Methods of Recording. There are various different methods of laying down the individual tracks for your recording. There really is no standard practice when it comes to this. As previously stated, recording is a creative process and should be treated as such -ideas are encouraged. In terms of recording all the parts of the songs, there are two main ways of doing this
1. Live or 2. Overdubbing:

Live Recording. lot of bands prefer this method as it can make the recording a lot tighter. Live recording involves everybody playing and recording their parts at the same time - as you would if you were to perform the song. Depending on the studio and the engineer there are various ways to approach live recording. The most basic way of doing things is to have everybody set their gear up in a room, mic it up and just record. Unfortunately there are problems with this approach. If all of the amps etc. are in the same room the mics being used to record each individual source will pick up sound from all of the other sound sources in the room. This is known as spill.

Spill can result in the sound losing a lot of its character and has a detrimental effect on the recording. To avoid the affects of spill, some studios have a number of small enclosed areas known as ‘isolation booths’. These allow the different sound sources to be placed in their own individual space thus isolating each sound from all of the others. When it comes to mixing this makes it a lot easier to get the sound you want from each instrument

Overdubbing. This process involves all the tracks in the songs being built up gradually. For example, the drummer will record the drum parts first. Often this is done playing along to an artificial click track perhaps with other members of the band playing a "guide track" along with him so that he knows where about in the song he is. Once the drums are recorded the other musicians will each put their tracks down until all the tracks are recorded and the song is ready to be mixed. This method eliminates the problem of spill and produces a recording with a strong and constant tempo throughout.

Mixing: Once you have your tracks recorded you then have to mix them so as to give the recording the characteristics that you are looking for. There are various processes involved in mixing. These include adding effects to individual parts or the whole sound, using eq to bring certain sounds and characteristics out and making them more prominent to the listener, using panning controls to produce a true stereo (L + R) mix of your songs. Once the mixing process is complete you will have a "master mix" of your recordings

If there is something that you are unhappy with or think could be better don’t be afraid to say so to the engineer. He is there to help you get the sound you want. If you keep quiet you will be stuck with a recording that you are not happy with and will never be fully content with it. If you have an idea of what you want to sound like explain this to the engineer or if you have any recordings of other bands that contain sounds similar to the ones you would like to recreate play it to the engineer so that he has a point of reference when mixing.

The advice in this tip sheet is only a guide to help you avoid some of the common problems that can be encountered when making a recording. The more you can prepare yourself the less chance there is of something going wrong. However, due to the nature of the business you have to be prepared for things going wrong and try and deal with them without it having too much effect on your session. Try and stay calm and take breaks if necessary and make the best of the time that you have. A good quality recording that you can enjoy is a very satisfying thing to have and something you can take pride in for a long time to come.

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