RECORDING
WHAT MAKES A GREAT RECORDING GREAT, PART 1 | Doug Doppler
You wouldn’t be reading this article if you didn’t potential missteps that lead you away from With that in mind, I encourage you to take a look
have at least some level of interest in the art of your goals, and in turn help you identify what at what was on your list and in turn look at what
recording, so with that in mind, I want to pull step(s) to take if you’re feeling stuck. wasn’t and identify those elements as potential
everyone a bit deeper into the creative end of
the recording pool!
blends spots that offer you a creative journey as
With all that in mind, I want you to take a moment you explore hearing things through each of the
and think about three songs that inspire and lenses. For some of you that paradigm shift will
These days, I spend a lot of time thinking move you deeply, and in so doing start a journal be revolutionary, which is awesome!
about how to make learning an inspirational in an app like Notes, documenting what it is journey driven by a creative process. And to about those recordings that speaks to you. Is By becoming a holistic listener, you’re better
me, this is the heart and soul of what makes it the words, arrangement, lead or background able to become a holistic creative who has
a great recording great – a creative process vocals, instrumentation, recording fidelity, or just developed a process for hitting the various
of songwriting, arranging, recording, and a blend of the aforementioned things? You will checkboxes that make for a great recording.
mastering that takes the end user on an probably find that there is a common thread of Chances are we’ve all heard songs that were
inspirational journey. One of the other things things that float your auditory boat. In the same brilliantly recorded yet still sound flat. Likewise,
I love doing these days is something I call way that FOH engineers who play drums can I have personally heard tons of great songs and
‘flipping the script’ – envisioning things from the fixate on the drum sound, we too focus on the musical performances that were literally lost in
end of the process looking back as opposed things we are drawn to. Practically speaking, the mix. While it’s easy to fixate on one or the
to focusing on what appears to be the next this means that if you’re a guitar player, don’t other, great recordings are a blend of a lot of
obvious step. Through that lens it is a lot easier let your love of guitar in the mix compromise the things, not the least of which is anointing.
to make those steps with confidence, identify vocal blend that pulls ‘the average’ listener in.
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May 2019
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