Using charts in the studio

[inflatable]

I ran across this article in Mix about Blondie and Mike Chapman. Here's an excerpt:

"(Producer) Mike (Chapman) had these charts for every song," (Lenise) Bent (Engineer) recalls, "breaking them down into different instrumentation and the different parts that had to be done: drums, bass, rhythm guitar, lead vocal, backing vocals, overdubs. Each song had its own section, and as they were completed, he checked them off. They'd done a lot of pre-production, too, and everybody was pretty prepared by the time they got into the studio. Magical things did happen; there was room for those spontaneous-combustion kinds of things, but the preparation helped because you didn't have to think about the basics."

http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_classic_tracks_blondies/

How many of you use charts while recording? It doesn't have to be full Staff scores. I'm talking simple chord reminders and tablature.

[drumsound]

If I'm playing on something for a band that I'm not a member of I will usually make myself a little chart of some sort if I'm not getting it quickly or I'm on an instrument I don't play very often (Hammond for instance). I like to have lyric sheets for tracking vocals and I often use it when I'm mixing too. Often with hired guns I let them make their own, because most guys I work with have their own shorthand that works for them.

[davedarling]

I think what you're taliking about is more of a do-do list, than chord charts.

I use these on every record. Since you don't often have the luxury of starting a song,
and working until it's done when your making an entire record (I don't anyway) it can get pretty easy to forget little ideas, and to lose track of your schedule.

I used to put a big chart on the wall, and check shit off when it was done - I stopped doing that when I had an artist who seemed worried that we weren't getting done fast enough. Now I have a checklist in a spiral notebook. Every song gets a few pages -
room enough to write down any ideas that might come up, suggestions from the artist(s) notes on performance and fixes, gear settings, anything that I might need later.

We might open up a tune we haven't seen in a month, to do a guitar part we talked about three weeks ago - my memory isn't that good.

best - Dave Darling

[douglas baldwin]

Charts. Like mad. I work by myself, often using a drum machine, and often a couple hours one day, a couple hours three days later. Charts let me know where I am, where edit points are, etc.

Also it's my tradition. I came up playing (guitar and drums) in school bands, pit orchestras, jazz bands, etc.

Charts stifle creativity only when the musician is not used to them. If you were illiterate, you would be quite intimidated by someone putting a book in front of you, asking you to comment on the words. But that wouldn't mean you didn't have something important to say. If I was working with musicians that weren't comfortable with the written tradition, I'd keep my charts to myself.

dB

[cgarges]

Some bands bring charts and/or prep lists. If I'm given one, I'll use it to help me locate punch points faster. Once we have a keeper take, I'll write the times for verses, choruses, interludes, solos, etc. on the side of the chart. This makes finding a particular spot super easy.

About a year ago, I had two bands in the same month ask if I had a dry-erase board, so I went out and bought one. It's a good way for bands to have their prep lists handy and available for everyone to see at the same time.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[bobg (homestudioguy)]

I ran across this article in Mix about Blondie and Mike Chapman. Here's an excerpt:
"(Producer) Mike (Chapman) had these charts for every song," (Lenise) Bent (Engineer) recalls, "breaking them down into different instrumentation and the different parts that had to be done: drums, bass, rhythm guitar, lead vocal, backing vocals, overdubs. Each song had its own section, and as they were completed, he checked them off. They'd done a lot of pre-production, too, and everybody was pretty prepared by the time they got into the studio. Magical things did happen; there was room for those spontaneous-combustion kinds of things, but the preparation helped because you didn't have to think about the basics."
http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_classic_tracks_blondies/
How many of you use charts while recording? It doesn't have to be full Staff scores. I'm talking simple chord reminders and tablature.

I will do this with chords along with a written melody line. I'm 51 and my memory isnt as sharp as it once was so writing notes and things down on these can be a godsend. When I was playing professionally I did some recording sessions with an NBC arranger/conductor with written charts etc and he had everything mapped out for each session. We were getting paid $100+ an hour (back in the 80's) so anything that could keep things organized and within budget was most likely being used.

[RefD]

oh heck yes.

chord sequences, arrangments, notes about settings and sounds and maybe even signal flow and whatever is relevant.

doing a recording is NOT taking a closed-book test, you should always have your notes handy.

[ludwig_van]

I record orchestral players a bunch, so I fully notate arrangements in Finale. It's so much easier when you can say "The 2nd quarter note in measure 32 sounds flat" and you both know which spot you mean.

[amishsixstringer]

I just got a big ass dry erase board recently. I have always made charts. I just make a row for each song and then a row for each possible instrument, leaving a few blanks for something different. We "x" out the squares that are done. It really serves as something the musicians love to do. I know it sounds like preschool, but it's funny watching a 25 year old metal singer with 20 piercings in his face get excited with a marker after he just thrashed on his jackson/mesa boogie for 20 minutes getting a guitar take done. They often start subbing in little pictures for the "X's" and get PISSED if someone writes in his/her square. It's really fun, plus it keeps things organized especially when takes are getting jumped around between sessions. You know exactly what each session needs done. It cuts down on loading the DAW or Tapes.


Neil

[majortom]

Check off lists, charts etc...

I think they are all a great idea. I've been working on a project for more than a year now that almost all of the tracks were recorded in the studio...I had scratch tracks ready to go, and a nice to do list figured out (we had only 3 days). I had spent a fair bit of time in the studio but my band mates had not.

When we arrived the engineer decided that all this preparation would just squash the creativity and convinced the other band members (in awe of all the nice wood and gear) that we should just "go for it".

What resulted was 3 days of nondirection, unfinished songs, and oh yeah, a lot of "creativity" in the form of a bunch of noodling around in a beautiful studio watching lots of money go out the window.

The best part of this was right in the middle of all of it as I was sitting in the control room so pissed I wanted to scream, I found that old issue of Tape Op that had all of the waht not to do in the studio stuff and we were doing every last one!

So here I am a year later finishing up mixing all these tracks of creativity and trying to make it sound good. By the way I don't blame the engineer at all, he was using his best judgment. I blame us for not sticking to what we knew how to do and had prepared for, we changed our plan midstream and it cost us a lot....

Thanks for letting me rant. Tom

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I usually have a to do list going for every record i do. Even more so now that I'm working with Pro Tools and I end up jumping from song to song alot.

I also have a moleskine notebook where I make notes on signal path, mic placement, instrument placement in the room, effects settings, etc etc etc. Basicaly everything that gets recorded has a few pages of notes so that if i need to get the sound back I know what to do. It also helps me remember and reproduce sounds that i like.

[Justin Foley]

We just finished a record that we've been working on for a few months. We recorded it ourselves.

On a lark, we decided to take a picture of all the documentation that we used to make it. Here's the photo:



There was also a whiteboard that marked progress - each instrument and each song, as well as mixdown, overdubs and final version noted.

Paper and a pen are the most important tools in a recording studio.

= Justin

[Fletcher]

Its a common practice... you figure out what you're going to do in pre-production then make big "posters" that hang on the wall so you don't forget any parts you want to record... as has been previously mentioned, they're not "charts" per se but more like a "to do" list.