Re: [Harp-L] Be a studio musician when you're not there - Virtual Studio Musician

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Robert Hale wrote:
<I've read a little about real time collaborative recording. I'm thinking
<more of recording tracks at home when distance is impractical or
<cost-prohibitive. And I think I have the hardware and specs in order.

Exchanging tracks and rough mix recordings via email, Yousendit, etc. is easy, so easy that it's barely worth discussing the mechanics.  If you have a decent mic, a 24-bit audio interface, and a computer running any of the major DAWs, you've got everything you need to record good tracks at home.  (I exaggerate slightly, but not much. It helps to have knowledge too.)  The client sends you a rough mix mp3 and a few comments on what she wants to hear.  You record a few passes and send rough mix mp3s back.  Everybody agrees that it sounds good (maybe after another round or two), you get paid, and you send the soloed harp track.  You have to remember to ask up front what audio format they want you to use--my preferred is 24 bit 44 kHz, and I've only been asked for something else (as it happens, 24 bit 48 kHz) once. 

Real time collaborative recording is another story. I have a hard time imagining how the latency issue is handled.  I shudder to think how fat the pipe must be to get latency between the musicians down to, say, 10 milliseconds, which is pretty close to the limit for real time performance.  (At 20 milliseconds, the lag between the source and the line signal becomes very annoyingly audible.)

The hardest part of recording in a home studio is getting the clients.  The mechanics are easy.  FYI, if you use a handheld mic, you don't need to worry about acoustically treating the room.  I use an Audix Fireball V handheld for this very reason when I record "acoustic" harmonica sounds. It sounds great hand-held, and the alternative is to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to treat the room so I can record in front of the mic, where room sounds will be all too evident.

Regards, Richard Hunter

author, "Jazz Harp" 
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