Relative Noob Needs A Little Guidance

[u6crash]

Hey folks,

I've been a subscriber of Tape Op on an off over the years, but I have to be honest, a lot of it is over my head. So I'm hoping some of you might help point me in the right direction.

I'm intrigued by artists who have recorded themselves in home studios on simple setups, such as Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska (Tascam PortaStudio), or the Black Keys' Thickfreakness (Tascam 388).

My goal is to record an album of original material one day. I prefer it to be on analog tape and the finished product be something that I'm proud of. What books/websites do I need to read to get more familiar with gear, terms, etc., before I just start buying stuff?

Part of my newfound love of analog comes from being a long time White Stripes fan and reading Geoff Emerick's book on recording The Beatles. If I could build a modest, but respectable analog studio in my home, I could work on my album at my leisure and not have to worry about coordinating with other musicians, etc.

Currently I'm considering purchaings Home Recording Studio: Build It Like the Pros by Rod Gervais and Analog Recording: Using Analog Gear in Today's Home Studio by David Simons. If anyone can recommend alternative texts or starting points, I would much appreciate it. Thank you![/u]

[toine6]

I don't have an album out, and I'm not an analog purist, so might not help much. But what are you trying to learn exactly? I don't know that you should limit yourself to a purely analog learning mindset, as far as ONLY reading things on that topic. In other words, I think many of the same principles apply to recording to digital as analog. Write good songs, find which mics give you the sound you're after and how to set them up and play into them so that you get the sound you want. Learn about proper gain staging. Figure out how best to mix all your tracks together to make things gel in a way that pleases you. The basic concept is simple, the details are where it gets quite involved.

I think you can learn the basics of recording from many different places, then just apply what you want in order record more like Jack White. Instead of recording to a computer, record to a reel to reel or Portastudio. Learn more about cutting tape and bouncing tracks than editing with a mouse and you're good to go.

Other sources besides Tape Op (my favorite). Check out Gearslutz.com, subscribe to SOS magazine. But I try to read as much as I can from ALL sources. I'll read all about recording to reel to reel, live mixing, or dj remixers, even if I never intend to do those things. It's all interesting to me, and I think you can learn things from them that you can apply to your own music and style. Also, buy the Tape Op books that are out there, got mine from Amazon. I'd find the names but I've got to run to work.

[dfuruta]

Worry about the songs, don't worry about the recording (especially not analog vs digital). If you start making demos with whatever you've got lying around, it'll quickly become clear to you what you need to learn more about, what equipment you need to get, and so on.

When one starts something, it's not at all clear what one needs to learn. So, I think the best thing is to start trying to make something. You'll learn what specific questions you need to ask, that way.

If you don't have any gear at all, why not grab a portastudio or whatever and an SM57 or two? Don't get fixated on the gear, though! If your songs are good, you'll be fine with whatever you have.

[Dakota]

If anyone can recommend alternative texts or starting points, I would much appreciate it. Thank you!

Certainly get good books, and absorb as much information from wide sources as you can - "many different sources", agreed w/ toine6.

Even more important than books, is *just doing it* - a lot. And learn from what sounds good to you and what doesn't. Keep honing. That's how people get good at recording.

Most to-the-point recommendation: get a Tascam 424 (MkII is the iconic one, but all three versions are cool), an SM58, ATH-M50 headphones, and a stack of blank cassettes. Then put a lot of recording hours in. Experiment wildly, and learn from the results. Record in every room in your apartment or house, definitely including the kitchen and the shower stall.

And if some days you don't have song ideas, record anyway. Construct rhythm tracks from just utensils and containers and surfaces in the kitchen, for example. Or just a bicycle. Set experiments for yourself.

That's a huge advantage of the cassette 4-track format, it's easy to carry and set up in unusual spots, so you don't get too precious.

[Dakota]

If you don't have any gear at all, why not grab a portastudio or whatever and an SM57 or two? Don't get fixated on the gear, though! If your songs are good, you'll be fine with whatever you have.

Quite! Similar thought, 2 minutes before. (smile)

[jgimbel]

For me, discovering the Tape Op Messageboard marked a huge jump in recording quality for me. While I did learn new things, the thing that made it such an important thing to me was realizing that a lot of things I had discovered in my years of simply screwing around and figuring things out - about the physics of sound, microphones, EQ, mic placement - were generally along the same lines as the professionals on here. I am thankful every day that I discovered the TOMB, but just as much if not more I am thankful for those years (maybe 3-4 years) before I found it. Those years absolutely still inform everything I do. Learn to get as close as possible to the sounds you want using one microphone, or two microphones, and nothing else. It will make EVERYTHING else so much easier. Everything. You'll be amazed how much you can do with just that. Work hard at those things, while listening to things that do sound like what you are trying to do, and try to figure out what differences you're hearing. Everything starts out as a big blur, but it will get clearer as you experiment.

Also, don't be afraid of moments where you feel like you might be discovering something new but fear that going that direction would require entirely rethinking how you do everything. You can always go back if you need to, but those enlightening moments change everything and get you closer to making the sounds you've been working so hard to create.

[Nick Sevilla]

Good responses so far.

All I can offer youis the following things to ponder :

Make good songs. This IMHO is the absolutely most important thing you can do.

What is a good song? A good song is one that YOU love. It is nothing else. If YOU love your song, then you have done your work. You have absolutely, positively no control over someone else liking, much less loving YOUR song. And that does not matter at all. Make YOU happy with YOUR songs.

Then, there is the recording process, and it should definitely be thought of as just that, a process that you undertake inorder to make a RECORD of your song. A record that hopefully faithfully represents your song, and not a recording that completely changes what your song was supposed to be, or a process that changes who you are, or that changes your song until it no longer is that original idea.

To me the recording process is just a "capturing", like taking a photograph of a moment in time where a song was captured for posterity. Especially in the vein of Springsteen and The Black Keys. They are about the SONG, in the end. A good song may have musical elements which help tell the story, and those may or may not include special effects or strange and unusual recording techniques. Both of which it seems to me you have no knowledge of right now. And believe me, no one knows all the techniques for creating some never before heard sound. Because new sounds are always possible.

And there is your fork in the road : Be faithful to your songs, remain a songwriter, and only buy the most minimal of setups, like a portastudio and a couple of mics, one dynamic and one LDC. OR become a sound engineer who happens to write songs sometimes, and start that long endless quest for the perfect sound recording. In that case be prepared to spend as much money as you can make, for there is a lot of good equipment out there, and all have a use in this field.

You are at that crux, that precipice. Think hard on that.

Songwriter, or sound engineer.

[u6crash]

Thanks for all the replies folks. I'm going to go ahead and say that I am way more a songwriter than an engineer. My wanting to do things on my own is more a matter of convenience. I want to write and experiment with tracks in my own home to flesh out the songs. I start out usually with acoustic guitar and vocals and layer/write from there. I guess my concern is putting a lot of time and work into tracks at home and then finding out the recording just isn't good enough and recording everything all over again "for real".

In addition to the PortaStudio, I've done some work with Garageband and own Logic Express, but have a pretty modest interface and no monitors to speak of. I think I might go back to the PortaStudio route and do some reading on acoustic design. I might be able to get some respectable sounds in my loft.

Thanks again for all the input. I'll try to be a sponge around here and see what else there is to learn.

[GooberNumber9]

I guess my concern is putting a lot of time and work into tracks at home and then finding out the recording just isn't good enough and recording everything all over again "for real".

This will definitely happen. In the industry it's referred to as "learning".

After enough of this "learning" you will reach a point when your recordings are still not quite as good as you would like, but they are good enough to keep and you'll move on to recording something else and working to make that new recording better than the last. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'd be surprised if that isn't basically how it goes for the rest of your life.

[jgimbel]

I guess my concern is putting a lot of time and work into tracks at home and then finding out the recording just isn't good enough and recording everything all over again "for real".

This will definitely happen. In the industry it's referred to as "learning".

After enough of this "learning" you will reach a point when your recordings are still not quite as good as you would like, but they are good enough to keep and you'll move on to recording something else and working to make that new recording better than the last. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'd be surprised if that isn't basically how it goes for the rest of your life.

GREAT post. Letting worries about your results not being as good as they ideally could be prevent you from trying is a fantastic way to not get good at anything ever. There simply isn't a rush way into it. There are pretty much no tracks of anything in the first at least 5 years of recording I did that I would want to put out now. Hell, there are things I've recorded just last year that I wish I could redo because I've completely rethought thinks at least twice since then and been able to make great improvements. That's the learning process. It's also what makes it exciting to work on the next project. Knowing that every project I've worked on has been the best sounding thing I've done to date (artist's talent allowing!) and then being able to look back at things I was incredibly proud of and thinking they sound like crap by comparison to what I can do now - that is a great feeling.

[fossiltooth]

Good responses so far.

All I can offer youis the following things to ponder :

Make good songs. This IMHO is the absolutely most important thing you can do.

What is a good song? A good song is one that YOU love. It is nothing else. If YOU love your song, then you have done your work. You have absolutely, positively no control over someone else liking, much less loving YOUR song. And that does not matter at all. Make YOU happy with YOUR songs.

Then, there is the recording process, and it should definitely be thought of as just that, a process that you undertake inorder to make a RECORD of your song. A record that hopefully faithfully represents your song, and not a recording that completely changes what your song was supposed to be, or a process that changes who you are, or that changes your song until it no longer is that original idea.

To me the recording process is just a "capturing", like taking a photograph of a moment in time where a song was captured for posterity. Especially in the vein of Springsteen and The Black Keys. They are about the SONG, in the end. A good song may have musical elements which help tell the story, and those may or may not include special effects or strange and unusual recording techniques. Both of which it seems to me you have no knowledge of right now. And believe me, no one knows all the techniques for creating some never before heard sound. Because new sounds are always possible.

And there is your fork in the road : Be faithful to your songs, remain a songwriter, and only buy the most minimal of setups, like a portastudio and a couple of mics, one dynamic and one LDC. OR become a sound engineer who happens to write songs sometimes, and start that long endless quest for the perfect sound recording. In that case be prepared to spend as much money as you can make, for there is a lot of good equipment out there, and all have a use in this field.

You are at that crux, that precipice. Think hard on that.

Songwriter, or sound engineer.

YES. THIS.

[Nick Sevilla]

Thanks for all the replies folks. I'm going to go ahead and say that I am way more a songwriter than an engineer. My wanting to do things on my own is more a matter of convenience. I want to write and experiment with tracks in my own home to flesh out the songs. I start out usually with acoustic guitar and vocals and layer/write from there. I guess my concern is putting a lot of time and work into tracks at home and then finding out the recording just isn't good enough and recording everything all over again "for real".

In addition to the PortaStudio, I've done some work with Garageband and own Logic Express, but have a pretty modest interface and no monitors to speak of. I think I might go back to the PortaStudio route and do some reading on acoustic design. I might be able to get some respectable sounds in my loft.

Thanks again for all the input. I'll try to be a sponge around here and see what else there is to learn.

Hi,

"I am way more a songwriter" -
Then you should focus "way more" on this than "fleshing out" your songs. Most all the Beatles songs were recognizable even when played only with vocal and guitar or piano. The whole songs is there, the rest is window dressing. If you can do that, you're in good shape.

"my concern is putting a lot of time and work into tracks at home" -
That is why we audio engineers exist in the first place. You write the song, we make it sound great. If audio engineering were easy, everyone would have a hit record from their bedrooms. Your issue then, is considering working with a local engineer that you admire and trust, when you are ready to put out songs for the public to consume. But NOT before that moment. In other words, finish your song ideas all the way, and make notes on what instruments you'd like to hear in the arrangement, instead of trying to record it yourself. With a modest budget, you too can have a record of your song you can be proud of, and without pulling out all your hair in the process.

Cheers

[dfuruta]

Stay raw, stay honest, don't fall for gimmicks or trends, and you'll be fine. It's not that hard to make a passable recording so long as you can actually play and sing what you're trying to play and sing.

[Nick Sevilla]

Stay raw, stay honest, don't fall for gimmicks or trends, and you'll be fine. It's not that hard to make a passable recording so long as you can actually play and sing what you're trying to play and sing.

+1

[PhospheneProductions]

I think this is a good place to start:
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Recording- ... 0240810694

Know what your doing before you throw a bunch of money at it! lol...

Analog is a great medium, and though that is so, it is always quite an expensive one! Not to mention that any work you do is printed (one shot! No un-do button!).
Backing up even further, what is it that really draws you to analog? Is it the physicality of holding a tape? or is it the warm rich sound analog holds?
A smart engineer knows that tape has a certain sound to it, and though its possible to use tape when recording, it is generally a difficult and costly technique.
Many professionals will use tape to bounce the final mix to, or to master to. This can give the mix a kind of "tape" sound that is well known and quite popular.
Plug-ins are also a new popular advent, tape plug-ins can give your mixes that "recorded-to-tape" sound without the head-ache and the cost!

If I can't convince you otherwise, I would suggest in first learning how to work tape machines, and then finding a simple 2-inch that you can bounce mixes to(or masters).

Another secret is what the mastering and mix engineers 'don't' tell you about those "home recorded" songs. Of course they were recorded at home! Cheap gear and cheap mics, terrible room acoustics (imperfections everywhere! (everything's imperfect )).
What they don't tell you is all the hard work and effort an engineer and producer put in to fix all the wrongs of home recording. A great recent example is Goyte's "Someone I used to know" (or something of that sort).

Either way...

Cheers on the Geoff Emerick book, that man is a genius!
Also, if you dug that you may dig:
http://www.recordingthebeatles.com/

Cheers!~