Frequently Asked Questions with Lincoln Grounds – Senior Engineer
The fewest possible. Sometimes the best result is achieved with just one microphone. However, we don’t have a blueprint approach as every session is different.
Absolutely not. We get great results with Jazz, blues, bluegrass, country, swing, ballads, soul, skiffle, acoustic singer songwriter & folk. All acoustic instruments & vocals sound great through this gear. The genre is up to you.
We have a lovely upright bass, a piano & some vintage drums but no vintage amps. Guitarists, be sure you can get your tone at practise volumes.
If you sound good “live” in a room, you will sound great when recorded. We cannot fix tuning, timing, bad tone, mistakes, sloppy starts & endings but we are great at capturing well rehearsed exciting performances & we are confident that you will love how this method makes you sound. There is nowhere to hide so in order to avoid endless takes of the same track – rehearse, be self critical & sort out any issues before you arrive.
Yes. That is the beauty of this recording method. If you don’t want overdubs or post production, you can leave with your 1950’s vintage recording on the same day on tape or memory stick or both!
Yes. Our post production studio Maverick Music is equipped with loads of world class plug-in emulations to enhance your vintage recording. If you want more of a “crossover” sound or a stereo feel, this is the way to go.
The short answer is, we don’t. Just as it was in the 1950s, bands need to perform each song, live, in the same room. This is where is becomes very important that the band can “self mix” to an extent. In other words, the louder instruments need to be played quite enough so that everyone can hear each other. IMPORTANT: Before recording in this way, rehearse without a PA system. If you cannot hear the singer well enough, you need to make some changes. We can offer advice on this before you book.
Yes, in two ways. It is possible to do overdubs at Sugar Rays using the same signal path but going into protools instead of to tape. Bear in mind that this will significantly reduce the number of songs you are able to record in an 8 hr day & it will also mean that further mixing time will be required at our sister studio www.maverickmusicltd.com. Secondly, it is possible to overdub & mix at Maverick Music using the original vintage recording and adding to it again with protools but in a studio designed for overdubbing – this is our recommended & most cost effective method.
It depends. If a band has the same instruments & line up for every song, can get a great take in 1 or 2 attempts & has the energy to work at their best for 8 hours, then it’s possible to record an entire album in a day.
At the time of writing, not to tape. However, the studio is working on refurbishing a rare 1950s 3 track 1/2 inch machine that will be able to record in stereo. Keep checking back.
It is possible to record in stereo using the same vintage signal path but to protools rather than tape. This can be done in various ways & overdubbing can be added. It gives distinctly vintage results but is in stereo so not for the purists.
One. Sugar Rays records onto 1/4 inch mono tape just as they did back in the 1950s. This can be delivered to the client as it is (at tape cost) and/or in digital formats such as WAV 16bit or MP3
