Recording Jazz: The absolute basics

Recording jazz can be one of the most rewarding and one of the most unnerving things a recording engineer has to deal with.

It's a blend of studio recording and and live recording. It requires the engineer to be constantly on his toes. However, recording jazz can be one of the most rewarding recording experiences you can have.

The first thing to remember when recording jazz is that jazz is an improvisational art and it is important to convey the sound and feel that was in the room at the time of recording. This means you will want to keep overdubs to a minimum or better yet don't overdub at all. This can be a foreign concept to many who record in home or project studios where very few sessions involve more than 3 or 4 instruments at a being recorded at a time (I'm counting drums as a single instrument).

When recording jazz you have to keep in mind the fact that the interaction between musicians is so critical in this style. So its vitally important for the musicians to be able to see and hear each other in the most natural way possible. This means you will most likely have to put musicians close together. So you are most likely going to have some bleed, but that's OK it will contribute to the overall sound of the recording. Excessive bleed happens when one instrument is playing to loud. You can control this bleed by positioning instruments in an intelligent way, this is the way the earliest recordings were done. The pioneers of recording would position the most important/quietest instruments closest to the recording device and position the louder instruments farther away. Doing this and making sure your mic choices and positions are right will keep bleed at a manageable and even profitable level.

While overdubs are undesirable when recording jazz I have occasionally had a jazz artist that wanted to overdub its rare and I wouldn't consider those artist as pure jazz musicians. If you must do an over dub it is important that if you can possibly record in the original space you do this is the best way to make sure your overdub gels with the main track.

Now if you haven't already guessed the most important thing in recording jazz is having a good room. Now a good room for recording pop may not be a good selection for jazz. You'll have to use your ears and the artist vision of where they want the music to sound like it is being preformed. I mention this because several jazz artist I have recorded wanted to sound like they were performing in a jazz club. To get this "jazz club" sound it's not imperative to have a perfectly treated room (which is a good thing for many home recordists). I have recorded jazz in living rooms, churches, auditoriums, and of course jazz clubs. It may even be a good idea to try a live recording although this is a major under taking.

Most of all I advise that you try to see the band perform live if you can not just when you're recording a jazz group but any band who performs live. This is the first thing you should do when preparing to record jazz groups. And trust me if there is ever a time to plan ahead it's when you are going to be recording a group that where overdubs won't be a major part of he finished track.

Now go out and a make a record that would make Miles jealous.

Compression Made Easier

Learning how to set up a compressor can be a challenge, but here's an easy way to find the best setting. First set the release to its fastest possible setting and the ratio to a higher setting than you think you should need, then set the threshold so that there is always some compression. Next listen to the attack, because you have set a fast release it becomes easy to hear the attack. After you have the attack that you want then set the release, followed by the ratio and threshold in that order. The reason that this is helpful is because it allows you to isolate certain elements of what the compressor and set them to give the best possible sound.

The Top 5 DAWs

The Best Audio Workstations.

Every year it another Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is released, and the flagships are upgraded. So which one is the best, well almost everyone has his own opinion, but I'm gonna list my favorites (yes I have used all of them on the list for projects). I'm not gonna list Mac DAWs like Logic because I only have PCs (although I love Logic when I get a chance to use it).

So here They are...


5. Live 7

Live 7 is DAW but is also designed to be used live (as the name denotes). Live 7 Features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to browse and preview audio files, then drop them directly into your session. It also has full VST support and can handle most loop formats, Live also supports MIDI and has a video import/export feature. All editing in Live is done in realtime so you can undo any mistakes you may make. Live 7 also allows you to automate the tempo and it will adjust any loops or tracks for you.

4. Tracktion 3

Tracktion is the quickest to learn, and the quickest to use. All recording and mixing is done from a clutter-free, single-screen user interface. It has MIDI and VST support, and is capable of importing Acid, Apple and REX Loops. It places no limits on track count, virtual instruments, or plug-ins (though your computer can only take so much abuse). Tracktion also features a high-definition 64-bit/192kHz mix engine and QuickTime video support.

3. Sonar 7

Soanr 7 is slightly harder to learn than Tracktion and Live, but with it we also enter the more "professional" DAW section of the list. Sonar features full VST support, full MIDI support and has an unlimited track, bus, and effect count. It also comes with a large collection of very good VSTs (better than the plug-ins most DAWs ship with). It was hard to decide where this should go on the list, I really like this DAW, but it gives me a lot of trouble so it got third place.

2. Cubase 4

My favorite for years Cubase (2, 3, and 4) was the DAW I kept coming back to (I kept trying Sonar) and I still use it frequently. Cubase is a bit harder to learn than sonar, but it will reward you with exelent results. Cubase has full MIDI and VST support. It also comes with 52 VST plug-ins which are of at least fair quality if not good, but you will want to buy some plug-ins of a higher quality. Cubase Features a video import/export function. I would recommend cubase if you want a professional full featured DAW that will work with almost any soundcard.

1. Protools LE or M-Powered

Protools is the industry standard and if you want to get truly professional results this is a good start. Now Protools is very expensive so till LE and M-powered only pros could afford it. I only got protools (m-powered) about a year ago, and have had a good time making music with it. Protools LE and Protools M-powered require special hardware to operate, and do not support VST instead they use RTAS plug-ins (most plug-ins offer this as a choice when you install them, and there is a VST to RTAS wrapper on the market). With a limit of 5 effects per track they do slightly handicap you, but this makes you think before you apply an effect. Protools LE and Protools M-powered both place restrictions on the number of tracks which can be a help or a hindrance. Protools is the DAW to use if you are serious I highly recommend it give it a try.


In conclusion any of these DAWs can give professional results in the right hands. Choose the DAW that suits your needs best, learn basic recording and mixing techniques, and