The Goldberg Variations: Recording

This post is mainly about (primitive) recording technology.  Professional recording technicians will certainly cringe; I'll make a long story short, and say there are good reasons to pay for a studio and an expert engineer if you have the money.  If you don't, my experience might interest you.

I take a very practical view of recording technology.  Ever since I found, in an issue of Maximum Rock & Roll many years ago, a statement to the effect that bands have released CDs which were recorded using the Voice Recorder on Windows(tm), I've been intrigued by the possibilities.  Today, I'm using Audacity under Linux Mint; while there are other options available, this is the easiest at the moment.  To record the audio to begin with, I use a Zoom H1 digital recorder, plugged into the headphone jack via a splitter.

Here are some lessons learned so far:

It's been tempting to edit to a "final" take right away, but I've learned the hard way it's not a good idea.  For one thing, dynamics are important not only within a variation, but from one to the next.  When you amplify the takes as they are made, you can't make that comparison; the computer will amplify a "softer" track up to a level similar to the "louder" one before or after it.  While you can re-amplify the tracks when you put them all together, that will change the level of the background noise, too, which will be distracting.  So, while I'll do basic editing (cutting out the unwanted stuff) early on, adding amplification and other effects will have to wait until the whole set is done.  I had added noise removal on the recordings of several variations before I realized it was making my keyboard sound bad.  I'll re-record them.  Lesson learned.

There's a recording-studio adage that says everything that happens in a studio should be recorded.  I've found it's true.  At first, I used to record each take as a separate file, constantly getting up to start and stop the recording device.  Now, I just let it run, and if I need to go over a section slowly, or repeat something, I record that too.  Most of it will be deleted after the final take(s) is(are) done, but there's less chance of missing something good.  It's also easier to concentrate on the music.

Usually I leave some blank space before beginning to record a section, which will make it easy to find when I'm editing.  It's a test of patience; usually after messing something up I want to dive right back in and play it again.  But counting off a few blank measures in the tempo of the piece helps to keep some perspective.

A home recording can be many things, and before anything else it's a way to hear my own playing.  Does it sound the way it should?  Are the rhythms right?  What about the ornaments?  The articulations?  Do I like it at this tempo, or would it be better faster (or slower)?  While there is an understandable urge to produce something and publish it, a home recording is first and foremost a practice tool.  While I'm playing, my ear can lie to me about what I'm doing.  An unedited recording, however, comes closer to the truth.

Will you ever hear what I'm creating?  I'm not sure.  But if I don't hear it, there won't be much worth sharing.