CASA - the contemporary a cappella society

On Recording

Written by Wes Carroll

Friday, 12 August 2005

Hello, true believers! Wes Carroll here, fresh off the completion of the new House Jacks CD, "Fitchy & Grikko," with another installment for you. I figured today would be a great day to talk about recording, since that's what I've been spending most waking hours doing for what seems like forever now.

So you're ready to make your first recording? Or you've heard about how hard it can be and you're looking for tips to make the process easier? Or maybe you've done it before and you know how frustrating it can be to see your artistic vision melt in a tangle of blown budgets, scheduling mishaps, and technical mistakes. Fear not! I'm here to give you some help. Take my advice to get your album done faster, better, and easier.

First things first: get your arrangements worked out in advance. If you can't perform your part cold, you aren't ready to record.

Next things next: figure out your tempo. Perform the piece together with a metronome, changing the tempo around until all the performers agree that the tempo is right.

Then, either record your click, or have your engineer do it... but remember please that your click should mark sixteenth notes, not just quarters!

Now you're ready to go. From here, lots of other guides will give you even better advice than I can give you, but I will try to hit you with a couple of tidbits I find especially helpful as a vocal percussionist:

* Make sure you're comfortable when you're recording. Select a studio you like. Make sure you aren't in such an expensive studio that you're not going to be able to get your mind off the budget... but at the same time, don't go for such a low-budget place that you can't trust the engineer to do his job well. You've practiced a lot to get good; he should have, too.

* Decide at the outset how many tracks you're recording. Are you doing a single pass? Or will you have kicks, snares, and hats all on separate tracks? The choice is yours. I usually like to either record a single pass, or else a kick-and-snare track, a hats track, and a cymbals track. Your mileage, as always, may vary.

* Set the volumes right. Make sure you're listening to the right stuff during recording. You should be able to hear the click and the groove of the song clearly. Usually, the first person to record will be the scratch lead vocal, followed by you, so you won't have much to go on, but you should really make sure that you can hear the whole arrangement in your head when you lay down the drums. Keep it loose and flow. If you can't hear what you need, fix it until it's right.

* Work in sections. If you get a good take of the verse, stop and catch the rest of your breath before you head into the chorus. This recording's going to be around for a while, so make sure each measure is a great performance.

* When editing, be careful to balance your desire for a "perfect" track with the need to leave some "imperfections" in the recording. Those little ebbs and flows are what give your performance life.

Above all, remember: this may be your first album, but it won't be your last. Have fun and enjoy the process!

I'm looking forward to hearing your results!

Best,
Wes

The House Jacks' newest CD "Fitchy & Grikko" can be purchased at http://www.housejacks.com starting in early September.