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1. This might sound common sense but using the right microphone
for the job and spending time selecting the right microphone
and experimenting with microphone positioning, is infinitely
preferable to trying to fix it in the mix later. We use a
AKG C1000S for many of our vocal and acoustic guitar recordings
and found it quite good. A "pop" screen may help
when you record voices as you can ruin many good takes by
finding out later that the singer got a little too close...
2. Although we only use digital drums triggered by pads,
if you have acoustic drums remember that when miking a snare
drum from the top and bottom, you should not forget to flip
the phase of the bottom mic.
3. Generally its best to record your signal dry (without
EQ and effects), adding EQ and effects later when you mix.
4. Make sure guitars and other instruments are really in
tune. There's a big difference between nearly and really in
tune. How about using an electronic tuner?
5. Plan out the session. Before recording it's a good idea
to plan out the session. Have the words of the song
typed out and provide a stand for it. Sit down with everyone
involved and discuss production techniques, musical styles
and instrumentation.
6.Compress the vocals. Compression is hard to get excited
about, but it is an essential tool in achieving a professional
mix.
7.Connect reverbs, delays, chorus and other time based or
modulation effects to aux sends on your mixer. Connect gates,
exciters and compressors to the insert points of your mixer.
8.Once you've set your levels and are ready to record, back
off the gain on your mixer a little. People normally play
harder and louder during an actual take than the soundcheck.
9.If using a spaced stereo pair, make sure they are 3 times
as far apart from each other as they are from the sound source.
10.Its best to keep mics at least 3' from walls, otherwise
bass frequencies will be recorded at a louder level, due to
the proximity effect.
11.Use the High Pass 100Hz filter on overhead/cymbal/snare
microphones to reduce/eliminate unwanted low frequency rumble.
Such as handling noise, mic stand wobbles and pickup from
the stage (e.g. bass drum thudding).
12.Do not use High Pass 100Hz filters on the bass drum, and
tom toms, or the LOW frequency content will be lost.
13.Do not use reverb effects on low frequency drums such
as low frequency Tom toms and bass drums. This will clutter
the mix and give a muddy sound.
... more coming...
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