Legend of Lanois' headphones

I heard a legend once that Daniel Lanois would set up little cassette recorders at each headphone station - patched so they always heard what the player was hearing. If you had a good idea or wanted to explore something, you could make your own little recording of it to save the idea. I loved this idea, and thought it applied really well to the digital age of recording. We tell ourselves that we can capture things instantly always, but the reality is that sometimes there's editing or other takes happening, or a discussion of some kind, or the setup is changing.

If you use mixers at your headphone station, they may feature an effects send or extra line out that you aren't using. Try sticking a looper pedal in there - So that every person has a little looper at their station to grab ideas, free from the moment-destroying monolith of the DAW driver, or any other impediments to creativity.

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