Home Recording - Elements of a Professional Recording

As a home studio owner, or soon to be one, you should be aware of how the professional studios operate and what techniques they employ. In the end we are all trying to do the same thing: get sound onto a recording device, spice it up, and mix it to a final product. We all want to get the best sound possible. The differences in techniques directly affect the quality of the final product.

Why Your Favorite Recordings Sound So Good

Cue up your favorite recording, one that you think is recorded well. Sit back and listen closely. Notice how all the instruments blend together well, how no instrument sticks out of the mix more than it should. Notice how you hear virtually no background noise. All the instruments sound present, the drums don't sound far away, and it sounds as if you're in the same room as the band. The recording has a smooth and polished sound to it, no harshness to your ears. These are all qualities of good engineering, good mixing, and good mastering.

When you listen to a professional recording, realize that you are listening to months, if not years, of hard work recording and mixing the music. Big studios also have access to the finest equipment, the best microphones, acoustically perfect rooms, and most important of all, experienced engineers to run the sessions. Does this mean that your home studio masterpiece will sound bad? No, not at all! With some basic equipment, a little knowledge, and your inspired music, you can make professional-sounding recordings. Recording sessions are broken up into three main components: preproduction, production and engineering, and postproduction.

Preproduction

Preproduction involves everything that comes before the actual recording session. This can include selecting the right material to record, rehearsing the band, and getting ready for the recording sessions. For the home studio owner, this involves working out your material so that you can record it. It also might include purchasing gear to facilitate a particular project, such as buying a second vocal microphone to record a vocal duet for a new song. Basically, anything that you can do in advance to make your recordings go more smoothly is preproduction.

Production and Engineering

Production involves the actual recording sessions. At the sessions, the engineer runs the recording show. It's up to the engineer and any assistants he or she might have to set up all the microphones, place the microphones for optimum sound, get proper recording levels, run the mixing board, operate the recording device, and make sure everything sounds good. The engineer is the most important link in the chain (besides the musicians themselves) in getting a great-sounding recording. Engineering, like any other skill, requires a certain level of artistry and practice for proficiency to improve. An experienced engineer will be able to identify problems and quickly find solutions.

Editing and overdubbing might take place in subsequent sessions, but it's still considered production. In your studio, you will most likely be wearing all of the various hats needed to make a recording. It will be up to you to properly set up your equipment and the microphones, run the recording device, and engineer the recording. This can be a tall order to do all at once, but the chapters to follow will show you how to get started easily. With a little practice you'll be off and running!

Postproduction

Postproduction includes anything that happens after the recording sessions. Most often, postproduction involves mixing the tracks to a polished uniform sound. Mixing involves several key elements:

• Track levels: Loudness of each track

• Panning: Side-to-side placement in the mix

• Equalization: Boosting or cutting certain frequencies in the mix

• Effects: Adding signal processing such as reverb, delay, and compression in order to achieve a polished sound

• Mix down: Mixing all the tracks into a single stereo pair suitable for distribution or mastering

Even the most basic studio has the capabilities to do all these things. Remember that the basic sequence of events is always the same: sound capture, recording, and playback. Now that we explained a little about the history of the recording process and got you thinking about some concepts, it's time to shift gears and move into your home studio to find out what you need to get started.