handing over the reigns?

I don't know about you, but Tape Op is one of my favorite rags about engineering. They spend ample time on gear and techniques, but they never lose sight of music and the creative process. (It's also awesome that they do free subscriptions, and send a bunch of copies for free distribution to MTSU students!) Though some can be a bit vitriolic, I find their letters to the editor to be pretty consistent in dealing with good questions. One of my favorites from the July/August issue (#66) is a request for creative suggestions on replacing a missing part. Specifically, he needed to add bass to a singer/songwriter project, and lacking a bass guitar or a bass player, he pitch-shifted a part he played on a standard guitar.

Other great ideas included tuning a guitar way down and leaving bass out entirely (if the material called for it), but the one that really caught my eye was Craig Alvin's suggestion that he use a social networking site like Nashville Music Pros to find a session player who could record the part at home.

Has anyone tried this? How did it go? How did you make it work? I can see a whole host of technical and creative problems, but it seems like a great way to get out of the box.

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Comment by Stephen Trageser on September 3, 2008 at 7:41pm: Aha! Hey, Dave, pitch-shifting the nylon sounds really cool, I'll have to give it a try. Which plug did you use?

Comment by Stephen Trageser on September 3, 2008 at 8:34am: Thanks for your comments! I was being serious, and I apologize if my choice of words lent a derogatory tone to my post. The question I mean to ask is not "Can it be done?" but "How do you do it?"

I think it's a great idea, too, but being a novice, I expect there are a number of pitfalls. If a player is taking time to record for you, you need to pay them their due wages, bottom line, but what are some ways to offer the right kind and degree of guidance to ensure you get what you need? Every situation will be unique, but is there a general guideline?

Take the bass problem from Tape Op as an example. My first idea would be to deliver a stereo bounce with a separate click (maybe also separate the vocal out, if that's been laid down already) with a chart. I would expect the producer to include some indication if there were some sections of the tune that called for sticking to the downbeats, filling in on the eighths, etc. At what point do you cross the line into telling him (or her) his business?

Similarly, it makes sense that no one knows the capabilities of their instrument better than a session player, especially in terms of how to mic it or maybe even through which preamp it sounds the best. What kind of recording equipment is it within bounds to expect a player to have available, considering that they have all of their performing gear to maintain? In a studio session, players are expected to have the right gear for the job, ready to go (same as engineers, of course). How do you define the technical requirements when you have this kind of home session? I know there's a lot of gray area here, and I appreciate you all taking the time to talk about it!

Comment by Dave Hagen on September 3, 2008 at 8:07am: I've used the pitch shifted guitar technique several times. It seems to sound best with a nylon string guitar without a ton of body. I'm sure that different programs compute differently, but the plug I was using to pitch shift created really annoying artifacts if I did any sliding, bending, or multiple notes at the same time. I would be interested to see how something like Melodyne would handle a full octave drop.

The "bass" sounded like a mix between the body and woody-ness of an upright and the bite and tight low end of an electric.

If you try this, be careful to separate your region a few times to avoid any timing issues towards the end of the song.

Comment by Bret Teegarden on September 2, 2008 at 11:50pm: I have session players record parts at home routinely. Even after working with thiem in the studio for years. Sometimes it's just more efficient but I always prefer the synergy of being in a studio with a group of players.

Did you really just ask this as a legit question? or are you just being tongue-in-cheek?

I do like the idea of people using Nashville Music Pros to find players! :)