Introduction

Let's get something straight, as they say in all the best hollywood dramas, recording your own acoustic music is not easy: or rather, it's not easy to do well. It requires practice, and a basic knowledge of some very simple principles. And not just practice at recording - in order to get the best out of your time, you need some material to record, and some idea of how to perform it to a microphone or two, rather than a live audience.

However, in case that all sounds a bit negative, recording your own tunes (in any genre) can be a great way to spend your time, and a great way to get better at playing and writing. But sometimes it's easy to get disheartened when the results are less than perfect. A critical facility for your own work is vital, and this can most easily developed by listening to other musicians' work, and simply thinking about why you like (or don't like) what they do.

Anyway, this little blog will just explain some basic ideas and equipment requirements, and hopefully provide some insights into recording acoustic music - and it will be about acoustic sounds - the naturally recorded instrument sound is what interests me, so no midi or synthetic advice here, I'm afraid!