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Old 03-02-2009, 06:32 PM   #419
yep
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TedR View Post
...The thing I have noticed is that it is easy to forget things like specific mic placement, preamp settings, Bass tone settings, and such if I have to stop recording for a week or two ( because of work and life ) and then come back to it...
Oh, yeah. DEFINITELY keep copius notes on that kind of stuff. That's what I was talking about in the beginning of the thread. Low-residue painter's tape from the hardware store. Stick it on everything. I have it all over the place, with little circles and lines drawn to indicate knob position, and above that I'll have something like "BLP": stands for "Big Les Paul" sound-- circles for every knob, BLP V, BLP T, BLP B, BLP G, BLP R-- you don't have to know what they mean, because I do. Stuck on the amp, on the preamp, with an indicator of which mic, and so on. Anytime I want to record my own stock "big Les Paul" sound, there it is. I have similar tape markings for SNF (which stands for "snarly Fender" sound), GRB-- growly rock bass, BFB-- burpy funk bass, HFB-- hollowbody fretless bass, and so on. MMV8 means "medium male vocals 8 inches away" for my-go vocal mic. SFV0 means "soft female vocals close miked" on same.

On my mic stands, I scratch lines into the metal to indicate common positions. That makes it quick and easy to set up a boom stand and lock it into place, knowing that it will line up at for instance the right height to get the top speaker of a slant cab. I actually keep a steak knife on the recording desk for this purpose that also helps to motivate singers. I have tape on the angle-adjustment to mark the angle. So if I have to set up in front of the same amp for the "big les paul" sound, I know to set the boom arm to the third scratch, the height adjustment to the lowest, and the angle to the BLP3L mark, and I'm going to be awfully close to where I was last time as long as I remember to aim the mic across the speaker cone almost touching the grill. And that much I remember just from taking the time to jot down those few marks.

In REAPER's "project settings>notes" I ALWAYS write the key and/or rough chord progression and performance notes (something like "verse ADAG chorus DEDCBA bass 1415 except turnaround fill"). It's not a proper lead sheet but it is enough that if I re-open in three years I don't have to go hunting for chords. It only has to be enough to remind me, it doesn't have to be a diary.

In the same field, I always include production notes. Who what where when how. E.g. BLP, RAT, GRB, Jfdr, bsn1, MMV 8, SVF12x2, DimHO78.

To me, the above reads Guitar 1 Big Les Paul; Guitar 2 Raunchy Archtop; Growly Rock Bass; Jeff's Drum kit; Birch Snare 1; Male medium vocals 8"; Soft Female Vocals 12" double-tracked; Dimension Pro set to Hammond Organ 78 preset.

I know that "big les paul" means the little 5-watt tube amp with the gain, eq, and reverb settings marked in tape, and the mic stand notched. I know that "growly rock bass" means the heavy-body maple-neck bass through a sansamp (settings marked in tape). I know that my notebook has the standard setup for "Jeff's Drum Kit" if I don't remember it. I have little pieces of tape tape all over the oriental rug to mark where different drums and mic stands go. I know that Female Vocals 12" means that they were tracked in the corner to the right of the couch, and so on. I could probably do punch-ins on a 3-year-old project using these notes.

You don't have to use my system. In fact you shouldn't. The most important thing is to make it easy, otherwise you won't do it. Just make it easy to take notes, and to keep them in a place where you will find them later. YOUR NOTES DON'T HAVE TO BE PERFECT. They don't even have to be very good. They just need to jog your memory, they don't have to be a historical tome documenting your exploits for future generations. Approximate knob settings and positions are fine, since it's always going to be a little different anyway.

this is why you need that organization and PAD OF PAPER that I mentioned earlier. That way, when you think of something, you can WRITE IT DOWN. Forgot how you set up that awesome sound last weekend. WRITE DOWN ON YOUR PAD OF PAPER: "Figure out way to remember awesome sounds." Then get on with recording. Then, your PAD OF PAPER will remind you to buy painter's tape, sharpies, and to make notes next time.

The PAD OF PAPER is your producer, telling you in the cold light of sober reflection what was good and bad about each recording session, keeping track of the details that need to be worked on for next time, noting which things you were and weren't happy with at different times and providing a kind of emotional ballast against the temptation to reinvent everything every time you get frustrated or annoyed.

Monitors and a pad of paper. It's all you need. (and maybe some painter's tape).
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