Good musicians and good recording equipment make daw editing unnecesary?

[marce]

Really not a question, but would like to hear some stories from you. I have been concentrating in acoustic music, and improving singing more, and in editing less. Appear to me that the more time you invest in the raw recording -good instruments, making your record perfect before record, good vocals because your singing is good- make mixing much easier.... just some compressing, some reverb adjustment and voila, very nice song, with any daw.
Adding midi, or other things, well, that´s another story, but the principle is good.

[stoopicus]

I think it's a bit of an odd way of looking at it. Despite having tons of compositional tools, in the end what you are replacing with a DAW is not musicianship or gear quality; in the end, what a DAW brings you is no longer needing to own a Neve console or SSL 4k to record the band, a rack full of hardware compressors and limiters, and physical media to track to and edit on.

[marce]

yes, it must be that way, but sometimes i have relied in the daw tools to correct things too much, instead on focus the quality recording. You know, well, if you are out of tune, i can correct it.

[VOODOO U]

Appear to me that the more time you invest in the raw recording -good instruments, making your record perfect before record, good vocals because your singing is good- make mixing much easier....

If that were the case, mixing engineers would've never existed.

[KBSoundSmith]

In general, I'd say it is the ideal. Certainly the better the musicians, the less work there should be after recording. Life is easier when people are actually good at what they do.

But, even with perfect performances, something to keep in mind: a recording is not a live performance. That audio is going to be played back on some type of speaker(s) at some point, and the recording will have to be adapted for that artificial reality. Who is going to listen? In what context will the recording be used (album, film, video game, etc)? Where will someone listen to it (home, theater, subway)? What type of equipment (good or bad) will they use to playback the audio?

It's definitely great not to have to correct performances, but technical (and artistic) decisions will still need to be made to tailor the audio to its intended format.

[marce]

Nice to read, good point! sometimes good musician is not a good mixing guy... But if you are home producing your music, you need to develop some skills in that area. And if you are a composer...hard. To compose, then record and then mix, and made all that with a cool head. Not easy. In my experience, the best is to mix after some days so you can hear critically yourself, ha.

[cryophonik]

I think your point is completely valid and true. Getting the best quality in terms of sound and performance is always something you should strive for and that should minimize the amount of post-processing/correction required to get the desired result. The same is true in other arts. In photography, we have an old saying "get it right in the camera", which is basically the same intent as you're asking about to minimize the amount of editing needed to create the desired final image.

[pdxindy]

If I am not happy with something I record, I usually re-record rather than trying to edit it. My experience with editing is that beyond a few minor adjustments, editing usually starts to be detrimental to the flow and groove of what I was playing.

[marce]

I think your point is completely valid and true. Getting the best quality in terms of sound and performance is always something you should strive for and that should minimize the amount of post-processing/correction required to get the desired result. The same is true in other arts. In photography, we have an old saying "get it right in the camera", which is basically the same intent as you're asking about to minimize the amount of editing needed to create the desired final image.

Nice analogy!! so true.

[marce]

If I am not happy with something I record, I usually re-record rather than trying to edit it. My experience with editing is that beyond a few minor adjustments, editing usually starts to be detrimental to the flow and groove of what I was playing.

Yes... i found is a better spent-time to re-record, when possible, than edit.

[Papuzzo]

I think good musicians and good recording equipment make DAW editing much easier. First of all, if there is one thing I have learned is that good musicians are necessary to make a song sound "human" since all musicians instill a certain groove and interpretation when playing their instrument. Good musicians provide good groove and good interpretation. Good recording equipment isn't mission critical for creating great songs but it makes mixing easier. We must always remember that the equipment used to make the Blue album by Miles Davis is vastly inferior to the budget stuff we have today.

[VOODOO U]

What makes a song sound human is - TA DA...human beings playing the instruments (regardless if they're "good" or "bad")..
Good musicians may provide a good groove but "good" doesn't mean "soul".
There are hundeeds of popular songs with good musicians who did "good" according to label standards but f**k hell if I'll ever like a Maroon 5 song or anything phil collins post Face Value.

[marce]

What makes a song sound human is - TA DA...human beings playing the instruments (regardless if they're "good" or "bad")..
Good musicians may provide a good groove but "good" doesn't mean "soul".
There are hundeeds of popular songs with good musicians who did "good" according to label standards but f**k hell if I'll ever like a Maroon 5 song or anything phil collins post Face Value.

Sometimes happens with covers of cherished songs, that ones that you enjoy every detail, since they are associated with memories, people, etc. You can hear new versions of it, made by talented musicians, singers, etc, but hardly you will drop the old version your hearth treasured.

[jamcat]

what a DAW brings you is no longer needing to own a Neve console or SSL 4k to record the band

Well you probably would have recorded on the Neve and mixed on the SSL…

But yes, that is what a DAW should be for: recording talent, not manufacturing it.

[osiris]

I'm learning about stacking which (I believe) is the process of doing multiple takes, stacking them in a DAW, then taking the best bits from each to make one great track (usually vocal). I think this is smart. Kind of like film editing.