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Advice
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| Things
to Consider Before you Record
This is mainly written for people new to recording, but can be helpful
for anyone! |
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- What is your objective?
2 - Make sure you know your music!
3 - Do your pre-production!
4 - Have everything ready to go!
5 - Are your vocals ready?
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- Final check list.
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1 - What is your objective?
You need to know what you intend to do with your product. Are you
putting out a full length album? Do you intend to send it to record
companies, management agencies and promoters, or sell it to friends,
fans and family? Or are you just doing it for fun? THIS NEED TO
BE DETERMINED BEFORE YOU RECORD! We've seen too many bands come
in to record a simple 5 or 10 song demo, and once the drum and bass
tracks are done, they say to themselves, "Hmm... this thing sounds
really good... Maybe we should spend some time on the guitars and
vocals, and really get it right." So this is the new direction,
and the further they get into the guitar and vocal tracks, they
realize that the rhythm section really lags compared to the new
tracks. Then the thought is, "It will all work out fine in the mix,
right?" Unfortunately, the fact is that there is nothing that can
be done in mixing to fix sloppy playing, unchanged drum heads, old
strings, bad timing or any number of other things. At this point
it is too late to go back and do it right. At this point they are
way too far into the recording to change it now, so they just keep
on going and finish it. It will probably sound fine... not too bad,
but they should have just have stuck with what it was going to be,
a demo. Then, after playing some more shows and more rehearsals
come back in 6 months, do the album, and get it right from the start
- spend some real time tuning the drums, making sure all of the
guitars have new strings and have been setup recently, etc... Most
importantly RECORD WITH A CLICK TRACK! This will ensure that adding
or changing parts later will be easy, as there will be no timing
issues.
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2 - Make sure you know your music!
Be prepared. If you still have to read your lyrics off a piece of paper,
you are probably not ready to record. You need to know your music so well
that you don't even have to think about it while you're playing. How can
you get a good track when you are thinking to yourself, "now how does
this part go," while recording? Also rehearse with and get used to using
a click track! (Unless of course your name is Neil Peart!) It will be
very useful to have all the tempos written down for the songs you plan
on recording.
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3 - Do your pre-production!
It's a good idea, whether you're doing a live demo or a full blown album,
to have a recorded version of the material before you go into the studio.
It doesn't have to be anything fancy, a $75 dollar 4 track and a few mics
would be fine (something better than a $10 Radio Shack tape deck). This
will let you really know what your music sounds like, and let you listen
to it when you're not busy playing it. This will help ensure that you're
not doing the drum tracks in the studio and realize, "hmm.. maybe we should
add a bridge there...." Changing your songs in the studio can be very
frustrating, costly, and even worse, what if you don't like the changes
when its all done and pressed on CD?
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4 - Have everything ready to go!
Have all of your gear in shape. Get your instrument's intonation setup
by a professional - trying to do it yourself with your $30 dollar tuner
you bought from Guitar Center just does not cut it! If you plan on using
your own amps, have them in good working order - re-tubed, biased and
ready to go. If your gear sounds like crap, that's what it will sound
like when it is recorded. We have plenty of high quality amps, drums,
and guitars that you are free to use. If we don't have what you need then
try to borrow it from a friend, or rent it. Believe me, it's much better
to spend the extra money paying to rent quality gear than it is spending
hours in the studio trying to mix it so that it is presentable. Have plenty
of supplies like strings, drum heads, etc. on hand. Does your girlfriend
really want to spend 45 minutes going to Guitar Center saying "umm...
my boyfriend sent me here to buy a drum head...."?
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5 - Are your vocals ready?
Vocals are always the hardest thing to do. Do you really know what you
sound like? You can't get a good idea using the PA in your garage that
keeps feeding back when you try to turn it up so you can hear yourself
over your drummer. When people sing out of tune, nine times out of ten
they are usually flat rather than sharp. This is where the 4 track recording
you did comes in. I once had a person that came in to record say to me,
"I think there is something wrong with your mic cause the pitch is all
wrong. It doesn't sound like this on my $10 dollar Radio Shack mic, through
our band's PA!" Keep recording yourself on that 4 track until you are
happy with it. THEN go into the studio. The best thing to do is to get
a vocal coach. If you don't want to spend the money, you can get free
lessons from a church choir. About a day or two before you record your
vocals, try to drink a lot of HOT tea with honey in it. When you come
into the studio, bring the tea and honey with you to drink while you record.
If you smoke, try to smoke less for about three days before you record.
And make sure you don't get drunk the night before!
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6
- Final check list
Make a list of everything you will need to do before you record, then
go through it and check them off one at a time. Also, the studio is not
a place to bring all of your friends over to hang out. You want to be
able to concentrate on your music, and not have your drunk friends running
around distracting you.
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Everything written here is just my recommendation for a better recording
experience. You don't have to do any of this to record here, but I do
recommend it if you can. Also remember that being in a band is just like
a business... you can write everything off. Your strings, repairs on amps,
gas, food, and recording time so keep all of your receipts. I hope this
has helped you better understand recording.
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