Before You Go Into the Studio
In the good old days, the clientele for small local studios was pretty straight-forward — just local bands looking to make a quick demo. Bands with actual label support were sent into world-class recording facilities with big-time record producers, and that was just the way it worked. What’s changed since then is almost everything, including the music business itself!
The days when a major label whisked you away from the club scene and hooked you up with an A/R buy to help nurture the band through a couple of records are long gone. Fortunately, the same technology and innovations that altered the music business have also driven the introduction of tools that allow anyone with a couple of thousand dollars to set up a recording studio. This is both a good and a bad thing. Good because more studios and less expensive gear mean far more competitive pricing. And bad, because slapping the label “recording studio” on a door doesn’t always make it one.
So, since you’re more likely to be awarded a Nobel peace prize than a major label recording contract, what’s a budget-conscious band to do? How are you going to know which studio has the services you need to make the product you want? For example, does the sound you’re going after require an expert (i.e., a producer) who can translate your ideas into reality? Which songs will you record? How much should you spend?
Just because there are no record company executives around to tell you what to do, don’t let that give you a false sense of artistic freedom — these decisions still need to be made. And if you don’t do this before you go in, you’ll be making these decisions on the fly, always with unpredictable results. Without a label guy to make these calls, it’s up to you. You have to answer the questions before you go into the studio.
So, if you’re thinking about booking some recording time, let’s ask our first question:
What type of recording do you want to have in your hands at the end of the process?
Is it just a demo to get more shows, or a CD of your best stuff to sell at those shows, or a radio-ready recording to sell on your website and send out to record labels?
Think about this long and hard. Just because it cost Fleetwood Mac $150,000 in 1979 to make a record doesn’t mean anything in 2005. I recently recorded a CD for a local musician for just under $1,000 and it sounded pretty good. So good in fact, that it got picked up by a small distributor and through them has sold several thousand copies. Not earthshaking numbers but at $11.99 a CD, he’s already recouped his recording budget times ten. And the attention it gained got him a booking agent, much better shows, and local papers reviewing his CD. This in turn has caused even more CDs to be sold. Be aware that good- quality recordings can be made on the cheap. Whether you or your music is worth buying is a matter for the listener. So it helps to know what you’re trying to make before you try and make it.
Once you’ve decided on the purpose of your endeavor, you’ll also need to consider whether you have the instruments necessary to play it. I’ve worked with a lot bands that swear they’re just putting together a rough demo, and then ask me to try and “fix” the sound that came off of their $60 pawn-shop amplifiers. In all my years of recording, I have yet to find a magic box that makes cracked cymbals and bow-necked bass guitars sound like a powerful rhythm section. Crap instruments are sometimes sonically useful, but not often. So, even if it’s just a demo to help you get gigs, try and use the best instruments and amps you can get your hands on. You can always make a Les Paul sound cheap, but that poorly intonated $50 guitar your mom got you for your 11th birthday will never sound like a Les Paul.
Answering the above question will also help you decide what type of studio to look for. But it is by no means the only criteria. This leads us to the second question:
What type of sound are you going for?
Author's biography:
Jim Moreland was introduced to the music business from the day he was born by his passionate parents: Dick Moreland former disc jockey, program director, and A&R guru, along with his mother Patricia Moreland; former independent one-stop record owner and NARM president. Jim’s love for music soon followed – drummer, sales and marketing rep. for several labels, studio owner, engineer and producer. You can look up his list of service offerings within Sonic Weekly.
