Beginner's guide to Preduction/recording/engineering?

[mylovedenied]

Hi, I'm interested in learning how to record/engineer/produce music. All the stuff I see, well, I don't understand a bit. Can someone give me a basic idea of what equipment is used, what certain settings I'll need to know about, and other similar stuff? I am also taking an audio/recording class starting in September.

Thanks!

 

[Impy]

Start by reading a few books, Modern Recording Techniques by Huber for example.
Then get yourself some recording software and start playing around with that, best way to learn.

 

[EtherForBreakfast]

Yup.. read read read, and record record record.

There is never a set in stone "do this, do that" type thing when it comes to this stuff. I bet even Andy The Man has done some really whacky shit in the past that has yielded great results.

I'm still blown away by what he did on the new Nev... just RIGHTEOUS.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

I would say one mistake I made at first when I was first learning this crap was trying too hard. I suggest instead of trying to make everything sound perfect, you should just try and get it to sound decent, then MOVE on. How many hours have I spent trying to EQ a guitar tone that was hopeless from the start? I would say that when you start off, quantity is more important than quality, just because it'll get your ears better. Do as many projects as possible. Start with a 4 track and learn that sucker inside out or else all this other computer garbage may overwhelm you. And try to figure out who on this site actually knows what they're talking about!!!

 

[EtherForBreakfast]

LOL....

I dont think telling the dude to learn on a 4 track is very hip advice. =)

Just start with good gear... good card, good app, good PC. Bash about, twist knobs, read books, learn... Dont go blow 15 g's on a sick thing.. just spend about $1,500 or so on "good" gear.

This is the only field where you dont need book smarts or massive schooling. Unlike a heart surgeon... With audio your only victim is your ears (and others)... You cant exactly go about slicing up human beings and fucking about with their internals, because then you'd be a murderer...

With audio, its opposite.. you can choose to run a low pass at 6khz and make the most disgusting guitar sound ever - no harm done. +)

It's about fun too.. Should never ever be FRUSTRATING or aggravating... EVER. It's about making stuff for yourself. Just roll with it, fella'

 

[commandante]

I dont think telling the dude to learn on a 4 track is very hip advice.

I think it is actually a great advice. For someone who is just starting and willing to learn about all this stuff I can't see a better platform to begin. I saw it in my example. The first time I opened up Cubase I was just really overwhelmed because I just don't know what to do with it. Well I am still really overwhelmed by it even after doing some reading, researching and doing some recordings of my own. And yes I still get better sounding recordings on 4-track.

So yes as a pure newbie, I can safely say starting with an external 4-track is the best way to get you off the ground. Plus he or I might as well give up on "producing" tomorrow. What to the with the 1.500 USD worth of equipment then?

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

LOL....

I dont think telling the dude to learn on a 4 track is very hip advice. =)

I don't think the dude asked for hip advice. Anyway, commandante said it well: I think the last think a newbie would want is to get overwhelmed with all this software. By limiting yourself to a 4track, you're going to be forced to focus on the most important aspect of the recording process--getting a great sound out of your microphone. EQ, compression, rvb, all that should come later. I should have spent more time mastering my own 4track before spoiling myself with all that other stuff, which I still barely know how to use.

 

[Exsanguis]

I don't think the dude asked for hip advice. Anyway, commandante said it well: I think the last think a newbie would want is to get overwhelmed with all this software. By limiting yourself to a 4track, you're going to be forced to focus on the most important aspect of the recording process--getting a great sound out of your microphone. EQ, compression, rvb, all that should come later. I should have spent more time mastering my own 4track before spoiling myself with all that other stuff, which I still barely know how to use.

I completely agree. Learn the basics of recording, and the value of each track. That way, you'll be significantly less overwhelmed by the seemingly unlimited number of options, tracks, and effects when you move to a DAW. By understanding how each sound and mix is achieved and the importance of every track, you'll become a much stronger engineer, with a clearer focus. Go for it. Get a mic, a four track, a little reverb/delay box, and then record as much as possible.

 

[Mendel]

The source must be power full, not just fix it in the mix.
(first learn the basic's, then go further and further)

 

[Matt Smith]

Right on about the 4-track. That's absolutely the best way to learn basics.

Another good piece of advice, though it sounds so simple it's almost retarded, is to know what you want to hear coming back out of the speakers. That's one of the most simple, common sense things, but at least for me it's really easy to lose sight of and it took me awhile to kinda have that light bulb go off. It's easy just to tweak and tweak for hours and never know if you're really getting anywhere unless you have a plan: "This is what it sounds like coming out of the speakers. This is what I want it to sound like. Let me see if I can figure out how to make that happen."

Now granted making it happen is easier said than done a lot of times, but knowing your speakers and listening environment and knowing what it should be sounding like makes things go a lot faster in my experience.

Thanks Matt, what other common sense crap do you have for us today?

 

[vile_ator]

What Matt just said is one real key to being a good engineer. Like he said, experience with your listening enviornment and knowing what you want to hear back.

But it takes a lot of studying and practicing before you know that the sound you hear standing in front of a cab is not what is coming from the monitor and how do I know when I am there sonically? Takes time.

Also studying other people's releases, then asking the engineers, how they did that, or reading about it on line or whatever is great. Thats why this forum rocks so much!

I'll bet that half of all the CDs I have ever bought are not for the music, but to study the sounds.

Colin

 

[Ermz]

I think it is actually a great advice. For someone who is just starting and willing to learn about all this stuff I can't see a better platform to begin. I saw it in my example. The first time I opened up Cubase I was just really overwhelmed because I just don't know what to do with it. Well I am still really overwhelmed by it even after doing some reading, researching and doing some recordings of my own. And yes I still get better sounding recordings on 4-track.

Well I moved to Cubase after using Audition for a while, and the manual that comes with Cubase, along with pestering Hopkins constantly, got me where I needed to be.

I know it's pretty important to appreciate the value of tracks, and as such work in a very bare-bones 4-track environment... but it's just as easy these days to start on a program like Cool Edit and work from there. It isn't exactly rocket science to hit the 'record' button and understand that when you make sound, it gets recorded.

My personal suggestion would be to start on a program such as Adobe Audition or Cool Edit Pro and work from there. It worked for me, anyway!

One thing that's very important when you first start mixing is to have a refference CD of some sort. Say you want to do a Bloodbath cover.... load a Bloodbath track into one of the channels in whatever software you're working with and constantly compare your own mix to it, and use all the tools at your disposal to make it sound as similar as possible. After you get your 'wings' so to speak, you'll start being able to get more of an individual sound, that isn't based on plagiary.

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

Preduction is actually a cool shorthand for pre-pro.

I claim copyright here. Back off guys.

 

[Familia><Publica]

Moonlapse, you say you moved from audition to cubase. Does cubase offer things that audition doesnt. I tried sx 2 a while back and couldnt get on with it so i moved back to audition. Perhaps that was a bad move ?

 

[Ermz]

Cubase offers MIDI functionality. Audition only supports that at a very rudimentary level. Aside from that Cubase offers the ability to process tracks with effects in real-time, which is essential for someone like me who relies on software-based tone processors for their instrument tracks.

Cubase is also more versatile in terms of routing audio. I'm sure there are many more things it offers, but those that I listed alone constitute more than enough for me to have made my choice!

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

cubase is as good as anything else to learn on, although once you get to a certain level you'll probably want a more intuitive interface and such... which cubase doesn't have

 

[mylovedenied]

Thanks a lot, everyone, this is exactly what I was looking to find out. I'll defenitely be getting a 4-track soon.

 

[Exsanguis]

Great choice man. Just remember that there are no rules, and to have fun.