1. Fat in/ fat out, thin in/thin out – use a good preamp. There is no way to fix a weak signal later. All preamp, EQ, and compression is going in, not later.
2. Put each instrument you record in it’s own EQ range going in via high pass and low pass filter
3. compress what’s weak, limit what’s over, again, going in not later
4. record in mono, use stereo reverb later for width. An exception may be piano and drums, but not always.
5. record dry, reverb on monitor only. add reverb later
6. mix in mono, then pan to stereo, placing instruments according to an imaginary clock, ie bass at 11:00, acoustic guitar at 2:00, and so on.
7. use the same stereo reverb on all tracks via aux in, stereo out
8. Never use headphones for final reverb level. Do this on monitors or you will have too much reverb.
9. You need to know only three mics: A Shure SM58, a Shure SM57, and a Stereo Ribbon with mono/stereo switch. The SM58 is for vocals, the SM57 is for amps, horns, and acoustic guitars, and the ribbon is for drums (from front and over the set) and for piano ( lid open high).
10. Curtains, wooden floors, and nice throw rugs are the functional sound furniture of a good studio, and never sing thru headphones.
randy lin guitar 