I'm a recording engineer/producer by trade. As such, I've got masters going back as far as 1979. When I get calls to bring some of my older material back to life it can be a little strange. It is a little-discussed fact that many people involved in recording improve their technique constantly, and that includes over the span of one record project. When, after a couple of months, it is time to mix, it is pretty normal to look back at the first recordings of the project and think, "I wish I could have done
that song later in the project so I could have applied
this new technique that I developed towards the end." It's the curse of improvement.
I recently did my first "greatest hits" compilation involving songs I recorded over several years. That was interesting.
But then, I've actually learned recording techniques from myself! For example, In 1982 I recorded demos of a couple of pieces I wrote. I was new to the business, had over 100 microphones to choose from and a thirty-two channel Neve console at my disposal. I basically did everything wrong but since then, whenever I play one of the demos for colleagues their eyes get monstrous and they always say, "How did you get that ride cymbal sound? It is fantastic!" The truth is that I set up the drum kit with a standard textbook mic rig but ended up with a spare AKG C451E lying around and plenty of extra channels, so I thought, "I'll just throw this up on the ride cymbal bell." During that song the drummer decided to whack the ride cymbal bell on the back beat and because that condenser was there I got this lovely musical "ping!" on each hit. Great. I threw my demos in the drawer for about twenty years and didn't listen. But when I did pull them out, as rough as they were, the compliments about the ride cymbal started flowing. Ever since, I've hung out an AKG C451 over the ride cymbal bell,
just in case. And boy are people pleased when suddenly a back beat rhythm on their song comes to life! Ping!
Bob