Lesson 15 - Posted on 2013-05-29 by Vanessa Agosto

May 21st: 3 1/2 hours and May 23rd: 3 hours

I got a record-Steve-playing-guitar pop quiz, which was very cool! Because it was studio recording (as opposed to live performance guitar), Steve had me mike 6 inches over the 12th fret. Apparently for live stuff, it's better to mike right over the hole (gain over feedback). In a studio that would be too boomy. Also, I got a reminder to angle the mike over a tripod leg so the stand doesn't tip over. And if the mike is phantom powered, don't forget to turn on the box! I did. It was the first time I tapped in the tempo based on the music to get the BPM; so much faster than how I'd been doing it before. And: mike in stereo, but record audio in mono! I got so used to doing stereo instrument tracks that it became a habit.

We spent a lot of time going over setting up a new beat, layering different drum tracks, and listening carefully to songs to get a sense of the nuances and mix. Other observations: pop songs build to the end, and you have to do something a little bit different all the time in addition to marking the verse, the chorus, etc. 

We reviewed miking technique and patchbays, and we talked about the pros (will sound better over the headphones to the singer, getting him/her to perform better as a result) and cons (have to account for latency if you're not recording on really fast equipment) of compressing while recording vocals. Compressing on the way in is also a good idea when a set level won't work for a recording because of crazy, varying dynamics. Which brings me to one of the exciting new features coming up in ProTools 11: record and playback tracks can be set to different buffers.