Estimated reading time 5 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Do you want to know how to record using a digital audio workstation? When I was a teen, and recording my band, all we had was two mics, two mic stands, and a dinky little four-track tape recorder, which had severely limited audio quality. However, today’s modern DAW software can get you pro quality results without having to buy a whole recording studio. Keep reading to learn how to record using a DAW (digital audio workstation).
This article uses technical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission from purchases made through the links. I’ll only recommend products I use, use in lessons, or ones my students or colleagues have recommended.
How to Record Using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation): What Is the America vs British Recording Philosophy?
In the British philosophy, you set the volume levels, EQ, and apply effects while tracking.
- If you do this, all you have to do is bring up the faders and the song mixes itself.
- Essentially, this means that you’ve created the arrangement of the song either during tracking or before you even start recording.
In the American philosophy, you create the arrangement through the mix itself.
- This means that you’ll record multiple instruments throughout the whole song.
- Next, you fade some of the instruments in and out at your various song sections: verse, chorus, bridge, etc.
- Also, you’ll do some EQ, effects, and panning during tracking but will leave most of those decisions until you mix your song.
These are the three stages to recording your song.
- Tracking
- Mixing
- Mastering
We’ve already talked about mixing in How to Mix Using a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). In today’s post we’ll discuss tracking, which is the process of recording the instruments that you’ll use in the final mix.
How to Record Using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation): How Does the American Philosophy Work?
The Basic Idea
- With the American style mixes, your tracking serves the purpose of providing material that you’ll use to build your arrangement in the mix.
- You’ll do an initial EQ, apply light compression, and keep the effects to a minimum.
- If you’re recording a group, you can do rough panning, otherwise you’ll most likely record with the pan pot in the center.
Recording Tracks
- Trim Gain: First you start by setting the trim gain for the instrument or instruments you wish to record. The trim controls the instrument volume going into the DAW.
- Compression: You’ll insert a compression plugin into the track you’re recording. Compression helps you control your instrument’s volume, allowing you to avoid unwanted hiss or distortion. Lightly compress the signal at a 4:1 ratio. Percussion instruments will need a quicker attack time, but instruments with sustained notes will need a slower attack time. If your compression plugin has a soft knee option, use it.
- Level Meters: Keep an eye on your level meters. Try to keep the levels about halfway up the meter.
- Equalization: Use enough EQ to make the individual instruments or the section (such as strings, horns, or backing vocals) sound good. You’ll EQ and compress the tracks even more when you create the final mix.
- Reverb: Don’t record the reverb to the track. Just have it in the monitor bus so you can hear it without recording it. It’s better to record your reverb when you do the final mix.
Signal Buses and Channel Inserts
- Signal Buses: A signal bus is the path that the signal takes within the digital audio workstation. The monitor bus sends the signal to the monitors (speakers) and headphones. The effects bus sends the signal to the effects. The auxiliary bus sends the signal to external devices such as effects units. In a DAW, you can have virtually unlimited buses that you can assign at will as you track and mix.
- Channel Inserts: This is like the effects bus. However, rather than having multiple channels sent to an effect like reverb (where you have both the dry track and the reverb effect), an insert allows you to apply an effects plugin to a specific track. This is useful for processors where you need to replace the old sound with the new transformed sound. For example: de-essers, parametric and graphic EQs, limiters and compressors, and guitar distortion.
If you want to be able to have the flexibility to arrange the music during the mixing stage, make sure you don’t overproduce the tracks during the tracking process.
We’ve already talked about these topics in other posts.
How to Record Using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation): An Example of the American Philosophy in Action
The song "Once in a Lifetime" gives an example of how a song’s arrangement can be created in the mix.
- If you closely listen to the video below, you can hear how the Talking Heads recorded multiple instruments and brought them into and out of the mix at strategic points.
- When composing, the band tried to change chords as little as possible. This facilitated being able to create different sections over what was essentially the same rhythmic bed.
- Even though they used the same rhythmic bed throughout, they were still able to successfully create verses, choruses, and other contrasting song sections by adding and taking away instruments.
- Not all bands will record over a single rhythmic bed, but the concept of having multiple recorded tracks to choose from still applies in most situations.
- The big advantage to this style of tracking and mixing is that you can create multiple contrasting arrangements simply by fading instruments in and out of the mix while applying different effects.
Video: Once in a Lifetime
Here is one of the most popular DAWs.
Mobile users: for best results viewing the video, rotate your screen 90o to the right.
Video: Recording Using the Pro Tools DAW
Final Thoughts
Takeaway points:
- With the American style mixes, your tracking serves the purpose of providing material that you’ll use to build your arrangement in the mix.
- If you want to be able to have the flexibility to arrange the music during the mixing stage, make sure you don’t overproduce the tracks during the tracking process.
- The big advantage to this style of tracking and mixing is that you can create multiple contrasting arrangements simply by fading instruments in and out of the mix while applying different effects.
Have fun recording!
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