Recording

Most people knew that Gary Barlow was the songwriting force behind boy-band stars Take That, but his long-term interest in production and recording is less well documented. Now recording and co-producing his second solo album, he looks set to put the memory of his former band far behind him. Matt Bell pays him a visit at his impressive home studio.

All fingers and thumbs in front of a keyboard? John Walden provides a few pointers to make sequencing using a MIDI guitar controller a less fretful experience.

In this final part of our series looking at the alternative systems available for recording and mixing, Paul White outlines his own system and the reasons for building it that way.

Just when you thought it was safe to dip your hand in your pocket and buy that ideal studio, Paul White throws digital mixers into the frame.

What do you need to put together to create your own studio? Paul White investigates practical options for a core system based on preferred methods of creating music.

Paul White and Dave Lockwood strum up a few tried-and trusted methods of improving your studio guitar sound.

Renowned producer and remixer Pascal Gabriel is back with a stylish new recording project, Peach. With a hit in the states behind them and the inclusion of a Peach track in the film Sliding Doors, widespread recognition can't be far away. Bill Bruce meets Pascal and production partner Paul Stretham at their Strongroom studio to talk technology, and finds them going back to their fruits...

Following on from last month's look at the advantages and pitfalls of analogue and digital tape, and hardware tapeless recorders, Paul White turns his attention to the ways in which computers can be used in audio recording.

Tori Amos may not yet have attained the same status in the UK that she enjoys in the US, but that hasn't stopped her setting up her own studio in a quiet corner of Cornwall. On the eve of her forthcoming 200-date tour, Hugh Robjohns talked to Mark Hawley & Marcel Van Limbeek about recording Tori's latest album and engineering the live tour.

Confusing, isn't it? Where once the only recording option was tape, you can now put a whole studio inside a desktop PC or opt for an all-in-one recording and mixing hardware solution. Then again, you could stick to tape, or buy a separate hard disk recorder. In the first of this short series, Paul White examines the choices.

Mastering is the final link in your sonic chain. David Mellor helps you make sure it's not the weak one...

Tampering with recordings made by a musical legend like Miles Davis would be seen by many as tantamount to sacrilege. But what if you believed, like producer Bill Laswell, that the music in question had never been heared as it should be? Paul Tingen gets the inside story.

With his fame and status as a world-class musician and recording artist, Eric Clapton can afford to spend as much time as he thinks necessary honing his next release. Richard Buskin talks to engineer Alan Douglas about the lengthy sessions and changes of heart surrounding the recording of the new Clapton album, Pilgrim.

Paul White explores the role of both passive and active DI boxes in recording applications.

It's quite possible to equip a home studio without going anywhere near a computer and software. David Mellor takes the hard line.

Setting up your gear for low noise and minimum distortion needn't be a nightmare. Martin Walker gudes you through the process, and shows you how to stand tall, even without headroom.

David Mellor looks at the roles of computers in the modern studio.

Last time, Benedict Grant explained how to properly mike an acoustic drum kit. In this concluding part of our short series, he turns his attention to committing kit sounds to multitrack.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that home studios packed with synths and samplers aren't solely the preserve of the dance fraternity. British soul artist Ola Onabule does all his recording and the managing of his own label from his Brixton home.

A job helping to provide the sounds and recording the music for an animated Christmas special has SOS contributor Paul Ward hastily upgrading his studio and exploring the deepest recesses of his synth collection, in search of sleigh bells and singing reindeer patches...

Have you ever been faced with recreating a mix that you haven't worked on for weeks? Martin Walker explains how he manages to do just that, without the benefit of expensive automated mixers or a tape-op with a notebook!