FAQ
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The Recording Process
Step 1: Song Development
Composition: The process of developing the melody and harmony of the song. This includes the chords and the melody
line.
Arrangement: The process of styling the composition. This stage includes chord voicing, musical style, and adding
form to the piece.
Orchestration: The process of applying instruments appropriate for the particular musical arrangement. Jazz styles
may use an upright bass, while funk may use an electric bass. In rock the rhythm section may be guitar based while R&B
may be piano based.
Step 2: Recording
Digital Recording: converts the sound created by an instrument or vocalist into a computer-based representation that
can be edited and processed. You can record multiple instruments simultaneously or you can record individual instruments
one at a time.
Recording Track: The audio that is recorded is represented on a recording track. So if you record someone singing it
will show up on the recording track. If you record several instruments, each one can be represented on its own recording
track. The more tracks you have available, the more musical elements you can ad. So if you have 48 tracks, you could create
an arrangement with 48 different musical elements.
Input Channel: The audio that is made by and instrument or a vocalist is recorded through an input channel. Each input
channel processes audio through a microphone or an instrument output. The number of tracks that can be recorded
simultaneously depends on how may input channels you have. If you have 16 input channels, you can record 16 tracks at
once.
Step 3: Mixing
Editing: The process of correcting recording errors such as timing, volume levels, pitch, and microphone bleed. This
process is also referred to as track cleaning.
Mixing: The process of ensuring that all the musical elements work together as intended by the arrangement. Each sound
in the musical recording serves a specific purpose and should occupy its own space within the audible sound spectrum. The
mixing process ensures that this occurs and in effect creates a polished sound and the intended representation of the musical
work.
Step 4: Mastering
Equalizing: When multiple songs have been recorded, each song needs to be balanced with the others so that each song
played in succession has the same audio qualities and volume levels.
Enhancing: The process of “sweetening” the audio. This is the stage when polish is added to the entire body of musical
work. The goal is to essentially ad polish and shine through various audio-processing tools.
Master Format: The process of transferring the file to the master format. This may be CD quality, radio quality, ect…