The Arranging Dilemma

It's been a busy couple months and I haven't added any new songs or updates for a bit, but the Dead Lovers Project will be continuing into the new year, and I'm about ready to start the first recordings.

But I've got to make some decisions first.

Generally, when I've done solo recordings, my goal has been to capture as "live" an experience as possible, with few or no overdubs and only a single instrument and my voice. This is a pretty common way to record traditional folk artists, and it's pretty simple system. You set up a microphone or two, and play the song through several times until you get a take you're happy with. A number of traditional and classical artists record this way still.

Now, when I've worked with a group, there have been several instruments and vocalists involved, and in most cases these were all recorded one at a time. First a "scratch" track would be laid out, usually with guitar and voice, then a better rhythm guitar track, a polished vocal track and then any instrumental overdubs needed. Often there would be extra instrumental tracks to fill out the sound, sometimes involving harmonies and instruments that the group would never be using in a live performance. Afterwards, there would be tuning and tweaking to hide mistakes and fix off notes. This would result in an idealized version of what the song could sound like, and is probably the most common way of recording rock and popular music.

A third way of doing a record, which I've debated trying and never attempted, is for a single artist to record multiple tracks, and maybe even mix in some electronic rhythm tracks. I've thought about venturing into the "folktronica" realm with this sort of thing, updating and modernizing the sound by mixing acoustic and digital instruments together. It would be something new to me, but could lead to some cool results.

Now the first way of recording is well within my comfort zone, and within the capabilities of the equipment I already own. I can run cardiod or condensor microphones directly into my little Tascam recorder and mix it to my computer. I can even do some limited overdubbing this way, and there are free audio programs like Audacity that let me tweak the sound to some degree. My home laptop is... OK for this sort of thing, although it's been getting cranky and noisy lately, but I've done a couple of projects this way.

If I wanted to do a more elaborately mixed and arranged album, I'd need some additional equipment. Digital interfaces that let me record directly to my computer and better software. Or, one thing I've seen some artists work with lately is recording directly to an iPad using a dedicated interface. This has the advantage of portability and simplicity and having a device dedicated to recording and music production would help me keep myself organized (always a difficult task in my case). Whichever way I go about it, I'd need to buy at least a few hundred dollars worth of gear.

Of course, I could also book time at a recording studio, but that gets pricey quickly, and I'd have to have a very clear idea of what I wanted, with less room for experimentation than a home recording.

I still haven't quite figured out what I want to do yet. I still also have a couple songs I'd like to learn, but I could start recording the ones I know well before I finish the learning of the new (to me) ones.

Anyway, that's where my head is at lately! Hopefully I'll have more read progress to post soon.

Happy New Year all!