Even the greatest recordings of the best musicians can benefit from editing. Removing all of the imperfections from a song may ruin the vibe, but some of the more distracting noise can be cut out. By editing your tracks, you will have a much better medium to work with when it comes time to start mixing.
You can read more here: http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/in_the_studio_editing_the_unsung_hero/P2/
Recording Tips and Techniques
Overdubbing With Goals In Mind
Overdubbing can add subtle nuance to a track, or it can turn a single vocalist into a thick, rich harmony. When setting out to record tracks for overdubbing, try to have some specific goals in mind for the session. This goal-oriented approach helps everyone working on the track stay focused and motivated. It can also help to improve the overall quality of your recordings.
You can read more tips about overdubbing sessions here: http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/in_the_studio_the_overdub_checklist/
Lifelike Digital Recordings
Some complaints of digital recordings include that it sounds flat and clinical sounding. Technology has put so much power into the hands of audio engineers and musicians alike that they may be inclined to edit too heavily. A completely perfect song, in terms of tone and timing, may not sound human anymore. Go easy on the editing and plugins. You can always add more later, but figuring out which straw broke the camel’s back can be an unnecessary, and time consuming, task.
You can read more here: http://therecordingrevolution.com/2013/02/11/getting-organic-recordings-in-the-digital-realm/
You Need More Than Gear
Gear and skill will get you a long way, but some less prominent pieces of equipment can slip through the cracks and end up forgotten. Even something as simple as a pen and paper can help you to get your thoughts down while they’re fresh in your mind. Even the greatest memory will not remember every single bright idea that comes through each day. Write them down as they come, and sort through your notes to see what ideas should be implemented.
Graham Cochrane put together a list of non-gear essentials for recording.
You can read the full article here: http://therecordingrevolution.com/2013/02/08/3-non-gear-essentials-in-my-studio/
MIDI Basics
MIDI is short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. This standardized format has many benefits, but their tiny file size is high on the list. Instead of recording audio tracks, which take up a significant amount of space, MIDI files use existing audio tracks and arrange them. Because the MIDI files don’t have any actual audio, they are slightly less portable.
I’ve written several articles on MIDI – what it is, what it can do, etc. You can see all of my articles that have anything to do with MIDI at the MIDI tag page here: https://www.homebrewaudio.com/tag/midi/
For a different take on it, check out the post at AudioTuts below.
You can read more here: http://audio.tutsplus.com/articles/general/whats-this-midi-all-about-then/