cymbals have decayed or the engineer says OK - many a time have songs ended with prematurely faded cymbals to get rid of stick noises. Sometimes we’ve had drummers put down their sticks, take off their headphones and come in to the control room while the cymbal is still ringing! Are you done? Can you do percussion? See you later - no sugar in my tea thanks!! EXTRA TIPS FOR DRUMMERS
•Note where your 'sweet spot' is on your snare, maybe draw a circle on the skin and try to hit within the circle, this is especially useful for highly tensioned snares where the sound changes a lot the nearer the rim you hit. •If you need to put tape on your heads use gaffer or even better moon gel. Masking tape or packing tape can be seriously hard to remove from heads •If your hi-hats or cymbals are really loud maybe play with a lighter stick in your hi-hat hand - this may reduce the volume slightly. •If you’re tuning the kit yourself, don't forget to tune the bottom heads as well
GUITARISTS & BASSISTS Take all your guitars and amps (within reason!!) as one overdub may need a different sound, and a different guitar or amp may do the trick. Check all your leads (mains, speaker, jack), batteries, power supplies, plectrums, straps etc. If possible re-string your guitar the day before so they can be stretched in and ready when you start recording.
To be really thorough check your guitar's intonation and adjust it if you know how. To do this you will need a good guitar tuner. The basic idea is that the harmonic note on the 12th fret should be exactly the same note as a fretted note on the 12th fret. The guitar should then be in tune on all the frets, however, if it is out of tune on, say, the 7th fret you may have a twisted neck (sounds painful, but it is curable!!), or the frets may need stoning. If you decide to adjust the action of your guitar, use a different gauge of strings, or use a significantly different tuning (like all strings down a tone) this will also affect the guitar’s intonation and you will have to adjust it. Many music shops will offer to service your guitar for you for about £20, which should include other checks as well, so this is a reasonable option. A £20 bill in a guitar shop could save you hours in the studio! Initially it is always a good idea to start with your own set up as you are familiar with its sound. However, please note that here at Mad Hat’s Studio we do have a few amps, cabs and pedals available (see our equipment list) and you are welcome to use them if required.
Don't forget your pedals & power supplies!	RECORDING THE GUITARS Generally whilst recording guitars we have the amp in the control room and the cab in the live room. With combos we put the amp in the live room and use a really long lead. This means the guitarist can stay in the control room, which makes communication easier between the engineer and guitarist. It also means that the guitarist does not have to wear headphones, which can be a little intimidating and claustrophobic. Some people still prefer to wear headphones and be in the same room as the amp, this can have minor benefits as the sound out of the cab is being picked up by the pick ups on the guitar and not the track being played back. This is apparent if you have very microphonic pickups (as sometimes found on older/cheaper guitars). It is also sometimes necessary for getting guitar feedback. Because the guitar can be such a varied sounding instrument, there are no specific ways in which they can be setup to be recorded, they can be mic'd up, with one or more mics, or DI, or both. We have even mic'd up an electric guitar acoustically!! Be prepared to experiment, but don't waste your valuable time. If you like a particular sound on a recording you have heard bring that to the studio so the engineer can hear it, he may say straight away "oh yes that’s a splang fodulator with a mong triller through a limisher"
When recording rhythm guitars there is a possibility that you could try tuning the guitar in a different way to make the playing easier. In the studio you can cheat, and only you or the engineer/producer need know. I know of situations where the guitar only had two strings on so that the guitarist did not accidentally hit the other strings! You can also use different tuning to achieve harmonics at any pitch desired.
As with drums, small (or even major) timing adjustments can be made later, so don’t worry - a single late chord needn’t wreck an otherwise great take. We can also chop out noises in gaps and stops and do fade outs in the computer, so please refrain from continually turning down the volume on guitar like you would in a gig. There are several reasons for this – guitar volume pots don’t tend to scale very well (they are often practically either on or off), your pots could be dirty and crackle, and guitarists frequently forget to turn them back up again then wonder why their guitar isn’t making any noise when they start the next take.
EXTRA TIPS FOR GUITARISTS AND BASS PLAYERS •Play new strings in the night before •Bass players if you can’t afford to buy new strings take off the existing ones and boil them in water and a drop of vinegar or lemon juice. The hot water and the slight acidity strips dirt from the strings and can briefly bring dull strings back to life. •Wrapping a sock or hairband around the top of the guitar neck by the nut can reduce unwanted harmonics whilst playing especially hammer on styles. KEYBOARDS There are two types of keyboard players - the techie who is into programming, MIDI, sequencing etc and the performer who doesn't know what MIDI is. Well here at Mad Hat’s Studio we cater for both sorts. Preparation, though, is still the same, check your leads (audio, MIDI, mains) and if you need them check you have all your disks, cards, pedals, stands, stool etc. RECORDING KEYBOARDS More often than not (the exception being usually Leslie cabs which have to be mic'd) the keyboards are DI and like guitarists we normally set up in the control room. This is to make communication and monitoring easier.
The hammond organ - no MIDI available!	We will usually record MIDI, either on its own or in addition to the audio. This allows us to change the sound if desired at a later stage, or we can supplement it with a virtual synth. Parts recorded as MIDI can have bum notes removed, can be quantised, or can even be changed altogether if necessary. We can change the key, tempo, notes, velocity, pretty much anything. If a particular sound off your keyboard is required, the MIDI can be played back through the keyboard later. EXTRA TIPS FOR KEYBOARD PLAYERS •A drop of polish on the keys makes them nicer to play •Make notes of program/bank numbers you are likely to use.
SINGERS Singers need to prepare as much as other band members – but in a different way. Their instrument is their voice and like the instrumentalists it needs servicing, maintenance and tender loving care. The voice is a muscle and also needs to be exercised gently before use. Think of yourself as an athlete who is about to run the 400 metres. You need to warm your muscles up gently prior to the race. If you don't you are likely to pull a muscle, or hamstring, or even run out of breath!! Prior to singing try some warming up exercises, even talking is an exercise. It is not a good idea to get on the microphone totally unprepared.
TIPS FOR SINGERS Avoid eating certain things before singing as they create saliva and mucous - cheese, milk, apples, chocolate etc. Hot non-milky drinks are OK, as is water, but alcohol is open to debate. Alcohol can improve voice texture and sound, but if too much is drunk it can impair tuning, timing and diction!! Smoking is also open to debate, whilst it is obvious that it can be bad for your health, it can improve voice texture, but in the long run it will knacker you one way or another.
Comping a vocal in Logic	RECORDING VOCALS 9 times out of ten vocals are recorded in the studio whilst wearing a pair of headphones, usually in sight of the producer/engineer, who if necessary can give visual cues. They can communicate via the talkback system. Normally the engineer will need a 'run through' to get the recording levels and headphone mix right. Some singers like to get their ears bleeding, some have it so quiet you often wonder what they can hear. Reverberation helps with tuning (that’s why people sing best in the shower!), so sometimes when setting up a headphone mix a singer might feel more comfortable with one ear of the headphones off so that they can hear themselves more naturally. Some prefer artificial reverb to be played through the cans. Whatever method is best for you may take some time to figure out, but do not be afraid to ask if you want something changing.
The producer/engineer will be looking to make sure that you sing in time, in tune and that the diction is good - in other words that other listeners can understand what the words are - unless of course that is your style. Don't forget it is possible in most circumstances to 'drop in' on one line, one word or even one syllable. Pitch correction software mean it is possible to put a slightly out of tune singer in tune!
Once you have a good take it might be an idea to do another one. This one may turn out to be better or you could even use it for a double track. Often we will record several takes and choose the best bits to make a composite take. HARMONY & BACKING VOCALS These can of course give emphasis to certain lines in a song, though not always easy to do, or even work out, they can be worth a little effort. Some people find it extremely hard to harmonise with themselves, but with a good patient producer/engineer it can be achieved.
Be creative! This is us recording the kitchen sink	OTHER INSTRUMENTS As with any other instrument you need to check you have all you need with you, reeds, oil, mutes, stools, leads, stands, disks, cards, make out a check list for yourself, which could apply to gigs as well as going into a studio. AND GENERALLY Bring with you CDs of acts that you like the sound of or are influenced by, this can help the producer/engineer get an idea of where you are coming from. Also if you have some very basic demos recorded in your rehearsal room or in a cheaper studio bring them too, in fact any info that the producer/engineer could use as a clue to what you have in your mind helps.