I just started my own music using a Tascam 8-track recorder. I know very little about mixing, ?

Question

and sound engineering. Can anyone give me some basic pointers that will help me right from the start (i.e. which way to pan backing vocals, which tracks to lay first, etc.)? Any helpful hints would be appreciated. My first coupla song attempts are very poor overall sound quality and I would like to bring them up. Thanks

Answer 1

It would be helpful to know the makeup of your band - are you a rock band with guitars, bass, drums, keys and vocals or are you a hip-hop group with a beat machine and vocals - or, are you a 100-piece Orchestra?  See why it's hard to answer your question - here goes anyway...

1)  Watch your levels - when recording, try to stay as close to "0" on the VU (Volume Unit) meters as possible.  This will give you a level recording between all of your tracks.

2)  EQ before you decide to mix.  Play with the EQ as you test your vocals and other instruments.

3)  Lay Rhythm tracks first - whether it's a drum set or a drum machine, ALWAYS lay your rhythm tracks first.  That leads the band and everything is built from the rhythm foundation.

4)  Do the lead vocals next - they are always panned center

5)  Do the backing vocals - pan them wide.  If you have enough tracks and you can record the backing vocals twice, and your singer is good enough to duplicate what he/she sings accurately, record them twice.  It's called "doubling" and it makes the vocals sound more full.  But be careful that it's exact.  If you can do it with the lead vocals, cool, but I will tell you that it's tricky if your singer is not accurate.

6)  Use sub-mixes.  What is a submix?  Well, a drum set can take up all 8 channels on the mixer.  One for snare, one for hi-hat, one for bass drum, one for floor tom, one for arial toms and two mics about a foot above your cymbals and that's seven channels right there.  Record your drummer and then save it as a "stereo sub mix".  This will then free up the remaining six channels to record other things.

7)  If a live drummer and not a drum machine - have him/her play along with a click track!  There is nothing more frustrating than starting at one tempo and finishing the song in a completely different tempo.

Hope this helps!