RECORDING ESSENTIALS
[ THE ART OF MAKING GREAT RECORDINGS PART I | Doug Doppler ]
While I don’t tend to be a fan of multi-part articles,
to think as both an artist and engineer, I am
challenges, our varied experience and financial
this topic is simply too important to cram into a
looking forward to serving up some great food
means can really limit our perspective on the
single issue. Capturing a great performance is
for thought, as well as some really practical
recording process. That is to say that if you’re
every bit if not more about the performance as
advice on how to raise the bar across the entire
sole recording experience is using Garage
is it about recording it. While it seems obvious
creative experience before, during and after
Band on an iPad, that is the lens through
that coaxing an inspired performance out
that little red light goes on.
which you’ll likely see the world of recording.
of a musician is an essential part of a great
Because of this I’d like to start by equalizing our
recording, most of the articles I’ve read on
BACKGROUND
recording offer little or no input on how to do
Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to work
collective perspective.
this. All of this is further complicated by the fact
with producers/engineers like Eric Valentine
LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD
that these articles tend to be written by and for
(Keith Urban, Maroon 5, Third Eye Blind, Slash),
To help level our collective playing field, looking
engineers. While honing our engineering chops
John Cuniberti (Joe Satriani, Chikenfoot, Dead
back at what’s been lost in translation as we’ve
is part of what we’ll be covering, we live in a
Kennedys, Jerry Garcia), and Richie Corsello
moved into the digital age is a great place to
day and age where many of us function as both
(McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans, Sonny Rollins, Greg
start our conversation. The producers and
the talent and the engineer. To me this means
Kihn) in some pretty amazing studios, most
engineers who showed me the ropes were
we’re probably having the wrong conversation
of which are now closed. Generations of
talking with me and not at me. They really cared
to begin with. To help bridge this gap, this
engineers got their start as interns, making
to pass on the things that shaped their careers
series of articles is going to be written from the
coffee and cleaning toilets before working their
with the hope that they could help shape mine.
perspective that the creative, recording, and
way up through the ranks. If they had talent,
It is in this exact spirit with which I’ll be writing
performance worlds have collided in a beautiful
a strong work ethic and the right attitude, the
this column.
way. Whether you’re an engineer wanting to
older cats would take them under their wing
make more inspired recordings, or a guitarist
and show them the ropes. As the heyday of big
THE DIGITAL VACUUM
wanting to capture the actual sound of your
recording studios declined, so did this process.
Today, it’s easy to live in a digital vacuum
guitar in the room, this series is going to have
something for you. For those of us who have
where we master how to harness technology
Although many of us share a common set of
without the benefit of knowing more about the
path that got us here. As recording in a home
studio has become the norm, a wealth of
experience-born knowledge has tragically been
lost along the way. It used to be that engineers
were a community of people working at one
or more studios, sharing their trade secrets,
and deconstructing those used on the latest
records. In those days people used much the
same equipment, which meant that the path
from point A to point B was much easier to
trace. Whether it’s Mac or PC, corporations
have made it their mission to separate us into
tribes instead of a community of recording
enthusiasts. While the iconic producers and
engineers might have had their preference
between a Neve or an API console, it all ended
up on a Studer 24-track machine. Because of
this, their collective experience was more alike
than not. This meant that a great sounding
record was the result of a great production.
40
Sep Oct 2016
ChristianMusician.com