I'm going to be recording final versions of my songs for an album: http://www.jeffreyjamesmusic.com
If someone could whip up a good strategy on what to do with the resources I have, I would like them a great deal. I know this might be sort of "gear specific" but I thought this was the best category to post this in regardless.
here's what I have:
- no money.
- 10-12 songs to record.
- 8 hours of free studio time (http://www.northcentral.edu/tour/index. ... =2&photo=4) studio designed by these guys: http://olsonsound.com/people.html
- and this "stuff"
Mbox2
MXL 990
SM 58 & 58 beta
EV|Blue Cardinal.
behringer MIC100 preamp
Tannoy reveal 5a monitors
Now the question is, what should I do at home, and what should I do in a studio? Should I just squeeze out as many entire songs out of 8 hours in the studio, or record specific sections/instruments of a bunch of songs and complete it at home?
any and all thoughts are greatly appreciated. as comfortable as I am recording other people's music I feel lost for some reason when it comes to recording my own...
here's what I got... what should I do?
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pixeltarian
- buyin' gear
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- Contact:
here's what I got... what should I do?
"Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to cut all sources of retreat."
- Napoleon Hill
http://www.jeffreyjamesmusic.com
spook folk
http://www.myspace.com/tonguesonpaper
electro atmospheric rock
- Napoleon Hill
http://www.jeffreyjamesmusic.com
spook folk
http://www.myspace.com/tonguesonpaper
electro atmospheric rock
Here are my thoughts...
You were not specific on what your going to record, as far as instrumentation.
I went and popped on some of the tunes from your music page and it's sounds like it's mostly acoustic stuff, so I would eat up the 8 hours by laying the main acoustic tracks with a great signal path, unless your planning on having drums on the songs. If that's the case, then do all the drum tracking.
The acoustic with probably be the main focal point beyond your vocals, so to me it makes the most sense and there won't be enough time to do the vocal tracking anyway.
Good luck and have fun!!!!
You were not specific on what your going to record, as far as instrumentation.
I went and popped on some of the tunes from your music page and it's sounds like it's mostly acoustic stuff, so I would eat up the 8 hours by laying the main acoustic tracks with a great signal path, unless your planning on having drums on the songs. If that's the case, then do all the drum tracking.
The acoustic with probably be the main focal point beyond your vocals, so to me it makes the most sense and there won't be enough time to do the vocal tracking anyway.
Good luck and have fun!!!!
-
A.David.MacKinnon
- ears didn't survive the freeze
- Posts: 3836
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- Location: Hamilton ON, Canada
- Contact:
^^^^What he said.
If you're going to do full band arrangements for the songs you should
#1 find players and rehearse like mad
#2 use your studio time to do bed tracks with the band
#3 do the rest at home
You might consider coughing up a little dough to buy a few more hours on your studio day. Eight hours is pretty damn short if you've got 12 songs to get through (unless your the Ramones). It's even shorter when you factor in set-up and take down. Adding even 2 hours to your session could make a big difference.
If you're going to do full band arrangements for the songs you should
#1 find players and rehearse like mad
#2 use your studio time to do bed tracks with the band
#3 do the rest at home
You might consider coughing up a little dough to buy a few more hours on your studio day. Eight hours is pretty damn short if you've got 12 songs to get through (unless your the Ramones). It's even shorter when you factor in set-up and take down. Adding even 2 hours to your session could make a big difference.
those suggestions are good ones. you can definitely make some good sounds doing it like that.
another idea is to track it entirely at home, and then use that time to mix at the studio, then save up some bread for some real mastering. you'd probably have to kick down for some more mixing dough, unless a good chunk of the songs were acoustic, or very sparsely adorned.
here's a vague sketch of what i'd think about doing if it were me, and i really had to get it done with what you've mentioned - gary sinise apollo 13 style. I love doing this stuff. It's fun. Now back to the SIM!:
PRE-PRODUCTION:
- choose my favorite ten of the twelve songs.
- decide which bad ass drummer friend i could convince to play for beers.
- sketch out the arrangements/instrumentation for all the songs. visualize the end sounds.
- give yer drummer a demo of the tunes that he/she is gonna play on a few days before you record. send it with a couple of notes for each song, explaining what the end product will sound like, and some basic descriptors on what you're looking for from them.
- i personally think it's important that the drummer be killin', and that you have real vision for the end product.
- choose four or five for bigger arrangements, five or six for simpler ones, maybe even one or two extremely bare bones.
RECORDING LEVELS!!!!!
keep 'em wherever the Mbox says they're supposed to be. Prolly like -18dBfs on AVERAGE. read the manula to find out what 0dBvu is in protools world.
TRACKING:
- lay down a scratch vox & acoustic rhythm track to a click. make sure to be as dynamic and/or expressive as if you were playing with a whole band. it's a map for peeps to follow as they track! i
- grab yer drummer friend and set up in the best sounding room in the house. (or a friends house, a church, a school room ...)
DRUMS:
skip the behringer. use the mbox pres.
use the EV over the drummers shoulder recorderman style and the MXL on the Kick (or vice versa, whatever sounds best). OR! try the 58's (or various combos of yer mics) in XY in various placements - over the kit, over the shoulder, maybe spaced out front. experiment!
i dunno, whatever seems to sound the best. if the drummers good, and the room sounds decent, then this will sound pretty good - not studio good, but good!
-rehearse the each song with the drummer before you start doing takes.
and if you can help it, i'd suggest that you wait to see what they do before you coach the hell out of 'em. if they're good, they might <gasp> come up with something better than you had planned! i always think it's best and most productive when working with others to give vague instructions and let them interpret them before getting super specific (with exceptions of course). a player who is doing "their thing" is going to feel more comfortable and get takes quicker. plus, they're prolly only playing for beer, and nobody likes to be micro-managed for beer ONLY
TRACKING THE REST:
- either play the rest of the stuff yourself, or get yer pals/bandmates to come in and lay their parts down in succession.
- another thought. try to do things uniformly - like, if you're gonna do a bunch of acoustic songs, maybe do them all in the same session. that way, if you get to the mix, and they tweak a couple of things to make it sound good, then the "problem" will likely be fixed for the rest of those mixes, as opposed to if you use a different mic, or record in a different room everytime, you know?
- if, while you're inevitably fooling around with mixes in yer computer, you pull up and effect that you MUST have on a song, then print a track with the effect to bring to mix along with the original un treated one.
BEFORE MIXING:
-clean up all the tidbits hanging around - crossfades, random blobs of non-audio, coughing, clearing throats....
- make sure that the only audio files that come up when the song is opened are the one's you're using. this will be super important if you want to make the best use of your time in the studio.
-clearly label each audio file!
- double check all this stuff.
Mix the shite, then save some bread for good mastering! dunno if this helps or not. just having some fun on a saddidy afternoon!
good luck!
Jon
another idea is to track it entirely at home, and then use that time to mix at the studio, then save up some bread for some real mastering. you'd probably have to kick down for some more mixing dough, unless a good chunk of the songs were acoustic, or very sparsely adorned.
here's a vague sketch of what i'd think about doing if it were me, and i really had to get it done with what you've mentioned - gary sinise apollo 13 style. I love doing this stuff. It's fun. Now back to the SIM!:
PRE-PRODUCTION:
- choose my favorite ten of the twelve songs.
- decide which bad ass drummer friend i could convince to play for beers.
- sketch out the arrangements/instrumentation for all the songs. visualize the end sounds.
- give yer drummer a demo of the tunes that he/she is gonna play on a few days before you record. send it with a couple of notes for each song, explaining what the end product will sound like, and some basic descriptors on what you're looking for from them.
- i personally think it's important that the drummer be killin', and that you have real vision for the end product.
- choose four or five for bigger arrangements, five or six for simpler ones, maybe even one or two extremely bare bones.
RECORDING LEVELS!!!!!
keep 'em wherever the Mbox says they're supposed to be. Prolly like -18dBfs on AVERAGE. read the manula to find out what 0dBvu is in protools world.
TRACKING:
- lay down a scratch vox & acoustic rhythm track to a click. make sure to be as dynamic and/or expressive as if you were playing with a whole band. it's a map for peeps to follow as they track! i
- grab yer drummer friend and set up in the best sounding room in the house. (or a friends house, a church, a school room ...)
DRUMS:
skip the behringer. use the mbox pres.
use the EV over the drummers shoulder recorderman style and the MXL on the Kick (or vice versa, whatever sounds best). OR! try the 58's (or various combos of yer mics) in XY in various placements - over the kit, over the shoulder, maybe spaced out front. experiment!
i dunno, whatever seems to sound the best. if the drummers good, and the room sounds decent, then this will sound pretty good - not studio good, but good!
-rehearse the each song with the drummer before you start doing takes.
and if you can help it, i'd suggest that you wait to see what they do before you coach the hell out of 'em. if they're good, they might <gasp> come up with something better than you had planned! i always think it's best and most productive when working with others to give vague instructions and let them interpret them before getting super specific (with exceptions of course). a player who is doing "their thing" is going to feel more comfortable and get takes quicker. plus, they're prolly only playing for beer, and nobody likes to be micro-managed for beer ONLY
TRACKING THE REST:
- either play the rest of the stuff yourself, or get yer pals/bandmates to come in and lay their parts down in succession.
- another thought. try to do things uniformly - like, if you're gonna do a bunch of acoustic songs, maybe do them all in the same session. that way, if you get to the mix, and they tweak a couple of things to make it sound good, then the "problem" will likely be fixed for the rest of those mixes, as opposed to if you use a different mic, or record in a different room everytime, you know?
- if, while you're inevitably fooling around with mixes in yer computer, you pull up and effect that you MUST have on a song, then print a track with the effect to bring to mix along with the original un treated one.
BEFORE MIXING:
-clean up all the tidbits hanging around - crossfades, random blobs of non-audio, coughing, clearing throats....
- make sure that the only audio files that come up when the song is opened are the one's you're using. this will be super important if you want to make the best use of your time in the studio.
-clearly label each audio file!
- double check all this stuff.
Mix the shite, then save some bread for good mastering! dunno if this helps or not. just having some fun on a saddidy afternoon!
good luck!
Jon
-
Drew's Analog Planet
- gettin' sounds
- Posts: 110
- Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 10:07 am
- Location: Analog Planet
- Contact:
1) Track it all yourself
2) Mix most of it yourself
3) Go to the nice studio and have them mix the top 2 or 3 tracks -- the "singles"
4) Take out a loan, use a credit-card or rob a bank to pay for a couple of days in a REAL high-quality mastering studio.
The mastering guys are used to polishing DIY tracks these days.
2) Mix most of it yourself
3) Go to the nice studio and have them mix the top 2 or 3 tracks -- the "singles"
4) Take out a loan, use a credit-card or rob a bank to pay for a couple of days in a REAL high-quality mastering studio.
The mastering guys are used to polishing DIY tracks these days.
Drew Townson
http://www.analogplanet.com
"Sound With a Soul" tm
"La Dulzura"
http://drewciferstonezone.com
http://www.drew-who.com
http://www.analogplanet.com
"Sound With a Soul" tm
"La Dulzura"
http://drewciferstonezone.com
http://www.drew-who.com
whatever you do, mix everything yourself, unless the mix engineer is a good friend. Otherwise, your 8 hours will disappear in heartbeat, as the studio engineer takes his or her sweet time ruining your vision.
whatever you do, when you are in the studio, even though you aren't a paying customer, make sure you get treated like one. demand the best of everything, and don't let some lazy engineer (big studios usually have green interns handle freebie sessions) take advantage of you and waste your time.
id record every track to a click, on acoustic guitar or electric, at home. if you are tracking drums, find a very good drummer, offer them a case of beer and maybe a hundred bucks, and have them track drums at the studio to your scratch tracks. Don't spend more than 4 hours on drums, and prioritize, not all your tracks need live drums. after tracking drums, track lead vocals at the studio. bring your sessions home, do all the other instruments, all the editing, and then mix at home, and finally spend a little money on some good mastering.
good luck.
whatever you do, when you are in the studio, even though you aren't a paying customer, make sure you get treated like one. demand the best of everything, and don't let some lazy engineer (big studios usually have green interns handle freebie sessions) take advantage of you and waste your time.
id record every track to a click, on acoustic guitar or electric, at home. if you are tracking drums, find a very good drummer, offer them a case of beer and maybe a hundred bucks, and have them track drums at the studio to your scratch tracks. Don't spend more than 4 hours on drums, and prioritize, not all your tracks need live drums. after tracking drums, track lead vocals at the studio. bring your sessions home, do all the other instruments, all the editing, and then mix at home, and finally spend a little money on some good mastering.
good luck.
i Dunno about the fellas,
its alot easier to borrow a nice mic and pre and compressor to do vocals at home with than to borrow a nice set of drum mics and somebody who knows how to use them to do drums at home, assuming there are drums on the record of course.
Chris
its alot easier to borrow a nice mic and pre and compressor to do vocals at home with than to borrow a nice set of drum mics and somebody who knows how to use them to do drums at home, assuming there are drums on the record of course.
Chris
"It's like Tom Jones Gargling a Hammer."
http://www.alpacaranchrecording.com
http://www.alpacaranchrecording.com
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Nick Sevilla
- on a wing and a prayer
- Posts: 5593
- Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:34 pm
- Location: Lake Arrowhead California USA
- Contact:
Hi,
rehearse...then rehearse some more, and when you're done, rehearse some more.
Repeat until you and whomever you are going to track with can play all the basic tracks with your eyes closed. This will make it possible for you to lay down two good takes of each song, and take it home afterwards to finish the vocals and solo instruments.
Go to the studio and knock out ALL the basic tracks (rhythmic instruments, and easy support parts if possible)
Then anything left over, go and do it at home. Lead vocals and incidental (percussions, backing vocals, "experimental bits")
Mix at home. MIX at home. MIX AT HOME.
Cheers
rehearse...then rehearse some more, and when you're done, rehearse some more.
Repeat until you and whomever you are going to track with can play all the basic tracks with your eyes closed. This will make it possible for you to lay down two good takes of each song, and take it home afterwards to finish the vocals and solo instruments.
Go to the studio and knock out ALL the basic tracks (rhythmic instruments, and easy support parts if possible)
Then anything left over, go and do it at home. Lead vocals and incidental (percussions, backing vocals, "experimental bits")
Mix at home. MIX at home. MIX AT HOME.
Cheers
-
pixeltarian
- buyin' gear
- Posts: 582
- Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2007 5:17 pm
- Location: Minneapolis
- Contact:
thanks
wow, those are all really good ideas! Thanks a lot for the input.
So with some new information I just received it looks like I might be able to do the whole thing in the studio. I just found out that our school's studio is doing an "after hours" program where a student engineer can book time for only 10 bucks an hour.
Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with rookie engineer that might know a little less than the artist about recording?
I've been studying recording arts on my own for 10 years and am a recording arts major, but I don't think you can book and use the studio yourself, you have to have a separate engineer (and I suppose I would want one because it would suck to have to go back and forth for everything).
The problem is, the only talented kids i see in the program are good live sound engineers and the studio people don't seem to have a good grip on running a studio. It would probably be some 19 year old kid because the program is fairly new.
who thinks this would this just be a big headache?
So with some new information I just received it looks like I might be able to do the whole thing in the studio. I just found out that our school's studio is doing an "after hours" program where a student engineer can book time for only 10 bucks an hour.
Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with rookie engineer that might know a little less than the artist about recording?
I've been studying recording arts on my own for 10 years and am a recording arts major, but I don't think you can book and use the studio yourself, you have to have a separate engineer (and I suppose I would want one because it would suck to have to go back and forth for everything).
The problem is, the only talented kids i see in the program are good live sound engineers and the studio people don't seem to have a good grip on running a studio. It would probably be some 19 year old kid because the program is fairly new.
who thinks this would this just be a big headache?
"Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to cut all sources of retreat."
- Napoleon Hill
http://www.jeffreyjamesmusic.com
spook folk
http://www.myspace.com/tonguesonpaper
electro atmospheric rock
- Napoleon Hill
http://www.jeffreyjamesmusic.com
spook folk
http://www.myspace.com/tonguesonpaper
electro atmospheric rock
-
Nick Sevilla
- on a wing and a prayer
- Posts: 5593
- Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:34 pm
- Location: Lake Arrowhead California USA
- Contact:
Re: thanks
I got a tip for this : DON"T USE A ROOKIE ENGINEER.pixeltarian wrote:wow, those are all really good ideas! Thanks a lot for the input.
(EDITED OUT)
Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with rookie engineer that might know a little less than the artist about recording?
(EDITED OUT)
who thinks this would this just be a big headache?
Maybe find a friend of yours that is willing to do it for cheap / beers / free, instead of trying to go with a total unknown, inexperienced person.
"There's no undo for stupidity"
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Mark Legat
- gettin' sounds
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- Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:32 pm
- Location: Hollywood, CA
Re: thanks
My tips would be... APPRECIATE IT BECAUSE SOMEONE IS GOING TO GIVE YOU FREE STUDIO TIME AND ENGINEER IT FOR FREE.pixeltarian wrote:wow, those are all really good ideas! Thanks a lot for the input.
So with some new information I just received it looks like I might be able to do the whole thing in the studio. I just found out that our school's studio is doing an "after hours" program where a student engineer can book time for only 10 bucks an hour.
Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with rookie engineer that might know a little less than the artist about recording?
I've been studying recording arts on my own for 10 years and am a recording arts major, but I don't think you can book and use the studio yourself, you have to have a separate engineer (and I suppose I would want one because it would suck to have to go back and forth for everything).
The problem is, the only talented kids i see in the program are good live sound engineers and the studio people don't seem to have a good grip on running a studio. It would probably be some 19 year old kid because the program is fairly new.
who thinks this would this just be a big headache?
RIT 08'
8 or 10 hours is gonna be really hard to squeeze in a bunch of songs if you're working with a student engineer. (unless you're REALLY rehearsed).
I've been out of recording school for a year. When I first started it would take me 30 minutes sometimes of going "shit where's the signal, shit, what the hell, ok this goes to this, goes to this, why no sig...... oh!"
so if you know a lot about recording, you probably have a friend that does too. Get your friend to "produce" and make sure the kid recording it isn't messing it up and wasting time trying to remember his keyboard shortcuts.
track the important parts through the school's fancy board (drums and bass?).. i recommend vocals at home, but whatever you think is most important.
I've been out of recording school for a year. When I first started it would take me 30 minutes sometimes of going "shit where's the signal, shit, what the hell, ok this goes to this, goes to this, why no sig...... oh!"
so if you know a lot about recording, you probably have a friend that does too. Get your friend to "produce" and make sure the kid recording it isn't messing it up and wasting time trying to remember his keyboard shortcuts.
track the important parts through the school's fancy board (drums and bass?).. i recommend vocals at home, but whatever you think is most important.
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