Is it that your tracks bleed on one another?

Is it that you weren’t very meticulous in dialing in sounds?

Is it that the guitar is slightly out of tune?

Is it that you have a really abrasive snare sound?

Is it that your lead vocal track sounds sexy?

Is it because you didn’t use a click track?

Is it because you recorded to analog tape instead of Pro Tools?

Is it because it was recorded on a four track cassette?

Is it because you didn’t use automation when you mixed?

Is it because you used “old school” gear and FX during mixing?

I have worked on some records where the lead vocal bled all over the drum tracks, but you would never know it.

I have produced records which I recorded live, with minimal isolation, but the final mix sounds as polished as ever.

I have worked on records that were tracked to analog tape without much EQ, but the final mix sounded totally clear and defined.

Everything in record making is subjective. Even the rules are subjective.

So just what is it, exactly, that dictates that a recording sounds raw?

Are you struggling a little bit to get your recording career off the ground? Perhaps you’re stuck having to work that low-level day job a little bit longer than you hoped. Or you completed an internship at a studio, but the big gig never came. Or maybe you are going through a transitional time right now, booking projects at a little bit more of an inconsistent basis than what’s ideal…

…And you’re thinking about jumping ship-getting involved in another line of work altogether.

But does that make sense? Does it make sense to invest time and money into something that you have no (or less) experience, not much expertise, passion, or drive, and no work history?

Or does it make more sense to keep going-to invest more time and money into something that you’ve already got a good start in? Why change careers when you’ve already invested so much time, money, and passion into producing and engineering, and right when you’re on the verge of a big breakthrough?

Sure, you’ve got to know when to quit, but you’ve also got to be certain you’re quitting for the right reasons (and understanding when you should stick). Are you truly ready to get out of the game? Did your passion for record making really extinguish? Or are you just frustrated with the way things are going right now?

Sometimes quitting doesn’t mean changing vocations entirely. Most the time, in fact, the best option is to stick with what you’re passionate about. Rather than investing time and money into a career change that would require a complete restart, I would argue that it’s actually better to invest more time and money into record production and/or audio engineering. Because you have already put this much time and money in, and making records is what you’re passionate about.

So before you run off to do something that is going to require you to start completely over, evaluate your current situation, and what you can do to improve it.

What is your single biggest deficiency? What is your single biggest challenge? What one thing can you do differently that will improve your situation? Where can you innovate?

Quitting is an absolute last resort. It’s very expensive and very risky. I would argue that what you should be focusing on is tweaking and persisting. That’s a much less expensive, substantially quicker, and more fun path to success.

//Jon
Twitter: @stsn

Typically, the records where I’m in the producer’s chair are recorded live, with all the musicians close enough together that they could reach out and touch one another. I do this because it ignites a special kind of energy when the band is all playing together. It also means that all the tracks bleed on one another.

There’s a fear in the recording community of track bleed. People can be meticulous about making sure all the instruments are isolated, so they don’t bleed on one another. They’re afraid that all this bleed will degrade the sound of the record, or lock them into a position that keeps them from having options later.

I love bleed. I think track bleed actually enhances the sound, as to me it’s all about what happens when the parts come together, not really the micro-focused aspect of the individual parts themselves. It’s also about the human element of recording, and track bleed helps create a sound that has more of a human feel.

But it’s all very subtle. Realistically, track bleed is very much a non-issue. Honestly when all is finished, the listener is never going to know the vocal got on the piano track a little bit, and the drum mics also picked up the guitar. All that is a layer of production that really just creates a subconscious texture.

You would be surprised what you can get away with – across all genres, and in most situations.

If the individual tracks of your recording are the single bricks which make up the house, bleed is the mortar which holds the recording together.

It’s human, it’s real, it’s organic, and it’s warm. Take advantage of it.

It happens to me every day. And you know what my natural reaction to it is? To push even harder, straining to break through. That might happen eventually, but not nearly as successfully as I’d like.

You know what really works? To walk away. Get away from the problem and, ironically, you will find the solution.

Pretty much common sense, but it’s funny how in the middle of it all our lizard brain defeats us.

Photo by: Evil Erin. Licensed under a Creative Commons License.

But make the choice to move on anyway. You will always second guess a decision you made in the mix. Or question a vocal. It’s easy to convince yourself that there’s more work to be done-that the bass is too loud, the drums are too quiet, the mix is too thin.

And you know what? There IS always more work to be done.

You’re always going to worry about what others will think of your work. It’s the blessing and the curse of working in a field that is so public. Don’t let that fear creep in and hold you back.

At a certain point you have to detach… just enough…

Just enough that you can escape the self-doubt.
Just enough that you can care less about what “everyone” thinks.
Just enough that you can have the confidence you need.
Just enough that you can learn how to be okay with closing a project.

Because if you’re constantly second-guessing everything you do, then you’re running in place. And then you’re not growing, moving your career forward.

Then you’re a slave to what “everyone” thinks. And “everyone” will never like the records you make.

This is another way of saying, “Don’t put the cart before the horse.”

A while back I read a great book called Behind the Glass. It was and is a popular book within the music community. Back when I first got an internship at a recording studio, I was given the book by the assistant manager of the place. Later, I let a friend borrow it, and I never saw it again. I’ve been meaning to purchase the book ever since.

At the beginning of the book, Howard Massey, the author, conducts an interview of five record producers. One of which is Tony Visconti. On page thirteen Tony says this:

A common mistake that’s being made today is getting the order or protocol reversed. People think, have, do, be: If I have this equipment, I can do it, and I can be it. That’s not the way it works: It’s be, do, have. Everyone says, “How do I get a great guitar sound?” It’s really simple: You put the amp there, you tweak, you play, you put the mic there-and a microphone is pretty much a mirror-you put the mic in front of that great guitar sound. That’s where you have to do it in the first place. So many people think that, if they get all this gear, it’s going to make them sound great, but the opposite is true. I know that things are going to change-30 years from now, I don’t know what we’ll be recording on. Maybe a tomato, I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter-certain principles will always apply. They applied two hundred years ago when Mozart was alive-you have to really be an artist. And being an artist means that you have to woodshed, you have to put time in, you have to practice. That is where good sounds will always come from-how you record them is irrelevant. A great performance transcends all that.

Be. Do. Have.

That short quote from the book has stuck with me ever since I first read Behind the Glass. It’s become a mantra of sorts for me, making sure I keep my priorities in order as I progress in my career as a producer.

Owning gear can quickly become a distraction. Focus on constantly sharpening your skills. That is your real asset as a record producer.

And grabbing a copy of Behind the Glass for yourself isn’t a bad idea either. Here’s a preview with links to buy.

Seth Godin says that everything you do is marketing. I think he’s right. So if that’s true, then how you interface with people throughout the record making process is everything as far as your career is concerned.

Everything you do-every reaction you have to a good or bad situation, how relaxed you seem, how focused you seem, they way you respond to people, the way you listen to people, they way you respond when your ideas aren’t used, the way you respond when your ideas are used-shapes your reputation and personality as a record maker. Through this reputation and personality you’re inadvertently “branding” yourself.

You can learn all the information in the text books, and regurgitate that information verbatim. You can learn everything about the circuitry of all the most popular equipment, and even build a lot of it yourself. You can know everything there is to know about gain staging, acoustics, phase, mic placement, or gear components. You can even know all there is to know about harmony, key changes, scales, tempo, or time signatures. But if you don’t have people skills you won’t be making records with people.

I’ve seen people who knew more than anyone else about all of the above and beyond, get passed over for people who did not know as much but were very creative and had great people skills.

The trouble with the people who know everything is that they get hung on the verbatim part. If it does not look and feel exactly like what they know it’s supposed to, exactly what the science says it’s supposed to look and feel like, then it’s wrong.

Text on pages and what you “know” are just a tiny spec of dust in the universe of record making. You have to have people skills. You have to be able to speak the language of creativity. You have to open your mind to other perspectives. You have to throw out the legalistic thinking of what is “right” and what is “wrong.” You have to be able to sympathize and empathize with people.

So how are your people skills?

They’re not going to steal your idea. Because it’s impossible to steal mastery of a trade.

You can’t out out “George Martin” George Martin. Or out “Prince” Prince

YOU are the magic puzzle piece that makes it all work. Don’t worry about giving away the secret to the sauce. No one can make it all work like you, because you are the magician. You are the integral piece that connects all the dots.

What you need to do is engage with your audience. Show them how it works. Expand the enthusiasm of your fans by discussing the build of whatever it is that drew them in in the first place.

“Want to know how we got the guitar to solo to sound like the end of the world? Modulated octave fuzz split through two amps. Check out my new video where I show you how.”

“Want to know we got the background vocals to sound so huge? MS and Blumlein stereo mic’ing. Head over to my blog where I explain that, along with many other recording and mixing techniques.”

They will go from enthusiastic to completely addicted, spreading your ideas, your name, and your mastery around in the process.

No one can out “You” You.

Photo by brokinhrt2. Licensed under a Creative Commons license.

You know that old, cheap, piece of trash gear you bought a long time ago when you were first getting into recording? That useless piece of junk that you threw in the back of the closet because it’s so awful that it’s not even worth the effort or expense to list on ebay? Use it.

Pull that thing out from under all the other junk you’re embarrassed to admit that you own, and make it the featured sound on your next recording or mix project. Not only will you find an exciting new sound that can be the center element to craft a unique mix around, but I bet you will find a whole new excitement about that old piece of garbage.

I did this a while back on a project I played guitar on. It was the perfect quirky element that allowed me to craft a space in the mix specifically for the guitar. Not only am I thrilled that I didn’t sell this piece of junk, now I proudly display it on the shelf next to all the other guitar toys I’ve collected.

Creating music is all about the story. The story within the song itself, and the underlying story of how the song was written, produced, and recorded. Not only does that old piece of garbage allow you to find new creativity, but it also becomes a part of your story as a record maker.

“What kind of keyboard is making that weird sound at the end of the chorus?”

“That’s not a keyboard. That’s actually a guitar run through this old piece of junk I had laying around.”

Photo by tombola2004. Licensed under a Creative Commons license.

When recording, reaching for the EQ knob should rarely be something that you find yourself doing. In fact, EQ should really be thought of as a last resort, only using it as a tool to shape particularly difficult recording scenarios.

EQ is an often overused piece of gear in the studio. In my assisting days I was often told to patch up an EQ simply as a matter of common procedure. I also worked on a handful of sessions where the engineer showed up early and began EQ’ing before any musicians even arrived to play a note!

Now generally speaking, there really is no right or wrong way to go about recording. Recording music is truly an art form, and just like any art is highly subjective. However, there are many scientific guidelines that if used as a base point will help you achieve above average results.

It’s also worth noting that there are a lot of talented engineers who purposefully record using EQ so that they don’t have to use it as much during mixing. This is a very efficient, logical and wise approach. But equally logical is the notion that it’s just best to simplify. Recording with an EQ inserted is an approach that should be reserved for those who have a lot of experience in the field of recording. You could also make the argument that using EQ as an effect is a valid technique to employ when expressing your artistic voice, but this is a special case–not the normal set of studio circumstances.

The most effective way to get a great tone out of any instrument you record really comes down to three main steps:

1. Find the best place in the room for the instrument
   The way a room interacts with musical instruments dictates to a large degree the way it sounds. The farther away from the sound source the mic is placed, the more the room becomes a factor in the recorded sound. Before recording, spend some time having someone play the instrument in different places within the room. Trust your ears the most. Once you find the best position in the room, designate that place for that instrument and repeat the process for the next instrument. Make sure you allot an appropriate amount of time for this process in your recording sessions, because this process can take a while.

2. Find the sweet spot–the optimal place to position the mic
   After you have found the position where the instrument sounds best in the room, you need to find the position where the mic will sound best on the instrument. This process has two halves: a) using your ears in the room to find the initial position for the mic b) fine tuning that position by listening through the speakers in the control room. When recording very loud instruments such as electric guitars or a drum kit, it may not be possible to stand in the room and listen because of the high volume. If you find this to be true, then you may have to just go with the “b half” of this exercise. Also very important is to always wear earplugs when making adjustments in the recording space! Your most valuable recording asset are the pieces of equipment attached to the sides of your head. Protect your hearing at all costs. Otherwise you risk flushing your career down the tubes. Once you have found the instrument’s sweet spot you can move on to the third step in this process.

3. Choose the right microphone/mic pre combination
   The last step in the process is to select the correct mic/pre combination. Honestly, to fully discuss mic/pre selection would require an entire blog post itself, and perhaps I will explore this topic in a future post. But for now, you just want to find the right match that seems to bring the most life to the tone of the instrument you are recording. In a perfect world we would all have any microphone and preamp at our disposal at any given time. If you happen to be in this situation you are a very lucky person, and probably should not be wasting your time reading this blog. For the rest of us reality is a different truth. Spend some time experimenting with the mics and pres that you do have available to you to find a combination that seems to fit best. If your situation is anything similar to mine, then you only have about three choices. Just do your best.

If you find that you are still not achieving the sound you want out of an instrument after going through this process, it is still best to adjust an element of one or all of the steps before inserting an EQ. Resist the urge to use EQ as a crutch. EQ should be used when you have no other options left to help you craft your sound, or if you are going for a specific effect, which as we said before is a special case. EQ should be used lightly and as a tool. If you do find that you need to adjust the sound by inserting an EQ, do so very judiciously. Leave room to do most of your EQ’ing during the mixing stage.

I hope you have found this article helpful. If you feel that I have overlooked something, or have any other tips on getting a great tone without the use of EQ, please leave your tips in the comments. Additionally, if you have any questions or would like to see an article on a specific topic relating to the music recording and/or production process feel free to leave a comment below, telling me what topics you would like to see explored on producer notes. If you would like to keep your suggestions private, you can email me at stinson[AT]producernotes[DOT]com

Good luck finding that tone you are looking for…