My General Outlook on Recording..

So far, recording seems to be my passion. In my experience, the business of making music can be quite volatile, so I'm sure that will change based on my workload and the artists I am in close contact with. In the digital age, recording really is square one for your music. At this point, especially post covid, it is quite rare to come across your new favorite artist anywhere other than the internet. Wether that be hearing something new on a playlist, seeing a recommended post scrolling through your social media feed, or even a friend linking you to their latest find. ALL of those options are based in the band having their music RECORDED.

Enter the controversy…

I am very much in the camp preaching that capturing a ~performance~ is the most important aspect of recording. Even with all of our sexy digital plugins, time stretching, warping and all that fun stuff, human performance is still what connects us to the songs we love. Especially in more electronic genres, the vocal is often what draws us into the song. That is my staunch opinion. Debate me. Capturing a performance people can connect with is the name of the game.

It's all about the vibe… dude.

In order to get the artist's personality to pop through is speakers, they MUST be comfortable. The best engineers are often the ones that are the most likable and engaged in the project. I truly think one of the most powerful things we can do as engineers and musicians is turn down projects. The caveat to that is to redirect the work to someone who is more suited to the job. If I don't see us working well together, I will do everything in my power to help you find the right match.

On a more technical note.

All the hippie stuff aside, to call yourself a recording engineer, you've got to have the tech dialed in. For me, that means being incredibly well versed in phase relationships. you could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on microphones, the juiciest preamps and the coolest outboard compressors only to end up with thin, dead and bland recordings. If your songs are going to catch anyones ear, proper phase relationships will get you there. Phase will most definitely require a dedicated blog post.

In Conclusion…

Recording is a lifelong pursuit. I'm sure my opinions will change as my life goes on, but I tried to be as universal as possible in this post. These pillars of recording should ring true for an incredibly long time.