Recording Part Three, and the difficulty of Mixing
Today we are going to the studio again to record the rest of the drums. Feels nice. Rehearsals have been going great and our playing has improved. I mean, there has been a real drive and flow a couple of times. And that only comes through playing together a lot.
So the day will start by assembling the system, drums and mics. Then we'll just sit and listen as the drummer does his amazing job. and then we'll criticize the hell out of it so he will leave the room crying. And then we'll pat him on the back and say that he's an ok drummer... that's how it goes for most bands? No?
Yeah, I guess it's still kind of hard for me to say out loud that I want something differently. But I've been practicing a lot in rehearsals. The problem with recording is not necessarily bad playing, it's more like too much stuff. Especially in drumming. Singers just fuck up all the time and forget lyrics. In their own songs! At least I do. And then I take the overly perfectionist role and re-do lines that were quite good the first time. Anyway, my job in drum recording today is kind of producing, telling what I want and don't want.
The guitarist does most of the mixing. My role is just to stand there and comment. To be the fresh ears. Also to tell what I want or don't from the songs. But it's proven to be really difficult. We have several reference songs to compare to, which have been mastered of course. We have acquired good monitors and do the works mostly through them and not earphones. But listening to the whole sound and knowing what can be done to improve it is an art form. Nothing less. And we're just learning.
As a singer I tend to listen to the vocals, of course, more than anything else. But the nature of vocals, especially female higher vocals, is such that it comes through a lot of mass. So maybe I needn't worry so much, except if there are low notes that drown in the general sound. The second thing I always listen to is keyboards/synths. Can I hear the melodies that I put in there? Sometimes there is imbalance, so we need to figure out why. It might be because of the loudness of the track or other tracks, but it also might be because of the nature of the synth sound itself, or the effects I put in there. Sometimes a different sound will work better. Same goes with all instruments.
Of course there are general rules on how to make a recording sound good. The guitarist has done this before, too, on several records. He's doing the most work on this, and I must say he's done a great job! But it's a world of endless possibilities and everything you do affects all else. And it's just dawning on me, the clueless singer. So, why do it yourself anyway? Well, we want to learn. And we have agreed that mastering is probably going to be done by a professional.
But today is the time to complete the recording process for drums. More on mixing and stuff later on!
