If
you have read my "Shapes
of Things to Come" article this is sort
of a follow up. Times are perfect for releasing
your own CD and this article will give you some
ideas on how to record it and what kind of investment
it will take.
Recording
at Home or Away
Do
It Yourself Approach - There are basically
two ways to record your own CD. The first is
what a lot of independent artists are doing:
they do it themselves in the privacy of their
own home. They get themselves a computer, install
Pro-Tools and go to town. The advantage to this
approach is simple; you can spend a year recording
your CD and tweak every tiny thing that bugs
you. You can punch in your guitar solo seven
thousand times between Thanksgiving and Christmas
'till you get it right. You can fix any pitch
problems, add tons of layers, spend a bunch
of time getting a killer tone, go nuts without
getting yourself in debt like you would if you
had to pay an
engineer or for the same amount of studio time.
The only problem is that unless you practically
have a studio in your home, you are going to
have a rough time recording a full band, especially
if you play the kind of music that needs to
be played live, with real musicians. Jazz, Fusion,
Blues and some Rock are a few examples. Drums
are a nightmare and big amps can also possibly
pose some problems. That is why the kind of
music that generally gets recorded using this
"do it in the privacy of your own home"
method is ambient, techno, electronica and the
like. Not to say you can't record other genres
effectively but a recording studio tends to
produce better recording results when you need
to record traditional instruments. A decent
quality pro-tools system can cost anywhere from
five to thirty grand depending on how many tracks
you need and speed but it is a great investment
if you plan on producing good quality recordings
at home.
The
Traditional Approach - Rehearse the band
and get in the studio. This poses one big obstacle:
MONEY! Studio time is expensive so you need
to be well rehearsed or at least use musicians
that are quick. Both my CDs, "Big Bad Sun"
and my first release, "Prospects"
where recorded this way and with no rehearsals.
We only had three days to record the "Big
Bad Sun" CD so more then the other two
guys in the band, I had to be totally prepared.
I had to know exactly how I wanted to start
and end each song, the form or each tune, have
my lyrics together. Recording a CD in three
days is impossible if you have to spend more
than two hours on each song so I had to have
an image of each song in my head before we even
got in the studio. By the way, most CDs are
recorded in about a month but when you are paying
for the studio time yourself, plan on doing
it in about five days or you'll go broke.
Who
Does What
The
Engineer - When recording at home an engineer
is out of the question (unless it is you), you
would have to be Bill Gates to be able to afford
paying an engineer to come over everyday for
six months. In a recording studio, you will
have to hire one or use the one that they give
you. Out of all my years playing guitar in dozens
of recording studios, I still don't know how
to turn half the stuff on much less mix my own
tracks. As I said, most recording studios will
supply an engineer but you may want to hire
one with a good reputation. You can always listen
to CDs that they engineered. Basically engineers
are passive for the most part, they work best
when they are told what to do. That's where
problems arise. I mean, during a recording session
if the engineer where to ask me; "How do
you want me to EQ the snare drum?" I would
be dumbfounded for an answer. I know what I
like when I hear it but I don't know how to
EQ it to make it sound like what I like. So
if you are not up to giving the orders, you
may want to consider hiring a producer.
A
word on Engineers - Engineers are different
than us guitarists. Unlike us, they are into
compressors and limiters and things like this.
Compressors and limiters are boring to guitarists,
they have unexciting brand names that sound
like French food or German medicine, names like
Sennheiser, Neuman or Neve. We aren't interested
in them because they are basically made to control
volume, which is something strange to us. We
are always trying to figure out ways to play
louder anyway. The last thing that we want to
think about is ways to compress or limit our
volume. Besides, guitarists like things with
exciting names like "Nuclear Harmonic Expander"
or "Tri-Stereo Distortion Booster"
( I made these names up, but you get the point).
Plus the compressors and limiters that they
like are old and crusty and look like crap,
we guitarists prefer things that gleam and are
shiny. As much as engineers love compressors
and limiters, mastering engineers love them
even more (I'll get to mastering later). Mastering
engineers go so crazy with compressing and limiting
that recording engineers get pissed off. They
often complain that the engineer that masters
the music cranks up the volume too much and
then cuts off the highs and lows and erases
the dynamics of the music. It is best to stay
out of the whole thing and let them do what
they like to do.
The
Producer - Sometimes you can find a guy
that is good at both engineering and producing.
One reason a producer is good to have is because
with only a few days in the studio, you are
going to have a hell of a time editing your
tracks by yourself. Let me explain: let's say
you are recording your vocal track, usually
you sing through the song four or five times
and record each take on different track. Each
time you sing through it, the producer sitting
at his groovy producer desk in the studio, picks
the phrases from each vocal take that he likes
the best. He makes notes on your lyric sheets,
marking which phrase he likes from what take.
After you are done singing through the song
several times he will tell the engineer how
to glue the different parts he likes together.
If you aren't the greatest singer, it is an
enormous undertaking, like putting together
a jigsaw puzzle. It would take you way to much
time to do this yourself. He will also tell
the engineer how to mix everything, what kind
of reverb, delay, how to EQ your guitar. Being
a musician, you would figure that you could
tell the engineer how to mix everything but
I found that after hours in the studio I tend
to lose my sense of perspective but a good producer's
ears never seem to get tired. A good producer
also has a fascinating ability to know how things
will sound recorded. Guitarists tend to listen
to the sound of our amp and that's where it
ends but the producer listens to the sound of
our amp, imagines the sound hitting a specific
mike placed in a specific location in the studio,
travel to the mixing board, get some reverb
and delay added, get mixed with the other instruments,
get mastered, burned and getting stuck in a
$27.99 CD player bought at K-Mart and getting
listened to by someone who probably doesn't
even play the guitar. Musicians tend to listen
in real time but a producer must be a clairvoyant.
You should definitely take a listen to the CDs
that he has produced before you hire him. Each
producer has his style, some guys like everything
super wet and some hate wet sounding recordings,
so it is best to match up your likes and dislikes
with his. When you meet with him, tell him what
kind of image you have and maybe give him some
CDs of recording that you like. One reason I
picked the producer I did for the "Big
Bad Sun" session is because he, like me,
is a guitarist and pays special attention to
mixing the guitar correctly.
In
the Studio Before you Actually Start Recording
Equipment
- This is what happens when you get in the studio
to record your CD: You get there and bring your
equipment in. Generally decent studios will
already have various amps and at least one quality
drum set but you may still want to bring your
own if that is what you are used to. I always
bring my own amp because I can dial up my sound
right away but also because I have a good professional
relationship with the most of the companies
that offer me special deals on my equipment.
For that reason I want to use their stuff on
my recordings as promotion for them. If the
studio has an amp that is better than yours,
you can always use it instead of your own anyways.
Mikes
- Next the engineer will be getting everything
miked up and getting the sound together. This
will take a little time. He will be placing
a mike right on the speaker of your cabinet
and most likely an ambient mike a few meters
away. Open back combos like Fender amps generally
get a mike in back also. Two or three mikes
for one guitar amp. The producer may suggest
specific mikes for your amp. I personally like
a cheapo Shure 57 on a Marshall and Sennheiser
for an ambient mike. I sometimes like to use
two amps and pan them somewhat right and left,
this will make some engineers crazy and other
like this kind of thing. I like the subtle differences
in each respective speaker. Some engineers don't
like the sound of the mike too close to the
speaker, some like a 57 stuck an inch away.
The sound is different but both get good results
depending on who is doing the engineering.
Headphones - Recording is a very unnatural
way to make music. How you hear yourself and
each other will make or break the session. There
are different ways to record. You can record
everything separately but the disadvantage to
this method is time and it also makes it pretty
difficult to end songs and it also makes musical
interplay an impossibility. Recording everything
separately also takes a lot of time. If the
tracks for type of music that you create are
best recorded separately, you might want to
consider going for the "do it yourself
at home" method discussed earlier. The
type of music that I mostly write requires,
at least everything but the vocal track, to
be recorded simultaneously. I used to like to
be in the room with my amp and watch the other
guys through the window but lately I have been
playing in the same room with the bassist and
drummer and run a line to my amp in a separate
location. To make up for the lack of sustain
I crank up the amp really loud and I seem to
be able the get the tone I want. The next step
is getting the mix right in your headphones.
If you screw this up, you will be miserable
throughout the session so it is best to get
this straight right away. There are some engineers
who know exactly how to send your sound back
to you in your headphones and others that you
will have to spell it out a thousand different
ways in order to get it sounding right. I have
the engineer mix a little delay or reverb on
my guitar so I can play things easier. The reverb
or delay on your guitar is a temporary thing
only for your monitor so don't worry if it is
a little to long or short or mixed in a way
that you don't think appropriate for your music,
you will be able to change it later when you
mix the recording. Now you are ready to record.
Recording
Play
- Now you can start recording. When the engineer
or producer give the okay you can play through
the tune. The first time is pretty much a rehearsal,
now your ready to go. If you have it together,
three or four takes may be enough. You then
will go back to where the engineer and producer
are and listen back to each take through the
studio monitors and you can decide with the
producer which take is the best. You can also
punch-in anything that may not have worked out
the way you wanted. Remember this: anything
that bugs you a little will bug you a lot after
you burn a thousand CDs. So if you hear something
that you don't like, punch-in the individual
part again or do another take with the band.
When you listen back to the take in the mixing
room don't let it bother you if your guitar
volume is too low or the kick drum is too loud,
that will all get fixed during the mixdown.
If you are using Pro-Tools the producer may
have the engineer fix some timing or pitch problems
on the spot. Modern technology has done wonders
for the recording process.
Vocal
Tracks
Vocals
- When I record my own music, I generally record
the music first and do the vocal tracks later
on. But be careful not to get stuck doing every
vocal track on the last day. If you figure that
you will sing every song five times and record
ten songs, you'll have to sing fifty takes.
Sing a couple of songs a day and don't risk
injury. As I mentioned before, the producer
will pick different sections or each vocal take
and edit them together to get one perfect vocal
track for each song. He also may fix any pitch
or timing problems using the computer. Make
sure you have copies of your lyrics for the
engineer and producer if you are using one,
as I mentioned, they will be marking which individual
phrases to glue together to make the final track.
The
Mixdown - After the tunes are recorded the
engineer and producer start to mix everything.
He will add reverb and delay on various parts
and EQ things. The producer and engineer might
fight about certain things here, if that happens
leave for a while and come back later. You are
paying the cash so you will give the final okay.
Usually getting the first tune mixed down takes
a ton of time, maybe three or four hours. After
that the next tune will go faster. Every engineer
is different. I have seen guys mix a whole CD
in several hours and make it sound great and
other guys spend a week mixing and have the
recording end up sounding like crap. We spent
about twenty-four hours mixing "Big Bad
Sun."
Choosing
A Studio
What
to look for - Because the computer is used
mostly these days rather than tape, the process
is a lot faster. When things were recorded on
tape, half your studio time was spent rewinding
each take. It may seem trivial but when you
record nine or ten songs four or five times
each, puch-in solos, separately record the vocal
tracks several times each and edit them, you
spend an enormous time rewinding tape. Since
studio time is expensive definitely pick a digital
studio over an analog one. Whether or not you
record at home or in a recording studio, there
is also one more great advantage to using Pro-Tools.
Since it is pretty much standard software for
recording, you can send the data out for various
purposes. Mastering is one example but also
imagine this, you could record your tune and
send the data to me, and then I could record
in a guitar solo and send it back to you. You
could send your data all over the world and
have different people record different tracks.
Couldn't really do that in the old days. Generally
the medium sized studios will charge you on
average four of five hundred dollars a day including
an engineer. Less if you bring in your own engineer
but of course you will need to pay him separately
for his time. The big studios will charge you
more and may be less interested in the project.
A
word on digital recordings - Remember how
I was saying that engineers like old crappy
outboard gear? Actually there is a pretty good
reason for their obsession with these old compressors,
limiters and pre-amps. It is because of the
new digital revolution. You see, most engineers,
especially the ones in their forties, feel the
sound of all the digital components plus the
SSL board gives off a very cold, sterile sound.
To compensate for this they like to use older
outboard gear, tubes included to add some warmth
back into the mix. I personally buy this argument.
The older recordings definitely have a warmer
tone but recording in a completely analog studio
seems impractical.
Best
of both worlds - There are some guys that
combine both the "do it yourself at home"
and "traditional" methods for spectacular
results. Keyboards and sequences are recorded
at home, the data brought to the studio, drums,
guitars and vocals added, data brought back
home, tweaked and tweaked again, etc.. This
method is also very cost effective as it reduces
your time in the studio.
Once
It's Recorded
Mastering
- Don't screw up here. You get in the studio,
record a great session, mix it down, and add
the perfect blend of equalization, reverb, delay
and whatnot. Now you have to get it mastered.
When you master a CD this is what happens, the
data goes to a mastering studio, the mastering
engineer will then arrange the songs in the
proper order, do fade-outs on the songs he is
supposed to, make sure all the songs are the
same level, EQ the whole thing, compress the
music so there is no jagged edges sticking out,
and raise the general volume. He basically makes
it easy to listen to. My general rule of thumb
is that I never let the engineer who mixed the
music master it. It is a whole different thing
and it is best to let someone who listening
with fresh ears to master it. Mastering takes
four to eight hours and costs between four hundred
to a grand depending on the mastering studio
and amount of songs that need to be mastered.
I would suggest you wait at least a week to
master your CD. You should listen to it a bunch
of times in different stereo systems before
to make sure you like the mix first. Studio
monitors sound great so don't let them fool
you, compare it to some other CDs at home in
the same stereo that you always listen to.
Is
it worth it? - I would guestimate that five
days in the studio, with an engineer, including
the mixdown will set you back about five or
six grand depending on what studio, what engineer
and producer you use. Lets see here, fifteen
dollars per CD multiplied by one thousand CDs
equals fifteen thousand dollars, which in turn
will make you ten thousand dollars in profit.
If you sell them all you can re-press another
thousand. Lets say the whole thing costs you
five thousand dollars to do, you will need to
sell three hundred and thirty three units. If
you have four guys in your band, you would each
have to sell eighty three CDs each (and you
can probably sell more than a few to your own
mother). If you can put together a good CD,
a website and gigs it is not a tremendous undertaking
at all. Imagine if the CD where to hit and you
sell ten thousand of them, $150,000!!!!! Stranger
things have happened.
Whichever
recording method works best for you if for you
to decide and both methods have their advantages
and disadvantages. My final advice is this:
it is easier making music than selling it so
be not only an artist but also be a businessman.
Do the math, homework and all the preparations
you need and finally sell enough to make a profit.
Let me know how things turn out.
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