To make great tracks is easier than you think. But why do we make things complicated all the time?
Attention to detail in the beginning of the chain is the most important. It isn't how many microphones you use, it more about how good that instrument is when recorded that matters. Less is often more. I took some time today to learn how to get great quality in my recording in the simplest ways possible. (The above pic is from hardcoremsuicstudio.com. Check out his killer videos! See the link below.)
I have had one major headache after another with the song The Vine, (and with the Change My Mind album overall). Many of the problems have taught me valuable lessons and I am thankful for that.
Like painting a wall
I'm a newbie to audio engineering and I've had to learn things the hard way as I am self-taught. The problems I've faced have taught me to think about music like I do with painting a wall. The prep work I put into before I paint makes the wall all that more beautiful. Imagine filling holes sloppily or not at all and not sandpapering before you paint. The end result stinks. Same with music production. What goes in comes out. Crap in, crap out.
That's what happens if my tone is not good enough when I sing incorrectly or play an instrument in the wrong space for example. No editing will ever fix a bad vowel or an untuned guitar - the soup will only be as good as the sum of its ingredients. I've had to re-record vocals and guitars multiple times during this project and I am still not fully satisfied with the results, but they got much better when I had attention to detail from the start. The studio needs some acoustic treatment and I need better mikes. This CD will end up being a good start but I look forward to making even better music in the future by using what I now know.* To insure that, I am taking some time today to listen to a few videos about Signal Chain Hierarchy from the guy at Hard Core Music Studio - see the link below.
Getting a great tone (vocal/instrument) from the start and using the correct mike(s) is 90% of a great recording.
If there is one thing I have done wrong in the first project it is recording too many tracks for each instrument, spending decades to over edit and integrate them and creating chaos for myself that makes the whole project ooze out over infinity.
Time is a valued and scarce resource and if there is anything I am learning from all of this is that better is better and less is more.
Getting a great recording from the beginning makes making a great track easy.
In the future, I will be spending my efforts on getting my voice well trained, my phonetics rehearsed and my instruments well tuned and well miked before I mix, that's for sure!
Loudness Again:
I also took some time today to look into Ian Shepherd's Loudness penalty app. A great thing to test how your final mastered track will translate to major streaming services. Some turn you down more than others and they affect the dynamics of your track as well. This is a great help in checking you masters before loading them up.
Links:
Hard Core Music Studio: http://hardcoremusicstudio.com/
Ian Shepherd's Loudness Penalty page: http://productionadvice.co.uk/loudness-penalty-preview/?awt_l=OwAqS&awt_m=3mYaz25wFpwbEYV
* I am sure that any artist develops over time and looks back at earlier recordings and remarks, "Why didn't I do it better - like I do now?" It is just part of the evolution of a musician.