RECORDING ON THE CHEAP, PART 1

STUDIO TIME FOR YOUR MUSIC CAN BE FREAKIN' EXPENSIVE. BUT IT DOESNíT HAVE TO BE. HERE ARE SOME COST EFFECTIVE WAYS OF RECORDING A DEMO WHILE STILL MAINTAINING A POSTITIVE BANK ACCOUNT.
by A. RAITANO

Admit it, you want to show the world how interesting and talented your band is. Clubs in your town need to hear your band and book it for the next available weekend opening up for Quiet Riot or Cat Power. Well, my friends, what you are gonna need, amongst other things (like a polished press kit or at least strong jaw muscles), is a demo of your awesome music. This is so venue owners and bookers can get a good sense of what you sound like. And a demo makes a great gift for your mother. Trust me, sheíll love it.

How to go about it? What is the best and easiest way to make a demo? Well, there are a few ways to go about it. One is have a friend that has recording equipment already and convince him or her to record you for free. This is always a good prospect as there is a large pool of people in this city with such devices that are willing to show off their producing prowess. The only problem with this method is that almost invariably, ìJackî, or whoever is recording your band, will assume some creative control and all of a sudden you have vocals that sound like you recorded in a cavern somewhere or there is flange all over your drums. Bad News.

Another way is to pay for time at a reputable studio with a respectable engineer, spend a few days in front of vintage ribbons mics and a U-47, and kick out three or four high quality, album worthy tunes. Anywhere from $150 and per day, two days minimum, can end up costing anywhere between $300 or more of your hard earned gig money that you havenít spent on PBR or strings. And letís get serious, you are recording a demo and a demo is really only good for one thing: getting shows. The quality of the recording doesnít have to be Rick Rubenesque, it only has to prove that your music wonít clear the room at showtime.

Which brings me to my point. In all reality, you are going to spend at least two days in a studio and itís going to cost you about $500. Thatís before mixing. I know; Iíve done it. I ended up mastering the mixes at home on my shitty little computer and, after a week of headphone, monitor, tweak, headphone, monitor, tweak, out came a demo that was actually supposed to be a full album. The only reason we went to a studio. See the dilemma?

I suggest a better way to go is to buy some cheap recording equipment. Is your band solid live? You can use a Minidisk recorder ($150) with an inexpensive condenser ($60 to $100). Wanna track? Get a low mileage blackface Alesis ADAT. You can find them on Ebay for around $200 if the wind is blowing right. But then you need a mixing board and outboard effects not to mention mics. Tascam makes four track recorders starting at $99. Fostex, same thing. Though they delve more into the digital realm. The MR-8, for example, is an eight-track, two simultaneous, digital recorder with built in mastering capabilities, and itís only $299. And you have the option of dumping the raw files on your computer for ultimate mixing capabilities. You do have a computer, right. Of course you do.

Use it. It is a little workshop. Of course you canít expect your PII with 48 MB of RAM to do you right. Upgrade the sucker. I did, from a 333mhz with 128MB RAM to a P4 1.8 Ghz with 256 RAM and a forty gig hard drive for two hundred bucks. Donít know how to do any of that stuff? Ask your computer geek friend. you know you have one. They are usually more than happy to feel useful.
Now youíve spent two hundred bucks on upgrading. You need a way to get the music into the computer. Well, most computers have a built in sound card that you can plug directly into. Another option is to add on sound cards. The M-audio MobilePre ($150) is a two input with USB interface and phantom power for your condenser mic ($70). And, yes, you are going to need a condenser mic. Great for vocals and acoustic guitars.

Want more recording channels? Most likely, if you are going to want a decent drum sound. The Audiosport Quatro ($260) has four input channels as well as a MIDI interface. All these options are near, if not way under, the $500 mark. And those prices are for new products. Look on www.craigslist.org. Go to Trade Up or Old Town. The vintage stuff will be expensive but a used 424mkIII can be marked down over 50% to $175. Of course, there always is the tried and true method of bouncing tracks on your dual cassette recorder. The main point is to make sure your music doesn't suck.

Now, if youíre gonna want to do this right you are going to need at least two mics, four is preferable. Ask around. Believe me, you know somebody with mics. Get some headphones, one for each member of the band. You are also going to want to have at least two simultaneous recording inputs. Again four is preferable. Why four? Because youíre gonna want to record drums. That is to say, two that hang overhead (to get the cymbals and the toms), one for the snare and one for the bass. Sean Flora of the Alberta Music Collective tells me that two unsoiled 57ís make fine overheads and the 12 inch cone of a guitar amp makes a palatable kick drum mic. Record the song as a band but only keep the drum tracks. Then you can use those same drums tracks later when you overdub the guitar and bass parts. Experiment. Have fun. Thatís why you are doing this, right?

I suggest the large diaphragm condenser mic for vocals. Most people do, I think. They are warmer sounding, have hotter levels and are way cooler to sing into. Thereís nothing better than singing into a condenser set inside a shockmount. But you need what is called phantom power, which is just extra voltage that powers the microphone. You can buy phantom power boxes or, even better, a microphone preamp, such the ART tubeMP, or the PreSonus TUBEpre (both $100). Also, most mixing boards now come with a +48v option.

The whole point I am trying to make is, for about the same price as a couple days in the studio you can buy a workable, albeit simple, recording setup for your own home that you are able to use at any time you want. No, it wont take the place of Studio Awesome down the street that just got done recording the new YourFavoriteBand album, but it will be enough to get your amazing compositions on record. Then you can start passing your creations out to clubs and other musicians. And donít forget your mother and friends; you know, to let them know what you are doing when you arenít calling them back or hanging out with them. Besides, a small home studio is always nice to have around when inspiration strikes.

Now, I know that many of you have limited funds and a full albums worth of songs that you want to get down, have pressed and shrink wrapped for the tour you are currently booking. Nothing but the sound of the studio will do. Next issue I will be discussing just that: how to record and mix an album in the shortest time possible, with commentary by the experts. For the time being, Tape Op is a bimonthly periodical, created by Larry Crane of Jackpot! Studio, that gives sound advice and helpful tips on recording by the leading engineers in the field. Go to www.tapeop.com and get a free subscription to his magazine. Until next time. -mlp