You have a band. You would like to record an album so you can share your music with the world. If you have never been in a recording studio or it has been awhile, you may not be aware of some of the common pitfalls bands run in to when they rent a music studio.
Tips for Renting a Music Studio: Practice Ahead of Time
If you go in to the studio without knowing your songs like the back of your hand, you will waste a lot of time practicing, planning, learning, and rewriting; this extra time will cost you a lot of extra money. Time is money in a recording studio, so plan ahead by being prepared.
Tips for Renting a Music Studio: Don’t Experiment in the Studio
If you are not made of money, you don’t want to spend the majority of your time in the studio experimenting by coming up with new riffs, cool key changes, etc. This goes hand in hand with practicing ahead of time.
Tips for Renting a Music Studio: Be Prepared to Focus
You may feel giddy when you’re in the first studio before. You may feel like you’ve made it as a recording artist. Whatever the case, go in to the studio to work, not to mess around. You can mess around with the music in your practice space.
Tips for Renting a Music Studio: Record the Scratch Tracks with a Metronome
Scratch tracks” are the guitar and bass one-offs, or quick takes of the song that are recorded without worrying about any mistakes or going back to fix them. The bass player and guitar player should record these together with a metronome to keep in time. Recording these tracks with a metronome will help the drummer keep time while s/he records the drum tracks later on.
The drummer should record his/her official tracks next and should record while listening to the scratch tracks in his/her headphones. This process keeps the drummer from having to guess on a speed and keeps the engineer from having to cut and paste parts of the song back together. This process will save time, which again, saves you money.
This process actually allows you to record even if you don’t have a drummer because you can use a drum machine and use the BPM settings from the metronome to match the sequencing with your recording.
Tips for Renting a Music Studio: Record all Drum Tracks at Once
Humidity affects the sound of the drums, so if the drummer records a portion of a track one day, then finishes the next, the intonation and timbre of the drums’ sound may be different. The difference in sound creates a nightmare for the engineer/mixer to try to fix. By creating this nightmare, you will create more work and have to spend more money.
To ensure consistent sound throughout the entire album, all drum tracks should be recorded in the same day (if possible). It makes it easier for the engineer to master the entire album’s sound consistently.
Tips for Renting a Music Studio: Don’t Get Drunk!
To really make the most of your recording, don’t waste time by being wasted. Don’t go in to the studio drunk and don’t drink while you’re there. Among other things, alcohol affects the way you hear. Since you’re in a recording studio, your sense of sound obviously needs to be in tact. If you can’t produce a sound you like, you’ll have to re-record, which will cost additional money and time.
Tips for Renting a Music Studio: Don’t Leave with an Unfinished Product
If you don’t like the way your band sounded or the way the engineer mixed the recordings, fix them before you leave. At the very least, have a plan for fixing the sound the next time out.
Tips for Renting a Music Studio: Network
When you are out at music venues, concerts, or night clubs, ask for demos from mixers and sound engineers. If you like their style, you may find resources you hadn’t yet considered and they may even be able to cut you a deal.
Tips for Renting a Music Studio: Get Along with the Engineer
Find someone to work with that you can get along with personally. You don’t have to be best friends or plan on hanging out afterwards; to get the best product, you should be able to stand the person you’re working with. You will be in a confined space with this person/people for several hours, maybe even days.
Tips for Renting a Music Studio: Learn About Recording
While it is best to work with a professional the first few times out, you should pay as much attention as you can to how recordings are made and mixed. Do some professional research to learn about producing the best sound quality, mixing the recordings, etc. If you learn enough, you may be able to record your own tracks in the future. If you get really good and have the equipment, you may even be able to record for others, which increases your networking capability, exposure, and potential income.
