The Rest Of The Story
Multi-instrument Recording
Almost all the Sawdust Charley recordings were done live, capturing all the instruments and vocals at once. Recording a song one instrument at a time (a technique called ‘tracking’) was usually done when getting a full band together was not possible, or if you wanted more control over each instrument’s performance. The entire band would not have to play the song over because of one person’s screw up. Musicians who couldn’t afford to go to a recording studios could still afford a small 4-track recorder, and would use the technique described in this diagram to create a multi-instrument recording.
Tricks Of The Trade
The Tricks Of The Trade recording used a state-of-the-art synthesizer called a DAW, Digital Analog Workstation to achieve its multi-instrument recording. A synthesizer is a keyboard that is able to ‘synthesize’ the sound of a huge range of instruments, and the DAW enhancement adds a sequencer that allows the storing of up to 16 of those instrument’s performances. The diagram below shows how that is done when combined with a 4-track recorder.
The four pieces of equipment used to create the 'Tricks Of The Trade' recording are show below
Guild G212 12 String acoustic guitar
Gibson Les Paul Jr. electric guitar
Roland D-20 DAW synthesizer
Yamaha MT-120 4-track recorder
