Depends on what you're looking for.. McGrath and Tweed are as right as the people who measure the distance from a particular fret to the mike. I started recording my gospel quartet for a CD and gave a lot of thought as to how I wanted to do it. Financial limitations aside (which they weren't) I decided not to go digital, and not to record track by track. I've recorded at Folk Legacy with two mikes, with all the mixing done by everyone moving around like players on a massive chess board. What you play is what you get. It had it's limitations, because if the slide guitar wasn't as prominent as I would have liked it on Old Blue Suit, there was no way to change it. The mixing was in everyone's feet and Sandy's ear. The best thing about it was that we were just in a room playing music. All the horsing around, and egging each other on gave the music a spirit that track by track recording could never give. A few years ago, I recorded a gospel album track by track and never released it. I just couldn't hear any warmth in it. This time around, I wanted that spirit with a capital S.

We're recording with a four track with no one sitting at the controls. I opted for four tracks, partly for financial reasons, and partly because I knew we wouldn't have someone running the "board." I mike the electric (gasp!!) guitar about a foot from the amplifier, and we use the other three mikes for four voices. Instead of being a limitation, it's turned out to be a strength. The lead is on one mike, and Joe sings bass on the second mike. The two harmonies use the same mike, and that's been the wonderful bonus to all of this. We have to "mix" the two voices, "live." If John and Paul could do it, and all the bluegrass bands, why couldn't we? We've not only been getting good recordings, we've become much better at blending the harmonies, "live." Making a recording, even if no one ever bought it, is worth it for all that you learn in the process.

Jerry