Getting The Most From A Recording Session
Time Is Money!
If you’ve never been in a recording studio before it’s difficult to know what to expect! And, If you have never been into a recording studio it can be a daunting prospect. Especially if you are a young band with your own musical ideas and you just don’t know how to put them into reality. Here's a few hints and tips on making the most of the time spent in the studio!
How To Get The Most From Your Recording Session
The first thing to make sure of when going into a recording studio is that you are well rehearsed. Much of the time wasted in a recording studio is due to the amount of time practicing parts you should know already. Many new acts base themselves on their personal heroes and want to sound like them but many find after their first visit that they cannot reproduce this sound. There are many reasons why this is the case, not least of all due to the fact that they used top end recording studios like Abbey Road. Equipment in quality studios like this can run into many hundreds of thousands of pounds and is normally beyond the reach of the average recording studio. This is a hard lesson to learn for local bands. Another factor of a professional recording is the time taken to produce good results, a professional recording available for the consumer can sometimes take months to record. Nevertheless, good recordings can be made in the mid to lower end recording studios if the engineer knows what he’s doing. Read on for a checklist of hints and tips on how to give your band is the best recording they possibly can within your budget.
Song Structure
The first fopah of any band visiting the studio to record their own material is not having their song finished in the first place. A lot of time finalising the arrangement of your song can be better spent in nailing the performance. If you have a relatively good budget to work with then this isn't a problem, a lot of bands like to work this way, but if you are on a tight budget then getting your songs finished before recording is a no brainer. of course, in the throws of recording the producer may wish to alter the arrangement for a better result but the point is to be as prepared as you can!
Rehearsal
The next often overlooked important aspect of recording is... knowing your parts! Inside out! The less time you take re-recording your parts the more time can be better spent on production and mixing! once your song structure is in place and you know where you are musically going then spend time at home going over the parts until they are second nature to you! You will benefit in the long run.
Prepare Your equipment
Again, as much you can do of this in your own time the more time you can spend on the fun stuff! Check your amplifiers and pedals for operation.... no hums or buzzes, fresh batteries (also useful for active guitars and electro acoustics), decent (even brand new) leads, new drum skins, no rattles or vibrations etc. The results will speak for themselves.
