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Recording tips and tricks
Recording tips and tricks

Audio Recording and Music Production

Improve Your Home Recordings,Get Started With Computer Recording

I always find it shocking just how incredible some audio recordings I'm hearing the more talented members here at RecordingReview.com turn out. Even though these guys/gals are doing their audio recording in not-so-ideal environments with recording equipment that costs a tiny fraction of gear that wasn't 1/10th as good did just a decade or two ago, the audio recording capabilities seem to continue to grow and grow and grow.

This audio recording growth is what RecordingReview.com is all about. We are looking to take the average Joe musician who is maybe just getting started or has maybe a few recordings under his belt and turn his studio work into something that is musically inspiring. Because RecordingReview.com is here to cover the basics of recording, no question is too big or too small. Ask away on the forum. A large portion of RecordingReview.com's member base is people who are musicians first and sound engineers second.

Which recording equipment should I buy?

Improve Music Production
We have a specific forum that will dramatically improve the quality of YOUR audio recording. It's called Bash This Recording. Here's how it works. You create a new thread and attach a decent quality mp3. Other experienced recording studio veterans here at RecordingReview.com take a listen and give their thoughts. The beauty of this system is there is no guessing. There are no assumptions that need to be made.

For example, the basic formula of a great band playing a great song in a great room with great instruments being captured by a great engineer using great recording gear in an environment where he can hear what is going on doesn't give the necessary perspective all the time. If a guitar is out of tune or drums are out of time, it doesn't make sense to talk about preamps or room acoustics. At least, not yet.

Take a listen to A Testament To Bash This Recording

The point to this entire audio recording thing is to make exciting music. That's a goal we are attempting to facilitate with every turn of a knob or with every microphone we try out.

So whether you are a seasoned veteran in the recording studio or you are just now getting the urge to capture your ruckus for the first time, RecordingReview.com is the site for you!

Getting Started With Home Recording

Are you new to recording and not exactly sure what gear you need? RecordingReview.com specializes in helping beginners jump into the world of recording. There are about 2,000 traps that can easily waste thousands of hours of your time. Recording Review focuses on giving you the info you need to make the right decisions for you. This is what the Getting Started With Home Recording Guide is all about.

Getting Started With MIDI Production

MIDI production is not just for techno and dance music anymore. The use of MIDI has become an integral part of the recording process in rock, metal, and even country. In fact the only genre's of music that don't utilize MIDI that often are Folk and Bluegrass!

With that said, MIDI can be confusing at first. MIDI brings up a big, new list of definitions to learn and MIDI just seems to play by a different set of rules than convention computer recording. Luckily, I've created the Getting Started With MIDI Sequencing Guide to help you burst through the learning curve and reap the benefits of synths, samples, and MIDI production.

MIDI Production
Steinberg Cubase 4 Studio
Steinberg Cubase 4 Studio
PreSonus FIREPOD Studio Package
PreSonus FIREPOD Studio Package
Waves SSL 4000 Collection Native
Waves SSL 4000 Collection Native
Toontrack DFH Superior Custom and Vintage
Toontrack DFH Superior Custom and Vintage
Propellerhead REASON 4.0 Music Production Software
Propellerhead REASON 4.0 Music Production Software
Neumann TLM-103 Microphone
Neumann TLM-103 Microphone
My Electric Guitar Secret Weapon

For a rock guitar player, there is something about a killer distorted guitar sound that becomes a passion, or maybe even an addition. Of guitar, many beginners in the home recording world have trouble with recording electric guitars. In this member only guide, I'll talk about my secret weapon for recording huge electric guitars.

Electric Guitar
10 Things Every Band Should Know Before Recording

Before any band walks into a recording studio, they had better prepare themselves. There is a lot to learn about the recording process, but taking a few minutes to read this guy could save you thousands of bucks!!

10 Things Every Band Should Know Before Recording is my attempt to get you up to speed on the process of recording extremely quickly! If we can immediately rule out beginner mistakes and make sure you have a clear idea on how the process REALLY works, the odds of your next recording being successful are improved immensely.

Every Band Should Know
Do I Need A High End Mic Preamp?

Don't let peer pressure convince you that you need to dump thousands of dollars into a high end microphone preamp. Let your ears decide! Maybe after listening to this preamp shootout, you can decide if the subtle change in character offered by a preamps is going to be worth the cash.

Take a listen to my Preamp Shootout. With preamps such as API, Great River, Vintech (Neve 1272 clone), Presonus M80, and Mackie 1604 you can listen to the difference between super expensive and super cheap preamps and decide for yourself if you want to drop the cash on a preamp yet or not.

Mic Preamp
Home Recording Soundcard Wizard

The hardest part to choosing the initial gear to get started recording at home is the audio interface / soundcard (same thing). It used to take hours and hours and hours of research to figure out the features you needed. Then it took hours and hours and hours to figure out which brand of audio interface was most reliable. Of course, then, someone would say that X brand is way better than Y brand (which is usually a total lie!). It was a mess!

Now, choosing an audio interface is much simpler. Just go through the Audio Interface Wizard. It'll ask you 10 questions and spit out the audio interfaces that meet your needs in order of price. You immediately know which audio interfaces work for you. Then it's just an issue of choosing the most reliable audio interface that meets your budget. It's easy!

Electric Guitar Microphone Shootout

Do you really need a super high end microphone to get great sounding electric guitars? Here is a shootout I put together with the Royer R121 ribbon microphone, Shure SM 57, Audio Technica AT4033, Sennheiser MD 421, and Soundelux U99.

electric guitar microphone shootout
Recording Studios

As a service to all the dedicated to members of RecordingReview.com, I've created a little directory of recording studios to give a bit of exposure to studios on the local level. If you would like to promote your recording studio a bit, go ahead and submit it.

Note: You must have at least 50 forum posts on the Recording Forum or have donated at least $20 to RecordingReview.com.

Audio Interface Wizard
Find the audio interface for youChoosing an audio interface just got WAY easier!

Audio Interface Wizard

Recording Studios
recording studiosWant to gain a little exposure for your recording studio? Looking for recording studios in your area. Check out our recording studios directory!
Recording Computers
recording computersThinking about building your first computer for audio recording? Not sure what motherboard, CPU processor, hard drive, power supply, or RAM to purchase? This article is for you. Building A Home Recording Computer.
Latest Recording Blogs
Latest Recording Forum Posts
  • I need a Good Bass Guitar Sound

    this is Bob Katz's instrument frequency table: Bob Katz’s frequency table Octave 1 - 20Hz-40Hz - Center 32Hz - (31.5, 31.25, 31) Description:
    Posted in Rock / Metal

  • Recording Acoustic Chinese Musical Instruments

    Ya, a stereo pair is the good old standby. Back in the cam-corder days I used a very nice battery powered Sony dual element. Not up to forum standards
    Posted in Audio Engineering

  • External soundcard

    Here's what you need. (http://www.zzounds.com/item--EMU0404) I saw one warehouse resealed for $164.
    Posted in Home Studio Equipment

  • Beastly Death Metal Song (first recording in a long time)

    wicked pissed off.... mega-mean kick ass
    Posted in Rock / Metal

  • some rough work for you to judge! (experimental stuff)

    What's your monitoring situation?
    Posted in Rock / Metal

  • Purple Rain Mix Revisited

    ---Quote (Originally by shiva)--- I find it strange, after al these years, KrK and Jasun is still a new member of Metallica to me. No matter how i t
    Posted in Music Reviews

  • Goddammit, being stupid sucks.

    I visited the Tampax site. There's a picture of two girls hugging...I found it difficult not to envision their vaginas bleeding.
    Posted in Home Studio Equipment

  • Control Surface suggestion

    I am looking at purchasing a control surface to use with Cubase. I don't have $1000+ to spend right now, so I am looking at either the Frontier Desig
    Posted in Home Studio Equipment

  • Pure Modern Rock Tune

    Hey Guys, I recently recorded this song at a studio here in my hometown. In my solemn opinion, to me, this guy is amazing at what he does as far as h
    Posted in Rock / Metal

  • live 7 problem

    ---Quote--- I'm not sure to go with 32bit or 64bit. I ---End Quote--- a. 32-bit Windows is limited to a maximum of 4GB and cannot see any pages abov
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Recording Reviews

Talking about recording is great. However, one thing the internet world is not so good at when it comes to helping people get better at audio engineering is the overemphasis of words. Without a doubt, the best way to get better at your recordings is have them reviewed by experts, peers, and everyone in between.

So, simply Join Recording Review today and post a new song / mix you are working. We'll give you real world advice to drastically improve your music recordings. I love the Recording Review section because it focuses on EXACTLY what the problems are on your mix. It's common for a beginner to say “I'm not happy with the way my mixes are turning out” and a typical, generic response is “Buy better preamps or better mics!”.

Well, that's a stupid way of solving a problem. There is no use guessing with thousands of dollars in equipment when the problem may be the way you are approaching your mix. Maybe you just need to move your studio monitors? Maybe you are recording substandard musicians? Recording Reviews is the fastest way to improve your recordings!