This is mainly for you who are recording to have your songs mixed by Worship Nothing Studios, but the way i want everything is not that different from how other studios wants it. So this can be a general guide for beginners if you want.
General: Name your tracks, if you have several tracks of the same instrument then please name them after what they are. For example ”Guitar 2, chorus” etc. Make sure you have proper gain staging. AD converters work best around their sweetspot, driven too hard will degrade the signal and too low will lower the Signal To Noise Ratio. If you wanna be really technical then you can look in the specifications for your soundcard/AD converter but in general the ”sweetspot” is around -16 to -20dBFS. This means that when you record you want all the tracks to peak at around -16 to -20dB on the meters in your recording program. Not only will you get better quality but it will also increase the workflow as i will not have to trim the track-levels in the mix, which in turn lets me focus on the mixing. Please record all tracks in 24bit, 44.1khz.
Drums: If you’re planing on replacing the drums then make sure you have as little bleed between the drums as possible. Focus the close mics on separation and try to get a good sound out of the room and overheads instead. This will make everything easier when it’s time to replace the drums. If you dont wanna replace or if you’re not sure then try to capture the drums as close to how you want them to sound as possible. New drum heads and good tuning is key for a good drum sound. If you’re not sure on how to record drums then feel free to shoot me a e-mail and i will point you in the right direction. If you have triggers and enough channels on your soundcard to record both the mics and the triggers, please use them. It will make replacing and/or gate’ing alot easier. Always use brand new heads, even if the close drums are being replaced they will still be audible in the room and OH mics so this is really important. It does make a huge difference on the drum sound!
Bass: If you record an amp then make sure to have a clean DI track aswell. Even if it’s not getting used in the song it makes editing alot easier. If you’re recording an amp then aim for the final sound from the start. If you’re only recording a DI track and want a amp sound then please send me a reference track where the bass is clearly heard. I have both software amp simulations and the possibility to reamp so i should be able to give you what you’re looking for. Use brand new strings! Same as with drums, the tone has more sustain, it’s fatter and clearer. Using new strings makes more difference to the sound than the mic or preamp you’re using!
Guitars: Try and get the sound as close to the final sound as you can, guitar sounds are usually highly personal and i do not want to mess with the sound more than i have to. Record a DI track along with the amp recording, this will make editing easier and gives the option for reamping later on if necessary. USE BRAND NEW STRINGS!!!! Do i really have to say it again? Also use as thick strings as you can, it really does make the guitar sound much fatter and punchier. If you’re not used to using thick strings then just record with those on the rythm guitars and change to the ones you like the best when it’s time for solo’s and the more technical stuff. I can not emphasise enough how important this is to your sound!
Vocals: Unless you’re going for a certain vocalsound, dont compress, eq or drive your signal too hard. If you’re not sure of what you’re going for it’s better to get a clean signal and distort/compress afterwards. If you’re doing comps and want them in a certain way it’s better that you edit them yourself, if you want a unbiased comp then let me know and i’m happy to do it.
Other: This is too wide to cover, if you’re wondering about anything in particular then let me know but otherwise the general rules apply here.
Effects: If you have a certain sologuitar sound you want for example, then record it like you want it to sound. I can try to emulate your sound, but it’s better to capture it at the source and takes less time to get it right. If you’re unsure that the effects might have a negative effect on the mix then record one with and one without. If it’s possible i will rather use yours but if i struggle with it i’ll have the option to emulate it as close as possible. Downsides of having reverbs and delays printed to track is that if the track needs compression then the delay or reverb will be compressed too, possibly giving much more of the effect than intended. That’s just one of many examples. I generally say that if you know what you want and it is an essential part of the instrument/track, then leave it in and i will work around it.
If you have any questions about any of this just send me a e-mail to Christoferswahn@gmail.com. And if you have recorded everything already, dont worry i can work around it. I will add things to the list regularly as i come to think of them.
Most important is to make great music.
/Christofer
