ULTIMATE A-TO-D
Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Doug Eisengrein
Ever since the popularization of early digital audio workstations (DAWs) such as Digidesign Pro Tools and Steinberg Cubase, music recording and editing changed forever. Depending on whom you ask, computer-based recording is nothing short of a revolution or a complete disaster. For those keen on the promise of infinite possibilities such as unlimited track count, simplified cut-and-paste editing or wild signal processing, it's a revolution. For many analog purists who swear by the warmth of tape, it's a disaster that continues. No matter what side of the fence you're on, one thing is clear: The very heart of analog recording — the microphone — has indeed been affected. With recording mics digitally into a computer all but inevitable, you'll need some ways to enhance the process.
NO TALKING TRASH
Regardless of whether you are recording into a $500 laptop or a fully tricked-out workstation with Pro Tools HD, one thing always will be a staple of good recordings: quality microphones. Though the price of good mics has dropped over the past few years, there's no doubt that if you record a vocalist with a $30 Radio Shack special, you're just not going to match the quality of the same recording through a $500 condenser made by AKG or Beyerdynamic. The same applies to mic preamps. Do you think that those preamps retrofitted into common $150 to $300 do-it-all audio/MIDI USB interfaces can match a stand-alone mic pre that costs several times more and is designed to do only one job? Well, they can't. I'm not suggesting that you stop eating and start saving all your pennies in order to purchase quality (and typically more expensive) mics and preamps, especially in the case of the sterile world of digital recording. But you do need to remember the old recording adage: garbage in, garbage out. Mics and preamps are the very beginning of your recording chain; avoid skimping. As Billy Madison and sneaker pimps Nike put it, “Just do it!”
VACUUMS DON'T SUCK
It's important for every computer-based studio owner to own at least one piece of vacuum tube-based gear. It could be a mic, a preamp, a compressor or (my recommendation) a combination: a channel strip. Heck, even Korg added one to its massively popular digital-keyboard workstation, the Triton Extreme. One of the biggest criticisms of digital recording since its inception has been its cold sound. Regarding the digital versus analog debate, each has its merits; many studios have feet firmly planted in both worlds. But this much is axiomatic: Just as with guitar amps, real tubes in a signal chain undeniably warm up mixes in a way that nothing else can. In my opinion, this is especially important if the mixdown destination is a hard drive.
Another weak point of digital recording is the lack of tape saturation. When you overrun available headroom in the digital realm, it can be unforgiving and easily result in distortion. That is not as much the case with tape; tape typically allows much more signal overload before producing audible distortion. Either way, it is common in established venues for a compressor or limiter to exist in a microphone signal chain before the final recording destination. Because the possibility of distortion in disk-based recording is relatively high (particularly with quality, sensitive microphones), I highly recommended using a compressor or “brick wall” limiter between the microphone and hard drive if possible. Those can come in different forms: stand-alone units, features built into audio interfaces or features built into stand-alone mic preamps. A brick wall limiter (as opposed to just a compressor) provides the ability to set a certain decibel threshold, beyond which no matter how hot the incoming signal, the outcome will not pass. With those, however, your mic placement and preamp levels need to be treated with extra care; if the signal hits the wall too often, the resulting recording may lack dynamics and sound lifeless. Make sure your mic isn't too close to the source, and set your preamp at moderate levels such that only the loudest peaks will hit the wall. The same level of care should apply to any compressor usage.
SHELVE THE EQ
Some engineers like to use EQ to sculpt their mic signals on the way in, though others opt for minimal processing, leaving EQ to post-recording. The reasoning to save EQing for later is simple: EQ after the fact can be added, changed or removed, and by adding EQ to the input signal, the unique sound of mic and/or preamps can be encumbered. While a compressor also affects tone on the input signal, it serves a more utilitarian purpose; EQ is all about sculpting frequencies. If you use EQ on the way in, just remember: You can never remove it. We're not dealing with MIDI sequencing; if you capture that perfect instrument or vocal take, but you're unhappy with the EQ, you're stuck.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Here are a few last purely functional bits of advice. First, decide on a sampling rate for a song (including MIDI instruments, loops, etc.) and stick with it. Multiple sampling rates in a single song don't play well together; it can be time consuming and detrimental to a recording to have to constantly resample mic tracks. Also, always make sure the sampling-rate setting of the DAW and audio interface match. Next, if you plan to do any mobile recording, make sure that you invest in an audio interface with plenty of mic pres. Those are not common, so you may have to ask lots of sales questions. What good are a gazillion line-level inputs if you want to mic up a drum kit? Do your homework on this one.
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