Tips & Techniques

Recording and mixing techniques

Watch leading recording engineers talking on camera about recording in the pro and home studios. Learn their unique and special recording tips, learn how to record and mix better.

Live Band Recording in the Studio session walk through with producer Jack Trubshaw
Live Band Recording in the Studio Session walk through with producer Jack Trubshaw

In this video, experience the creation of a finished master, recorded entirely live without any later effects, tweaks or overdubs — just pure musical talent with the band SANTÙ, and expert engineering, arrangement and production.

Drum Recording Without Tom Mics classic Drum Recording Techniques
Drum Recording Without Tom Mics Classic Drum Recording Techniques

Armchair recording pundits may recoil at the idea of recording drums like this, using no tom mics, but a drummer in the expert recording hands of Owain Fleetwood Jenkins can be assured that the sound that they need for a particular track can be captured...

Master recording the Piano proven Techniques & Tips with 3 Pianos
Master recording the Piano Proven Techniques & Tips with 3 Pianos

Watch how leading engineers and composers setup and record piano for film and general music recording.

Mastering the Beat a comprehensive drum recording tutorial
Mastering the Beat A comprehensive drum recording tutorial

Shot at ARC Studios with Damo Webster playing the drums and 2 x Grammy winning Cameron Craig producing, this short video captures the spirit of the studio and the engineers expertise and helps explain why Matt Taylor won the British MPG's Rising Star award 2022.

Upright Piano Recording matt Taylor shows his techniques
Upright Piano Recording Matt Taylor shows his techniques

Watch and hear how easy it can be to record a great piano sound for your track using affordable microphones.

Drum Recording with Dave Pemberton
Drum Recording with Dave Pemberton

Dave Pemberton's Drum Recording session walkthrough - Dave shows how he recorded a classic Ludwig kit.

Grand Piano Recording using Stereo Ribbon mic with AKG 414
Grand Piano Recording Using Stereo Ribbon mic with AKG 414

Using the amazing Bechstein grand piano at StudiOwz (a lovely converted chapel in Wales) engineer Owain Fleetwood Jenkins shows his approach - getting a beautiful piano sound using a Hum Audio Devices RS-2 (stereo ribbon) microphone and a pair of AKG 414 mics.

Piano Recording a different approach
Piano Recording A different approach

There are many well tested ways to record and capture great piano sounds but there may be another approach that might suit a particular track but having time to experiment is always an issue.

Drum Recording with a USB Mic tracking drums
Drum Recording with a USB Mic Tracking drums

Can an affordable USB mic with multiple capsules give results good enough to make a record? Recording engineer and musician Russ Cottier tests a unit from SSL (better known for mixing consoles) out to find out how technology has advanced - Put on your headphones...

Guitar cab recording phase align using pink noise
Guitar cab recording Phase align using pink noise

Dan Austin is a leading British producer & recording engineer well know for his amazing guitar and drum sounds.

Upright Piano Recording recording techniques comparing several microphone set-ups
Upright Piano Recording Recording techniques comparing several microphone set-ups

GloWorm Studios has a great upright piano that we discovered on a studio tour feature (look up our GloWorm video) so we were keen to ask engineer Iain Hutchison to show us his various methods for getting a great piano sound - we've got a...

Drum Recording with Dan Weller
Drum Recording with Dan Weller

Renowned in the metal scene with bands including SikTh, Enter Shikari and Young Guns, Dan gives us a behind the scenes look (and listen) at his drum recording setup with a tour around the kit to look at mic's and tuning etc on a session...

Acoustic Guitar & Vocals with 1 Microphone
Acoustic Guitar & Vocals with 1 Microphone

Getting a good sounding recording with a guitarist that's also singing can be challenging.  Top recording engineer Russell Cottier shows 3 tips on how to get the best acoustic guitar and voice recording using a single microphone.

Mixing Tips with Al Groves
Mixing Tips with Al Groves

Al Groves has produced, recorded and mixed many big name artists, here he shows us a load of great ideas and things to try while sat behind his SSL Duality mixing desk in his fantastic Liverpool studio, UK.

How to record a live band in a studio
How to record a live band in a studio

Recording a band live in the studio can be great fun, it can increase the tension but also musicians can produce a performance that can be hard to beat - assuming the musicians are good and that they play well together.

How to Record & Mix Drums (30 minute special feature)
How to Record & Mix Drums (30 minute special feature)

Grammy winning engineer Mike Exeter shows his great sounding Drum Recording methods with top session drummer Karl Brazil.