Experience / stories recording in a professional studio?

[pjd1]

Hi Satchmo yes i have but only for a couple of days , can be a bit scarry if you dont know who you are working with behind the desk but once you get into it wasnt to bad for me , i spent a total of about 16 hours over two days recording a demo for a band i was with , i made sure i new what i was going to play inside out everywhich way but loose and practiced all of my lead breaks till ii was blue in the face , i basically stood next to three guys in the the suite room with my lespaul and boss effects unit plugged directly into the desk with evryone looking at me when i went through the solo,s and bits , i was asked at the end was i happy with the recording , said no then went back and rerecorded over some lead and chord breaks , its a bit different than youre own studio because of the time restriants and money limitations and to be honest i am still not happy with the demo !!! he took by the way about 4 hours setting our drummer up who recorded all 4 songs in one take !!

Go for it and get in there and do it you are a talented player and should have no problems in moving out of your,e comfort zone !! you never know satch you never know !!

Good luck an dlet us know how you get on

Dunny

[henwrench]

he took by the way about 4 hours setting our drummer up

   That's insane. A good engineer, who know's the room, should be able to mic up and sound check a drum kit in under an hour. Anymore than that and he's taking the piss...

                                             henwrench

[pjd1]

Yeah i agree think he was out to make some money out of us , we started at around 8 am and i didnt play anythink till after one oclock , we never went back so maybe thats just as well ?? we didnt know anything about how to record so we left it all to him , he is out of work now !!!!!!

Dunny

[henwrench]

he is out of work now !!!!!!

      I'm not surprised!! And anyone who wants to start a recording session at 8am should be working in a factory... 11am is a good starting point, with everything up and running and ready to hit record within 90 mins... I mean, its only Rock 'n' Roll...

                                                  henwrench

[pjd1]

Yeah still had a hangover from friday night !!!

Dunny

[Gnasty]

Hey Satch,

...Being in a studio was the funnest thing ever for me!! If this guy is your friend, why would you be paying by time. We did n`t pay for time on our CD. We payed for a package back then.

Don`t know how it is nowadays. Do studios still exist??..LOL Didn`t our new recording devices leave these poor educated guys(Sorry Hen ) hanging out to dry?

The point i`m trying to make is if you go in there rushing your recordings to save money, it`ll be a complete and utter FAIL! It`s actually about having fun and since its your music, and you are a 1 man band, you don`t have to fight with musicians to agree on certain parts of songs.

Just be yourself and it`ll turn out good

[henwrench]

Do studios still exist??..LOL Didn`t our new recording devices leave these poor educated guys(Sorry Hen ) hanging out to dry?

   Gimme an 'Amen'. You're right there, Gnasty. Did you know they (EMI) are struggling to keep Abbey Road Studios open? Yep, mad innit? Some fucker wants to turn the building into flats (apartments). Even Paul McCartney ain't interested. That bastard could buy the place 10 million times over and still afford to pay off his one-legged ex. I once took a piss next to Speilberg in the toilets at Abbey Road and bumped straight into Meatloaf on the way out, but thats another story...

                                                            henwrench

                                                         

[Ferryman]

Indeed, many studios are closing. But there is a new breed, which is the combined rehearsal room/studio. These tend to be more multi-purpose with DAW based recording kit which can produce high quality but doesn't cost tens of thousands to set up and instal.  We use a place in Peterborough for rehearsing and they also have a resonably well kitted out recording facility.

One piece of additional advice - the studio will probably have good audio monitors but make sure they have a small set of cheap "radio mix" speakers to playback the mix on. Or take your own in if they don't.  Pretty much anything will sound impressive on expensive studio monitors, you need to check it sounds OK on the type of gear most people will play it back on.

Looking forward to hearing the results!

I once took a piss next to Speilberg in the toilets at Abbey Road and bumped straight into Meatloaf on the way out, but thats another story...

                                                            henwrench
                                                        

C'mon Henny, we want to know more! You obviously have some background in the music industry....... I once did a session in a central London recording studio which had been used by the Beatles, Stones and Floyd among others, which kind of puts things into perspective. The opportunity to stand on the shoulders of giants as it were. Trouble is, we fell off.

Cheers,

Nigel

[Flash Harry]

I'm with Henwrench on this one. I've been looking about recently for a studio to do a three or four track demo. Found one that seems to be reasonable (£200 for the day) and flexible. Nice kit, nothing like I'm used to, no multitrack tape machines, all DAW and MIDI control desks. Nice Tannoy monitors and it sounds good. The guy who runs it seemed to know what we were after.

I'm quite looking forward to it!

I took a piss next to Joe Jackson. Not Abbey Road, more Shepherds Bush Theatre.

[Satchwood]

Thanks for really valuable information and advice recording stars!!  I do appreciate that, and have been taking it all in.  

I will definitely check for a CD package deal instead of pay by the hour.  I guess i'm using 'a friend of mine' a little loosely.   He did say that he's not a time stickler, so if i go over, he's not going to charge me.... we'll see.   I think i'd like to at least cut a song or two to start just for the experience; and maybe learn so in depth pointers on recording.

I'll do a tour and find out what sort of setup he's got, what software he uses (pretty sure it's Pro Studio)  and what kind of 'play back' options i have besides the big monitor sounds.

I know i'll take a piss next store on dark Alley Road if this doesn't go well :~)