Battle of the Bands

Danny-B

Hey dudes

My band and I entered the Battle of the Bands in our area and, surprisingly, we won! The band was uber stoked and we also won a spot on the main stage at Splashy next year! Also included in the deal was studio time at a recording studio and I was wondering if you guys could give me some tips about working in a studio with limited time?

AlanRatcliffe

Congratulations! How much time did you win and which studio?

Squonk

Good Stuff Danny ?

Give us some more Information?

needleshy

practice to a click track alot before you go in so that u don't waste any time on that, your drummer is probably gonna use most of the time so make sure he can play properly to a click track or if he can't then consider hiring a sesion drummer.
playin on time is probably the most important part of being in a studio. also pre rehearse and work on the pre production of the song so that its sounding really good (shorten verses choruses etc which feel too long) when you go in to record.

PeteM

Congratulations Danny - where does your band play in Durbs?

AlanRatcliffe

Geez - there's so much... Let's see what I can throw off the top of my head (the pointy bit)...

Speak to the engineer beforehand! - he knows the studio, its capabilities and will be used to working with first-timers
Find out if they have a kit set up and what (if anything) your drummer needs to bring along. If they have a kit set up, use it - don't insist on your own unless you have something really special. The studio kit will already be set up, well tuned and possibly even miked up already. If you bring in a different kit, that's a few hours gone from your recording budget to get it to the same state (at least... the last time I recorded as a drummer the first day was spent setting up and getting the drum sound)
Find out if mixing time is included, or if you have to budget time (or money for extra time) for it. Ideally, book the mixing on a different day, ideally with a few days to give your ears a rest and also to allow you to listen a little more objectively
Record your song beforehand - even if it's on a ghettoblaster or portable recorder. Give a copy to the engineer ahead of time so that he can give it a listen and get a feel for the song(s) before you even set foot in the studio. If you're gigging, offer to comp him to one of your gigs so he can hear you (and if he shows, buy him a few rounds, give him something to eat, lend him your sister/girlfriend, whatever - never hurts to get him on your side)
Be prepared to take longer than you planned. Have money ready in case you go over your free hours - you don't want to meticulously craft your instrumental tracks, then force your vocalist to lay down all his tracks in the final half hour, or have no time to mix the tracks properly. Also find out if the studio has a few hours open after your booking - if your session runneth over, it's nice to be able to carry on the same day and finish it rather than go back and have to set up again on another day
Find out if you can record together, tracking (recording) all the instruments at once. Ideally you do this mainly for the scratch tracks, but the drums will be kept and then you go back and rerecord all the other instruments one-by-one. However, on limited time and first time in the studio, you may be best served by recording together live, without rerecording. In that case...
Practice beforehand. Have your songs worked out, arranged and ready to record together
Don't still be writing and arranging the song in the studio - then you end up paying lots of money (or wasting time, if you have free hours) to do something you could have done at home or at practice
Make sure your gear is sorted out before the session, new strings (stretched in), working amplifiers and effects, etc. - if you need to get anything serviced, take it in and get it done ahead of time.
Make sure you have spare picks, strings, cables, A TUNER, strap. You know? All that stuff that you need to play?
Listen to the engineer's suggestions - if he suggests that another guitar or amp besides your beloved Strat and Marshall will work better for the song, consider it or just go ahead and try it - sound is his job, that's what he does all day and he (hopefully) knows better than you.
If you are going scratch track route, also practice at lower levels - that lets the engineer get cleaner drum tracks with less bleed from other instruments
Playing to a click is important for a professional result, but many studios will let you record without (be prepared to cringe when you listen back in later years though ?). It takes time to learn to play well with a click, so if you don't have a couple of months before to practice doing it as a band, rather stay away (IMO)
More people is more distraction for you and the engineer, so don't take significant others (or friends, personal trainer, guitar teacher, your mom, your yogi guru etc.) along - regardless of how much whining or any threats of "no conjugal benefits" you get (hopefully not from your mom though...). Also, many cooks spoil the broth... So, if pressed: "Sorry dear, the studio has a rule..."
Coming a close second in the "too many cooks" competition, is band members during mixing. Decide as band who is going to work with the engineer to mix the songs (one or two people only). Also consider using a third party or just the engineer themselves. You'll end up with a more focused mix, guaranteed. And whoever is chosen, remember to listen to the engineer's suggestions with an open mind
Stay out of the engineer's way when you are not actively busy recording parts yourself
Make sure that you eat a decent but small breakfast before leaving for the studio, and take a few energy bars with you too - you're going alternate between running on high and sitting around waiting for other people - it saps a lot of energy. Don't be tempted to use energy drinks - they give you a high, but it puts you on edge and burns a lot of energy, doesn't sustain, and you will probably crash 10 minutes before it's time to record your parts.
Also make sure that if you go out for a lunch break that you don't overeat or eat rubbish (or spicy food) - studio mics love burps and farts, but the engineer most certainly does not. Anyway, ever see (or hear) a drummer try and keep time while he's hiccuping/burping/farting?
Keep food, drinks and cigarettes away from the studio - especially the control room
Alcohol, drugs merely make you think you're playing better, but probably make you play worse (and tend to make you stupid/talkative/sleepy). If you must, save it for music appreciation time, listening to the rough mixes at home, not while you're working
Many of the things above fall under the cardinal rule: Thou shalt not piss of the engineer. After all, he can make(th) or break(eth) your recording, so that's just plain stupid

...all the above just random things that occurred to me over the space of a few hours, so I've probably missed some important ones. Feel free to fill in.

DonovanB

Danny was that the Eagle Records battle of the Bands?

One thing about free studio time is you never have enough of it. Preparation is your friend. Make sure everyone knows what they need to do so when you get to the studio you can do it in as little time as possible.

Spyke

Alan, you have my vote for turning that into a sticky/link/legendary post. Crucial information there - thanks.

AlanRatcliffe

Spyke wrote Alan, you have my vote for turning that into a sticky/link/legendary post. Crucial information there - thanks.

Thanks! Reading it again now, it is rather good, isn't it? I think I'll have to copy that, flesh it out, fill in the gaps and make an article (and yeah, a sticky post of it too).

Funny that - I just kept the window open and carried on working on other stuff, swapping back to add/expand on points as I thought of them. If I'd planned to work on it, I'd probably still be fighting the intro paragraph. Sound familiar?

PeteM

Alan that is a fantastic and very detailed post - IMHO you certainly have not left anything essential out. If I might add one observation - relax, enjoy the experience and have fun - tension/stress somehow always reflects in the end product (of course this is easier said than done).

Spyke

Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Funny that - I just kept the window open and carried on working on other stuff, swapping back to add/expand on points as I thought of them. If I'd planned to work on it, I'd probably still be fighting the intro paragraph. Sound familiar?

All too familiar... as with many things in life, the inspiration (and greatness) strikes when least expected.

Guy-Onraet

Congrats Danny, that is awesome bro.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote I just kept the window open and carried on working on other stuff, swapping back to add/expand on points as I thought of them. If I'd planned to work on it, I'd probably still be fighting the intro paragraph. Sound familiar?

I friggin' hate the first 50-100 words of an article. I'll definitely give that work-on-a-few-things-at-once method a try. So it wasn't just your post, even the method turned out to be a win :? ?

Danny-B

Thanks guys!

That list is incredibly comprehensive, and some really good tips. The band has worked in a studio before, but it was my fathers which is mainly for voice recording which we somehow transformed into studio for the band. The band is tight, so tight that the adjudicators thought that the drums and bass were programmed! Admittedly it was an electronic drum kit...

The competetion was held at Kearsney, part of their recent Upbeat festival. We also won a wad of cash, which I'm thinking we'll keep to buy extra time in the studio.

Most of the problems you mentioned with the band are not there: smoking, little practise, uncontrolled drummer etc. We've been a school jazz band for about three years so the band itself is incredibly tight after playing together every afternoon.

Thanks again guys, I'll post some of the recordings when they're done!

BTW, the band is called Dead Cat Bounce. Pretty cool, eh? If you want to join the Facebook page, you're welcome too ?

aubs1

Well done Danny, congratulations.......just hope by the time you're done with that pre-production list you still have studio time left.......hahahahaha....ok, just kidding again...

Alan.....that is absolutely awesome professional advice.......

Riaan-Combrink

Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Spyke wrote Alan, you have my vote for turning that into a sticky/link/legendary post. Crucial information there - thanks.
Thanks! Reading it again now, it is rather good, isn't it? I think I'll have to copy that, flesh it out, fill in the gaps and make an article (and yeah, a sticky post of it too).

+1!!

zappa

In the years

zappa

Try again,

In the years gone by Kearsney was not as rocking as today, it appears.

Hubba hubba, they even had a "girls behaveing badly" show at this event.

'Aint school kids spoilt rotten these days. LOL

Congrats to Danny B

"Dead cat bounce", Danny B's Dad is a share/foreign exchange trader.