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g u i t a r
STRINGS:
I'm sure you've heard that you should change your strings before recording. Well... it's
not a terrible idea, but it will often causes a lot of serious problems in the
studio.
problem #1: your guitar will not stay in tune long
problem #2: the strings will likely sound TOO bright
At Studio 201 we highly recommend using a set of strings that are at least 5-12 days old
(or even better, use the techniques below to learn how to prepare your strings first!).
Please, don't use Steel
strings (at least not for electric guitars), use Nickel (unless you absolutely
prefer steel strings for your sound). Those steel strings might sound cool
and bright when you play, but if you put your ear in front of the speaker you'll find that
it is too brittle sounding (and that's where the microphone will be!). The worst kind of
steel strings are the kind that are frozen during the manufacturing process (such as Blue
Steel strings)... while these previously frozen strings stay in-tune better than
other types of strings they sound painfully harsh and brittle!
PREPARING STRINGS FOR THE RECORDING STUDIO:
To help reduce string stretching and tightening during the recording process (which causes
your guitar to go out-of-tune too often), you should prepare your strings, and here is how
to do it...
You should place your new
guitar strings in a pot of boiling water (with 2 table spoons of cooking oil) for 20-30
minutes before putting them on your guitar. This will stretch the metal of your strings
and slightly loosen the windings. However, it will not stretch or loosen so much as to
make them sound old (it's mostly dirt and large amounts of skin oil that makes strings
sound old and dead over time).
You should probably boil 2 sets of strings incase you break one. Maybe even 3 of the
string(s) you break the most (in the rare situation that you break a string more than once
during a session).
Additionally... don't use light gauge strings. 8 gauge is not usable in the studio (unless
you are a genius guitar player with amazing finger control!). 9 gauge is usually bad as
well. 10 gauge is usable. 11 or 12 gauge is perfect! Ask your local music store whether 11
or 12 is best for your guitar. And be sure to intonate your guitar (or have it intonated)
after
changing to a new string type/gauge. If you don't bend your strings much, have strong
fingers, and your guitar neck is not of the thin style (and backed with maple or another
strong wood) you can go with 13 gauge strings which are great! If you tune-down below
standard E tuning you will NEED a MUCH heavier gauge string, you might need the thickest
gauge you can get your hands on (especially if you tune to D flat or lower!). Lower tuning
also require a much softer pick stroke to avoid extreme tuning issues.
These string tips are not only good for the studio, these are also a great tips for live
performances! The following tips are equally good tips for both recording and live!
PREPARING THE GUITAR NUT & STRINGS:
If you have a "locking nut" you should skip this section (a locking nut is the
kind that requires an allan wrench to unlock your strings). If you are not sure if you
have locking nut you should continue reading because you probably do not have one. If you
have a locking nut you can skip this section ("preparing the guitar nut and
strings") completely! This section does not apply to guitars with a locking nut.
#1:
The first step in preparing the nut is to make sure the cut-outs on the nut (for the
strings to pass though) are large enough for the strings to slide freely. To find out,
look at the nut with your strings on (with the string gauge you will be using!) and see if
any string looks like it is not sitting fully to the bottom of the groove (cut-out) of the
nut. If it is resting in the middle/anything-other-than-at-the-bottom area of the cut-out
it is not sitting properly (it's often difficult to tell because a string can easily
become wedged in a groove and even appear to sit almost all-the-way down). If it looks
like it even might be resting against the sides of the cut-out the cut is
probably too small. To fix this you will first have to remove the string(s) with the
problem. Use a filing tool to file down the sides of the cut-out large enough so that the
string sits freely without sticking. Don't Worry!, you can file out a large/smooth round
cut and it will not effect the tone or tuning of your guitar, as long as the bottom is
filed very smooth and very round. Then take the correct string and place it in the cut-out
to see if the groove/cut-out is large enough to move freely in-and-out, back-and-forth,
towards the head-stock and towards the body. Do this by placing the string in the groove
of the nut while it is not installed (not connected to the bridge or the tuning key at the
headstock) and pull it back and forth through the groove in the nut. If it's does so
SMOOTHLY you did it right! If if doesn't, continue filing until you get a large enough
(and smooth enough) cut-out for the string to rest nicely without touching the sides of
the groove very much. Again, remember that the bottom of the cut-out needs to be smooth!
When you are done, clean the nut thoroughly!
#2:
The second step is to get yourself a No. 1 or No. 2
pencil that is nicely sharpened. Take the tip of the pencil and draw in the cut-out's of
the nut until they become very dark with the pencil lead (graphite actually). The graphite
in your pencil will help the strings slide freely... the graphite will not change your
tone.
#3:
The third step is to get some oil and a cue-tip (almost any oil will do, as long as it's
not too thick, if you are unsure you can use vegetable cooking oil). Place one end of the
cue-tip in the oil and touch it to the first cut-out of the nut. Repeat this process until
you have a small degree of oil on-top of the pencil lead (graphite)... you will likely get
some oil around the rest of the nut, but do not worry, it will not hurt anything. You can
wipe the oil off the wood if you like (which is probably a good idea anyway).
#4:
The forth step is to check your head-stock to see if you have any sort of string pulling
device that pulls the strings closer to the head-stock between the tuners and the nut. If
you have a fender guitar you will probably find a small device that pulls your smallest E
and B strings closer to the head-stock... if so, remove it. If you are
worried about what it will do to your guitar, don't... it won't hurt anything (it's just
another place for your strings to get stuck while playing, causing it to go out-of-tune
faster)... just be sure and keep it in a safe place so you don't loose it if you ever sell
your guitar. Some guitars have a bar that goes across all the strings holding them down a
bit (though usually only in locking nuts, but in some rare occasions in non-locking)... if
you have this kind you have 2 options... you can remove it, or your can loosen it and
treat it with pencil graphite and oil (underneath where the strings touch the bar).
#5:
The fifth step is to put your boiled strings on. Make sure you have plenty of slack while
tightening the head-stock tuners... enough so that the strings wrap around the tuner at
least 4-8 times (because if they don't wrap around enough times they will slip!). Less
wrap-around is needed for the larger strings and more wrap-around is needed for the
smaller strings.
Also, make sure that as
the string is wrapped around it does not sit on-top of any previously wrapped winding,
i.e., let it wrap continuously upward or downward (never both/back-and-forth over itself)
to be sure it will not slip off the top of another winding.
Be sure that you pull the
string very tight as it is being tightened around the tuner to be sure it does not slip
later (which is common if it is fairly loose while you start winding the string around the
tuner and it gets tighter around the later wraps as you get closer to tuning it all the
way up to the correct pitch).
#6:
The sixth and final step is to make sure the strings and nut are ready to go! To do this,
get your pencil again and draw on the top of the string where the nut is (maybe even just
a bit to the front and back of the nut). Then get your oil and cue-tip again and dab it
onto the strings above the groove of the nut.
Next, turn the tuners up and
down over and over again (50-200 times) for each string (making them tighter and looser,
and over again). Then bend your strings with your fingers to further stretch them (do this
as much as you can!!!). And finally, tune-up and play for a while (the longer the
better!!!).
That's it, you're done! You
will now stay in tune longer than you have ever experienced before!!! This will allow you
to tune to a perfection that you have never cared to try before because the usual
frequency of having to re-tune so often (before you do this) makes anyone care less for
overly-perfecting ones tuning. If the extra steps are not taken in a recording session it
might be required to re-tune your guitar in the middle of every recording! But now (if you
followed these steps) your strings will stay tuned the way you tune them for a VERY long
time. In many situations I have seen guitars stay perfectly in-tune for weeks after using
this technique. I have even seen guitars stay PERFECTLY in-tune for more than 2 month
after repeating these techniques several times (4-8 times over a period of 6-12 months).
INTONATION:
It is very important that your guitar is properly intonated before recording. A properly
intonated guitar will also sound better live. A brief explanation of intonation is
adjusting the bridge segments for all your guitar strings so that the guitar is in tune no
matter what fret you place your finger on, and regardless of what chord you play.
To have your guitar intonated you will probably have to take it to a guitar tech. But
beware! Most guitar tech's (about 70-80% or more!) don't know how to properly intonate a
guitar! Why? It's hard to say... but it's possibly the fact that most have a background in
electronics and not in musical tuning. How can you tell? I'll try and help...
First of all, make sure that the technician has a good tuner! If they are using a digital
tuner like you'll find at your local music store they don't know what they are doing! Make
sure that the tech has a strobe
tuner, or a virtual strobe tuner (both are made only by a company called Peterson)... so ask them what
kind of tuner they use, and if it's not a "Peterson Tuner" the intonation is not
going to be acceptable (unless they go out of their way to use the old piano tuning
techniques, i.e., using a snare drum to listen to the beats of the pitch and another
PERFECTLY tuned instrument, and I have NEVER heard of any tech doing this with a guitar
before).
Second... make sure that the tech can and will file your frets if needed to make every
fret in-tune with your open strings!
Even if the tech is using the new Buzz
Feiten tuning system (which is VERY good!)... if they don't use a strobe (or virtual
strobe) Peterson Tuner and are not willing to go the extra mile to file your frets to be
sure every fret is in tune, don't trust them! If it's not done RIGHT it might not be any
better than before you gave it to the technician (only in/out of tune in different
ways... out of tune at different frets and chords than before).
EFFECTS, PEDALS, & OTHER TOYS:
Most of the time you will be asked to not use any effects. The distortion in your guitar
amp is usually much better than the best distortion pedal (in most cases). Effects like
chorus, flange, echo, verb, etc., are best added later in the mix. EQ's that aren't part
of your amp are just going to make it sound worse (in most cases). Most studios (and most
definitely here at studio 201) have all of the delay, reverb, chorus, flange, phaser,
effects, etc, which sound much better than most anything you will find in a pedal. The
only exception might be a vintage pedal like a crybaby/wahwah pedal, or a talkbox.
PICKUPS:
If you have an active pickup put a NEW battery in your guitar when you get to the studio!
Avoid using EMG pickups. EMG
pickups are great at removing all color and tone from your guitar and leaving nothing but
the sound of the strings, but why would you want a lifeless tone? Guitars with EMG pickups
usually give the listener major ear-fatigue (no bold sound at all, no body, just a painful
shrieking/piecing tinny sound).
If you use Single-Coil
pickups you are likely going to get noise... read the NOISE tips below regarding this.
AMPS:
The amp you use is very important! First and foremost is the strings, followed by the
pickups (and how they are set)... but after this comes the amp. We have recorded lots of
amps here in the studio, and the most consistent factor (regarding the instrumentalists
gear) is whether it's a tube amp or a solid-state amp. We have yet to hear a tube amp that
didn't sound good (unless if had some serious problems). But most solid-state amps that
are recorded usually do not sound very good. So, tube is almost always better (at least
for guitar amps). After this comes the speakers... 12" (inch) speakers sound
the best... 10" speakers and smaller don't sound as good. If it's a half/full-stack
cabinet, the full sized (large) cabs sound the best... the smaller enclosures don't have
as much fullness and body as the larger cabinets.
Amp's that sound the
best....
Anything 100% tube by:
- Marshall
- Mesa Boogie
- VOX
- Fender
Speakers (and cabs) that
sound the best...
Anything with Celestion speakers that follows these rules:
- 12" speakers
- full sized (or larger sized) cabinet
If you have both a slanted
and a flat faced cabinet, use the flat faced cab in the studio. This is because the box is
slightly larger and will sound just a bit bolder and fatter.
NOISE:
Do you have a noisy amp, guitar, etc...? You should get this fixed before going into the
studio! First, check your cables (that's usually the culprit). If you can't fix it
yourself, take your guitar, amp, and cables (everything!) to a professional for them to
inspect and fix. Do everything you can to minimize the noise before going into the studio.
If you are using Single-Coil pickups you will be more prone to noise... if you have your
pickup switcher setup to use just one pickup (if it's a fender this is usually the far
left position, middle position, and far right position) you might end up with a
noise problem. If you get noise in these positions you will notice that the noise will get
better/worse as you move around the room, and depending on the direction you are facing...
so if you must use a Single-Coil pickup by itself you will have to experiment with where
you sit/stand and the angle you position yourself in the studio. The full-proof solution
to this problem is to use Double-Coil pickups (which are known as "HumBucking
Pickups" or "HumBuckers"), or to switch to a pickup position that uses two
Single-Coil pickups (if it's a fender this is the 2nd and 4th pickup positions). However,
Humbuckers and using a position that uses to Single-Coil pickups together will sound
different... so if this is not the sound you want and prefer to use a single-coil pickup
by itself you will have to be very carefully where you sit/stand and the angle of your
guitar to your amp while recording.
YOUR TONE (guitar/amp
settings):
If you prefer to perfect your tone before entering the studio you need to be careful and
follow some simple guidelines. If not, don't worry, the engineers at Studio 201 can help
you get a killer tone! But if you prefer to do-it-yourself always follow these simple
rules:
1. Make the
height of the speakers as close your head-height as possible
2. Move
back at least 8 feet from your amp to listen after every change
3. Put your
ear up to the speakers to see if it still sounds right
...(this is where the mic will be, so make sure it sounds BEST
here!)
4. Don't be
"too" creative, it's more important to have a GOOD sound!
......if it sounds too strange (abnormal) it probably won't
sound good.
......i.e., keep a fairly "normal" guitar sound, don't
make it too different!
These basic rules and idea's in no way reflect an inability to deal with problems
compared to any other studio. These are helpful guidelines to help you maximize the sound
of your guitar before entering ANY studio and will additionally help improve the sound of
your live performances!
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D r u m s
THE CLICK TRACK:
Practice playing to a click/metronome often! This is THE MOST important tip!!!
DRUM HEADS:
Replace your drum-heads about 1-2 weeks before entering the studio
(but no sooner than 1 week). And make sure you can break them in a bit before the
recording process
KICK DRUM:
If this is rock music (pop, punk, metal, etc.) make sure that the resonate side (opposite
of the beater side) has a hole in it before entering the studio so that a microphone can
be placed inside (you can always cut a hole in the head if needed). If it's jazz, blues,
or other music that doesn't need a heavily defined kick drum you can leave as is... though
even for this kind of music it's a good option to have the hole so that a tighter and more
defined kick drum sound can be recorded if needed.
CYMBALS:
Clean your cymbals about 1-2 weeks before entering the studio. Also, be easy on the
cymbals when you play... don't hit them too loud. This includes the hi-hat!
SNARE & TOMS:
Be HARD on the snare and toms... play them loud!
Remember, play any drum with a head loud (and hard), and any cymbal (including the hi-hat)
soft... as much as possible.
PERFORMANCE:
Since this is a recording and not a live performance... try not to over-complicate what
you are playing, because you are not in a situation to impress a live audience. i.e.,
those fast tom fills might sound better if you simplify them... also, you might not need
as many crashes in your songs. If you have a large drum-set you probably won't need every
piece. It's more important that you play simple and tight... using all of your 4 toms in
the fills or to hit all your crashes/chinas/splashes at least once in every song (that's
just silly in the studio). Simple and tight (good time) is the key!!! Remember that!
EXTRA'S:
Bring an extra top snare head just incase. Bring plenty of extra sticks just incase. Bring
more than one snare (if you have access to more than one). Your snare sound is of utmost
importance, so it's a good idea to bring options just to be sure you get the best sound
(and remember that it will sound different when recorded, which is all the more reason to
bring more than one snare). Also be sure to bring a drum key and anything else that might
be needed.
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M e n t a
l & P h y s i c a l P r e p a r a t i o n
THE PHYSICAL:
- Get plenty of sleep before entering the studio
- Wear something comfortable
- Bring a sweater, flannel, etc., in case you get cold
- Stretch before playing
- If you have longer hair it's a good idea to tie it back or ware a beanie/hat/etc
- Try not to ware much jewelry (if any)
- Don't ware anything that's noisy when you move around
- Bring gloves incase you need to keep your hands warm between takes
- Bring water, soda, etc... (anything that will help you stay comfortable)
THE MENTAL:
Keep it cool. Don't forget to relax and breathe if you get tense. If you need to take a
break, take one. And remember to have fun! If you're not having a good time your
performance will suffer. Anger is a sure way to ruin a performance.
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A r r a n g e m e
n t
Make sure everything is completely
written, discussed, and agreed upon among all the members of the band before you enter the
studio. Set aside 1-2 sessions with the band members to discuss everything just to be sure
everyone understands what all the members are playing.
Get the tempo (BPM) of all your songs
before entering the studio. You have all been practicing with a click/metronome, RIGHT!?!
This is only a consideration, but... you might want to avoid long intros, long bridges,
long guitar solos, etc. Those kinds of things make it hard to keep the listeners interest.
Try and shorten your songs to around 2-3 minutes. You want to make sure you are catching
the listener's attention right from the start of the song (if it doesn't catch them right
away they will likely skip to the next track on the CD).
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