Experience / stories recording in a professional studio?

[Satchwood]

A friend of mine has been after me to record in his professional studio, and i've been dragging my feet.  He used to work out of his house, but now he's renting office space and his career is really beginning to take off here in Phoenix. 

So i'm thinking if i want to get a good hourly deal, i better move soon.

I was wondering, does anybody have any experience recording music in a professional studio?

[Greeny]

Never even set foot in one! I think I'd be pretty scared if I ever did...

[The Gobi Desert Canoe Club]

Hi,  yes many years ago I was lucky!? enough to record in a studio that was sponsored by a music publisher and the only thing I really learnt from that was "Time is Money." Even when you are not happy with a take you feel almost guilty about doing it again. This is another reason why I am so grateful to have discovered the BR series of recorders. I've also recorded in BBC studios (Country Meets Folk) again it was one or two take stuff but the engineers knew exactly what they were doing and it turned out reasonably well. Satch you have so much potential that I can't believe you've not been snapped up long before this, go for it and if nothing else use it as a learning experience, you won't regret it..............Willie

[Ferryman]

Many, many hours from scabby four tracks in the arse end of nowhere right up to professional studios in central London where some of the big names also recorded. What do you want to know?

Cheers,

Nigel

[Satchwood]

I guess i'm trying to gain tips.  Since i'm basically a one-man-band, that uses Riffworks and a Boss MBR (which actually sounds better than my old gigging rig setup),  I basically want to generate a pro-sounding quality CD that is marketable.   My recordings have been "demo" quality at best, but I've now generated a bunch of half-decent originals.

1st question: what do you bring to the studio?

I'm figuring at the least, i should bring my guitar/s & bass, my laptop, and MBR.  I hope i don't have to lug my yamaha keyboard.   And since Riffworks and the MBR sound better than my old 100 watt Laney amp, multiverb II, and Roctron distortion rack mountable fx, i don't plan on lugging that stuff either.

2nd Question: I know time is money, and i guess i'm wondering:  if i have all my songs (learned/re-learned) and ready to go (lyric sheets, chord sheets, music, settings, etc), demo mp3's for the sound you want, etc.   How long will it approximately take to record a CD (about 10 songs) worth of material?   Time is money, right?

More questions, but there's a couple to start with lol

[henwrench]

Like Ferryman, I could write a book on the subject.
   The single biggest piece of advice I could give anyone centers around this short story...

       So after about an hour or more, it's just not happening. The band keep falling apart and can't even play through one song without f%cking up. I go into the studio from the control room (I'm engineering the session).
        'What's up, fella's?' sez henwrench
        'Well,' begins the drummer, 'Normally I'd drink half a bottle of vodka before we play, but I can't tonight, because I'm recording.'
        'No, no' sez henwrench 'You aren't recording anything. I'm recording you. Get your vodka, and drink it and then play.'
      Session goes wonderfully and the guys get down the four songs that needed to be done plus two extra....


        Never forget!!!  You are in the studio to PLAY not RECORD. Your job is to PLAY. The engineer's job is to RECORD.

        I hope this makes sense.

                                                henwrench

[Vanncad]

Thanks Henwrench - that is the best recording advice I think I have ever heard. Seriously, I never thought about it that way before. That makes a lot of sense.

I had a friend who had a small studio in his garage. My old bar band recorded some demo stuff there. It was a lot of fun, and it gave me a little experience with the process.
I think I would be pretty intimidated in a pro studio. Geez - I get nervous just recording by myself!

Vodka sounds like a good idea though (and a great song).

[Ferryman]

I guess i'm trying to gain tips.  Since i'm basically a one-man-band, that uses Riffworks and a Boss MBR (which actually sounds better than my old gigging rig setup),  I basically want to generate a pro-sounding quality CD that is marketable.   My recordings have been "demo" quality at best, but I've now generated a bunch of half-decent originals.

1st question: what do you bring to the studio?

I'm figuring at the least, i should bring my guitar/s & bass, my laptop, and MBR.  I hope i don't have to lug my yamaha keyboard.   And since Riffworks and the MBR sound better than my old 100 watt Laney amp, multiverb II, and Roctron distortion rack mountable fx, i don't plan on lugging that stuff either.

If you can get the sounds you want (and you are certain) without your amp and effects, then don't take them. However, if you are in a studio there are some nice effects the engineer can get by recording an amp (eg having one mike close up and one much further away) that can give some great sounds. The sound of a guitar would up to 11 is sometimes hard to beat for your kind of stuff.....

If you have backing tracks on Riffworks, I suggest you find out what DAW the studio uses and find the right file format they want for very high quality stuff (probably wavs) and make sure you have all of your stuff ready as audio files. You do not want to be "recording" your backing tracks in the studio.

Re keyboards - find out what they have in the studio and if you are happy using those, fine. But don't trust to luck - find out. I would suggest you go over there and discuss all of this with them and find out what they suggest. that will make the sessions go more smoothly and also give you a chance to meet the engineer (see below). You don't want to turn up with the MBR to have the engineer say "ooh I hate recording guitars dry from those little boxes".

2nd Question: I know time is money, and i guess i'm wondering:  if i have all my songs (learned/re-learned) and ready to go (lyric sheets, chord sheets, music, settings, etc), demo mp3's for the sound you want, etc.   How long will it approximately take to record a CD (about 10 songs) worth of material?   Time is money, right?

Here's the biggy. If what you want to do is produce a CD, yoo have to first record all the material and then you have to mix it. Mixing can take a long time. I have done many recording sessions and have never managed more than four songs in a 2-day recording session. Three is probably more realsitic. Now that's with a full band, so quite a lot of time is spent setting up and miking up the drum kit - you won't have that issue because you have the drum tracks already done. You may already have some of the backing tracks recorded, but you will still have to lay down all the individual guitar tracks and do vocals (which it is worth spending time over).

Mixing can take as long as you want to spend on it and it really depends on how much of a perfectionist you want to be and how much you want to "experiment" with different effects and mixing techniques. You will be completely in the hands of the studio engineer here, so the finished article will stand or fall by his skill and the gear in the studio. Engineers made a huge difference to the recordings I made, and we found one guy that we always used to use.

It's hard to say how long it will take, but assuming you have a switched on engineer and you are well prepared, it would probably take at least 5 to 7 days elapsed (of say 8 hour days) to get 10 tracks recorded, mixed and mastered. You would probably want to break that over a number of sessions, perhaps have 2-3 sessions to do the recording (I can't imagine being physically able to sing 10 songs in one session) and then another session or two for the mixing. I would say budget for 7x8 hour days to give you an approx idea of cost, you should be able to do it in less but don't be surprised if it all takes longer than you expect.

The engineer is key. If you want to get a good quality end result, he/she will make or break it. You need to hear some of the work produced by engineer at that studio to get an idea of the type of stuff they can handle. If it's mainly C&W, they may struggle with your heavy rock shredding style. When it comes to mixing, there are two approaches - you tell the engineer what you want and you lead the mixing process, or you leave it up to them to produce something for you. I prefer approach 1, but if you adopt that approach you will have to be prepared to say what you think sounds right, say where you want things in the mix etc. Either way, I suggest you pick an existing track (possibley two) from one of your heroes that will be the reference - say "this is what I want to sound like". That will give the engineer a clear steer about the type of sound you are loooking for.

I would try to meet the engineer before you go into the session and just get to know them a little, perhaps ask for a quick tour of the studio and to hear some of the stuff they have done there. The guy should be quite happy to talk about his work.

HTH, LMK if you have more qs!

Nigel

PS need to add, if your goal is to produce a complete CD, you will need toallow time for the CD mastering process. You might want to take that to a specialist CD mastering company, there are places that do this online (ie you submit the final mixes to them, they master everything on to CD and transfer it back to you). Ask trhe studio if they can do te CD mastering as well.

[henwrench]

On Mixing....

        Don't believe the myth 'It's OK, we can fix it in the mix'.  You can't. No-one can. If it ain't what you want when it's recorded, it'll never be OK.

        Over the duration of the recording process, you should come to know wether you trust the engineer. So when it comes to the mix, if you trust/like the engineer, leave 'em to it. Give 'em a couple of hours on their own with your song. Leave the studio. Go and do something else. Unwind. This will help you to be so much more objective when you listen back to the song. You will know straight away if something is too loud/quiet. When you've listened to the same song 50 times, it's hard to 'see the wood from the trees'. You will also be doing the engineer a favour, because if he's worth his salt, he'll listen to your comments.

         And don't get too caught up in the 'tone'. Remember, nobody ever paid for an album because they thought the snare drum was the best they ever heard. They bought the album because they LIKED THE SONGS.

         Oh yea, and enjoy the experience!! You're not going to the dentist....

                                         henwrench

[Satchwood]

Hey thank you Ferryman and Henwrench for the experienced input here; great advice for sure!! 

I met the recording engineer Jon, at a restaurant/bar a few months ago and we've kept in touch.  He's also a musician & can play drums as well, so that may be a plus too.  He seems to like my music, but then again, most studios are looking for work right now lol. 

You guys have given me much to think about;  so much work ahead of me.