Lesson 7 - Tracking - Posted on 2014-06-21 by Brian Logar

3/25/14

Time In: 4 PM

Time Out: 5:15 PM

This lesson wasn't as hands on as some of the previous, but that makes sense.  Since the lesson was about planning out how an engineer would begin to track an artist, we went over strategy.  We looked over the entire chapter in the book and Arnold went over some points that he thought needed some emphasis, like mic selection.  He says that he has worked with some engineers and some assistants who would barely even know what instruments would be coming in to get tracked, and would already have a SM57 set up.  He emphasized the point that it is better to do less editing in the mix and it is really important to get the most natural sound out of the mic by choosing the proper one in the first place.  

We also went over the concept of troubleshooting.  He told me that every single session will have its problems, and that getting things right in the signal flow is sometimes half the battle.  He's seen engineers that have completely bugged out from the confusion when things have went wrong.  That never leaves a good impression with the client, so it's always good to keep calm and take things one piece of gear at a time.

As always, can't wait for next week :)