Found the studio? Now the fun begins

However, before you start booking up time there are some things that you and your band need to do to ensure the recording studio experience will be as efficient and financially painless as possible...

In essence there are three main phases to the recording process.

First of all there is whats called the 'pre-production' phase which basically means getting your songs ready for the 'recording' phase. Once the songs have been recorded it then goes to the 'post-production' phase which is the mixing down of the tracks.

In each of these phases there are things that you and your band can do to make sure that the studio experience is enjoyable and wont cost you too much money.

The last point here is very important because almost all studios will charge you an hourly fee for their service and it is really, really easy to waste time in a recording studio.

TIME WASTED = MONEY WASTED

Pre-Production

1. Make sure that you know what songs are to be recorded before you go into the studio. Now, you are doing a demo CD which is supposed to give agents and venue managers reasons to hire your band.

You want to make sure that the songs that you choose give these people a good indication of what your bands style is and how you sound live.

With your CD demo it's important not to put too many songs on it. Give them three of your best. For a three song demo I would suggest recording twice as many songs and then choose the best three afterwards.

2. Rehearse these songs until your band knows them back-to-front and upside down. You are going to play these songs live in the studio to maximise recording time available so, the less mistakes made, the better.

Recording

3. Allow at least a couple of hours for your drummer to set up and be miked up. If you are arranging the recording session to start at say, 10am make it so the rest of the band arrive at 12. This will give the drummer and the studio engineer time to set everything up without any stressful interruptions from anyone else.

4. Turn up on time. Remember the equation TIME WASTED = MONEY WASTED. The meter starts running as soon as the agreed start time commences whether you are there or not.

5. Plan your recording as much as possible beforehand. You know the songs go but its also important to know how things are to be recorded, when are breaks to be taken etc...

6. Record live as much as possible. Now with the drummer and the rest of the band set up its time to start recording. Here are some suggestions of how this is to be done to maximise time. This is how I would do it.

a) Band plays together using headphones to monitor the sound. This eliminates as much as possible band sound bleeding into microphones

b) Run through all of the songs one after the other with the emphasis on drums and bass being the instruments to keep. Guitar and vocals can be re-recorded later on (these tracks are called "scratch tracks")

c) Once the rhythm section has put their parts down and everyone is happy that the parts can be kept it is time to take a break so the drummer and bassist can pack their gear away.

d) Record all (rhythm) guitar parts and vocals

e) Record and overdubs (backing vocals and solos) if needed. Don't go overboard here. If you don't have an orchestra play with your band live then don't put one on your demo

f) Do the best recording that you can and have fun with it.

Post-production

7. Allow at least one hour of mixdown time per song recorded (5 songs = 5 hours of mixing). Feel free to sit in on the mixdown process however don't get in the way of it and don't start changing your mind about how things should be recorded. You had all of the recording process to do that.

The most important thing to remember is that the more you prepare the better your recorded product is going to be.

Once your bands CD demo is done you are one step closer to getting your first (of many) gigs.

Until next time,

Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Indie Musician
www.orangutangmusic.com
www.coreystewartonline.com

While you're here you might as well check out my other blogs
Corey Stewart Songwriting Tips
Recording Studio & Live Music Tips

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Keywords: recording studio, music band, music artist, indie music, independent music, music industry, music business, band promotion, corey stewart