Why is no one talking about this?
There’s one element in every song that makes the difference between a good recording and a GREAT recording. That element is YOU.
It's not just about technique. It's not just about being technically competent. It's not even just about the emotional connection with the material to deliver a great performance. It is the sum of all of those parts. This summing of parts creates CONVICTION in your performance.
Everyone knows you've got to be technically competent enough to play/sing the part but understand that all great recordings start with intent. When you know your material inside out and are practised, you will play with greater confidence.
Get in touch with the emotional aspect of the music, REALLY tap in to the emotion. FEEL the music. How does it make YOU feel? You need to play or sing with such conviction, that you physically feel a CONTROLLED emotional response. THAT’s how you connect with your listener.
This is where recording can become an art form and why we SHOULD be taking more time recording than we do on making mix decisions!
Imagine this:
You're in the studio and you’ve just completed a take. It’s not quite right. The producer asks you to do it again. You play/sing the part again. It's still not right. They ask to play/sing something else. You play/sing another part that you know well, but it's not quite right either. The producer says that's better, but there’s ‘something missing’. This goes on for hours, chasing your tail in pursuit of the ‘perfect performance’, when in reality all you are most likely missing is conviction.
If this sounds like a nightmare scenario, then stop reading, “take five dollars out of petty cash and have the rest of the day off”. You’ve just realised what most amateur tracking sessions look like.
"Fixing it in the mix" is no longer an acceptable mentality, like it has been in the last 10 or so years. It’s so easy, especially with today’s technology, to ‘short cut’ the time in the studio (even if it’s your bedroom) sacrificing the conviction of the performance, thinking it can be ‘fixed’ after the fact. The absolute truth is, it can’t.
“You can’t polish a turd” is a popular saying in this regard. The fact is, you can ABSOLUTELY polish a turd, but underneath, it’s still a turd. Wouldn’t you rather be polishing a beautifully sculpted performance? As an engineer, I know I would MUCH rather be having FUN actually MIXING or MASTERING your song, your creation, than fixing problems disguised as mixing.
There’s no such thing as a ‘perfect performance’ in the studio – yet many musicians seem to expect it from themselves and their fellow musicians on every single take! I know I've been guilty of this in the past; we all have at one time or another! Perfection in the creative field is highly subjective. This isn't to say that you shouldn't strive for the best possible performance you can muster at that moment in time. Remember, this is just one, of many, musical moments in your life.
The reality is that no one can deliver 100% perfect performances every time. BUT everyone is capable of performing their part with conviction.
As a sound engineer, whenever I’m in the studio with a client and we are tracking their parts, I always have a conversation beforehand about what I’m listening for in a ‘good take’.
The deciding factor, HANDS DOWN, will always be:
‘Vibe’ and conviction.
You see, if you give me a performance that is dripping with conviction, but you slip a couple of notes that aren’t quite there vocally, or you play just that little bit too far out of time, chances are, I can fix that. What I can’t do, (not at least until people much smarter that I am develop some sort of “SUPER VIBE” plugin), is tune vibe in to your vocal. Nor can I time shift your performance to give me more conviction.
"WAIT A MINUTE!!!"
Now, I can hear you take a deep breath in as you are about to hang me out to dry and say “But Cam!! You said you shouldn’t fix it in the mix!”
That, my beautiful friends, is NOT what I mean by ‘fixing it in the mix’.
That is just tweaking, what is otherwise, the best possible take for that track. It is sprinkling a tiny bit of icing sugar over your delicious brownies, because that most likely will give you just a little more enjoyment with every scrumptious mouthful…… ok, ok, enough with the food metaphors. You get the point.
So, now we know that the absolute baseline for a great performance is to:
1)be practised,
2)to give you the confidence,
3)to be able to deliver the best performance you can, AT THIS POINT IN TIME, with an undeniable sense of conviction. That will draw your listeners in and create fans. Fans that can’t get enough of you because you reach them on a deeper level, sometimes in a way that they can’t even explain.
Now go PRACTISE and give it to me one more time “WITH FEEL!”
Written by Cameron Johnson Audio
Cameron is an audio engineer and musician based in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. He has dedicated the last 10 years to working with artists in most genres both nationally and internationally in live sound and more recently following his passion in the studio world. Cam’s honest, fun and down to earth nature are the perfect compliment to his technical ability and have his clients listening to their creations, full of pride and satisfaction.