THE RECORDING SESSION:
Communication is the key to a successful recording session. It will keep everyone comfortable during the recording process. An artist needs to feel comfortable in order to get a good performance.
Emotion and feeling make the best song, not necessarily the best technical performance. Working on a part over and over trying to get it technically perfect can sometimes destroy the emotional aspect of the part. Always make the song the highest priority (leave the egos at the door).
If you make a mistake while recording, don’t stop and start over. With multi-tracking, an engineer can punch in (edit) and correct simple mistakes. Sometimes a minor mistake is an example of “perfect imperfection” (actually adding to the performance’s honesty and emotion). If a part has a few minor errors, but great feel, it might be worth keeping. And remember, sometimes less is more! Here are a few suggestions for a successful recording session:
Be on time. Late arrivals can disrupt a whole recording session.
Introduce all band members to the engineer. Discuss your plans for the session and desired instrument set-up.
At the end of tracking a song, wait for all instruments especially drum cymbals to fully decay before talking or making comment. The engineer will let you know recording has ended. Also, drummers, watch placing your sticks into one hand and making noise – silent endings.
Instrumental intros will need a time signature. Important: usually a guitarist/vocalist will set the tempo and the drummer will join in with measured stick clicks, then guitarist will drop out with drummer still clicking the appropriate tempo. The drummer will provide a 1,2,3,4 verbal count in as the intro begins and continue through the beginning of the song. This sets up the timing for the overdub instrumental intro tracks. Stick clicks can easily be edited out during the mixdown process.
The best mixes are achieved by excellent recording. “Fix it in the mix” attitude will make it harder to get the final product right. Remember: A bad track will always stick out in the mix and the only way to fix it is to remove or replay the track. A bad take is not the end of the world, keep a positive attitude and try again. The luxury of recording is the ability to make composite tracks or rewind and re-record.
Communicate with your engineer throughout the project. Be flexible to accommodate the occasional changes that occur while recording your project. Your engineer will work with you to keep things running smoothly.
Keep your recording levels at a modest level. The recording studio is a controlled environment allowing for instruments to be recorded and mixed for a powerful sound. Tracking volumes should be loud enough to capture pleasing tones, but not so loud that microphone bleed over or room compression become an issue.
Prepare a song sheet with the desired instrumentation for each song. This is different than a lyric sheet. This sheet will include all the desired parts (instruments) for a particular song and help ensure that all the parts are tracked (not overlooked) and allow for the streamlining a various instruments/sounds. A Hit List of sorts.
Bring to the session only those people who are directly related to the recording process ( band members, producers and engineers). A crowded session will cause distractions and in the long run cost you money is wasted studio time. Our studio is not set up for large groups. Important: While in session, try not to carry on with conversations in the control room. This will distract the engineer who is working hard to concentrate on your music.
Singers: Always bring water but don’t use ice! Ice will constrict your vocal chords. Hot tea with lemon work very well for vocal tracking. Make sure to provide emotion & feeling and let the engineer worry about the technical rendition.
Check your tuning often. There is no excuse for out of tune parts. Not all tuners are created equal – use one tuner for all stringed instruments.
Focus on the highlight of your performance. Don’t waste endless time on guitar parts if the key to your sound is the three part harmonies or keyboards.
Record your instruments dry and add effects at mixdown. Its hard to know each part will sound like in the final mix. Tracking (printing) effects during the recording process limits the amount of control at mixdown. Too much reverb or delay can make a track sound distant and muddy. Unless you are using unique guitar effects pedals or have a sweet sounding spring reverb on an amp, record signals clean (without effects).
Less is More. Add only what fits your songs. Doubling tracking vocals can hide all the subtleties that make a song personable and likeable. Save doubling for choruses and/or the bridge on the song for more dynamics and punch. Plan ahead which parts should be doubled. You need to have contrast in a song for it to be effective.
Treat your engineer with respect. His/her job is to make you sound good – do what you can to make their job easier by following their instructions during the recording process.
