Over the years, lots of people have asked us how we do our recordings. And when I say “lots”, I mean more that one …. in these socially isolated times, that seems like lots to me.
Because we are an independent, unsigned, non-commercial musical collective, we have made very little use of proper studios, even when producing our albums. (We’ve released three, by the way, not that anyone’s counting.) In fact, all of our albums were recorded at home, using the tools available at any given time. In prehistoric times, that meant charcoal and flint. As the aeons passed, though, our tools got a bit sharper.
It will surprise few of you to learn that none of us has any training in audio engineering. What we know, we’ve learned largely through trial and error, partly through interacting with other, more knowledgeable people, and partly through reading articles, blog posts, etc. Hell, we’re musicians, not technicians, right? (Some might argue with the first claim in that sentence, but oh well … haters gotta hate.)
Over the course of Big Green’s forty some-odd year history, we’ve gone from recording on reel-to-reel decks, to bouncing tracks on multiple cassette machines, to analog cassette portastudios, to an 8-track DTRS system, to a 16/24-track Roland workstation, to various versions of Cubase, which is where we’re at now. It’s like we were born in the stone age and are now living in a soft-touch laser land. (I get whiplash just thinking about it.) But as far as the know-how to run this technology is concerned, well …. that’s another matter.
Suffice it to say that, like any indie band with zero budget, we have relied to a certain extent on the kindness of strangers, so to speak, to help us through the production and engineering work involved in any project. And thanks to the advent of the internet (a.k.a. that series of tubes), there are a lot of resources out there to help guide you through the fine points. Some are good. Some …. well …. not so much.
So, if you’re just getting started with recorded music and you don’t know how to begin, here’s a suggestion: check out this article by our friends at Beginner Guitar HQ entitled How To Record in Garageband. The thing we like about this piece is that it starts with software that comes with every Mac computer, so if you have access to a Mac, this can be really useful. The only hardware you need is a digital interface – we currently use a Focusrite Saffire DSP unit, but you can get units that do the same thing for a lot less, as this article suggests. The piece takes you through the process one step at a time, explains the basic concepts, and invites you to interact with the authors – not too shabby. (Wish to hell we had help like this when we were starting out, in those dark days before the internets.)
Anyway, you young people, you …. Give this a read and let us know what you think: