It’s a concept that we’re so constantly reminded of that it can feel like a tired old phrase, but: get the sound right at the source.
There’s a handful of tools that can help you refine your sound before you even started mixing, a couple of these being very reasonably priced from companies like Warm Audio. In a world where our digital audio workstations can really handle a lot of heavy lifting after recording is done, it’s important to remember that you can only process what you’ve captured and, within reason, you can’t really synthesise too much additional information if you’ve missed it in capture. EQ doesn’t add low end per se, it just shifts the low end that exists within a source to be more exaggerated.
Sonics aside, it can serve an artist well to be hearing a great sound in their monitors or headphones, allowing them to focus on their performance and not the anxiety of how the end product will sound. In my own freelance work, I have a few of mantras that I use for myself and bands, a relevant one being “Record as if you’re not going to mix.”
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A handful of extra tools on capture can get a sound really close to ‘finished’, as well as managing the expectations of a band or yourself on the resulting mix. A great mic is a given, but while there’s a whole slew of good and great mics available, maybe more so the focus should be the ‘correct’ microphone for the application. A ‘great’ ribbon microphone won’t serve a pop lead vocal, same as a high-end, bright condenser may not flatter an overly dry and washy cymbal. The choice of microphone can serve to either compliment or augment your choice of preamp, some preamps allowing for a little EQ, some impedance settings (again to match with your mic and interface/tape machine), and a compressor at the recording stage can help to level out any peaks, bring up any quiet moments and produce an overall more polished sounding result than directly into an interface or convertor.
Any audio interface with a preamp on board will work, we’ll give them that, but an audio interface’s design doesn’t offer as much as a dedicated external preamp, let alone compression not usually being available on interfaces.
Mic
Your choice of mic should be dependent on a few things: the sound you want or the sound you have. An overtly bright source that needs to be darkened could benefit from a darker, more vintage mic, while a dull source can benefit from a present studio condenser to help it fit into a contemporary mix. A good studio condenser is a great option as they’re so full-frequencied that they allow you to shape the sound however you like.
WA-47jr
The Warm Audio WA-47jr is a great solution as it features a little of the character and weight of a bigger studio condenser, but the absence of a tube or transformer means it responds well to faster transients. Use a mic like this to capture a true to source recording of just about anything you point it at in cardioid, or switch to Omni or figure-of-eight to capture more ambience of the space around the source.
Preamp
Your mic choice can be null without a great preamp after it, serving to both amplify the mic’s signal to line level for recording, as well as offering some tonal shaping options. The WA73-EQ is a great solution, Warm Audio offering some classic “British” sounding tone with a three-band EQ and high-pass filter to treat your source on the way in.
WA73-EQ
The Warm Audio WA73-EQ offers enough gain for both line and mic sources, and for you to really push signal into harmonic saturation if you wish— thanks to the output trim at the other end of the unit it can still hit your converters or interface at a healthy level. This way you can begin to shape the sound sonically so you won’t have to do so much work in the mix! The filter can easily get rid of unwanted low end, for example if you’re recording a guitar, vocal or piano that doesn’t always need that sub low end, allowing you to easily filter 50Hz up to 300Hz with a few steps in between. The three band parametric EQ offers the option to boost or cut lows, mids or highs, for a little extra sparkle in the top end or some extra thump in the lows. Augment the mids on a source or scoop ‘em— I’m looking at you metal producers! Additionally, the WA73-EQ has a ‘Tone’ switch that offers more impact from the colourful transformer within the unit. You’re also able to toggle an insert on and off, patched directly into the WA73-EQ, for example a compressor?
Compressor
A little compression can be a great way to tame a signal while recording, and while I should remind you to be careful, you can also go as hard or soft as you like! Compression can help your mix to feel more finished while recording, but it can also help you singer to perform at their very best—hearing themselves clearly and consistently.
WA76-A
The WA76-A is Warm Audio’s answer to one of the most popular and widely used compressors in history. Building on the original FET design, known for being supremely fast and clear, the WA76-A adds a high-pass filter as a sidechain circuit, as well as a Mix knob to blend some harder compression back in parallel. At slow attack settings, a compressor will allow transients through before the compressor clamps the rest of the source down, a great and very transparent way to record. This particular compressor allows various ratio settings, as well as the option to double down and go harder if you depress multiple ratio buttons.
Getting the sound right at the source doesn’t have to be as scary as it may seem; if you’re happy with what’s coming out of the speakers then who cares!? Having a well treated source with a little EQ and compression can have clients impressed, as well as saving time in the mix as the sound is already on its way to being ‘finished’. Compressors on every source can help to set everything in place, and a handful of EQs while recording can help things to poke out from the mix with a little brightness, as well as adding saturation carefully to different sources.
While your audio interface might have a handful of features for recording, some dedicated units that are designed for treating your sound will pay dividends. Getting it right at the source sets a standard for the recording, and it can be a simple process to zhuzh (or wrangle!) your sounds into place.
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