Editing Led Zeppelin (album) (section)

== Recording ==
Page said that the album took only about 36 hours of studio time (over a span of a few weeks) to create (including mixing), adding that he knew this because of the amount charged on the studio bill.{{sfn|Welch|1994|pp=28,37}} One of the primary reasons for the short recording time was that the material selected for the album had been well-rehearsed and pre-arranged by the band on the Scandinavian tour.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=45}}{{sfn|Lewis|Pallett|1997|p=13}}

The band had not yet signed a deal, and there was no record company money to waste on excessive studio time. Page and Led Zeppelin's manager [[Peter Grant (music manager)|Peter Grant]] paid for the sessions themselves.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=45}} The reported total studio costs were £1,782.{{sfn|Lewis|2012|p=32}} The self-funding was important because it meant they could record exactly what they wanted without record company interference.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=15}}

For the recordings Page played a psychedelically painted [[Fender Telecaster]] – a gift from friend [[Jeff Beck]] after Page recommended him to join the Yardbirds in 1965, replacing [[Eric Clapton]] on lead guitar.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=118}}<ref name="JPinterview">{{cite web |first=Steven |last=Rosen |url=http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/003340.html |title=1977 Jimmy Page Interview by "Modern Guitars" |date=25 May 2007 |orig-year=July 1977, in ''[[Guitar Player]]'' magazine |access-date=2 August 2008 |archive-date=5 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105123043/http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/003340.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{efn|Page used different guitars for recording later albums, particularly a [[Gibson Les Paul]].{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=118}}}} Page played the Telecaster through a [[Supro]] amplifier, and used a [[Gibson J-200]] for the album's acoustic tracks. For "[[#Track listing|Your Time Is Gonna Come]]" he used a Fender 10-string [[pedal steel guitar]].<ref name="JPinterview" />{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=46}}

=== Production ===
''Led Zeppelin'' was engineered by [[Glyn Johns]] and produced by Page and Johns (Johns is uncredited on the album cover).<ref name="recordmirror">{{cite news |last=Boyle |first=Jules |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/legendary-producer-glyn-johns-reveals-4849210 |title=Legendary producer Glyn Johns reveals missed opportunity for unique collaboration |access-date=7 October 2015 |newspaper=Daily Record |archive-date=16 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016071106/http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/legendary-producer-glyn-johns-reveals-4849210 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Spitz |first=Bob |title=Led Zeppelin: The Biography|page=144|year=2021 |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=978-0399562426}}</ref> The two had known each other since they were teenagers in the suburb of [[Epsom]]. According to Page, most of the album was recorded live, with overdubs added later.<ref name="Uncut09">{{cite journal |title=I first met Jimmy on Tolworth Broadway, holding a bag of exotic fish |journal=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] |date=January 2009 |page=42}}</ref>

Page used a "distance makes depth" approach to production. He used natural room ambience to enhance the reverb and recording texture on the record, demonstrating the innovations in sound recording he had learned during his session days. At the time, most music producers placed microphones directly in front of the amplifiers and drums.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=15}} For ''Led Zeppelin'', Page developed the idea of placing an additional microphone some distance from the amplifier (as far as {{convert|20|ft|m|0}}) and then recording the balance between the two. Page became one of the first producers to record a band's "ambient sound": the distance of a note's time-lag from one end of the room to the other.<ref name="LightShade">{{cite magazine |author1=Brad Tolinski |author2=Greg Di Bendetto |date=January 1998 |title=Light and Shade |magazine=Guitar World|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/excerpt-brad-tolinskis-light-shade-conversations-jimmy-page-recording-led-zeppelin}}</ref><ref name="RS2006">{{cite magazine |last=Gilmore |first=Mikal |author-link=Mikal Gilmore |title=The Long Shadow of Led Zeppelin |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/long_shadow_of_led_zeppelin |access-date=29 November 2017 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=28 July 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017054415/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/long_shadow_of_led_zeppelin |archive-date=17 October 2006}}</ref>

On some tracks, Plant's vocals [[spill (audio)|spill]] onto other tracks. Page later stated that this was a natural product of Plant's powerful voice, but added the leakage "sounds intentional".<ref name="LightShade" /> On "You Shook Me", Page used the "[[reverse echo]]" technique. It involves hearing the echo before the main sound (instead of after it), and is achieved by turning the tape over and recording the echo on a spare track, then turning the tape back over again to get the echo preceding the signal.<ref name="LightShade" />

This was one of the first albums to be released in stereo only. Prior to this, albums had been released in separate mono and stereo versions.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=45}}