Alan Parson's '10 things everyone recording music should know'

More from Alan Parsons (Part 1 was here), via MT reader Adam, his all time best recording tips:

1. Keep cable runs short particularly low impedance I.e. guitars and mics. It WILL affect the sound. Having said that I don't believe expensive cables offer significant improvement.

2. Even the best instruments and recording equipment will probably sound like crap in the wrong hands. The reverse can also be true.

3. Don't suck the life out of a recording by overuse of limiting and compression.

4. Go for performance not perfection.

5. Log EVERYTHING on a recording so that anyone can pick up where you left off. Particularly tracks that should not be used - better still, get rid of them.

6. Always consolidate tracks (in other words all tracks should have the same start and finish times) so that they can be loaded onto a different platform. Give every track a meaningful name.

7. Even if your ideas are making all the difference, make the other person think they were theirs.

8. The two most important things on a great record are: 1. The Song. 2. The Song.

9. Never trust anyone in the music business with a vowel in their name.

10. The check is NOT in the mail.

Thanks Alan & Adam. If you live round the corner from someone famous, why not ask them to write a list for Music Thing...