Although I have mentioned these things in other pages, I want to clarify what each problem was and how I resolved or worked around them.
GUITAR
Throughout my guitar recording, I intended to use the studio and booked in advance to ensure that I had time to record guitar using the desk for a DI track and an amp mic track. However, as bands were very busy rehearsing for the upcoming gig, I rarely had any time when the studio was quiet enough to get a good, clear take of the guitar part without any major background noise. The vents in the studio shook violently with most songs that were played, which was picked up through the mic, even if I boosted the amp turned down the track gain on the desk. Even then I encountered issues, as the tone had obviously changed from how it sounded previously, and I was still hearing a lot of noise.
Instead, I chose to record from home. Previously, recording through my own mic and amp has sounded dull and quiet. This time, I had learnt how to properly set up a mic for amp recording to my taste, learnt the level required for an amp to pick up a clear recording and I am a lot better at mixing than I was last year. I used my macbook, focusrite solo interface, a subzero stage amp, an akg p120 condenser microphone, a cheap xlr cable, and fed this audio through the newest version of Logic Pro.
For the DI tracks, I recorded the song in multiple takes as for some reason I feel perfection is more necessary in DI recording than through an amp as it’s more pure. I joined each track together, panned the track to the left, duplicated the track, panned that one to the right and made one of the recordings offset by a few milliseconds to create the illusion that the recording is two different recordings.
I think I did well to overcome the problem of experiencing too much noise in the studio, as booking other slots wouldn’t work as they were unavailable or the band would have booked next door, and I couldn’t afford to record in another studio. I chose the inexpensive route, yet completed all guitar recordings to a standard that I am happy with.
DRUMS
My practice took place over a month of consistent, scheduled time periods. I focused on accuracy and duration, slowly working up to speed. I was getting videos of rehearsals that I would have used for the actual recording, given I was able to play for the full duration of the four minute song.
After all of this practice, I found myself feeling incredibly intimidated by the time it came to recording after a few half takes. I kept going at it, with a break in-between to recover and let myself calm down. Even then, I kept trying to record takes and just couldn’t get past a minute or two of recording and the takes would always be shaky. Eventually, I stepped out for another breather and bumped into staff, who told me that I am running out of time and need to get it done.
The easiest solution for the moment was to ask someone to record for me, so I first asked Cody, and then Lewis asked Evan to take over. We got a good take with Evan, and I reluctantly had to stop trying to record as we were running out of time for the session and in the project. If I had continued, I would feel as though I was wasting time on something impossible.
I’m not satisfied with the way that I dealt with this. I had time to book more studio days and time for further rehearsal, as well as practice recordings. I should have booked a practice recording day and then an actual recording day to make sure I was prepared and comfortable to record me playing drums. This is one instance that I feel I should have worked in my own way rather than having staff rush me, as I had weeks to go to the end of the project and could mix everything else and adjust after drums had been recorded in another session.