Let’s have a serious talk today shall we? I mean it is the 4th of July the day of our(well most of us read this blog anyway) countries independence and the founding fathers would probably want some knowledge dropped on everyone this day. Well I’m here to do just that.
The thing about being here at WestSideWill is that I get the chance to hear A LOT of music from unsigned musician each and every week (like 100′s of songs each week) and it gets to be fairly simple to see who understands a home studio recording process and who doesn’t.
The first thing I want everyone to keep in mind who is “home recording” or “home recing” as I like to say…sometimes…well…never I just made it up, is that equipment IS NOT going to be your biggest problem. You have to know how to use what you have and I think these tips I’m about to list below are going to help you get the most out of whatever you record with.
- NO ONE TAKE RECORDINGS!!!! Seriously, you record in a bedroom or bathroom of your house, do you really think fans want to hear what you sound like “live” in your bathroom or bedroom…really? There is always something you can make better, and if you aren’t recording in multi parts you are really hurting yourself.
- RECORD IN PARTS!!!! This one is probably going to be tough for the “purest” to swallow, but you have to make a good recording. A lot of big studios have HUGE multitrack system that they can record separate parts all at the same time, but I’m just guessing that your bedroom doesn’t have that feature. And I’m also going to guess that when you record at home it’s usually just you there so you don’t have a producer to help you maximize each track that is being recorded. So break your song down into PARTS! Drumline (you have to keep the beat right?) Melody, vocals, etc. And treat each one of those as their own little song. And remember step 1? NO ONE TAKE RECORDING! You’re gonna mess up, and recording at a home studio you are kind of behind the eight ball anyway, don’t get further behind by being lazy and think that the track “is good enough.”
- PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO HEAR YOU RAW!!!! Look, you may think you have a great “raw” sound but…99 times out of 100 you don’t. It’s OK to use some software to help bring out the great parts of your sound, and kill the bad parts. It’s what the pros do.
- LEVELS, LEVELS, LEVELS One of the main reasons you don’t record in 1 take or all parts at once in a smaller (home) studio is that you want to be able to play with the levels of each part. I can’t tell you how many tracks we have that just have the most awful levels of all time. Either I can’t hear the vocals because the music is too loud, or that I can’t really hear anything because everything is entirely too loud or too soft. When you are in your own studio you want to have those parts separated so you can give the track and listen AND PLAY with the levels just like a producer would do. The great thing about software today is that even the cheapest (read FREE) software out there allows you to record multitracks and adjust their levels.
- TOO MUCH OF ANYTHING…IS TOO MUCH!!!! How many times have I seen a band come in with some really amazing music, but when the vocals start it sounds like a deaf robot trying to speak? A lot of times. Listen, I know that it may SEEM like a good idea to cover up your voice with some cool f/x and maybe it is a good idea, but when you have to cover your voice up TOO MUCH for it to sound right to you I think maybe you should step away from the mic and let someone else sing? Too much of an f/x is too much. Autotune is a little bit of a different breed, it has become popular to use it a little “outrageously” and that is find. But REVERB or any of that other crap is not great. The same can be said about being TOO clean on a recording. Honestly, some recordings are so clean that the vocals don’t really sound like singing. IF YOU DON’T HAVE A GREAT VOICE DON’T GO AT IT CLEAN. And you know what? 99% of the people out there don’t have a great voice. (Just the facts homie.)
- RAPPERS…CUT THE CRAP!!!! So I’m a rap music fan, we all know this, but I’m also a realist. As rappers do you realize that the sound quality of your vocals also matter? You can’t go mumbling into a mic with static and who knows what else going on and expect to have a popular release on your hands. You have to follow the same above steps (I know…Jay Z can do it in one take. Well the next time Jay Z submits a song to us I’ll let him know you’re a fan.) Seriously take pride in your music. I know that there are times when one would say, “My lyrics are some grimy”…and if by grimy you mean crappy then yeah. The facts are people have to be able to understand a track to love it, and it all starts with things being less complicated. You aren’t DJ Clue so stop shouting over a track…please.
- FINALLY….”But I Make My Music For Me!” Oh…really? Then why do you want the world to hear it? I make a sandwich for me I don’t let the world eat it. Stop using that line as a cover up for what it is really trying to say, “I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong and I don’t like to hear criticism.” For the most part people can’t hear how bad they really sound, but others can. Take criticism for what it is…advice. Listen to it, and if you can improve on it, do so! If it’s something you can’t improve and you keep hearing it, maybe you should just keep your music to yourself.