Well, we know that being a musician is great, but have you recorded with a band yet? The first thought is, if I didn’t have a band, why would I even think about recording? Tons of music artist out thriving by basing themselves off of self recordings and getting into the production and recording side of music on their own. Buying your first audio piece is exciting, researching microphones, and getting your instruments are all exciting task for do-it-yourselfers. If you don’t have the ability to do these at home tasks or your band requires a massive and more extensive take into recording, then hit up your local recording studio. With that being, let’s dive into 5 tips you should know before recording!
1. What Is The Studio’s Rate?
Most recording studios will have a rate. These rates also do not depend on the size of your band or what instruments you play. The rate varies from establishment to establishment and can vary in price. Contact a studio you want to record at and ask them for prices first before going by! If you need a guesstimate for a recording studio rate: try around the two hundred and fifty dollar range and that is per hour and that’s a good penny unless you know someone that will cut you a good deal. I stress that because knowing people in the industry will get you the best band for your buck and the connections you will need for the future, but don’t burn your bridges and if the engineer likes you thy may even raise their prices next time around, so make sure you bring your A Game and bargaining skills next time you record. Now, that’s a major tip!
2. Know What Equipment You Want To Use.
This post is centered around music artists so if you don’t know what equipment you use or want to use than the recording studio will not be able to get you the best sound possible. Each amp uses a mic to get the sound from the room to the board. Having a lot of stress- free moments about what amp you need to use will be chalked up to what your amp sounds like but make sure it has the tone or sound you want to use in a studio environment. The enjoyment of the engineer heightens when they notice your amp and how they are going to connect you to their software. It’s the art of the engineer to know this and set up and tear down of all gear. I feel as though another article would need to be to inform you on what types of amps get the best warmth or tone each artist wants to get. I am a natural born guitarist, so I know nothing about drummers or their kits. Same goes for other instruments, but you get what I’m saying, make sure your equipment matches your unique sound set out to impress engineers and audiences everywhere!
3. Know Your Songs!
Rehearse a lot before going to sit down and recording if you are paying for it! Most recordings now have the technology that your song will sound beautiful no matter what, but if your song is not well-rehearsed you won’t be proud or confident enough to have that ep or album in your arsenal. If you want to impress not others, but yourself and band members, do everyone a favor and rehearse your songs until you know them send and backwards. Doesn’t that sound like the dream? The most practical and best way to redeem what you’re going for us to practice! Knowing your songs in a musical sense will help individually, but knowing your song list is part of the process. Communication with band members will help clear any miscommunication building tension in the future. Make sure you know YOUR songs and everyone knows WHAT songs they are playing through. The management of the song list and musical theory in each song are also leading cause to musicians going over their studio time or not being able to meet standards set in each recording studio.
My last point will touch on more advanced pointers for those that need to record a band.
4. You Should Know How to Manage Time (for more advanced players)
Being a studio musician means that you should be kind and critical about time. Time in the studio and time spent rehearsing are separate entities, and I’m not talking about where your nerves lie. Recording studios want to record you! Advanced players know that engineers can either be nice about the time you spend or a jerk about time, but I don’t believe that any engineer wants to go over hours while recording unless they were keeping you in, then some creative differences happening that no one is aware of. I have some insight on horror stories about musicians taking too long to record a song and end up ruining the session in general. I am sure you can google top stories on recording artist that went over studio time and how that went down. On top of that, try not to be late, mates!
Well, that’s it peoples! Now you should be a seasoned recording artist by following these tips. I am being a bit too cheerful or confident, but I am confident that my tips will ease the process towards your efforts in recording with a studio engineer soon! I hope to write more articles and blog posts about these types of topics because I am also a striving musician and I have a lot to leave behind as far as clearing any confusion in the realm of music, entertainment and instruments. I have been playing music since I was 14, and I always play local shows around Mississippi and plan on sticking to local shows in Los Angeles as of 2020.
If anyone has any questions, I am free to answer them over the interwebsSsSss.
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