Features

There's no reason why you can't make professional-quality recordings on a budget PC. In the last issue, we looked at the equipment you'll need, plus packages for electronic music production, solo performers and bands. A copy of the first part of this series is included on this month's cover disc.

High-quality equipment doesn't guarantee high-quality recordings. While affordable kit makes music production more accessible than ever, it doesn't necessarily make it easier to carry out. This month, we'll guide you through the process of recording music. As well as focusing on the digital side, we'll reveal all the tricks of the trade, from where to put the microphones to editing different takes together. Mixing down to a final stereo recording is an art in itself, so we'll cover this next month.

Music producers often develop individual working methods that suit their taste in music. This is to be encouraged. After all, if everyone did exactly the same thing, records would sound very bland. However, we hope that the advice offered by this feature at least helps newcomers get started.

The history of recording follows a general trend to make things bigger and beefier than before. But now anyone can pluck an enormous, shiny drum loop off a sample library, producers are finding new ways to push the boundaries. Weird, gritty sounds are currently in fashion in certain forms of pop music - listen to Justin Timberlake for proof. So, too, are old-fashioned recording techniques to give a retro production, as demonstrated by Amy Winehouse and most current British indie bands. These - and indeed any - objectives are perfectly valid. Just bear in mind that it's much

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easier to make a big, clean recording sound small, dirty or antiquated than it is to do the opposite.

As such, we recommend that you record with as much clarity as possible when you're starting out, and leave any roughening up to when you come to mix.

Recording decisions

A record producer's role is similar to a director's role in a film. Regardless of whether or not you have written the script or are playing the starring role, your job is to bring all the different disciplines and people together into a homogenous finished product. Recording can be just as creative a process as writing, so try to make the production reinforce the song and the ethos of the band.

If you want to capture the sound of a live band playing together, you might want to record all the instruments at the same time, and steer clear of adding 12 tracks of backing vocals and synth strings over the top. Recording everyone together is essential for jazz and classical music. However, if you are recording a solo performer or a pop act, they might appreciate your input in adding some more instruments to fill the sound out.

Make sure the instruments are in good condition. New guitar strings or woodwind reeds can give a brighter, more detailed tone, while a squeaky chair or bass drum pedal can ruin a recording. Tune the tension of drum skins and check the tuning of pitched instruments before each take. Consider using different types of drum beaters, and damp drums by taping bits of tissue or cloth to the skins if their sound rings for too long.

If the recording is just a rough demo, the odd mistake won't matter, but if it might end up being the final recording you'll want it to be as good as possible. Have the performers rehearsed enough to give their best performance, or is a slightly chaotic performance preferable? Is the composition even finished, or do some sections need a little more work? It's hard for songwriters to reject an idea they may have spent weeks working on, so a producer can provide valuable quality control. If you think the egos of the performers and songwriters can take it, be ruthlessly honest with your criticism. If you're the songwriter, performer and producer, apply the same brutal honesty to yourself.