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Jermaine Johnson
Chapter 7 blog
I have learned that to have a great recording first you have plan the process and the more you know about the project the better you can prepare. Listing the name of the band members and the instruments they play; the song names and the tempos, keys, meters, song length is great way of planning before the recording process and to have good recording mic selection depending on the mics available to you. The feeling you want to create, the texture and the sense of space, the frequency response and the pick-up pattern, sensitivity and transmit response of a mic will all work together to shape the sound.
For example:
- Dynamic moving coil mies produce the least bleed. They lend to sound a bit higher but also a bit less open or more dead than a condenser.
- Large diaphragm condensers do a great job of capturing everything in a room or bringing out the detail and nuance of a vocal performance and lend to have a little more bass response than a small diaphragm.
- Condensers do a great job of capturing everything in a room or bringing out the detail and nuance of a vocal performance and lend to have a little more bass response then a small diaphragms.
A kick drum mic like a D112 has a bump in the low and dip in the low mids, and another bump in the mids between 1-4th.
The things to keep in mind when settling up is line of sight, Angle, Room features, volumes, comfort.You should spend a few minutes getting the instruments to sound good in the room before you even think about recording.
There are different styles of drum tuning and if you are not an expert hopefully your drum is a kick drum can be tightened up by placing a pillow or blanket inside to deaden it and parts of the cymbals can be taped to soften the sound of the stick hitting the metal.
Electric bass- often the most effective way of tracking bass is with a "di box". Using a bass chain, a good preamp, EQ and compressor can help fuiten up the sound a bit.
Acoustic guitar- sending the signal from the acoustic guitar mic to a pair of headphones in the live room and ask the guitar player to play for a bit. Listen through the headphone on and turn the volume up so that the sound in your cans is blacking out the sound of the guitar in the room.
Keyboards- a situation where you are recording a keyboard that is playing several different patches, your best bet may be to apply. EQ and compression later on as each patch will likely benefit from a different treatment.
Vocals- everyone's voice is different and that may cause you to use different approaches when recording. Auditioning mics will help you figure out what works best for each vocalist.You can always use a pop filter when using a condenser mic on vocals.
Professional Behavior:
A recording engineers job is can be very complicated but while most of the job is managing technical aspects, there is another important part of the job. When you are interacting with your artist you must maintain a certain demeanor. The way communicate with your artist will determine whether you achieve a platinum album or just a complete meltdown. You have to help everyone stay focused and be supportive.You have to protect the energy of the session. If something goes wrong don’t get emotional, take a moment and start to troubleshoot. Hopefully when the artist show up they are prepared with their setups and etc. Being a music professional is more than just a job, if you chose this profession that means you must have the passion, patience and love it takes to do the job.
Troubleshooting- When a problem occurs in a session, do not panic.Chances are it's an operating error and not broken equipment.If you loose signal, start from beginning of the chain and follow the signal through its path.Identify where the signal disappeared and examine the patch, the input and output gain.
