[Dixielandjazz] How Not To Record A Group

[Steve Schwartz]

I recently had the misfortune to record a group of great musicians in one of the 5 boros of NY.

The music was great but the conditions were awful due to a lack of planning and
a desire on someone's part to return to
the bygone days of early lo-fi.

Here's how not to get a good recording:

1. Don't rehearse, especially if you think you don't need to.

2. Don't set the group up like you would on stage. Put people in front of other people so that you will get minimum separation and maximum bleed.

3. Don't do any real sound check, especially after the first few takes.

4. Don't let anyone wear headphones except the engineer.

5. Don't use a sound booth. That way the engineer won't be able to hear what is going on because he will be in the room with everyone else.

6. Don't use a vocal mike, especially if you are doing any vocals. That way you won't be able to use any of the vocals.

7. Don't allow anything in the budget for mixing and mastering. Then you won't have to worry about how it comes out in the end.

8. Record in a room which is live and has a creaky floor.

By following the above steps, you will save lots of money and above all, insure that the results will be mediocre, no matter how good the equipment or how much work is put into the project.