Studio Notes

We are in the final stages of releasing our CD. Having recorded more than a couple of times I have learned some things that have helped me make better decisions over time about where I will record, what strategy to employ, how to pay, and so on.

To date, I have recorded three CDs in a bonefide recording studio. The first time was in 2000 in a back yard studio that was big enough for about four people total. The engineer was new to Pro Tools and new to recording therefore making him very affordable for our gracious investors. That said, we had to put up with a certain amount of indecisiveness as well as some falling asleep behind the wheel…literally. In this project we paid $2500 for 10 songs, spent well over 40 hours in the recording studio, and I learned some very important lessons that I took forward.

1. Electronic drums will never have the same feel as live drums even in the studio
2. It is necessary to have your music mastered by a mastering engineer.

I learned more lessons along the way from friends and family as they gave some honest feedback. You could tell in these recordings that I was trying hard to sound like someone else when I sang, and I was encouraged to just sing naturally. I took this advice to my next recording. It was a while later before I made it back to the studio. We spent a total of $2500 on the first project, and we knew we would spend at least this on the second. This time we had our minds on producing fewer songs, but doing them right. We were in a “real” studio working with experienced sound engineers who had recorded some real bands along the way. We were stoked. The band had changed quite a bit over the years and for many of them it was their first time to record outside of our feeble attempts at home. At the end of the day, we came away with some pretty good recordings with live drums, and we had the songs mastered. Here we paid about $1400, spent 15 hours in the studio (including mixing), 2 hours mastering, and I learned a couple of more lessons that I took to my next project.

3. It’s important to have an engineer that will give his honest feedback
4. Don’t mess with the levels unless it is absolutely vital to the song…most of the time I was wrong.
5. Your music will never sound professional unless you play to a click track or by the grace of God you all have perfect rhythm.

By the third recording our band had changed musicians again. Whereas during our last recording we had six musicians, now were down to just 4 minus a drummer. We had used our share of fill-in drummers but we really needed someone who could add to the quality of our sound and play to a click track. Thankfully, all we had learned helped us to make a good decision on where we would record next, and how we would do it. Again we wanted to record only four songs, but do them with excellence. Now we were determined to put something out that could be played on the radio. This is by far our best recording. In this project we spent $3500, about 60 hours in the recording studio (not counting mixing), and 1 day mastering. Here is what I learned through this experience.

6. Having and engineer who cares about the quality of the final product is essential.
7. Paying by the song is the way to go. You get more hours and better music.
8. Finally, having the right musicians is a must.

Not everyone is cut out to record. It definitely takes a special musician to make it all happen. I look forward to recording more in the future. I hope this helps you as you do the same.