Recording
Probably the most important part of the production process is the recording, for obvious reasons. The performance needs to be just right, there needs to be as few mistakes as possible, and the sound that is captured needs to conform to the aesthetic quality that the artist is going for.
Two weeks ago the Groanbox Boys (Cory and Michael) and I went off to Harefield, where there was a 1930's art deco concert hall in a hospital in the countryside. The sound in the hall was beautiful - very warm and old fashioned. Luckily no helicopters landed on the nearby helipad during our sessions.
As this terrible photograph shows, I brought my computer, and Michael brought his standalone digital recorder. I set up on a table about twenty feet away from the stage, where Michael and Cory were playing.
We decided early on that we wanted the songs to sound a "live" as possible, so all of the accordion and guitar (or banjo) tracks were recorded together.
The accordion has two microphones built in, which sound great but a little too clean and raw. Here's a sample:
Therefore we also placed microphones a few feet away on either side, to capture some ambient sounds. Notice the reverb and space on this sample: