The most important recording tips.

   Studio correctional resources have grown by leaps and bounds in the computer age. Editing and other performance altering tools can change the technical aspect of a recording like pitch and timing. In spite of this, they still cannot make a bad performance good. 100 takes in the best studio with the best engineer will not make a bad singer sound good. It may be in time and in tune with the music, but it will still suck no matter what. All our correctional tools do their own damage to the sound in one way or another. Even if these problems did not exist, good recordings still must start with good performances. A great musician can be on time and in tune most of the time. But there is still more to it than this.

   More important than playing perfectly is playing with conviction. Anybody can play the right notes at the right time if they work at it hard and long enough. It takes real talent and feeling to make the performance compelling. After all, music is meant largely to appeal to human emotions and so the performances that create them must also be driven by emotion and meaning. Much of the time, a compelling performance is even more important than the right notes. Absolutely NO studio trickery can compensate for a lack of emotion. Time after time there has been attempts to make recordings technically perfect through electronically automated performance or manipulation of human performance. It still may be good music, but the emotion is lost in almost every case. Just as dangerous, is a human working too hard on technical perfection. When this happens, the performance comes to be about “the right notes” and not about the message or feel. Of course, both technical perfection and compelling performances should always be attempted to the best of one’s natural ability. Just remember, it isn’t everything.

   They say you can judge a craftsman by his tools. Though there is not much reality in this, a good tools make doing a good job much easier. Thus good craftsmen will try to get the best tools within their means. Good musicians can sound good using mediocre instruments. On a bad instrument, a musician will have a very hard time to say the least. However, on an excellent instrument, they can truly shine. There are always the exceptions. A bad instrument or related device can be just the perfect thing in some instances. For the majority of the time, it is greatly important to use the best tools possible to get the job done. If an instrument is hard to play, it takes effort away from the emotional impact. If it has poor sound, it will be distracting to the listener, also taking away from the emotional impact.

   All this translates to recordings as well as live performance. Though there are many sound shaping tools in the modern studio, no amount of shaping can make a bad instrument good. Nor can it undo the influence an instrument has on the performer. At best, studio trickery can make a bad performance or instrument sound passable. A good instrument is rarely difficult to record well. While an instrument of poor quality is more difficult to play, it also tends to have anomalies in the character of sound that get exaggerated in a recording environment. This means more correctional tools are needed to force the instruments recorded sound to conform to what is desired. With a good instrument on the other hand, the technology only needs to avoid harming the sound unnecessarily. In an extreme case, the difference can be hours or days recording a poor instrument or just minutes with a good one. On the other hand, a good instrument in the hands of a poor musician can also make getting a good recorded tone difficult.

   There is really no difference between a live instrument and recording the instrument. If it sounds bad live, it will sound bad in a recording because the instrument or its user cannot achieve the desired sound. Likewise, if it sounds bad on a recording, it will not likely be any better a live situation. The myth that some instruments are good for recording while others are good for live performance has many causes. The first and probably most important aspect is live situations tend to be noisy, which may cover some of the poor attributes. On the other hand, sound from other instruments may influence each other in both a positive or negative manner. Some musicians definitely handle different situations better than others. For instance, one who is very experienced performing in front of an audience with other musicians along side may have a harder time in the isolated and controlled environment of a studio. Opposite of that, one who is accustomed to the studio environment may be nervous or generally uncomfortable or distracted in front of other people.

   It is important to use all these factors to make the best compromises possible in all situations. It is not good for a beginning novice to spend inordinate amounts of money on top quality equipment because they may not be able to take full advantage of the benefits. They may also not be challenged enough to grow in abilities if they have the best of everything. It is also not good for a professional to use the cheapest gear possible because it will not be able to meet the standards required by the user. All things must be taken into consideration and applied in moderation. That said, whether novice or expert, use the best instruments and related equipment possible within reason for the situation. You may save some money in the long run because it will not have to be upgraded as often. You will also ultimately save time trying to get a good sound and your recordings will ultimately thank you for it.