Making The Most of What You Have

If there's one secret to recording that I've learned over the years it's this:

Making a great master does not depend on the number of buttons and whistles you have. What is important is having a great song, played by great players, on great instruments, in a great room. All the other details are secondary.

The best pre-amp in the world isn't going to help a bad song, a bad band, an out of tune guitar, or a song recorded in a gymnasium. The key is found in the primary qualities of a project.

That being said, suppose you have all the necessaries for a great master, but only have one pre-amp or just a four-track analog cassette recorder? What then? Well, there's a key to making the most of what you have.

In my studio, I use Pro Tools LE 6.4 with a Digi002 interface. Tracks aren't a problem for me. My greatest shortcoming is a lack of gear. When I decided to get involved in recording, I chose to get one good microphone, one good pre-amp, and one good compressor. I think this was a wise decision. The other option was to get a number of second class components; the plus there is a variety of character in my recorded signals. I'll take the same class A signal over a second-rate signal any day.

The way I make the most of what I have is through a process of "bouncing" to disk. Bouncing originated with four-track recordings; with the Beatles, if I'm not mistaken. They often get credit for this, but someone else may have done this before them. Bouncing is a process of "reducing" many tracks to just one or two. If you figure that Sgt. Pepper was recorded on a 4-track recorder, you can see how bouncing can come in handy. Since I have an unlimited number of tracks, this isn't an issue for me...most of the time.

Where I find bouncing helpful is in applying an outboard compressor or a plug-in that eats up CPU power. Often I'll apply my Distressor to a vocal channel and "record" the new signal with an applied EQ (and Autotune if the client can't sing). My new channel has all of the sheen, dynamics, and tunage as the original track, except now I have an unused Distressor I can apply to another track. I also have extra CPU power at my disposal.

Aside from "bouncing," using analog/tube pre-amps can help digital recordings sound more pleasant. You don't have to take out a loan to get a decent tube pre. ART makes a great TUBE MP that has phantom power (for condenser mics) and an adjustable tube saturation. These boxes are particularly good on vocals. If you can afford to get a Vox Box, that's a great pre-amp...I think it's tube based. I don't have one of these. Warming up the signal a bit will ease up on the native shrillness of digital recorders.

If you only have four to eight tracks, reduction bouncing can be your friend. It also helps with your mixing; you'll have to commit to a signal as you bounce it. There's no turning back (that is, unless you have an "undo" feature; this is helpful but it also takes out the fun of commitment).