Recording

While physical modelling preamps may take the hassle out of recording electric guitars, you're still going to need to reach for a mic when recording acoustic guitar. Paul White shows you how to get the best recorded sound, and offers a few of his favourite tricks of the trade.

How do you follow 10 years in The Prodigy, one of the most successful bands of the last decade? By recording a solo album in an outhouse adjoining a disused windmill, naturally. Matt Bell meets former Firestarter Leeroy Thornhill and his studio designer Joe Morena to discuss the making of a recording facility in a former double garage.

EQ is a vital tool in modern music production, and an understanding of how each type of equaliser works is important if you are to choose the most effective one for each situation. Paul White and Mike Senior explain the basic principles of equalisation and the different practical implementations.

As with any recording system, the first goal of recording on a PC is to preserve as faithful a copy of the source sound as possible. Achieving this, however can be a complicated business. Martin Walker goes back to basics.

Craig Anderton shows you how to get the best results when combining miked and DI'ed feeds from a bass guitar.

Gates are far more than just problem-solvers for reducing spill and noise. They can be used to add punch to drum sounds, put rhythmic interest into sustained parts or even as mixing automation.

More and more musicians are trying to escape the sterile confines of modern commercial studios in favour of their own creative environments. Brendan Perry's highly individual recording space is uniquely suited to his eclectic style, as John Walden reports.

Paul White reveals that there's much more to gating than you might think.

Necessity is the mother of invention, they say, and that was certainly the case when Gregg Jackman decided to find a better way of recording string sections playing loud rock concerts. Hugh Robjohns talks to this inventive recording engineer.

Hugh Robjohns and Mike Senior explains how to get great results when creating arrangements one track at a time.

The answers to some of the more basic questions we receive at SOS might seem obvious, but they are, in fact, more complex that they appear. Mike Senior sets about answering the unanswerable...

With drum machines and samplers becoming increasingly prominent in music production, mixing real drums is becoming something of a lost art. Paul White explains the basics of this important mixing skill, and shares some secrets on how to get the best drum sound.

How can an electronic band produce exciting, spontaneous, unpredictable and visually engaging perfomances? And if they do, is it really possible to capture the experience of being there in a recording? Rick Smith and Karl Hyde of Underworld believe they have the answers, as Paul Tingen discovered.

Sound On Sound's May 2000 SAE/MPG competition offered readers the chance to win a recording session in a London studio with a top producer. Tom Flint talked to the lucky winners about the recording of their demo — and to producer Steve Levine, who took on the job of transforming it into a potential chart-topper.

Mike Senior answers some of the most common questions we receive about sending out demos, and helps you to make the kind of impression that will get your music heard.

Ken Nelson favours the old school of recording, based around clean signal paths, live playing and analogue tape — but that hasn't stopped him working with some of the hottest new bands in Britain. Among them are Coldplay, whose debut Parachutes album crashed straight into the charts at number 1. Sam Inglis finds out how it was recorded.

Paul White offers a few levels for soundcard-based music systems.

Those who bemoan the lack of invention and experimentation in today's rock music must make an exception for Mercury Rev and the Flaming Lips, two of America's finest and most successful 'alternative' outfits. Their shared producer and engineer Dave Fridmann tells Sam Inglis about their unique approaches to recording.

If I make a digital copy of one Minidisc recording onto another Minidisc, will the data compression reduce the quality of...

Some of the most common problems encountered when working in a home studio arise from having to record in the same room as your recording equipment. However, good-quality recordings are still perfectly possible in such conditions. Hugh Robjohns advises on how to obtain the best results.

Although 'Money' took new British R&B star Jamelia into the top 5 at the age of 17, her apparent overnight success was built on more than a year of hard work by producer Colin Emmanuel. Sam Inglis uncovers the story behind the single.