Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies

388 Pages·2014·6.37 MB·English

by  Jeff Strong

Home Recording
For Musicians
5th Edition
by Jeff Strong
Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies®, 5th Edition
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2014941049
ISBN 978-1-118-96801-7 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-96803-1 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-96768-3 (ebk)
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents at a Glance
Introduction ................................................................ 1
Part I: Getting Started with Home Recording ................. 5
Chapter 1: Understanding Home Recording...................................................................7
Chapter 2: Getting the Right Gear ..................................................................................17
Chapter 3: Getting Connected: Setting Up Your Studio ..............................................49
Part II: Recording 101 ............................................... 79
Chapter 4: Meet the Mixer ..............................................................................................81
Chapter 5: MIDI and Electronic Instruments ................................................................97
Chapter 6: Understanding Microphones.....................................................................111
Part III: Getting Ready to Record.............................. 137
Chapter 7: Getting a Great Source Sound ...................................................................139
Chapter 8: Taking a Look at Microphone Techniques ..............................................153
Chapter 9: Miking Your Instruments ...........................................................................167
Part IV: Laying Track: Starting to Record .................. 191
Chapter 10: Multitrack Recording................................................................................193
Chapter 11: Recording Audio .......................................................................................203
Chapter 12: Recording and Editing MIDI Data ............................................................211
Part V: Turning Your Tracks into a Finished Song ....... 227
Chapter 13: Editing Your Performance .......................................................................229
Chapter 14: Mixing Your Music ....................................................................................249
Chapter 15: Dialing In Signal Processors ....................................................................277
Chapter 16: Mastering Your Music ..............................................................................301
Chapter 17: Creating Your Finished Product .............................................................315
Part VI: The Part of Tens .......................................... 333
Chapter 18: Ten (Or So) Ways to Distribute and Promote Your Music ..................335
Chapter 19: Ten Invaluable Recording Tips ...............................................................349
Index ...................................................................... 355

Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................. 1
About This Book ..............................................................................................1
Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................2
Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................3
Beyond the Book .............................................................................................3
Where to Go from Here ...................................................................................3
Part I: Getting Started with Home Recording .................. 5
Chapter 1: Understanding Home Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Examining the Anatomy of a Home Studio ...................................................7
Exploring the recording essentials ......................................................8
Checking out recording system types ...............................................10
Getting a Glimpse into the Recording Process ..........................................11
Setting up a song ..................................................................................12
Getting a great sound ..........................................................................12
Recording ..............................................................................................12
Overdubbing .........................................................................................12
Making Sense of Mixing .................................................................................13
Cleaning up tracks using editing ........................................................13
Equalizing your tracks .........................................................................13
Processing your signal ........................................................................14
Blending your tracks ...........................................................................14
Adding the Final Touches .............................................................................14
Mastering your mixes ..........................................................................14
Putting your music out into the world ..............................................15
Promoting your music .........................................................................16
Chapter 2: Get ting the Right Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Determining Your Home Studio Needs .......................................................18
Detailing Your Digital Options .....................................................................20
Computer-Based Digital Recording Systems ..............................................22
Finding the right computer setup ......................................................23
Getting the sound in and out ..............................................................25
Choosing the right software ...............................................................30
Studio-in-a-Box Systems ................................................................................33
Taking a look at the benefits ..............................................................33
Examining some popular SIAB systems ............................................34
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Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies, 5th Edition
Mobile-Device Recording ..............................................................................35
Android .................................................................................................35
Apple iOS...............................................................................................36
Windows................................................................................................38
Stand-alone Recorders ..................................................................................38
Examining Analog Goodies ...........................................................................40
The tube stuff .......................................................................................41
Tape saturation emulators .................................................................42
Reality check ........................................................................................42
Exploring Sample Setups ..............................................................................42
Live and MIDI studio ............................................................................43
MIDI-intensive studio ...........................................................................43
Live studio ............................................................................................45
Chapter 3: Getting Connected: Setting Up Your Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Understanding Analog Connections ............................................................49
The ¼-inch analog plug .......................................................................50
XLR .........................................................................................................53
RCA ........................................................................................................53
Delving into Digital Connections .................................................................54
MIDI ........................................................................................................54
AES/EBU ................................................................................................55
S/PDIF ....................................................................................................55
ADAT Lightpipe ....................................................................................56
TDIF........................................................................................................56
USB .........................................................................................................56
FireWire .................................................................................................57
Thunderbolt..........................................................................................58
Sampling Some Studio Setups ......................................................................59
Audio with some MIDI .........................................................................59
MIDI-intensive setup ............................................................................62
Live audio..............................................................................................62
Working Efficiently ........................................................................................66
Taming heat and dust ..........................................................................68
Monitoring your monitors ..................................................................68
Optimizing Your Room .................................................................................69
Isolating sound .....................................................................................69
Controlling sound ................................................................................72
Part II: Recording 101 ................................................ 79
Chapter 4: Meet the Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Meeting the Many Mixers .............................................................................81
Analog mixer .........................................................................................82
Digital mixer .........................................................................................83
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Table of Contents
Software mixer .....................................................................................84
Computer control surface...................................................................85
Understanding Mixer Basics ........................................................................87
Examining inputs .................................................................................87
Checking out the channel strip ..........................................................89
Recognizing mixer routing ..................................................................94
Opting for outputs ...............................................................................95
Chapter 5: MIDI and Electronic Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Meeting MIDI ..................................................................................................98
Perusing MIDI ports .............................................................................98
Understanding MIDI channels ..........................................................100
Appreciating MIDI messages ............................................................101
Managing modes ................................................................................102
Taking orders from General MIDI ....................................................102
Gearing Up for MIDI .....................................................................................103
Sound generators ...............................................................................104
Sound card ..........................................................................................108
MIDI controller ...................................................................................109
Sequencer ...........................................................................................109
MIDI interface .....................................................................................110
Chapter 6: Understanding Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Meeting the Many Microphone Types ......................................................111
Construction types ............................................................................112
Polarity patterns ................................................................................118
Assessing Your Microphone Needs ..........................................................122
Deciding How Many Microphones and What Kind ..................................123
Getting started ...................................................................................123
Movin’ on ............................................................................................124
Going all out........................................................................................125
Finding the Right Mic for the Situation .....................................................127
Partnering Mics with Preamps ...................................................................130
Solid-state ...........................................................................................130
Vacuum tube ......................................................................................131
Hybrid ..................................................................................................131
Considering Compressors ..........................................................................132
Analyzing Some Microphone Accessories ...............................................133
Microphone cords .............................................................................133
Microphone stands ............................................................................133
Pop filters ............................................................................................133
Caring for Your Microphones ....................................................................134
Daily care ............................................................................................135
Storage ................................................................................................135
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Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies, 5th Edition
Part III: Getting Ready to Record .............................. 137
Chapter 7: Getting a Great Source Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Making Sense of the Signal Chain ..............................................................139
Setting Optimal Signal Levels .....................................................................141
Understanding Pre and Post Levels ..........................................................143
Interpreting the various levels .........................................................143
Looking at examples ..........................................................................144
Getting a Great Guitar Sound .....................................................................146
Creating a Killer Keyboard Sound .............................................................147
Making the Most of Microphones ..............................................................148
Placing mics properly........................................................................149
Compressing carefully.......................................................................149
Chapter 8: Taking a Look at Microphone Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Singling Out Spot Miking .............................................................................154
Detailing Distant Miking ..............................................................................156
Assessing Ambient Miking ..........................................................................157
Selecting Stereo Miking ...............................................................................159
X-Y pairs ..............................................................................................160
Blumlein technique ............................................................................161
Spaced pairs .......................................................................................162
Stereo microphones ..........................................................................163
Overcoming problems with stereo miking .....................................164
Creating Miking Combinations ...................................................................166
Chapter 9: Miking Your Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Getting a Great Lead Vocal Sound .............................................................168
Making the most of the room ...........................................................168
Choosing the best mic .......................................................................168
Getting Good Backup Vocals ......................................................................171
Examining Electric Guitar Miking ..............................................................173
Using the room ...................................................................................173
Getting the most out of the mics .....................................................173
Exploring Electric Bass Miking ..................................................................175
Managing the room ............................................................................175
Getting the most from the mic .........................................................175
Miking Acoustic Guitars and Similar Instruments ...................................176
Making the most of the room ...........................................................176
Using your mics..................................................................................176
Maneuvering Horn Mics ..............................................................................178
Understanding the role of the room ................................................178
Making the most of the mics ............................................................178