Recording - July 2018 - 60

STUDIO 101
"I came up in the R&B days, where I
was the assistant engineer on all the R.
Kelly and Aaliyah records. I learned
how to comp where you record ten
passes on ten tracks, then you write
down the track number with the best
words. And then you'd do a masterful
show with the faders and automation.
When Pro Tools came along, it was
like a breath of fresh air."
"Now you have multiple tracks
within playlists instead of huge bins of
tracks to manage. Each playlist/track
contains all the takes you'd ever
need, and it is a brilliant way to
manage all those takes."
Pro Tools has the concept of
playlists, which can accumulate
takes for future comping. Logic
Pro has a similar feature called
'comp tracks', while Cubase
features multi-lane recording on
tracks. These functions simplify
the process of capturing multiple
takes without constantly setting
up new tracks for recording. Unfortunately, not every software
package has a simple approach
to comping; for example, Stefon
points out, "I'm sorry to say that,
in Ableton Live, I'm back to a bit
of the old school style. You may
have to record 20 passes of your
singer doing their verse, then
mark your preferences as you go
along. Then you have to go through
and manually edit from there."
Whether your DAW supports easy
comping or not, you will need to
learn the most efficient approach to
multi-take recording, since this is a
standard way of working with vocalists, solo instrumentalists and rappers.
But it is also important to keep things
sensible, since too much can, in fact,
be too much.
Erin Barra has experienced this firsthand, and believes that multiple take
sessions all follow a similar course:
60

RECORDING July 2018

Cutting Tracks!

"The first couple of takes will have one
or two moments of something fantastic,
but most people don't get ripping until
take four or so. In my experience, the
key takes are almost always four, five,
or six."
"Right around take seven, it starts
to go downhill; your voice fatigues, or
your playing digresses. If I run into an
issue with someone wanting to go
beyond that point, I'll normally try to
divert them into something like a listening
break." This is key information, since

When asked for his best
advice, Matt Lange said,
"Know your tools-
nothing will get you
farther than learning
the tools of your craft."

it can focus your attention on the best
takes, and also prevent the artist (or
you) from becoming discouraged with
the process.

Practicing and improving
What these artists do agree on,
however, is the need to really know
your tools-to build up the kind of
mental and muscle memory that allows
you to work quickly with your DAW
and associated gear. Matt says, "You
don't want to have to think about your
tools. As you learn to play guitar, you

PART 7

don't want to think about what scale
you are playing-you just want to
play it. Likewise, you don't want to
have to think about your signal routing, you just want to do it. You want to
learn everything so that you can stop
thinking about it."
To get skilled with your DAW, you
need to practice. To practice, you need
to make tracks. If you are a musician,
it's easy enough to start laying down
tracks using the instruments you have
hanging around. However, if you are
focused on engineering, it might
be a little more difficult.
Erin Barra offers this advice:
"For students in my Berklee
classes, I have sessions to work
with if they choose to, but I always find that people are way
more invested and interested in
working on their own material.
For most people, I'd suggest that
they find an artist at a coffee
shop, or at an open mic, and just
suggest, 'Hey. I'm working on
recording technique and I really
liked your music. Can I record a
track for you?' Then it becomes
yours, and that sense of ownership
completely changes the learning
process."
As you can see, there are many
details to juggle while you are
laying down tracks, and trying
to manage everything is quite a feat.
Perhaps this is why, when asked for his
best advice, Matt Lange said, "Know
your tools-nothing will get you farther
than learning the tools of your craft."
While reading can get you started, it's
the hours spent with your DAW that will
provide the greatest reward. So, get
recording-now!
Darwin Grosse (grosse@recordingmag.
com) is a musician, engineer, software
guru, educator, and podcast host, living
and working in Minneapolis.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - July 2018
