Posts Tagged ‘Recording’
I often wonder whether recording a new album or song has just become too easy in the last two decades. With the advancements in recording technology, it is possible to inexpensively make a recording and get it out. Prior to the miniaturization of equipment and reduction in cost of quality microphones, it took a large sum of money to record a song or whole album.
With new compact gear and computer recording technology, it has become possible to almost record a whole song or album in a personal project studio, mix it down and publish it to the whole world in a number of different methods. This fast paced production in some ways, I feel, has allowed music quality to become mediocre rather than good. Combined with artists who are not good lyric writers, the number of songs which are considered timeless have depleted. We still turn to recordings which were done in the old fashioned method with dedication, time, and talent.
It may be a mixture consisting of the record companies and the artists that have allowed this to happen. Since the record companies are not as daring as they once were to accept new material, artists are not willing to expend the time to create material which will be overlooked. If cookie-cutter is what is being sought after by the labels, than nothing new will ever transpire unless independent labels take over.
We all can write a song and record it. The challenge is getting that song heard by the masses. In the days gone by, the only way to make it big was to get signed by one of the major record labels. There were no other mediums of getting your music heard. Now, there are many ways to publish that song (as long as the necessary copyrights have been filed). Some of those ways just to name a few are:
- Band or Personal web site
- MySpace
- Tunecore
The two most popular are definitely publishing the track on MySpace and/or listing the tracks for download on your own site. Facebook has just recently gotten into the music segment of the social networking game. If profit is part of the plan, one can use distribution services to help promote your name.
Let us not forget the method that can work wonders, word-of-mouth. With current technology, we can make copies of our works on CDs and MP3 on the computer and graphically make it look good. Make many copies of CDs or MP3s and hand them out to friends and family. If they think it’s good stuff, they will start the snowball effect rolling.
Another way of promoting yourself is to have someone host a performance featuring you either at their home or at the park. These concerts tend to be very personal, so make sure to have copies of your songs available to hand out. If the guests like what they hear, then others will want to have you play your songs at their events and the calls will start coming.
Even though it has become easier to get music out there for people to hear and experience, it involves a lot more time on the artists part to market. It is only after tons of hours of hard work and practice that one might get picked up by the big labels. In the meantime, we keep plugging along doing what we do best and that is writing great songs with great music and getting people’s opinions.
There is an organization that I have now had the privilege to work with for over two years now, Sweetwater Sound. The quality of service and support that I have gotten in choosing the right equipment for the job has been phenomenal. Unlike other companies that sell music and recording equipment, the sales engineers at Sweetwater know their stuff and give valid advice compared to sales clerks at other organizations who barely know what they are selling to you.
The greatest help I’ve gotten has been in selecting the gear for my new mobile recording venture, Streamin’ Sound. Even though the selection process included two different sales engineers, Brandon McSwain and Forrest Powell, both have steered me in the right direction as far as quality for on a shoe string budget. Even after the purchase, my current sales engineer, Forrest Powell, has been a great help in suggesting new approaches and worthwhile upgrades. The best part about working with them has been that I have a dedicated sales engineer who know me and my goals in music.
With regards to music, everyone at Sweetwater is involved in the music industry somehow. Most are musicians and recording musicians themselves so they assist from their own experiences. If they don’t know something they have gotten back to me right away either having spoken to a colleague or calling a manufacturer’s representative. In fact, recently, I have even received a courtesy call to tell me that my sales engineer was out on the road and would return my call when he returned.
I recall seeing an ad for Sweetwater a few years ago in a magazine and just put it aside as I was using another vendor for my audio equipment needs. When I began looking into establishing a recording studio, I found that the sales staff at my previous vendor was not familiar with what they were selling me. So, I decided to try the folks at Sweetwater. Since then, I have gone nowhere else for my recording and music equipment needs. Both Brandon and Forrest have been great in recommeding products based on the current industry and letting me what what new stuff is coming down the road. Once in a while I just give a call to my sales engineer to let him know what projects I’m working on and if he has any suggestions that could make the recording better.
I would recommend Sweetwater to anyone who is an electronic or recording musician. They have everything that you could want and if they don’t have it, they’ll get it for you. They’re just great to work with in general.
The technology to record music has become very easy to access and use. Years ago you needed to know someone who had a studio, fancy multi-track tape recorder, and expensive microphones to produce a record or CD. Now one can produce their own album with equipment just under $1000. The issue here is that since the software and recorders available can handle so many tracks, we can get easily carried away with the number of tracks and microphones in our recordings.
When recording first started almost 100 years ago, things were very simple. In fact, most studios did all recording with one microphone in the center of the room and the artists would be distanced from the microphone to produce the spacial feeling wanted. Take it, this was also in the days of mono recordings. As years past, recorders got better and the technology improved, but the accessibility still required knowing people. As recording matured, the ability to record and overdub on multiple tracks came into the forefront. With more tracks available, we are enticed to add more and more inputs. However, sometimes the best recordings are still accomplished with just the basics.
Whether it be a choral concert, instrumental concert, or band, we have the ability to over-mic. Some like to put a microphone on everything and others feel they can get the same result using 2 microphones in the room. What can be ironic is that some recordings done with two microphones end up sounding better than a recording with a whole cabinet full of microphones setup.
So, the next time you have a great song idea or a concert that should be recorded, remember to keep it simple and let the music be the focus, not the recording.