The Roger Nichols Recording Method

Roger Nichols made recordings that engineers still use to judge their own work. In The Roger Nichols Recording Method, he explains the decisions behind that sound: choose and place the microphone, get the signal path right, leave headroom, keep useful takes, make clean edits, and listen before reaching for another processor.

This revised and expanded second edition, by Roger Nichols with Mike Lawson, brings Roger’s teaching into a contemporary recording environment while keeping his stories, humor, and practical approach. It covers microphones and acoustics, digital audio, routing, alternate takes, punch-ins, editing, equalization, compression, reverb, automation, and delivery of the finished mix.

The companion exercises use the Street Life multitracks Roger recorded for this project. All performances are supplied. Readers practice routing, capture, editing, and mixing in apStudio, a browser-based DAW developed around Roger’s educational recordings. Optional microphone and instrument exercises let readers apply the same methods to recordings of their own. The processes carry into other DAWs.

Book purchase includes access to the companion self-paced course after purchase verification. Color illustrations and current studio screenshots support the instructions. A detailed, cross-referenced index helps readers return to a technique when the next session calls for it.