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Considering using ARTS Recording Studio?
Fill out this form or call now on 0410 686 474 (If you need to leave a message, Andrew will return your call!)
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The tips below will help you get great value for money from your studio time. Please contact Andrew if you have any other questions about recording and production. Tip 2: Check out any potential
studio properly. Tip 3: Get a good night's
sleep. Tip 4: How parts are
usually recorded. Tip 5:
Know why all your song's parts fit together. Tip 6: Ideas for not getting bored in the studio.
Tip 1: Tape your rehearsals.
You know you need to rehearse – but what about recording it? Recording rehearsals gives you great feedback. Don't be too fussy about the quality of the recording at this point (even using a tape recorder is fine!) – just record as well as you can, and listen to how you can make your music its best before you get to the studio - that will save you plenty of dollars! If you need more help improving your songs, just talk to Andrew about doing some pre-production (for more details click here). Recording is particularly great for vocalists. If you've never heard your voice recorded it can be a bit off-putting. So recording yourself before your get to the studio is great for helping you get used to hearing your own voice. Tip 2: Check out any potential
studio properly.
When deciding where to record, check out any studio (including ARTS!) for yourself before you book a session. You'll have to work the staff there for a while so do you feel comfortable with them? Ask about their experience, the styles of music they work with and how they approach recording. Most of all, ask to listen to work they've done before. It's OK to be critical of their work - after all you'll be paying for it (and if a record label's paying for it you'll be paying them back later anyway!). Tip 3: Get a good night's
sleep.
Recording is awesome fun! But it's also hard work. Just ask anyone whose on the 23rd take of their solo! So get some good sleep the night before so you can nail the solo on the 2nd take anyway! It's not uncommon for a recording session to go three to five hours without a break, so the creativity can dry up fast. Better to give yourself as much of a head start as you can! Tip 4: How parts are
usually recorded.
When producing music in a studio
there's a typical order in which parts of a song are recorded - even when the
band plays all together, some parts usually take first priority. The priority is
usually something like this: 1.
Rhythm
section (typically drums and percussion - perhaps bass also). 2. Main
instrumental melody and/or chords (eg rhythm guitar, keyboard). 3. Instrumental harmonies and changes in texture (eg pads, lead guitars,
brass). 4. Lead
vocal melody. 5. Vocal
harmonies. 6. Finishing
touches (eg incidental parts that add variety to the song). The rhythm section is usually the first priority because it's usually much tougher for a drummer to play a groove to someone-else's melody than the other way around (no offence to drummers - it's just a fact of life). Also - compared to most other instruments - it's much tougher to record drums in sections (punch-in) than to record them as a whole take. Typically while the rhythm section is recording, melody instruments might also be mic'ed up and recorded to 'guide' the drummer. For example, we might also mic'-up the guitarist and the lead vocalist (in a different room) and feeding their sound to the headphones for the drummer and bass player. The guitar and vocal might get recorded too, but the priority will be getting the drums and bass right. Once we've perfected the rhythm section, the guitar and vocals are re-recorded (overdubbed) over the recorded rhythm section (unless their guide take was already great). It's getting each layer of the song as right as possible that takes up the bulk of recording time in studios - more rehearsal anyone?... Tip 5:
Know why all your song parts fit together before you go to the
studio.
In any piece of music all the parts - drums, bass, guitar, vocals (...bagpipes, ukuleles, piano-accordions...) have to fit tightly together for a song to sound it's best. So before you get to the studio, you need to know how your part fits in with all the other parts to make the whole song work. But even better is to know why each parts fits as it does. The 'why' should always have something to do with what the song does emotionally for the listener - eg because going double time on the snare increases the intensity, because light acoustic guitar after the ripping solo gives release, because the really tight cut and pause before the chorus provides suspense etc... Fortunately, the quickest way to learn about why things happen in music is easy - listen! Find a hit song that you know makes you feel a certain way. Now identify the part in the song where that feeling kicks in the most (often it's when the chorus kicks in, or when the vocalist sings a certain line, but not always). Now complete this sentence. "This song makes me feel most (happy, sad etc) when the (vocal, guitar, drums etc) does (what ever it does!)...." The
part you've identified is leading the emotion that you're feeling, but
the other parts are supporting it in doing that. What you need to ask yourself
now is "How are they supporting that emotion?" - what is being played (or not played!) that
means that the whole song moves you?
Tip 6: Ideas for not getting bored in the studio.
Professional recording can take longer than you might first think, especially if you’re going for as good a sound as you can (and you should go for a great sound – after all if you don’t care about your music why should anyone else!). So while you're sitting around waiting for someone else get it right, why not... 1)
Play cards, or read a mag or a book. 2) Spend some time quietly going over your part (yes, I
know you don't really need the practice, because you've already had plenty of
rehearsal, haven't you...) 3)
Turn up to the studio later. For example, often the drums will take a some time
to set up, so it may be possible for the rest of the
band to turn up later. Of course, check with the studio staff first. 4) Leave the studio.
There's no rule that says the whole band has to just hang around
and wait. Again check with the studio staff (and probably your other
band members!) that that you're not going to be needed any time soon, or you may
end up wasting studio time.
Very simply put, mixing is taking recorded audio and blending it together to create a pleasing sound. Just some of the things a mixing engineer has to take care of include: Which instruments take priority? What sort of acoustic space should the instruments be in? Where should instruments be placed from left to right, and front to back? What tone should different parts have? How loud or quiet should the music get? As you can see, there's a bit more to it than just getting the levels right. Unfortunately, mixing is often under-valued. As a guide, a good mix usually takes at least half the time it took to record all the parts in the song. Mixing can be a tough time for new bands, because everyone has an opinion on how things should sound. Often the best thing a band can do is to trust the engineer put together a first mix and then pick one (two at the most) band members to work with the engineer on tweaking things. It can also often be really helpful to use music that's already been commercially produced as a reference for how the mix is sounding. Professional bands often hire a producer to help with the mixing (if they haven't already done so before recording even started!). A producer is someone the band trusts to work with the engineer to create a good mix (some people also work as engineer-producers). Not being a part of the band is actually the producer's biggest strength, because it means they can be more objective about how things are sounding.
If mixing is creating a pleasing sound from all the parts in one song, mastering is about doing the same, but with all the songs in one album (or demo or EP). Mastering involves taking all the final mixes and carefully tweaking them so that the album has a consistent sound. This means ensuring that the volume levels and tone of the songs match each other. Good mastering will give each song a greater sense of presence, and space, and will often give the mix a greater sense of clarity. Mastering also involves deciding on the best order of songs for an album, and also on the spacing between each song.
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