Hypothetical Recording Session

[strat0124]

Alright, you've got Lee Flier engineering, you've got TBone in the mix, but all you got is super super modest gear.....Tascam 424, Nanocompressors, Nanoverbs, SM57/58's.......can you make a decent recording that will hold its own with an excellent performance. (I already think I know the answer, but I wanna hear y'alls).

The reason I broach this, I just heard on NPR, a cut Los Lobos did in one of the guys kitchen, and they said it was recorded on an 8 track cassette....I'd have never guessed it! We can talk about noise, frequency loss, ect.....but we're talking serious DIY here....whats your cut?

[WFTurner]

Well there's been a handful of successful records made on less than desired gear. Personally these days of music on the net, I've run into a lot of "well this recording probably sucks because all I had to record it with is Blah, blah and blah" and they turn out to be damn nice recordings to listen to. I've always thought it had to do more with will and determination than gear. If you sit around waiting for just the right line up of gear before you make an attempt to express all those musical ideas in your head you're gonna go to the grave with a head full of a lot of ideas.

[The Bear Jew]

Right you are...

It just goes to show ya that a good song is a good song. Expensive recordings are nice, but ultimately the vibe of the tune is key. Tape hiss, room noise, etc can add character to a song played with attitude and emotion.

Both of my bands recorded at home on a digital 8-track mini-disc machine with one cheap compressor and a crappy reverb. That was all. We tracked live in our rehearsal space and in a classroom. We then overdubbed a few vocals and guitars. Nobody believes we recorded this way because the recordings sound professional and the performances are very relaxed. IMO, the vibe is there. Here is a link to a song so you can see what I'm talking about here: http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/2161/2161019.html.... BTW, this IS NOT spam. It's an illustration of the way a simple recording can be effective.

[JimK]

In my extremely humble opinion, cheap ($1000 - $2000) gear can get you to about 90% of what a pro studio can get you. So take someone that knows how to record and engineer a song, give them a good song to work with, and you'll get a good recording. I'd much rather have a great pro engineer record my stuff on a Tascam 8 track then me doing it myself in the world's best studio. Well...it would be more fun if I did it myself, but it would sound better with the pro.

 

So what am I rambling on about here? You need things in this order:

 

1. song and performers

2. engineer

3. recording equipment

[Chip McDonald]

Originally posted by Geenard Skeenard:

We can talk about noise, frequency loss, ect.....but we're talking serious DIY here....whats your cut?

Don't try to make it do more than it's capable of.

 

Don't try to make things brighter at the expense of thin sound and noise.

 

Do watch bass balance going into it, go with less than you might prefer (except on either the bass, or the kick - take your pick) (maximize minimum headroom).

 

In fact, pick one thing to sound "bassy" (probably the kick, maybe the bass guitar), one thing to sound "bright" (the vocal, or maybe the hat/ride, or the guitar if it's a metal tune), and everything else to sound "midrangy"...

 

Don't use the Nanocompressor unless it's absolutely positively neccessary... *maybe* on the snare or kick, nothing else... and if you're going to use it, really use it - wack it out, because there's no point in being "subtle" in the cassette 4-track world, you'd be better off with a "snappy" attacky snare that sounds trashy than a "mature" sounding one - *that still sounds trashy* because it went through that thing.

 

Throw the Nanoverb away, try to maximize natural room sound. Even if it's a "bad" room sound, it's going to sound more interesting than the generic "shhhhhshshshhhh" the Nanoverb will add. Or stick the Nanocompressor on a "room mic" and squash it to the hilt. "Reverb".

 

Also consider that it will not sound like a pro production at all, and philosophically you're better off steering away from a modern produced sound as much as possible - which means utilizing "small" and "primitive" sounds.

 

Everybody should be forced to deal with recording on a cassette 4-track recorder for a year or more before they're allowed to goto one of those "audio schools" IMO....

[strat0124]

Good points all. I don't have the afore mentioned stuff, but you can bet money theres tons of folks who do and using what they got the best they can. I do think we get conditioned by corporate radio for what things are supposed to sound like. I like when guys like Tchad Blake, TBone Burnett, and others intentionally go across the grain. I also like when I hear CD's by local bands recorded on the cheap, the kind that make you go "How did you do that?".

 

My original point was that with a little experience you can produce some decent recordings with little gear, and it may be way more exciting than the superduperhighdollarrecordingstudio stuff you love to hate on radio. A while ago some kids down the street brought me their homemade tape, and they had about what I mentioned gearwise. Yeah it didn't have a pristine anything anywhere on it, but I liked it. To me it sounded like Alison era Elvis Costello, recordingwise. Then again, all listening is subjective now isn't it?

[Lee Flier]

Well, Guided By Voices made a lot of great records on a 4 track cassette. On the other hand, I do like it now that they can afford a real studio.

 

I am basically a bottom feeder myself when it comes to gear. Mine ain't great, for sure. But I think like Chip said, the important thing is to recognize the limitations of what you have and work with them. I'd be consistently disappointed if I tried to kid myself that my gear could sound like a Neve console and a slew of great mics and outboard gear. I have to make concessions.

 

But assuming the musicians and the engineer know what they're doing, there's no reason a great record can't be made with almost anything. You just have to be willing to work a lot harder and try a lot more different things that you may not need to do with great gear. And yes, a DIY effort is probably more likely to have a sonic signature that's unique, and an exciting vibe, than the crap on the radio for sure.

 

--Lee

[Jedi]

Originally posted by Chip

Everybody should be forced to deal with recording on a cassette 4-track recorder for a year or more before they're allowed to goto one of those "audio schools" IMO....

I love that idea. I feel you Chip. I started on one of those Yamaha 4-track jammies, and I really feel that I've paid some dues trying to make great recordings within those limitations. I love that thing, and I still use it for scratch vocal/guitar demos to this day. It is an invaluable tool. I think fondly of those days, but not too fondly.

 

Lee made a great point about having a unique vibe with home recording. I agee with this. Call me a romantic, but I believe the technology has leveled the playing field like a motherf$%!er. I'm not saying you'll make an Alicia Keys recording at home, but who would want to. I don't want my records to sound that slick and at the same time so compressed. No disrespect to Keys and company, but I think that records (or Cds rather) should be confined to Major Label standards. My philosophy: If it sounds good it is good. It doesn't matter what artists are doing in multi-million dollar studios. If your recordings sound good they sound good. In short, I believe a record should be judged on its own merit and not in comparison with others. Thus, a home recording should not always be put right next to a million dollar studio recording to determine its merit, but rather the listener should just listen to record, and if it sounds good to them then damnit its good. My apologies for going so long on this rant and not really answering Strat's original question, but a lot of my friends believe that a good record can only be made in the studio. As if the studio is the garden of Eden for musicians, I just don't believe that it's that simple. And in no way I'm arguing that Big Money recording studios are not valuable in making great records. I would love to record my songs on the gazillion dollar equipment. All I'm saying is that Studios are not the End all-Be All to making a great record. I think a great record starts from within.

 

Namaste

 

Jedi-a Zen Bastard (What would you expect a Zen Bastard to say)