如何在家中錄製吉他並進行混音：George Lever 和 Forrester Savell 的提示

劣質臥室生產商的日子已經一去不復返了。隨著製作設備和軟體變得越來越便宜，空房間成為艾比路 (Abbey Road) 更可行的替代方案

Gone are the days of the inferior bedroom producer. As production gear and software becomes ever-more affordable, spare rooms become more viable alternatives to Abbey Road. 

劣質臥室生產商的日子已經一去不復返了。隨著製作設備和軟體變得越來越便宜，空閒房間成為 Abbey Road 更可行的替代方案。

Whether your homemade productions are for sharing with bandmates, seducing industry professionals or official releases, the tech is more accessible than ever – but making your music stand out in a saturated market isn’t.

無論您的自製作品是為了與樂隊成員分享、吸引行業專業人士還是官方發布，技術都比以往任何時候都更容易獲得 - 但讓您的音樂在飽和的市場中脫穎而出卻並非如此。

With so many variables to self-recording and mixing guitars, as well as a raft of conflicting information online, Guitar World sat down with esteemed producers George Lever (Sleep Token, Loathe, Monuments) and Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Tesseract, Caligula’s Horse) to learn about what to do, and what not do, to make your productions pop.

由於自我錄音和混音吉他存在許多變數，以及網路上大量相互矛盾的訊息，《吉他世界》與受人尊敬的製作人George Lever（《Sleep Token》、《Loathe》、《Monuments》）和Forrester Savell（ 《Karnivool》、《Tesseract》、《Caligula's Horse》）進行了座談。

Before recording

錄音前

Like everything, preparation is key. Savell stresses the importance of players learning their parts before entering a recording environment; but Lever goes one step further by emphasizing the value of players “understanding their instrument to the best of the ability”.

就像所有事情一樣，準備是關鍵。 Savell 強調演奏者在進入錄音環境之前學習自己的部分的重要性；但 Lever 更進一步強調演奏者「盡其所能地理解他們的樂器」的價值。

He says: “There’s an assumption that recorded guitar should sound like MIDI, but that ignores the builds of different guitars – the way it's set up, the string tension relationship with the tuning that you’re playing in, and how the left-hand influences microtonal changes to the tuning.

他說：「有一種假設，即錄製的吉他聽起來應該像MIDI，但這忽略了不同吉他的構造——它的設置方式、琴弦張力與您所演奏的調音的關係，以及左手吉他的演奏方式。

“Or whether the pickups can perform in the way you want them to. The best thing someone can do before hitting record is become the most intuitive musician that they can, based on what they want to achieve with their instrument.”

「或者拾音器是否能夠按照您想要的方式運作。在錄製唱片之前，一個人能做的最好的事情就是根據他們想要用樂器實現的目標，成為他們能做到的最直觀的音樂家。

He also recommends tuning to a piano at full volume, rather than relying on a tuner, as they “don’t tell you about the variation that might be occurring above and below the pick attack, or during the sustain.” He adds: “When tuning to a piano note, you can hear how in tune you are versus the piano – that’s why you’ll see orchestras tuning to each other.”

他還建議將鋼琴調至最大音量，而不是依賴調音器，因為調音器「不會告訴您撥片攻擊上方和下方或延音期間可能發生的變化」。他補充說：“當調到鋼琴音符時，你可以聽到你與鋼琴的調音程度 - 這就是為什麼你會看到管弦樂隊相互調音。”

Safety first

安全第一

Savell says bedroom producers can be guilty of “poor tonal choices,” so it’s important to set up a get-out-of-jail-free card. “As a safety mechanism you should be recording your guitars with a DI so that your tone can be rescued if needed.”

薩維爾表示，臥室製作人可能會犯下「糟糕的色調選擇」的罪，因此設立一張免獄卡很重要。 “作為一種安全機制，您應該使用 DI 來錄製吉他，以便在需要時可以挽救您的音色。”

You also want a suitable gain level. If it’s too loud there’s the risk of clipping, which is a difficult thing to fix. But if you overcompensate, a recording may include too much of the electrical noise inherent in guitars, cables and pedals. Says Lever: “I’ll make the loudest sound I can make on the guitar until it doesn’t clip on a preamp, then go back one notch.”

您還需要合適的增益等級。如果聲音太大，就會有削波的風險，這是一件很難修復的事情。但如果補償過度，錄音中可能包含過多吉他、電纜和踏板固有的電噪聲。 Lever 說：“我會在吉他上發出我能發出的最大聲音，直到它不會夾在前置放大器上，然後再返回一級。”

Setting the tone

定下基調

In order to avoid the tone-chasing rabbit hole while recording, familiarity outranks experimentation. “Always record with a guitar sound you like,” Savell says. “It’s good for comfort and it also gives mixing engineers – if you’re going to work with one – a reference point if they want to build new tones.”

為了避免錄音時追逐音調的兔子洞，熟悉比實驗更重要。 「總是用你喜歡的吉他聲音來錄音，」薩維爾說。 “這對舒適度很有好處，而且如果你要與混音工程師合作的話，如果他們想要構建新的音調，它也為他們提供了一個參考點。”

If you’re demoing your new track with your favorite tone, how should you dial in the double track’s tone? 

如果您用您最喜歡的音色示範新曲目，您應該如何撥入雙軌的音色？

Savell says it comes down to trial and error, but adds: “There are characteristics of different amps and tones that I find work well together.

Savell 表示，這取決於反覆試驗，但他補充說：「我發現不同擴大機和音色的某些特性可以很好地協同工作。

The more guitar performances you start stacking on top of each other, the smearier they can become

你開始堆疊的吉他演奏越多，它們就會變得越髒

“A high-gain, smooth-sounding amp like a Peavey 5150 or Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier pairs well with a slightly backed-off breakup amp like a Marshall. It gives you a combination of saturation and a more percussive sound.”

「像 Peavey 5150 或 Mesa/Boogie 雙整流器這樣的高增益、聲音平滑的放大器與像 Marshall 這樣的稍微回退的分解放大器搭配得很好。它為您提供飽和度和更具衝擊力的聲音的結合。

Lever’s approach is a little more streamlined: “You can’t use one rule for everything: add what you think is missing from that first tone. You don’t want to compromise either tone.”

利弗的方法更加精簡：「你不能對所有事情都使用一個規則：添加你認為第一個音調中缺少的內容。你不想在任何一種語氣上妥協。

Less is more

少即是多

Both engineers agree that recording more guitars isn’t necessarily conducive to a bigger, punchier sound. “Quad tracking is something that I only really do when I know that the guitarist is exceptionally tight,” Savell says. “The more guitar performances you start stacking on top of each other, the smearier they can become – you lose the articulation of what’s being played.

兩位工程師都同意，錄製更多的吉他不一定有利於產生更大、更有衝擊力的聲音。 「只有當我知道吉他手非常緊張時，我才會真正做四重跟踪，」薩維爾說。 「你開始堆疊的吉他演奏越多，它們就會變得越模糊——你會失去所演奏內容的清晰度。

Lever adds: “Instead of tracking more of the same, I’d be thinking about playing something different with other layers, like higher or lower octaves, ambient or lead parts to fill out the sound. Then it becomes more melodious and interesting.”

Lever 補充說：「我不會追蹤更多相同的東西，而是考慮用其他層演奏不同的東西，例如更高或更低的八度音階、環境聲或主奏聲部來填充聲音。然後它就會變得更加悠揚和有趣。

Tracking

追蹤

Recognizing that many of us record their demo parts in isolation, Savell stresses that it’s “important to listen to what the other instruments are playing. If each member records to an earlier demo version, they’re not bouncing off each other’s performances – it gets a little stale and things can fall out of sync.”

薩維爾認識到我們中的許多人都是單獨錄製他們的演示部分，因此強調「聆聽其他樂器正在演奏的內容非常重要」。如果每個成員都錄製到早期的演示版本，他們就不會模仿彼此的表演——它會變得有點陳舊，而且事情可能會不同步。

Asked if it’s better to aim for fluid takes or a more fragmented approach, Lever says: “

當被問及是採用流暢的鏡頭還是更加分散的方法更好時，Lever 說：「