Editing Grunge (section)

== Recording production ==
Like punk, grunge's sound came from a [[Lo-fi music|lo fi]] (low fidelity) recording and production approach.<ref name="Felix-Jager, Steven 2017. p. 135" /> Before the arrival of major labels, early grunge albums were recorded using low-budget analogue studios: "Nirvana's first album ''[[Bleach (Nirvana album)|Bleach]]'', was recorded for $606.17 in 1989."<ref name="Marin">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/15/style/grunge-a-success-story.html?pagewanted=all|title=Grunge: A Success Story |last=Marin |first=Rick |date=November 15, 1992 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=January 29, 2017 }}</ref> [[Sub Pop]] recorded most of their music at a "low-rent studio named [[Reciprocal Recording|Reciprocal]]", where producer [[Jack Endino]] created the grunge genre's aesthetic, a "raw and unpolished sound with [[distortion (music)|distortion]], but usually without any added [[effects unit|studio effects]]".<ref>Clapp, Edward P. ''Participatory Creativity: Introducing Access and Equity to the Creative Classroom''. Routledge, 2016.</ref> Endino is known for his stripped-down recording practices and his dislike of 'over-producing' music with [[effects units|effects]] and [[audio mastering|remastering]]. His work on Soundgarden's ''[[Screaming Life]]'' and Nirvana's ''Bleach'' as well as for the bands [[Green River (band)|Green River]], [[Screaming Trees]], [[L7 (band)|L7]], [[the Gits]], [[Hole (band)|Hole]], [[7 Year Bitch]], and [[Tad (band)|TAD]] helped to define the grunge sound. An example of the lower cost production approach is Mudhoney; even after the band signed to [[Warner Music]], "[t]rue to [the band's] indie roots ... [they are] ... probably one of the few bands that would have to fight [their label] to record for a lower budget rather than a higher one."<ref name="Azerrad" />

[[Steve Albini]] was another important influence on the grunge sound. Albini preferred to be called a "recording engineer", because he believed that putting [[record producer]]s in charge of recording sessions often destroys the band's real sound, while the role of the recording engineer is to capture the actual sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their creative product.<ref>MTSU-lecture-2004</ref> Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as [[Michael Azerrad]], who stated that Albini's "recordings were both very basic and very exacting: like Endino, Albini used few [[Effects unit|special effects]]; got an aggressive, often violent [[guitar]] sound; and made sure the [[rhythm section]] slammed as one."<ref>Azerrad, Michael (2001). ''Our Band Could be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981–1991'' (1 ed.). Boston: Little, Brown. {{ISBN|9780316063791}}. Retrieved January 11, 2014. p. 344</ref>

Nirvana's ''[[In Utero (album)|In Utero]]'' is a typical example of Albini's recording approach. He preferred to have the entire band play live in the studio, rather than use mainstream rock's approach of recording each instrument on a separate track at different times, and then mixing them using [[multi-track recording]].{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} While multitracking results in a more polished product, it does not capture the "live" sound of the band playing together. Albini used a range of different microphones for the vocals and instruments. Like most metal and punk recording engineers, he mics the guitar amp speakers and bass amp speakers to capture each performer's unique tone.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}