Live video of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

Taped in January at the Syracuse Center for the Arts:

Joni Mitchell Tribute

On April 28th I'll be emcee for a Joni Mitchell tribute concert featuring singer Maria De Angelis with a group of jazz-oriented friends. See show details at jonimitchell.com. This has gotten me revisiting my conversation with her about guitar and songwriting, published in its fullest form in the book Rock Troubadours. What an amazing creative mind she has, and what incredible music she's given us.

Meanwhile, a tribute CD is coming out with tracks by Prince, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, James Taylor... The label's site offers side-by-side clips of the original tracks and the new versions, and some interesting reflections from the artists on Joni's legacy. It's well worth a visit.

Home studio gear

In the wake of my NPR story about online recording, several people have asked me to share details about the gear I use at home. So here goes.

The main component is a Digidesign MBox, which comes packaged with Pro Tools LE. Pro Tools is a ridiculously complex program (600-plus page manual) but I've been able to figure out how to do the simple stuff I need to do. It's a bonus that so many studios use Pro Tools--that should make it extra easy to take home-recorded tracks into a real studio for mixing and mastering, as I plan to do later this year.

The Mbox plugs into the computer via USB and provides two channels of input, good mic preamps, and monitoring controls. The box itself is very straightforward. It's a minor annoyance that you can't open Pro Tools LE unless the Mbox is connected to your computer.

I record onto a Seagate external hard drive and back up audio files on DVD.

The main microphone I used to record guitar and vocals for "Wasting Time No More" was an Audio-Technica AT3060--a large-diaphragm tube condenser mic. That needs phantom power (which the Mbox provides) and has worked very well for me. My other mics are so-so, and I plan to buy a small-diaphragm condenser mic for additional miking of acoustic instruments.

Back in 2005 I did a series of articles for Acoustic Guitar about home recording, and here's some general advice I gleaned from several pro engineers/producers about microphones. Prices quoted here may be out of date.

For all-purpose single-mic recording of vocals and acoustic instruments, a large-diaphragm condenser mic is a good choice. Audio-Technica offers a range of models from the bargain-priced AT2020 (street price around $100) to the AT4033/CL ($400) and AT3060 ($500), a phantom-powered tube mic. Other options include the AKG C 3000 B ($300) and Rode NT2-A ($400).

For stereo miking of acoustic instruments, and for what John Keane calls “the Nashville sound, really bright but not much bottom end,” try a small-diaphragm “pencil” condenser (or a matched pair, for stereo miking). The Neumann KM 184 (circa $750 apiece) is a perennial favorite. Recommended budget options include the Audio-Technica AT3031 ($175), AKG C 1000 S ($200), and Rode NT5 ($400 for a matched pair).

Aside from the above, the main missing piece in my home setup is real studio monitors--I currently use headphones, crappy computer speakers, and home stereo speakers. But I rarely fiddle with EQ or anything based on what I hear from these sources. I try to get a good balanced tone in the mic and then leave well enough alone.

Hope that's useful to some of you home recordists out there...

NPR story on online recording--amateurs vs. pros

One important postscript on my story for NPR's All Things Considered about online recording. Here's part of the host introduction--which I did not write:

It takes place every day and every night, in back rooms and basements, garages and even kitchens: Amateur musicians are using computers to make home recordings that sound like they came from a studio.

The implication here is that computer-based home recording is the domain of amateurs, who are now able to access professionals online. This spin on my story misses the essential point: that computer-based home recording and the Web obliterate the wall between the so-called amateurs and pros; and that many recordings by full-time musicians both famous and obscure are made at least partly in home studios. That's the reason why so many commercial studios, as noted in the story, have been wiped out in recent years.

I argue that the amateur/pro distinction is pretty dodgy in this Internet era anyway. How about a guy who never performs and has a nonmusic career but makes widely popular downloadable tracks: amateur or pro? How about someone who performs lots of dates and sells self-produced CDs off the stage and the Web but pays the bills with a temp or day job: amateur or pro? Is the difference between the two how much money they make in music? I, for one, don't want to value anyone's music based on gross income.

So, if the intro to my story were a Wikipedia entry, I'd go and cross out the word "amateur."