We looked at quick-and-easy
solutions for capturing
musical ideas in the last issue,
using everything from handheld
digital recorders to compact multitrack
devices [
“Instant Capture,”July 2011]. Let’s continue with the
theme of convenient recording,
but change our perspective slightly.
Capturing ideas is one thing, but
making final master recordings is
something else. For this, we’ll usually
want a more full-blown studio
including a DAW (digital audio
workstation), some studio monitors,
a nice mic or two (or many
more), maybe an outboard preamp
(or more), mic stands, cables,
patchbays, etc.
Having all this gear is necessary
for the flexibility to make
recordings in different ways, and
with higher fidelity than we can
achieve using the down-and-dirty
recorders we talked about last
month. But—as we also discussed—when it comes to recording,
it’s critical to be able to get
into action quickly. When you’re
ready to lay down tracks, do you
really want to spend a half hour
or more getting everything out,
cabled up, set in place, booted,
and ready to record? If you’re like
me, you have limited time to
work on your recordings. Why
not spend that available time
actually making recordings, instead
of messing with the gear?
With that in mind, here are
some tips for setting up your
studio so you can quickly get into
action. I’ll assume your studio is
set up somewhere that you can
safely leave things, and that you
don’t have to tear down completely
after each session.
Prep your DAW.
The biggest time-saver as far
as your DAW is concerned is
having the setup work done in
advance. Create a template or
templates that cover your basic
needs. Create blank tracks, set up
the routing to get mics into the
tracks, set up your headphone
mix, initiate the reverb you usually
use during tracking, and so on.
Basically, prepare an entire DAW
session, but save the file as a template
before you record anything
into it. Then, when you do get
into the studio to start recording,
just load up the template, save
it under a new name, and get to
work. Creating well-appointed
templates will save a ton of time
at the start of each session.
Hardwire as much as possible.
Most commercial studios use
patchbays to centralize all the
connections for their gear, and to
allow any piece of gear to be connected
to any other piece of gear
or mixer input or output. This
flexibility is necessary because
there are many different clients
using the room, each of whom
wants things set up in a slightly
different manner. But in our
studios, we are the client, and
we don’t need all that flexibility.
I find it far more efficient to
directly connect my gear, without
patchbays. This saves time
by not having to hook things up
before each session, and the signal
is cleaner as well since there
are less connectors and cables
in the path. I’ve got my mic
preamps wired straight to my
DAW interface’s inputs—I use
an interface with enough inputs
so all my preamps can always be
connected—and everything else
is hooked up and instantly ready
to use. This saves having to find
cables, crawl behind the racks,
and make the connections (I
never have to re-patch). It really
adds up when you save a minute
or more for each connection at
each session.
Have your most-used mics out
and on stands.
I won’t argue that it’s safer for mics
to be stored in their cases and/or
a cabinet. But the trade-off is the
time it takes to go to the cabinet,
find the mic, get it out of its case,
put the shockmount or clip on
the stand, and insert the mic on
the stand mount. All that time
adds up and not only slows down
the initial launch of the session,
but also slows things down every
time you want to use a different
mic. Try keeping a few often-used
mics out and on stands, ready to
go. That said, it is wise to make
or find a cover that can be slipped
over each mic, protecting it from
dust when not in use.
Make connecting mics easy.
As a corollary to the last tip,
make it easy to get your mics
into your preamps. Since most
mic pres are rackmount units
with the connections on the
back, you have to crawl or reach
behind the rack every time you
want to connect a cable. You
could “permanently” connect a
cable to each preamp input that
can be hung off the rack for easy
access, but that can get messy.
Or, you can do what I did—purchase
an XLR patch panel that
mounts into the same rack as the
preamps. The mic preamp inputs
hook up to the back of the XLR
patch panel using short mic
cables. Hooking up a mic up to a
particular preamp is now fast and
easy—just connect the mic cable
to the mic and to the appropriate
XLR connection on the front of
the patch panel.
Keep necessary accessories
handy.
I have a rackmounted drawer
right below my DAW interface
that holds a guitar tuner, a few
adapters, picks, a slide, a capo,
spare batteries, and other items
that I often use when recording.
The key is not loading the drawer
up with a bunch of junk. Limit
the drawer to the essential accessories
you use on every session.
The more you can have your
studio set up, configured, and
ready to record, the faster you can
get into action when inspiration
strikes. Try this the next time you
set up your studio for a session.
Get it completely ready to go, as
if you were about to hit the record
button. Now, what can you do
to pre-prepare your studio and
rig so the minimum amount of
time is required to get it to that
record-ready state? The idea is to
minimize the amount of work you
have to do before each session, so
you can instantly get down to the
real thing—the creative work of
recording music.
Mitch Gallagher is
the former editor in chief of
EQ magazine. He’s written
more than 1000 articles
and six books on recording
and music technology, and
has released an instructional
DVD on mastering. His upcoming book is
entitled
Guitar Tone: Pursuing the Ultimate
Electric Guitar Sound. To learn more, visit
mitchgallagher.com.