For a full band mix, restringing your electric guitar probably won’t, by itself, much affect the overall sound of your recording. Especially if the guitar’s a little crunchy. Ditto for changing the snare drum head. Or tweaking the piano’s tuning.
But taken together, small changes like these add up, and can really bring a mix to life.
Here are some of the small things you can do before hitting record to see big improvements at mix time:
- Tune everything: Guitars, piano, drums
- Change guitar strings
- Change drum heads
- Turn off fans, lights, and monitors while you record
- Clean and polish cymbals
- Make sure no inputs are clipping
- Put fresh batteries in effects pedals
- Use balanced drum sticks
- Put cat outside.
Tags: guitars, tips-digest
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Great site, love the content and the video below. I also own a music recording related site – http://www.themusicblogger.com. Want to exchange links? Post a comment on my site and let me know :)
Good tips
here are some more:
don’t open a beer can during recording
if recording with a click track, turn it down during the quieter parts so its not heard in the headphones.
Always let the last chords ring out fully, you can always shorten the fade, but you can’t make one from nothing.
Do Not talk at the beginning of a take.
DO NOT talk during a take.
DO NOT talk at the end of a take until you are sure the recorder has stopped.
If you must tap your foot, take off your shoes.
Empty your pockets.
TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE
no coughing, sneezing, squeaky chairs, jangly jewelry, spitting on the mics allowed.
DO NOT MOVE THE MICS OR STANDS AFTER I SET THEM UP FOR YOU IT IS THERE FOR A REASON, TO MAKE YOUR MUSIC SOUND GOOD
these are all issues I came across within one hour.
Jon’s list rocks.
I will add another point to it, although this one is a tough one, it’s a problem I came across on my own solo acoustic guitar tracks:
– Be conscious of your breathing and how close the mic is to your nose or mouth, if you’re recording an acoustic instrument with open air mics. (I’ve got this track where you can just hear my breathing all over the place. In retrospect I’d probably have placed the mics a little differently or tried not to lean my head over the fretboard as much as I did…)
“Make sure no inputs are clipping”
I’d say that’s more than a small thing you should change! :)
Wohoo..finally I found this great site. This will be in my feed from now on.
Another tip, make sure wife knows you are recording. She might come in and ask you where’s the new supplies of toothpaste.
Thanks, I was wondering why my music sounded like it had “too much cat” in it. :)