The Second Stage of Mixing: Tracking

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that mixing does not begin during or after tracking, but before during the writing process. I hope you all read that, if not, here it is. Today we will elaborate on all of that and enter the tracking process, or stage two of mixing.

The most important thing is a theme I often touch on: always, always keep your end goal in mind. Specifically this time, your sonic end goal. Know what you want your songs to sound like before you go into any project. This is yet another place where an experienced producer comes in handy. If you don't have the budget for one, then start going through you music collection and finding albums that have similar sonic qualities your looking to have on your record; i.e. guitar tones, drum tones, vocal effects, over all feel, etc.

These things are sometimes very hard to identify for the untrained ear, but find things you think sound great and get them to your engineer (or preferably a producer) weeks before tracking begins so that the whole team is on the same page.

During tracking, banish the motto "oh, we'll fix it in the mix" on day one. That is usually an excuse to not do it right the first time. Instead of thinking, oh we can just EQ the hell out of it when mixing, get the right tones when tracking through instrument choice and the experience of your engineer and/or producer. (See my blog on preparing for recording: Tuning and pre-production.)

For guitar tracks, pick the right guitar, the right amp, and in all cases, an engineer who knows what microphones to choose and how to use them. If you don't have the right guitar or amp (or any of the following things) go on a borrowing campaign. Find friends, or other bands who like your music, and beg if you have to. If you need helping choosing or finding those things, consider hiring a producer :-).

When it comes to drums, make sure they're tuned and make sure the pieces you have are going to get you the tones you want (such as a lower or higher pitched snare drum). If the kit you have doesn't fit what you need, and the studio doesn't have a house kit, then beg/borrow to get what you need. Offer to put new heads on the drum that you borrow and tell the owner they can keep them when the recording is done. Trust me, the cost of a new drum head will be worth it because if you don't record the right sounding drum and have to use a sample in the mix, you'll end up paying more than the cost of the head in time spent placing the sample.

When tracking bass, make sure you have a good sounding instrument and possilby replace the strings (again, depends on the sound you're going for). If your bass rig doesn't sound that great or is super muddy, then do not insist on using it during tracking, you'll just be wasting time. Instead, you could just record direct or, or preferably borrow a great sounding rig. If you can't borrow the good amp by the time you're supposed to record your parts, track them direct and re-amp later.

All that said, the "oh, we'll fix it in the mix" strategy is sometimes your only choice. When you've exhausted all your borrowing options for better gear and come up empty handed, and when there's no budget for rental, then you just have to do the best you can and sometimes use some mixing sorcery to get it where you want it. This, however, should never ever be the first option. The first priority of any engineer and/or producer should be getting it right the first time using things like microphone choice and placement techniques. If you're working with a production team that wants to make "fixing it in the mix" their first option, then you should seriously consider finding a new place/team to record your album. Just remember, there's nothing worse than doing it right the second time.