Recording - April 2013 - 72

Take your time on this step. It’s actually one of the most important and it’s a
game of inches. If the mic sounds okay in one spot but not quite perfect, move it
around a bit. Just a bit—two inches back, one inch to the left, seven inches higher— it all can make a huge difference. Have a friend assist you. One of you can
move the mic while the other listens to the changes in the monitors. Get this part
right—a poorly miked instrument will always sound like a poorly miked instrument,
no matter what you do to it in the mix!
Time to “roll some tape” (that still sounds better than “spin some hard drive”).
Record at the highest sample rate you can, and at least 24 bits, for the highest-quality recording with the most headroom. Now it’s all about the performance. If your
mics are right, press Record and let the musicians do their job. While they play, listen for problems like distortion, clicks, pops, a drummer hitting a mic (it happens),
or anything else that just doesn’t sound right. Remember, once it’s recorded it’s
recorded. Removing a problem later is much harder and more time-consuming than

Guest editorial by James Cruz

Is It Possible To Record A High-Quality Product At Home?
In this Songwriter issue of RECORDING
we mostly concentrate on the money
angle—how to come up with hit songs and
how to make them become profitable. But
let’s not forget what comes after the song
has been written and before it can be marketed—good basic recording techniques.
James Cruz is a mastering engineer with
his own facility near New York, he has won
many Grammy® and other awards, and
we’re glad to have him remind us of the
process. Take it away, James… LzR

just recording another take. How you want to record is up to you. With a basic
setup, it might be easier to record one instrument at a time as opposed to live.
Beautiful! Everything sounds great. It’s time for mixing. If you were careful during the previous steps this part should be easy. I like to start with the rhythm section—get that right and most everything else seems to fall into place. Pay careful
attention to the way the instruments interact. Should the kick or hi-hat lead the
track? Does the bass sit in the pocket with the kick? Make sure everything “has its
own space”. This means that nothing is fighting with anything else and you can
hear all the parts. You can achieve this by using eq on the individual tracks so different frequencies are highlighted on each.

The short answer to the question posed in
the title is an emphatic YES, but there is a lot
to it. It’s not the gear, but how you use it. A
basic Pro Tools LE is higher technology than
anything The Beatles had. I’d say it worked
out pretty well for them.
I assume you have written the song, so
let’s record it. Start with a quiet room where
you feel comfortable and creative. Unless
you have a fully isolated studio in your
house, just do your best. Try to stay clear of
sounds like air conditioners, outside traffic,
refrigerator motors and barking dogs. Take
into consideration what you are recording.
A close-miked Marshall stack on 11 will
mask outside noise more than a vocal track
will. How does the room sound? Walk
around. Clap your hands. Hit a drum. Do
you hear anything weird? If so, hang some
blankets around the room to kill the echo.
You would be surprised what a well-placed
comforter can do.
Itching to record your first hit? We’re
almost there! Let’s talk microphones. In a perfect world you would have the most incredible mic collection ever seen on the planet
Earth. But hey... You might have a Shure
SM57 or two and maybe one or two other
mid-level mics. Don’t sweat it. Set them up in
front of what you want to record and listen to
them. Carefully. Does one sound better than
the other? If so, use that one.

A poorly miked instrument will always sound like a poorly

RECORDING April 2013

miked instrument, no matter what you do to it in the mix!
Remember: once it’s recorded, it’s recorded.

Reverb, delay, compression and panning also help. Be especially careful with
the lower frequencies. They have a habit of building up when you start layering
things on top of one another. It can create a very boomy and bass-heavy mix.
Don’t rush, take frequent breaks and listen on different speakers to get a real sense
of what you are doing. It’s very easy to lose your perspective when you hear the
same thing over and over again.
Now your final mix could be heading elsewhere, to a mastering room where
an experienced engineer with impartial ears would lend a helping hand to smooth
things out and make it sound polished. But if you can’t afford this option, it can
be done at home; just be very careful. Making things loud doesn’t necessarily
mean better. Use your mastering plug-ins gently and you will be rewarded with a
great-sounding mix that has life, dynamics and (hopefully) your heart and soul.
It’s an exciting time in music. An unprecedented number of artists, and that
probably includes you, have access to high-quality equipment, and, along with the
Internet, the ability to distribute their music to the masses. With a lot of care,
patience and common sense it is very possible to make great-sounding recordings
at home. After practice you will be surprised how much fun this can be, and you
will definitely appreciate the work that professional engineers in larger studios do
to make great-sounding records. And remember where it all starts: a great song
is a great song—no matter how it’s recorded.
James Cruz runs Zeitgeist Sound Studios in New York City. Learn more at
jamescruz.net.

http://www.jamescruz.net

Recording - April 2013

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