A 5-Step Guide to Clean Recordings for Budding Mixing Engineers

No matter how good you are at mixing and mastering, the quality of the original recording will always largely determine the final result. Guest-blogger Freek Roffel from Freaky Studio is here to share five tips that can help you get the recording stage right, where preparation is key.

#1. Prep, Prep Then Prep Some More

Before you start recording any instruments and vocals, you’ll need to think carefully about the how and why. In other words, figure out things like whether you’re going to record the guitars with or without effects, what the best way is to mike up the drum kit, and how the acoustics of the room might affect the sound. Musicians usually aren’t the best bookkeepers, but pulling up a spreadsheet that details every musician’s set-up – including the cables, power strips and stands required – can definitely streamline the recording process.

#2. Gear Up

You’re never going to achieve clean sound if your gear isn’t up to snuff, so be sure to check that your cables deliver noise-free sound, that any batteries are fully charged, and that the screws and nuts of any hardware are properly tightened. This may seem mundane or trivial, but I can’t overstate how important it is that you do everything you can to keep noise out of your recordings. Once there’s a hum, crackle, whir or buzz in the recording, it’s going to be difficult to eliminate later on. If you’re going to record outside of your own studio, then make sure that you know exactly who’s coming, how many tracks they need and what equipment you need to bring. If possible, do a test run. Also, always bring a few extra cables and other small essentials so you’re sure that you won’t run into any issues that could’ve been avoided.

#3. To Equalise Or Not To Equalise

You can choose to record with (wet) or without (dry) effects like compressors and EQs. In some cases, you actually need those effects to get the sound you want. Just like noise, it’s important to realise that, once recorded, any effect you recorded can’t be removed later. As such, it can be a good idea to record specific parts to multiple tracks, some with and some without effects. This way, you have the freedom to use either recording. Of course, this mainly applies to recordings of live performances where you only get one shot to get it right. In the studio, things are usually more flexible, which is not to say that you shouldn’t go for the same approach. Hedging your bets by combining wet and dry is pretty much always recommended.

#4. Don’t Let It Fall on Deaf Ears

After you’re done recording, it’s a good idea to shelf the recordings for a while before you give them a critical listen and start the mixing phase. This is because it’s not uncommon for mixing engineers to develop a kind of blind spot during the recording process, caused by an overexposure to the sound. If needed, take breaks and re-record any parts that aren’t as tight as they should be. It’ll all be worth it once you start mixing and editing.

#5. Don’t Fix It In The Mix

‘I’ll fix it in the mix’ is the biggest trope you can utter. You can’t cook up a delicious meal with spoiled ingredients. If your recordings are shoddy, the end result will be no different. Sure, you can mask and whitewash some things, but this comes with the risk of ruining a perfectly good guitar solo when you eliminate too many treble frequencies for example. Well begun is half done may be another trope, but this one actually couldn’t be more true when it comes to guaranteeing the clean recordings needed to deliver banger-grade tracks!