Jump to content


Please note: You can easily log in to MPN using your Facebook account!

studio virgin


Recommended Posts

help..bar band(six members) none of us has ever been in a studio.Our lead singer won 5 hours of time.we'll probably just record some covers for bar demos. Should we just record live?We've been talking about putting some money together to buy more hours. My opinion is to practice our butts off and decide what tunes to do etc..and not to say stuff like"hey..what does that knob do?"...any advice?
Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Replies 7
  • Created
  • Last Reply
5 hours is a dangling carrot to get you to buy more time. 5 hours you might have drum sounds and maybe basics on one tune. If you go the live to 2 track route, you could get 3-4 takes on maybe 6 songs, maybe more, depending on how much you rehearse. Either way, it's not much time. And since it's free time don't expect too much. Like I said, they are most likely trying to get you to buy more time by tossing you a bone. Good luck.

Hope this is helpful.

 

NP Recording Studios

Analog approach to digital recording.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreed. Five hours is not much time. You may have to purchase three more hours or so to get everything done. If you guys are used to playing live together, I'd keep it that way. Just make sure everything's balanced, and then cut it straight to two-track (or equivalent -- fully mixed, in other words). A lot of bands freak out when they are forced to don headphones, so I'd also say lose the headphones unless they're absolutely necessary (and they usually aren't). Make sure the guy does not monitor too loudly. Not only is this bad for your hearing, but it often hypes the bass, making you think the bass is more present than it actually is. Later, when you go and play your mixes back at a reasonably sane volume without huge monitors, the kick drum and bass are nowhere to be heard!!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd say the best way to approach this is put together a medley of 8 or 10 tunes. Just verse and chorus and maybe a bit of instrumental to run into the next tune. The entire length should be around 15 minutes. Practice till you're tight and then just knock it out. With 5 hours, you should have time to go through the whole bit 4 or five times and take the best take. Also, talk your drummer into using the studio's drum set. It may be different from his, but they're used to recording it and you won't waste a couple of hours getting his kit miced up. If you take the above suggestions, you ought to have enough time left over to sweeten the mix a hair and get a CD burnt. Then you'll have a killer demo for getting gigs. Good Luck!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote]Originally posted by DC: [b] Also, talk your drummer into using the studio's drum set. It may be different from his, but they're used to recording it and you won't waste a couple of hours getting his kit miced up. Good Luck![/b][/quote]That's a good suggestion. It'll probably be tuned appropriately for recording, too. At the very least, the drummer should listen back to a rough mix or whatever in the studio. Most drummers crack the crash cymbals to hard and sloppily when they first start recording. They are so used to playing live. Recording is a different thing, though. Clean crashes that are not too hard record much better.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In rehearsals prior to recording: 1. Challenge your bassist & drummer to play all the way through each song's arrangement, WITHOUT the vocals or guitar/kybd parts. In the studio you may hear all sorts of accent/rhythmic discrepancies btwn them (which aren't much of a problem in the roar of a live gig.) 2. Same thing with other combinations, espec. gtr/kybd & bass - they're also usually stepping all over each other live - & may be genuinely unable to play the arrangement without the voc. & other instr. as a guide. This is going to hurt you, even if you DO play it all together live in the studio. (Along these lines, when pre-rehearsing "virgin" bands for recording, I've also had them bring their blasters to rehearsal, & record "music minus one" versions of every tune for every instrument, for each player to use in their private practice. Hey, some players actually used them!) 3. Record your shows & rehearsals prior to recording (even lo-fi is OK). Sketch out ON PAPER the song structure (intro length, solos, 4x, 8x, or 16x on repeated figures or vamps, etc.) - make sure the band does this all TOGETHER. Time sense about a song gets completely distorted the moment you walk into a studio. (Also beware long intros if you want to get radio play; even though these sound great live.) 4. Again, due to the distortion of your time sense in the studio, it is absolutely ESSENTIAL to either a) listen to your live recordings & rehearsal tapes & precisely notate the tempo, in BPM on a metronome or in audio software; or b) BRING those live recordings with you to the recording session for reference. I can't tell you how many times I've seen first-time bands record their tunes at slightly inappropriate tempos - all part of the disorientation from this "unnatural" playing environment. 5. Make sure your vocalist PRINTS OUT the lyrics before coming to the session. Make copies for everyone else while you're at it; start marking these up with notations like "4x intro riff", "gtr solo over groove 8x", "break", etc., plus maybe the chords? Just having that visual ref. (& I'm not saying that conventional notation is required) can really keep people on track & relaxed - & if you're lucky might keep them from spacing out on the arrangement when you're 3/4 of the way through a good take!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OH YEAH, one more thing: Once you think you've got a good mix in the studio, oblige the engineer to burn you a test CD, then take a 15-minute break, & pile the whole band into your car for a reality-check listen! NEVER "bless" the mix until you've heard it on a couple systems (bring a boombox, or maybe switch cars!). :p Having heard the test mix in a different context, you will definitely walk back in with a couple of useful tweaks.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

replies like that are why i registered brilliant you KNOW i am copy and pasting and making my own personal little reference guide... lovin' it thanks for taking the time to write such hefty replies i can say from experience... studios can be a shock to the system anyone heard about STUDIO 301 in sydney, australia? talk about shock... its some kind of Valhalla or something...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...