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If I may... First and foremost, cut the bugger live, with everyone in the same room (amps too) but put the vocalist in a booth and leave the door open. You can get remarkable separation with a few well placed gobo's. Drums: A pair (or one!) overhead. Coles 4038's a ideal. Love Royers too. And if you...

Here's a link to a song that I recorded and mixed. About a minute and a half in what sounds like hand claps come in (it's actually the drummer "playing" his legs) I put up a pair of 414's in M/S just for the eff of it. It's a really wide stereo image, nearly out of phase (intentionally). Give it a l...

Aside from the obvious (getting everything to sound good) the approach I take is to create the most appropriate space for the song, letting the lyrics guide the way. I always ask the artist to whom is the song written and how is the story being told. First person? Third person? If it's a sad , lonel...

When your eustachian tube collapsed, did you experience the same symptoms? Other than the hearing loss, it often feels "full" and air travel is pretty painful as it doesn't equalize pressure very quickly/completely. The frequency range was perfect and identical in both ears, but the "threshold of h...

You want great sounding drums?
-Get a great drummer
-Get great sounding WELL TuNED drums
-Shove a coupla mics in front of 'em
-Press record

(You can substitute any instrument and "good" or "ok" for great)

Get your eustachian tubes checked. I had one partially collapse. Scarred the crap outta me. Went to RX and he wanted to basically stick a straw in it to keep it open. It healed itself in a coupla weeks.

All depends on the genre. I recently cut an entire album, including a few overdubs in less than 8 hours. 4 hours for basics. 2 and bit for vocal overdubs. About another 2 for harp overdubs (the harp player couldn't make the tracking date). It's a greasy, dirrrrty blues record recorded in "less than ...

Stay out of the way. Someone with studio chops usually don't have a problem trying out a few mics for you. Line up your 3 favorites side by side and have them just sing. A/B/C them in the control room as they're singing. Go with your gut. If mic 2 edges out 1&3 just by a bit, don't waffle, pull the ...

I'll get one really close in 4-5 hours, depending on the track count. I've been getting these friggin monsters with 80+ tracks so they take a bit longer. I'll take a short break after 5 hours, and then spend another 3 or so doing the molecular automation moves. Listen the next day to make sure all i...

I think there's a big difference in being a douche and keeping a few tricks up your sleeve. I'm happy to share information with people when they ask, but some guys aren't like that. Just like a chef might not want to give away his recipes or a magician his secrets, some guys just aren't into giving...

The simple answer to your question is that a lot of engineers are douche bags. I came up through the ranks in the mid 80's at the end of "I was treated like turd when I was an assistant so I'm gonna treat you worse" approach to assistants. I took it well and laughed off 99% of it. I found that he mo...

I get you, but I simply disagree with you. The "mysterious someone" could possibly be, oh I don't know, another band? A manager? A producer? An attorney? A label schmuck? Someone who might hire you because you did a bang up job on a demo ? Crazy, huh? No hard feelings, just a differing point of vie...

Really. If you're not going to give 100% of yourself 100% of the time, whats the fucking point? Make the best of what's available to you at the time as yes, put your heart into it and try to beat Sgt. Peppers BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW. You never know who's gonna hear the demo. You never know who's gon...

Don't treat a $200 demo session like Sgt. Pepper's - that's unrealistic for all parties involved, particularly you. What you should do is value your time and their work as musicians. Set their expectations for their budget, make sure they're happy with that and then exceed it in some (small) way. T...

Treat them all like you're trying to beat Sgt. Pepper's or Pet Sounds. You NEVER know. When in demo mode, it's often that bands are more relaxed and by extension, play a whole lot more naturally. It's the same thought behind recording the first take of a vocal, especially when the singer asks you no...