Recording - July 2017 - 4

publisher:

FadeIn
Rules: (a) learned (b) broken
There's an old saying, "Before you break the rules, you have to learn the rules."
It's true that a lot of now-famous musicians got that way by rebelling against what
was considered conventional music at the time... but they understood what norms
they were rebelling against.
Rules and accepted practices form a framework, and frameworks are good
things to have when learning how to do something well. You shouldn't confuse
a desire to break out of conventional thinking with a desire to do things any old
way you want to, just because you can't be bothered to learn how to do them
right. Learn the rules, so you can fully understand when and why to break them.
That's the spirit of the two main features in this issue.
We're looking at guitar recording, as we often do come
Summer NAMM time, and these two pieces teach the rules
and then break the rules where acoustic guitar tracking is
concerned. On page 22, Paul J. Stamler walks us through
best practices for getting a great-sounding guitar track.
Then, on page 34, Sven-Erik Seaholm deliberately dodges
those best practices to create interesting and unusual guitar
sounds to spice up his recordings... and he explains why
he's chosen to break the rules in the ways he does.
Sven knows the rules and records with them when it's appropriate, so when he
breaks them, it's for a good reason. Taking a leaf from his book (after reading
Paul's book from cover to cover) is bound to help you get better and more
intriguing guitar sounds in your projects.
Making and breaking the rules extends to the tools of the trade as well. In this
issue, Paul Vnuk takes a look and listen to some cool mics by MXL and Placid Audio
designed for use on guitar amps... but having learned what they did well, he wasn't
hesitant to try them out in unusual ways. In the photo above, Paul's miking an acoustic
guitar with the MXL DX-2 dynamic mic, which is reviewed on page 46.
Want more innovation? There's the Radial JDX Direct-Drive (page 40), an amp
and cabinet modeling guitar pedal without a single digital component in it; the
Hotone Xtomp (page 50), a digital stompbox that's anything you want it to be,
instantly; and the Avedis MD7 (page 48), a 500 Series module that puts a new
spin on the tried and true formulas for guitar DI/preamps.
Another place where learning and then breaking the rules has benefits is in
using the Internet to buy and sell music gear. On page 14, Paul talks about a firm
that's doing just that. The founders of Reverb looked at "how everyone's always
done it"-sites like Ebay and Craigslist-and threw away those practices, creating
an online community for gear sales and for sharing knowledge about the gear
being sold. It's a radical approach, and yet again, it came from a firm knowledge
of the rules of the game, and where breaking them would be of benefit.
I had a classical music education and then played bass in a blues band, long
before I delved into the electronic genres where I release albums today. I spent years
learning the rules through studying and gigging before I started breaking them, and
that framework has helped me succeed in expressing my creative vision. Learn the
rules, break the rules, know why you're breaking the rules... I'd call those "rules to live
by", but then some wise guy would come along and suggest that we break those, too.
Enjoy the issue.

RECORDING July 2017

Thomas Hawley
Brent Heintz

associate publisher:

EDITORIAL
Mike Metlay
special projects editor: Lorenz Rychner
technical editor: Paul Vnuk Jr.
editor at large: Beto Hale
copy editor: Diana Smethurst
músico pro editor: Fernando Curiel
editor:

CONTRIBUTORS
Paul Vnuk Jr., Paul J. Stamler,
Sven-Erik Seaholm, Alex Hawley,
Allen Goodman, Marty Peters
SOCIAL MEDIA
Brent Heintz, Paul Vnuk Jr.
ART & PRODUCTION
Joseph Hawley
production manager: Colin Courtney
web goalie: Colin Courtney
creative director:

PLAYBACK PLATINUM SERIES
Lorenz Rychner

editor/producer:

CIRCULATION
Tiffany Sepe

circulation manager:

ADVERTISING SALES AND MARKETING
director: Brent Heintz
classifieds manager: Colin Courtney
ADMINISTRATION
Thomas Hawley

accounts receivable:

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Thomas Hawley
vice president: Brent Heintz
president:

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - July 2017