datamusicata

Today I am finishing up my taxes and can get back to my new solo recording, Backstage At The Resurrection.   And one of my goals when I return to it, after not hearing it for almost a week, is to see what I can take out; what I can do to simplify the recording and still leave it happening.

What I mean is, I may have  a favorite lick that I played, but it might be over a lyric, or it might be too busy, or it might simply be too thick; too many guitars, vocals, whatever.

You may recall I talked about serving the song when you are performing it, and the same holds true for the recording of it.  

It is good to try everything and see what works, but then you have to do some editing.   Not everything works; not everything is great; not everything serves the song.

Start out  by muting every channel and then bring in the bass, drums, one chord instrument (keyboard or guitar) and the lead vocal.   Listen to it just like that.

Then add the percussion (shakers, tambo, timbales, etc) and the background vocals.    Is it happening?  Is it as good as when everything is in?

Now when you add these things you can tell where they might not be needed and where when they are introduced they have some dramatic impact as well as kicking up the groove a notch or two.

Today I begin thinning things out and seeing what really works.   Which reminds me, one of the other things that I do is listen to several tracks solo’d.

For instance I’ll listen to the rhythm guitars and the lead guitar;  or the lead guitar and the bass;  or just drums and bass.   Sometimes a player you’ve hired (or you, yourself)  will come up with a part you love and you don’t realize that it is conflicting or not grooving with another part.

As you produce and record, you begin to develop selective hearing, meaning that you can just zero in on the bass or shaker and not really hear the rest.    But that can also become a problem in that while zeroing in on the bass you may not notice that the snare has disappeared. 

That’s why I like the listening to just a few tracks against each other.  Just to be sure that this thing is in the pocket all the way around. 

When we were recording analog, we would have to literally “fly” a part in if the groove was interrupted but in this digital age, you can fix anything that isn’t working and still maintain the basic integrity of the track.

And remember, serve the song.   You don’t want to take a microscope to the  recording and “fix” the life out of it.  You just want to serve the song; serve the recording.

Now back to work.