Also, as a self-recording musician you might be in a perfect position to offer playing on other people's records! If you're a great player AND a skilled recording engineer, maybe a session musician career might be a path you'd want to explore.
If you don't have a good answer to any of these questions, this episode is for you.
Listen now and learn to set up your session and workflow like a pro!
Jacob has worked with some of the biggest names in metal and alternative music. He's produced and or mixed records for bands like Volbeat, Amaranthe, The Black Dahlia Murder, Heaven Shall Burn, Evergrey, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Primal Fear and many many more.
We're getting to pick Jacob's brain and talk about
among many other things.
Enjoy!
Who said you should use one microphone for the whole song, let alone the whole record? In fact, there's often a good reason to use different mics for different parts.
Write a new song each jam. Record what you have at the end of the jam, no matter what. That's right: Schedule your next 5 practice/jam/writing sessions with your band or alone, then write a brand-new song after every session and record a demo version of it.
...is a good release strategy, but does it also make sense to work on one song at a time in the production, mixing and mastering process?
I don't care which DAW you use. What you use doesn't matter to me. But it definitely matters to you. And you should take that decision seriously.
You're probably recording each of your inputs to a mono track, right? Try this trick next time you're recording a DI signal with a mic.
So you'll end up having the DI on one side and the mic on the other side. That seems weird, right? Hear me out, please.
If you now insert a plugin that let's you solo one side, or ideally blend (pan) between the two and then switch the plugin's output to mono, you'll be able to hear the DI, or the amp or a blend of the two, depending on how you set the plugin.
It will all be mono, as usual, coming out of the middle, so you can use the channel pan knob, as always, to place it in the stereo field of your mix.
And in many DAWs it can all be done with stock plugins.
Because you don't have to group tracks any longer to prevent editing mistakes, everything will stay perfectly in phase and you can easily switch back and forth or blend tracks that belong together in a much more manageable session. Less faders, less pan knobs, smaller chance for errors.
Trust me, try to wrap your head around it and you'll love it.
-Benedikt
PS: If you're looking for an amazing community to get feedback from and provide your own expertise for, check out The Self-Recording Band Community. It's 100% free and can be the growth accelerator you've been missing all the time.
PPS: Downloading one of our free guides and joining our email list is also a great way to connect with your peers, as we will invite you to events and keep you in the loop about what's going on in our community. We just had an amazing video meetup last weekend and together we helped 5 people improve their recordings, arrangements and mixes by listening and giving collective feedback live on the call. Join us now!
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