RE: [Harp-L] Recording in studio...advice?

["Ryan Hartt" <rhartt1234@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am going to contradict a lot of what has been said in this thread.

Getting a sound
Decide what kind of overall sound you what want for the CD and try to get a 
harp sound to match that. For a 50s room vibe close mic the harp AND get a 
room mic a good distance from the amp. When you mixdown you can mix in both 
mics and get a pretty impactful sound. As the singer I usually play harp 
right in front of the vocal mic and mix in the clean harp tone from my vocal 
mic into amplified harp sound. I usually record dry and add studio reverb 
and/or delay in mixdown. If you record an effect to tape and don't like it 
you are stuck with it.

Perfomance
Be relaxed. A couple of guys have said leave the booze at home and if you or 
anyone else in your band can't control themselves then yeah stick to water. 
But do whatever makes you comfortable yet still aware and in control. Most 
importanly have fun. The studio can be pretty intimidating and being uptight 
will definitely effect your performance. Keep your eyes and ears open and 
learn from your mistakes and each time you go into the studio it will be 
better and better and easier.
Don't be afraid to overdub and don't be afriad of digital editing. I am old 
school/traditional to a fault but in the studio I take advantage of all the 
technoology available to me. Just don't carried away. My guitar player and I 
have different levels of "carried away" and he can overdub or edit something 
100 times whereas If I don't get it in a couple of tries I don't get it. 
Both are valid and ultimately the only thing that matters is how the 
finished product sounds.


Be prepared but...
65 smackers an hour is no way to rehearse. Know what tunes you are doing and 
have the arrangements DOWN! Don't waste time and money on that malarkey. BUT 
if you have the time/money take some time and experiment. Try different 
micing positions, switch amps to fit the tune (if it's a rocker shoot for a 
gainier/crunchier tone, if it's a chicago blues go for a rounder cleaner 
tone etc.) Try making tunes up on the spot. Don't waste a lot of time 
working it out. Talk through it and try it once or twice, always with the 
tape rolling, and if it doesn't work move on. Some of the cooler things on 
my two CDs have started with somebody saying "I've always wanted too..." If 
you are not getting what you wanted out of the tunes you planned on 
recording taking a break and being sponataneous and creative can help you 
get back on track.

> From: "Chris Michalek" <Chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> With my CD the producer didn't like my solos (Eff him!!) so he
> directed to play what he thought was good.  Dumb idea.  Do what you
> do and play what you play.

I say if that's the problem you had you got the wrong producer. A good 
producer is there to help you get the sound you want, push you to do better 
and when neccasary step in and say "That's lame" "That sucks" or "that solo 
was way too long". A great producer will actually say "That was good let's 
do it again and try it like this..." I had Rick Holmstrom produce my first 
CD and he oversaw the tracking sessions on the second one but did not mix 
and we had learned a lot from the first CD and did a lot ourselves it so he 
did not want a producer credit. Either way he was a tremendous help. The 
right combination of studio know how, musicianship and he's just a hell of a 
nice guy. We told him we wanted the first CD to sound like the records he 
did with Johnny Dyer, a big 50s room sound, and he got that for us.

I think if you are going to spend the money to get a producer get someone 
who's work you admire. You'd be surprised who you can get just by asking and 
paying them.

> from: Keith Dunn <keith@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> It is important to remember that making records and playing live are two
> different skills that should be thought of as such. Some people think that 
> good
> records are made by mistake or luck.

Absolutely! What works live might not work on a recording and you might 
record something you would never do live. I think blues musicians need to go 
into the studio with some kind of concept/vision to keep every CD from 
sounding the same. My first CD I just kind of threw on whatever songs I had 
written most of which were in a 50s Chicago/west coast jump bag. The second 
one was similar but the feels were a little more varied perhaps too much so. 
To avoid making the same CD over and over I now have a much clearer and 
vision for the next CD and it will radically different from the previous two 
and the 4th will be just as different.

Ryan

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