Tricks For Your Tracks

NC Piedmont Triad Edition

A Publication of The Community Arts Cafe, Inc.

Tricks for your Tracks is a column for the project studio musician & engineer that offers tips designed to help make your studio a better & more fun place to create music.

Often, keyboards & basses are recorded directly onto the track without using an amp & microphone. If the track lacks depth or punch, try re-amping the sound. Take the track & run it into an amp, & then record the amp onto a separate track. Experiment with different mics & placements. When mixing blend the two tracks together. Also, try re-amping using the monitor speakers.

When recording drums, often each drum will be individually mic'd. If this is causing your drum tracks to sound smeared or poorly defined, the problem may be too much leakage or crosstalk between all the mics. Fewer mics may be the solution. Try one mic each for the kick & snare plus one or two overhead or in the room. When setting up the overheads on boom stands, consider an additional anchor with sandbags on the bases.

Check the placement of the floor toms. If the head of the drum is parallel to the floor there may be problems with phase cancellation. Consider the sound waves going straight down, hitting the floor & coming straight back up. Adjusting the angle of the drum may help diffuse the sound.

For questions, comments & inquiries, contact Bil Jenko: biljenko@email.com