Behind any great musician is a great producer.
Alex Bhore is a musician and producer at Elmwood Recording in Oak Cliff. In the last 15 years, he’s worked with locals such as Black Tie Dynasty and Power Trip, and big names such as AJJ. He says North Texas musicians don’t always need the fancy stuff to record great music.
Whether a musician is recording from home or in a studio for the first time, here are some tips.
1. Be prepared before entering a studio.
Bhore says there are two ways musicians can prepare before coming into the studio. One, bring simple instrumentals and build a song off of that. Or, two, have every piece of the song ready to record in the studio using all the microphones, instruments and amps necessary.
As long as a musician has something prepared to work with, a producer can help with the rest.
“Have an open mind and be ready to be surprised by your own mind,” Bhore says. “Let yourself exist in the moment, try things and let things happen.”
2. Don’t overthink the instruments
Don’t get caught up thinking you need all the best, new equipment. Bhore says you don’t need to change your strings or your drum heads before you come into the studio hoping it will help your sound.
“If your instruments sound cool to you and to everyone else, bring it in as is,” Bhore says. “Don’t touch it, don’t tune anything, just leave them as they are.”
Bhore says if there are problems with the instruments or there are missing cables, producers can always help and work to fix it in the studio.
3. For home recording, find the right workstation
Ableton and Logic Pro are both digital audio workstations that provide a library of loops, samples and instruments that musicians can use to write and mix music.
Those softwares are good for producing any kind of genre, but Bhore says there are still more options.
4-track cassette recorders are used to record four separate tracks in the same direction. It’s a do-it-yourself way to craft your demo and more affordable than recording in a studio.
“For a home recordist, it might be an even closer sound to what you’re imagining yourself sounding like,” Bhore says.
4. Get an audio interface for your computer
An audio interface is a device that connects your computer to instruments, microphones and other audio equipment. It allows you to record, play and process sound with your computer.
It takes both digital and analog signals, such as guitars and microphones, and converts them into a format your computer can recognize. It then converts them back to analog so you can listen through headphones or speakers.
“These days, even the cheaper ones sound pretty good,” Bhore says. “They also make interfaces for iPad and such, so working on the go is super easy.”
5. Heighten your intuition
Once you’ve recorded your demo, Bhore says play the song in front of a friend. It helps heighten your sense of awareness about what’s working and what’s not.
“Get opinions and see what you can do to strengthen your material based on that,” Bhore says.
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