The ability for musicians to create a musical production entirely by themselves is one of the biggest blessings of the modern era, and at the same time one of the biggest curses. Working solo presents a unique set of problems and issues, which are highlighted when the medium is audio recordings. We're forced to function as both engineer and producer -- and by the way, somewhere in there we're supposed to deliver a passionate musical performance. No problem; just divide the old brain into three independent parts and have at it. . . .

It seems simple: Set up the gear, push record, and lay it down. Unfortunately, the reality is more complex. Let's take a look at some ways to get better results when recording your own performances.

Set the Stage. We all know it's important to make the environment and experience comfortable for the artist. Just because the artist is you doesn't mean this is any less important, but many people working alone seem to forget this. As when you're working with other artists, take a look at the best way to position gear, give yourself enough room to comfortably move around, set yourself up with a favorite beverage, dim the lights, burn incense -- whatever it takes to get you in the mood. The ultimate goal is to capture a great performance. All the techy stuff in the world won't matter if the performance is lame.

Control Noise. Most solo recordists end up doing all their work in the control room, right next to the ambient noise of their computer, hard drives, tape decks, amplifiers, and other gear with built-in fans or noisy moving parts. Take a look at your rig. Where are the sources of acoustic noise? Can they be moved into another room? Into a closet? At the very least away from the area where there will be open mics? Companies like Gefen Systems (www.gefen.com) make computer cable extenders that allow the CPU and hard drives to be located far away from the monitor and keyboard. Remote controls allow tape decks to be moved away from recording areas. I keep my MDMs (modular digital multitracks) in a portable rack: As I'm setting levels, I've got them right there beside me where I can see the meters, but when I'm ready to record, I pick them up and move them into the next room. If I'm really being down and dirty, I'll just throw heavy blankets over the rack to deaden the noise. (Be really careful of overheating, and take the blankets off when you're not actually tracking!) Is there gear that you're not using for a particular take or recording? Turn it off until it's needed. If you're using directional mics, make sure you're positioning them to take maximum advantage of their noise rejection abilities. This may require slightly repositioning yourself and your gear for best results.

Dynamics Control. Set your record levels very carefully, allowing for the fact that most people play a bit louder once the record light is glaring at them. Also leave yourself a bit of headroom for any unforeseen level peaks and louder-than-usual musical dynamics.

If you've got a limiter, patch it in the chain, and set it up to prevent overloading (digital gear is especially unforgiving of overly hot signals). Set it so that the threshold is a dB or so below the loudest peak your recorder can handle -- I do this by trial and error in conjunction with the unit's meters -- with a fast attack and release. You want the limiter to activate only at the instant before distortion would otherwise occur, and to work only for as long as the peak lasts.

It may also help to patch in a compressor that's set up to pull back any strong peaks before they can cause distortion. Set it with a fairly high threshold, fast attack, and a 2:1 to 3:1 ratio. The idea isn't to compress your signal; rather it's to slightly reduce the level of any unusually high peaks. If you're free from worry about overloading the deck, you can quit watching the level meters out of the corner of your eye, and you'll be able to give a better performance.

Use Remote Controls. In addition to allowing you to move noisy recorders away from your recording area, remotes provide easy access to the buttons you'll need when recording; they're often easier to position near you than a bulky recorder or computer. Some recorders can accept footswitches for control of certain functions. I find they don't work well for me, but they may for you. Experiment.

Use Locate Points and Autopunch. If your recording system has locate points and autopunch features, put them to work -- even if you're not punching in on a track. I'll often set up the autopunch on my recorders to drop me into record at the beginning of a track, and out at the end. I'll allow myself plenty of pre-roll to get ready, and let the punch function take care of the rest. Take the time before your session to program locate points so you can easily jump to the places you want without having to think about time and tape counters. It's all about removing as much "load" from your brain as possible so you can concentrate on the music.

Let It Roll. One of the beautiful things about tape-based MDMs is that the recording media is cheap. Get everything set up, start the tape rolling, and play take after take until you get one you like, or until the tape runs out. I find this works very well for me. On the first couple of takes, I'm still conscious of the machines, levels, and the mechanics of recording. By the third or fourth take, though, I can usually divorce myself from the machines and concentrate on my instrument. If you're playing to backing or previously recorded tracks, make yourself a tape with numerous back-to-back copies of the song, then hit record, and play along until you get a good take. If, at the end of the tape, you still don't have a complete take you're happy with, you'll have plenty of material to choose from for comping together a master track (assuming you have multiple tape machines for doing bounces). This tip will also work with a hard disk-based system (comping will certainly be easier), but you'll need a fair amount of free drive space. Keep in mind that, if necessary, you can always erase all those un-needed or botched takes and reclaim the space.

Don't Work in a Vacuum. If you're the only person involved in creating a project, things can start to get unbalanced. Take the time to involve other people, even if only as listeners. This is a great way to get new ideas and a fresh perspective. I find that just listening to a song with other people colors the way I hear it compared to when I'm listening by myself. It may even help to have a friend or fellow recordist serve as a "co-producer." They don't necessarily have to be at the sessions, or even be involved in the creation of the music, but using them as a sounding board can go a long way towards beating your own biases and focused perspective.

Be open-minded about the opinions you solicit, but realize that's what they are: opinions. In the end it's your music, and you've got to do what feels right to you.

Is going to all this effort to record by yourself worth it? Often it is. When you're working alone, you can take chances, try new things, make mistakes -- no one will ever hear, so you can go for it! The freedom to unself-consciously open yourself to inspiration is a wonderful thing.