A Few Cheap Vintage Recording Techniques

While modern production techniques abound, a strong demand is growing for vintage recording techniques that work to recapture the tone and vibe of classic recordings. Below are a few simple, low cost techniques that you can experiment with to add a vintage sound to your tracks.

One simple technique for getting a vintage sound is just to use a cheap mic. You can find older mics at garage sales and on eBay, and they have frequency responses that simply can’t be duplicated with EQ.  Experimenting with mic placement and adding room mics for reverb, can really add to the classic vibe to vox and instrument tracks.  You can also bring in other instruments and track them with boosted mid and low HF and LF EQ.  This goes a long way when tracking Drums.

Another vintage recording technique is just to add a little distortion.  Tube distortion is easily created by pushing your mic pre slightly into the red.  You could also use a stomp box or external analog unit like a sansamp PSA 1. Another option is track some of the vocals on a old cassette recorder with rca outputs that allow you to pass the signal into your DAW.

Noise is something else that can give it a lo-fi or vintage vibe  try tracking a section of the of an old lp that has no music or audio and loop it into the background of your track. Alternately, you could turn your mixer faders all the way up and just record the hiss that this creates.  Old instruments that creak and make odd noises can also be recorded to create noise. You have to experiment with these techniques and use them sparingly - i.e. a little goes a long way.

Bleed and leakage is your friend. If you want a vintage sound then allow for a little bleed when you are tracking. Nowadays most recordings are done with all the instruments completely isolated. This was definitely not the case with older recordings. In general, older recordings involved a whole lot less overdubbing so when possible try to track all musicians at the same time and don't worry too much about isolation.

Finally, adding room sound is another vintage recording technique.  Instead of totally deadening the room with sound foam allow for some natural reverb. In fact set up a secondary room mic for all your tracking and blend this with your direct mic instead of using digital reverb.

The key is to experiment and see what works best for you.