Whether you record on your laptop, a dedicated handheld device,
or your smartphone, fancy technology can only get you so far. Here we
reveal
10 SECRETS every would-be Rick Rubin, Phil Spector, and
Sir George Martin needs to keep in mind to avoid glitchy,
sterile-sounding tracks and capture pristine, amazing tones.
BY MITCH GALLAGHER
Digital recording has been a boon to music in innumer- able and immeasurable ways. And the ubiquity of hi-tech
devices in our daily lives today—as well as the incredible rate at
which sophisticated features trickle down to the masses—has only
compounded the effect. Today, it’s affordable and remarkably convenient for just about anyone to make high-quality recordings on
the run, in home project studios, and at rehearsals and gigs.
But while the possibilities are nearly endless with this new tech-
nology, that doesn’t mean creating a great recording is simply a
matter of having a kick-butt computer, smartphone, or dedicated
recorder. Technology only gets you so far. Now, more than ever,
you have to know what you’re doing to get great results—because
it’s just as easy to make a bad digital recording as it is to make a
bad analog recording.
