Recording Demystified
You don't need a Ph.D. in physics to make good music
Recording for Songwriters
I started home recording many years ago for a fairly simple reason. I was writing songs and needed a method of getting the music out of my head and into the world.
Setting up a home recording studio was the obvious answer, but I wasn’t prepared for how complicated and difficult it can be. By trade, I’m a research scientist, so the IT was relatively easy to fathom but the music production side was completely new and much harder.
So, I did what anyone would do, I searched for books and online resources to help demystify the process. I found loads of stuff, and bought a couple of books, one of them was even for dummies! They helped a bit but didn’t really get me where I wanted to be.
The problem was, most of the books seemed to be written for aspiring recording engineers. I have a lot of respect for recording engineers but to be honest, what they do doesn't hold more than a passing interest for me. I’m a musician and songwriter and need the technical side of the recording process to be transparent. I want to be able to concentrate on the songs themselves. That’s the bit I like and that’s what I find interesting.
After many years and a lot of effort, I’m finally making the type of music I always imagined I could. The songs in my head are finally getting out into the world. Looking back, I’ve often wished there was a book called “Music Production for Songwriters”, that would identify the most important bits and explain them in easy to understand language.
Arguably, I should write the book, but to be honest, I can’t be arsed. As I said earlier, what I really want to do is write songs and play music. However, I thought I could write a few short articles in this vein and publish them on my website.
So, that’s what the following articles are about: recording for songwriters. I’ll look at the whole process, from soup to nuts, and identify the bits I think are important and share the multitude of tips, tricks and hacks I’ve learnt along the way. I’ll cover a lot of the technical stuff but also more esoteric areas, like which instruments are best to learn and how to listen critically.
Whether you’re just starting out, or have been doing it a while, I hope you find them useful. If I can stop just one person re-inventing the wheel then Grasshopper, my work here is done!