Recording Multitrack Audio for Professional Sound at Home
by Owen Critchley
Warner/LoudThud recording artist
Author of Easy Home Recording Blueprint
Recording Multitrack Audio – Part 1
(For part 2, go to Home Recording Tips)
3 goals you should be setting before you record
- Professional quality sound
- Simple to use recording tools and software
- Affordability
Although, everyone successfully guesses the first of the goals listed above, they often are misguided as they attempt to define the next two goals of an aspiring recording artist: simplicity and affordability.
This is because musicians start with the assumption that recording high quality sound requires complex and expensive studio equipment. In other words, they invest money first instead of investing in gaining an understanding what sound actually needs to be recorded well.
If we realized that sound actually has very simple needs to be recorded effectively, the number one goal of professional quality home recording suddenly becomes very achievable.
Recording Multitrack at Home – How to be big, bold and in control
Multitrack audio recording is of course, the process of separating the elements of our music so we may individually manipulate each part’s sound, volume and placement in a finished mix. What used to be achieved with two inch tape divided into 16 or 24 “tracks” is now achieved in the digital environment of recording software.
So, we use multitrack recording to give us increased control of our music. However, the irony is that we are actually less in control if we use recording equipment we don’t know how to use.
The solution for taking control of the recording process and making sure it serves our needs as music creators, is obvious, but mostly overlooked. The answer is, we must find an effective way of using very little and very simple to use multitrack digital recording equipment if we have any hope of consistently producing competitive recordings. Otherwise, the aspiring recording artist will financially cripple himself or herself, and ultimately fail in the first goal of the home recording artist. i.e. achieving high quality recordings.
Recording Multitrack Sound at Home Professionally, Simply and Cheaply
It sounds like the quest for the Holy Grail, but recording professional quality records at home is not only possible, it should be expected. The truth is, absolutely any multitrack recording software that is available can more than adequately handle the task of release-quality recording.
All we have to do is give the multitrack software what it most needs:
- High quality sound
- High quality “capture”
- High quality input
- High quality output
The items above are the 4 pillars of a great multitrack recording. The good news, each item is achievable with minimal financial outlay and minimal technical knowledge.
Let’s look at each item and define how we will achieve it.
High quality sound:
High quality sound broadly refers to supplying either a good performance, on a good quality acoustic or electric instrument, or good quality electronic instrument and/or device, or some combination of the above. In other words, well played with no buzzing and hissing.
Achievable affordably and simply? Yes.
High quality capture
High quality “capture” refers to using a good quality microphone for voice and acoustic instruments and good quality cables for connecting electric and electronic instruments and devices. In other words, avoiding immediate loss of quality and injury to the original sound due to poor quality mics and insecure cables.
Achievable affordably and simply? Yes.
High quality input
High quality input when multitrack digital recording, refers to using a high quality in/out device, also known as a digital audio interface. The first step to having high quality input is to avoid using your computer’s built in sound card for recording purposes.
Simple pro quality external audio devices are available whose sole purpose is to funnel your sounds from the outside of your computer to the inside of your computer without degrading the sound’s quality.
Achievable affordably and simply? Yes.
High quality output
Although our in/out device is also supplying the output signal, our ability to complete a professional sounding mix is dependent the final stage of output which is our speakers (monitors.) There are excellent and reasonably priced home recording studio monitors available, but this is one area where we will have to make a moderate investment to achieve professional recordings at home.
Powered studio monitors (with built in power amps) are a good choice and save the expense of separate power amps and also make good use of limited space in most home studios.
Conclusion of part one
Easy Home Recording Blueprint is the bestselling step by step guide to producing pro-quality recordings at home using free recording software and very little equipment.
If copying the exact method I use to record music for movies, tv, cd release and licensing, sounds like a great way to kick start your music career, you will love the Easy Home Recording Blueprint.
Read more…..
Learn to Produce Music – How to Speak the Language of Sound
Becoming a Music Producer
You’d like to learn to produce music. Before you start, it’s important that you understand that good producers do not start their careers by learning how to use a ton of studio equipment. They do not even start by learning all the studio tricks. Instead, a good producer is someone who builds a relationship with how different types of sound work together to create a mood and an emotional response from their listeners. Understand this, and you are well on your way on the correct path for producing music with meaning and staying power.
Learn to Produce Music – Approaching Music Production Like the Greats
What is a music producer really? Judging from the typical discussion out there, you would think that he or she is primarily a technical professional. Like a NASA flight engineer or an electrical contractor.
The truth is that great producers don’t dream at night of circuit boards and the latest studio equipment. Great music producers spend their time building and nurturing an intimate relationship with sound and the almost mystical way that different combinations of sound stimulate and play on our emotions in ways that words alone cannot.
That said, the sounds we use as accompaniment for a song, should be chosen to serve the words and meaning of a song. The sounds, instrumentation, tempo, rhythm etc serve as inflection and expression.
Think of it this way: Imagine that someone is telling you something very meaningful. First picture them telling you this important thing in the voice of The Terminator or an automated telephone operator. Then picture them telling you this important thing with a tremble in their voice and a tear on their cheek. You see, it’s the inflection and accompaniment with the words that make the words either profound or empty.
So, to learn to produce music like the great producers, you first have to learn to truly understand the mood, meaning and emotion of a song or piece of music. In other words, make sure you understand what you are going to say before you say it.
When you do understand the meaning and intent of a song that you are going to produce, the actual production of the piece becomes a much simpler, more enjoyable and much more rewarding task. Why?
Learn to Produce Music – A Producer’s Practical Examples
The reason producing a song gets easier if you take the time to understand the intent and meaning of a song or piece of music, is because certain choices of instrumentation become obvious. So, instead of facing infinite choices of sounds to support the song’s emotional flow and meaning, you instead are able to narrow down the choices to a few logical possibilities.
For example, let’s imagine a hypothetical song. Let’s say this song has a quiet section and the lyric is telling you that a character in the song is about to make a huge and perhaps dramatic decision. Let’s say the main instrumentation is a piano or acoustic guitar during this section.
Instead of facing a thousand instrumentation choices in this scenario, because you understand the drama and importance of the lyric, you might settle on a single low bell sound to support the piano or guitar, as if it is being struck with a felt covered mallet.
Suddenly the drama and profound emotion of this section’s lyric is made apparent to the listener and the all important “emotional response” from him or her is achieved.
Let’s look at an entirely different kind of song. This song is an upbeat house style and the lyric is simply about the joy of getting off work to go party the night away. Instead of a wall of sound from start to finish, you reserve an effective and memorable set of sounds for crucial moments in the groove.
So, in this case instead of typical back up vocals for the big chorus, you might decide to have the sound of a chanting soccer crowd accompany the lead vocal. This drives home the joy and excitement of the moment and sweeps the listener up in the chaos and electricity as the song describes the night that is unfolding.
Imagination first, recording second
Always keep your creative imagination as your first priority as you learn to produce music. You see, anyone can learn to record music effectively and use the tools of the trade, but those who go on to be great producers are the ones who use sound to tell a story. Learn the language and emotional power of sound and the whole world will listen.
I will continue this series of articles about becoming a music producer. Next time we will look at the actual recording process. We will look at surprisingly simple ways to record audio clearly and beautifully, using very little recording equipment, so the meaning and mood of our songs and music remains intact.
Ready to Really Get Started?
If you would like to learn to produce music that “stands up and stands out” you’ll love the methods in the EASY HOME RECORDING BLUEPRINT. Start with 6 free lessons or really dive in and get this bestselling home recording guide. The Easy Home Recording Blueprint, created by major label recording artist and producer….. Read more
Emo Songs That Make You Cry – Songs About Loneliness
by Owen Critchley
Warner/LoudThud recording artist
Song: “Before The Waves Come”
I didn’t set out to write emo songs that make you cry, but apparently, judging by the reaction to the character of Melanie in Billboard Song award winning song, “Before The Waves Come,” it has definitely become one of those songs.
Frame from upcoming video of Before The Waves Come
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Download “Before The Waves Come”
“Who Is Melanie?”
This is definitely the #1 question I receive from people after they hear Before The Waves Come.
Now that I’ve lived with this song for a while, I guess Melanie is a combined personality or symbol of many of the women that are, or have been part of my life. The song may well fall into the category of Emo Songs That Make You Cry, and that’s cool with me… but I think I’m more likely to put it in the Songs About Loneliness category.
All the women I’ve ever met seem to have a shared air of loneliness that always accompanies each of their differing personalities. In other words, I guess the character of “Melanie” is like an icon who represents all women that I’ve known.
*Still 2 from the Before The Waves Come video storyboard
How emo songs that make you cry, got me Punk’d by my own crew
Here’s a funny story that goes with the recording of these songs, that I’ll share with you. Like I said, even though I didn’t set out to write so called emo songs that make you cry, according to the crew around me, that’s exactly what I have done with a couple of my new songs.
You see, my crew and I always look for clever ways to rip on each other. So, when we all got together to rehearse these songs, they had obviously met beforehand, without me, and decided to make sure I got “punk’d” for these emo songs that I had written..
The crew decided to break into a chorus of absolutely hilarious sobbing and wailing as I began earnestly playing the song to show them the chords and arrangement.
I tried not to laugh, but when I made the mistake of glancing up at them and saw that two of them were holding each other and another was under the table weeping and sucking his thumb… that was the end of me. I collapsed in a fit of laughter until I had to pretty much beg them to stop.
Actually I just like to think I write songs about life…
Frame 3 from upcoming video for Before The Waves Come
Like I said, I never set out to try to write in a particular style. If I like the song, I’ll release it no matter what genre. I listen and appreciate too many artists to think much about genres and styles.
Frame 4 from upcoming video for Before The Waves Come
“Who is Daniel?”
I guess the character of Daniel in “Before The Waves Come” represents every guy who is ultimately helpless in understanding what goes on in the depths of a woman’s heart. He stands ready to help, to be sure, but her world is her own.
Frame 5 from upcoming video for Before The Waves Come
Songs about relationships, emo songs that make you cry or just songs about life… they will be written by songwriters forever, I guess.
Scene From “Before The Waves Come” - Download mp3 now
Making a Demo of Your Songs? – The New Rules
by Owen Critchley
Warner/LoudThud recording artist
Author of Easy Home Recording Blueprint
How to Make Demo Recordings That Stand Up and Stand Out
1. The “Message and the Melody.” Before making a demo cd, we must accept that the song itself must provoke some kind of emotional response from the listener, either in its message, its melody, or both. We must have the confidence and wisdom to judge our songs honestly. In other words, the song is either working or not and we have to take responsibility for either possibility.
2. The Performance. The performance is the breath that gives the message and melody of the song life. The performance must always be the servant of the message and/or the melody.
3. The Recording. The responsibility of capturing message, melody and performance falls to the effective recording of all three. If we have ensured that message, melody and performance are intact, then recording simply becomes a matter of capturing and “bottling” an emotional response to be served on demand to listeners thirsty for same.
Where most aspiring recording artists go wrong when making a demo, is by perverting the process listed above by hoping to salvage or rescue a song’s message, melody and performance, during the recording phase. If a song isn’t making a connection to you or those around you during its creation, then the record button probably shouldn’t have been pushed. Certainly, trying to find the life inside a song during the mixing and editing phase of making a demo, is a fools errand.
Making a demo recording becomes easy when the song is already speaking to you
Sound actually requires very little to be recorded effectively. If we make sure a song is alive with color and purpose before we start recording a demo, then the need for expensive studio toys and equipment falls away. We are then left with the simple, and what should always be enjoyable, process of recording and “capturing” our song. When we have reached this level of confidence in our song, effective and powerful recording can and should be done at home. A good song simply won’t require that we mortgage our futures in an expensive professional studio or tons of home music studio equipment.
For those of you who are already Easy Home Recording Blueprint artists, the following is a very familiar set of recording guide lines that form the backbone of the “Blueprint” method of recording.
“Change the way you think about home recording.”
- Instead of complicated, believe that it can be simple.
- Instead of expensive, believe that it can be done cheaply.
- Instead of slow, believe that it can be fast and fun.
For those of you who are ready to read more about the Blueprint’s step by step method, click here: Easy Home Recording Blueprint
In another article I’ll continue this topic with more info and tips for making a demo that will help your music stand out from the crowd.
Until then… all the best,
Owen Critchley
Recording artist/producer
