Basic rules and tips for recording music - Part 1

Most of us who record music at an amateur or semi professional level are not content to rest on our laurels as the quest for better sound quality and better produced music is practically endless. When one listens back to ones earliest recordings it is usually not hard to hear inherent problems in the performances, recordings and of course, the mix. At times listening can make one cringe. The fact that they might make you cringe is a positive thing as it proves that you recognize the faults in the recordings and if you were to rerecord the pieces of music in question then you would probably want to correct certain issues immediately. This article’s sole purpose is to lay out several important techniques for achieving better recordings.

One – Tempo. Pieces of recorded music that unintentionally fluctuate in tempo are the hall marks of shoddy musicians and engineers. Many musicians get nervous and excited when they play so they need something to keep time to i.e. a click track or a metronome and yes even the drummer needs something to keep his beat steady when recording. Why bother having a click track, you ask? Well, fluctuations in tempo make it harder for other musicians to lay down their parts to the recorded music and the music will not be able to “breath” properly, sounding rushed and congested at times and dragging its feet at others. If you are recording with a DAW or a sequencer then use the click track facilities when laying down the basic tracks.

Obviously you need the click be set up for the right speed and time signature so spend five minutes making sure these are right for the music you want to record. If you are recording onto tape, such as a four track porta studio, then the easiest solution maybe be to set up your metronome and record it onto a track before you commence recording your parts. A drum machine is a perfect metronome. If you are limited for tracks then once you have solid “keeper” parts down you can record over the metronome track.

One enormous advantage to recording with a click in is that you can easily and properly edit bulk sections of your song/music piece i.e. you can cut and paste a whole chorus and it will be perfectly with the rest of the song. I record royalty free music and albums for Rock Bands and ninety five percent of the time I record with a click.