Is this recording studio good enough?

epictring · 2010-12-29T21:34:54+00:00

Hey guys! I'm going to be having a very exciting 2011, my band is heading for the studio to record a 4-5 track EP album. Our drummers uncle owns a recording...

Is this recording studio good enough?

pbrizzolari

Hi Epic,

I just wanted to add 2 cents as an avid follower of music rather than a musician.

I fell in love with Sarongas the very first time I heard them on radio. Why? Because unlike 90% of South African bands they not only had creative music and lyrics but their radio demo of 69 Tea was (relatively) well produced. There are a lot of other bands that I like but where I have felt that they skimped on the quality of their recorded work. Not my Dog comes to mind.

I also think that as important as equipment is, it is the ears behind the desk that are the most important. My favourite artist, Trent Reznor has done a lot of his best work at a home studio in New Orleans using protools. But then, I think he is the beast set of ears in music. ?

DonovanB

epictring wrote: Wow I just lost my lus to go..

You mean every "flaw" on your technique or whatever comes out?!

Yep, thats why its best to utilise free or effing cheap recording services until you are used to it.

You need studio experience so you can find your shortcomings. It is valuable but not worth major bucks.

pbrizzolari

Epic,

another piece of advice I can give you is to buy a small multitrack recorder like the Tascam dp004 for yourself, whenever you practice on your own plug it in and record what you're playing. That gives you a chance to critically listen to your own playing without worrying about the next chord.

I've just started doing that with a micro BR and it's awesome how much your technique tightens up once you listen to yourself a few times.

epictring

I think I'm going with loudmouth since there is no time limit on how long you take on each song ?

My cellphone do really high quality recordings, I often record new guitar ideas on that. So I think that might work, thanks for the advice!
Why does studio work sound so hard? I mean if you practice the ?!#* out of yourself and the band, aren't you fine?

PeteM

epictring wrote: Why does studio work sound so hard? I mean if you practice the ?!#* out of yourself and the band, aren't you fine?

Yeah you do need to practice and hone your skills before going into a studio.
It's not that "studio work is so hard" it's just that any recording, be it in a professional studio or on your cell phone, will record any 'blapses' that you make and they are there forever. But the recording process can and should be a lot of fun, so long as all the band members are well prepared. When you're in the studio, relax, get into the zone and allow the juices to flow - it's a real buzz.

epictring

Alright guys thanks a lot for the help, without you I would certainly have made a serious mistake along with the band.

Now to just convince the rest of the members at next practice to rather ditch the fancy replication and instead go for better quality tracks..

C ya'

DonovanB

pbrizzolari wrote: Epic,

another piece of advice I can give you is to buy a small multitrack recorder like the Tascam dp004 for yourself, whenever you practice on your own plug it in and record what you're playing. That gives you a chance to critically listen to your own playing without worrying about the next chord.

I've just started doing that with a micro BR and it's awesome how much your technique tightens up once you listen to yourself a few times.

Awesome Idea.... The Boss recorders are amazing.

Do you guys practice with a metronome?

In studio any unintended notes are a major problem. so are tiny timing errors. it sounds hard because it is hard. you need to be very precise in everything you do. the more you practice recording yourself, the better you will get and it will become second nature. Thats why the weekly challenges are so valuable.

epictring wrote: I think I'm going with loudmouth since there is no time limit on how long you take on each song ?

I would double check those Terms if I were you. You can't spend a week in studio for what should take a day. They can easily chuck you out if you waste their time.

epictring

Yes already emailed them about the terms! Thanks.

Do you mean the ENTIRE band prac with metronome or individual practice?

TomCat

Committing yourself to recording is a major step and one that needs plenty of preparation.

We started recording a solo album for my wife in the early half of last year. Deciding to go the home recording route as I have been engineering live pro audio for the last 25 years would be better for us than paying studio fees, knowing that a lot of time would be required. We estimated about four months to get the job done....that was in May last year......Haha. ???....We are now in December and realistically looking at a release at the end of March next year.

If you are new to getting recorded as a band then be prepared to spend a lot of time putting this together and maybe going the home recording route might not be a bad thing. The up front costs can be a bit hectic but it frees you up to spend as much time on getting your skills honed as both a player and "Engineer". You can also then decide to pre-produce some of your material and then go into the studio for the main production and mix-down, thereby getting the best of both worlds.

We bought fairly decent kit but the results so far have been well worth the money spent and the time and effort involved. I am fortunate in that I already posses a wealth of pro audio experience and knowledge and am able to take advantage of that. Even so the change from live event engineering to recording and studio mixing has been a new and large learning curve.

There has been a lot of great advice given here on the forum and all needs to be weighed carefully.

Just as a ballpark our start-up cost for kit, excluding the Macbook we use came to about R 40 000.00. This also excludes microphones for mic'ing up a live drum kit. An alternative is to use a drum plug-in for drums and have your drummer program the patterns. It's a cheat but you can get very good and realistic results with a plug-in like Addictive Drums or EZ drums.

BMU

This is a valuable thread. Good work people.

I'm glad others mentioned how hard studio recording is, i.t.o. the flawless precision demanded of the muso's. Definitely you should start cheap just to get some experience.

Or better yet, start at home. Any old DAW on any old PC - just start getting that experience before venturing out and spending money.

A clicktrack is a merciless mistress, you'll hate her deeply before you learn to value her HAHA.

Alright guys thanks a lot for the help, without you I would certainly have made a serious mistake along with the band.

You're right about that dude, these people just saved you a big long painful, potentially costly learning curve. Good luck!

DonovanB

epictring wrote: Do you mean the ENTIRE band prac with metronome or individual practice?

Both. Nobody can stress it enough the value of practicing individually with a metronome. It tightens your playing up immensely and you grow to be more professional in your approach.

As a band it also helps to use a click or metronome, especially for the drummer. Once you are in time with it you won't even hear it. It's when you DO hear it that you know you're off time.