Some Fine Tuning

Following on from my previous entry regarding recording at how using a Boss BR-8 recording device you will have all of your instrumental tracks recorded and mixed to the levels that you like the sound of. Now is the time to hear what your song sounds like through external speakers.

This might be a good time to sit down and be somewhat underwhelmed.

Before you run  'line-out' audio leads to your external sound device, bare in mind that you have been listening to the same sound over and over and over again through (hopefully) high-quality and insulated headphones.

What you will hear on first listening may well frighten you by how 'bare' your song sounds. The insular nature of headphones condenses all of your tracks so when you hear them through speakers blaring your sounds into the open air, every slight imperfection will be heard. To you it will sound ghastly as you are aware of it. Surprisingly few others hear these quirks.

The most common error one makes initially when recording at home is to have their preferred instrument set at a higher level than it needs to be. Enter stage left your trusted friends who aren't going to massage your ego to give you an objective opinion. Once you have sought the opinion of a few trusted friends, this is where I find the Boss BR-8 to be perfect for my particular genre of rock music.

Instead of heading for the graphic equalizer, go to each track and have a play around with the low, mid & high range frequencies and explore what can be done with frequencies alone. Take my word, it's a little more than amazing. This is a good opportunity to listen to the sound that you hear through external speakers compared to what is heard through headphones and what is heard through your headphones. By doing so you are gradually training your ears to adapt to the difference. Over time you will have this down pat.

Each instrument reacts differently to the Boss BR-8 equalizers. The bass guitar has more flexibility than one may think using the Boss BR-8 home recording unit. Obviously the tone control on the bass guitar should be rotated to the desired position. I have also found that the Boss BR-8 has an almost mystical, intrinsic factor on how bass guitar strings

react to the plectrum used. Unlike using a bass guitar through a conventional amplifier the Boss BR-8 brings out a softer tone if a heavy, sharper, plectrum is used such as those more commonly associated with lead guitarists. At the other end of the scale thinner, flatter, plectrums give a

sharper tone.

The main variations that I make with the guitar sound is by working with the two rhythm guitars that I run in the vast majority of my material. I like my two rhythm guitars to mesh and weave ala' Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, my guitar idols (along with Mick Taylor and Joe Walsh). Rarely do I touch the low end level or frequencies. I generally push the upper level volume a little whilst lowering the upper end frequency slightly. This serves to 'push' the guitar(s) forward without actually increasing the volume. Be careful at this point not to push things too far as you will end up with a 'thin' sound. This same technique is applied to the lead guitar, which should obviously be slightly more predominant.

You may notice that on first listening to the drums through external speakers that, firstly, they they are too loud, secondly, the kick drum is 'booming' and thirdly, that the snare drum sounds tin-like. Bypass the drum sound and listen to your track through. If you're happy with the actual timing and so forth then there should be no need to re-record.

On listening to the kick drum, one should be able to hear the hammer 'hit' the skin of the kick drum. This is achieved either manually by ensuring the drum is properly tuned and/or padded or by lowering the lower end frequency on your home recording unit and perhaps increasing the lower end equalizer. This should be done very slowly. You will hear when you have the sound that you want when the kick drum neither 'booms' or 'clicks.'

The snare sound will more than likely be 'thin' on first playback through external speakers. Again, this can be resolved manually by further damping down your snare or by increasing the lower end volume of your recording and slightly lowering the higher end frequency to maintain 'punchy' sound.

All of the tips mentioned here are subject to variations depending on your own personal style. I do hope you have found them of some assistance.