Preparing Your Band for the Recording Studio

Getting ready to enter a recording studio for the first time can be both a very exciting and very stressful time for any young band. A few steps taken before load-in can save time, money, and plenty of headaches.

Have realistic goals

Recording a whole album in one 12-hour session has certainly been done, but it's probably not the most realistic goal to aim for. Take the time to get the takes right and make sure these are the recordings you want to live with. A well played and recorded five song EP will always sound better, and have a greater and more lasting impression, than a hastily recorded full-length.

Spend time on pre-production

Your live shows are going well, you feel tight as a unit, and each member is confident in his or her ability. Keep in mind, however, that what works live may not necessarily translate well in the studio.

Recording demos is one of the easiest ways to dissect what needs to be worked on instead of spending money to figure it out as the studio clock ticks. Get all of your frustrations and issues out in the demo stage, not when you're spending $50, $75, or $100 an hour to record. Perhaps you've never really liked what the bass player has been playing on a particular part of the song and figure it'll get fixed in the studio. Ego and tempers can fly, especially with the added pressure of being in the studio, so work out all of the issues before paying someone else while you work through them.

Know your part

Sure, this goes without saying, but you'd be surprised how many people are truly unprepared for recording. Can you make it through the song on your own, without cueing off of the singer? Can the bass player and drummer lock in on the whole song together without hearing the guitar player? These are good exercises to practice during rehearsal to fine-tune all of the parts to the songs.

Get your gear in top shape

If possible, have your guitars professionally set up, put on new strings, and have your amps gone through and speakers checked. Get new drum heads and get them tuned properly. Have anything extra you might need at the ready. You're paying by the hour, so give yourself every option in case things take a turn for the worst.

Don't have unreal expectations of an engineer

"Make my drums sound like John Bonham" will probably garner a response such as "Ok, no problem. Just play like John Bonham." All of the studio tricks, playing the exact guitar, amp, and effects set-up as your favorite player aren't going to make you sound like that player. Get your sound dialed in before you go into the studio. The engineer is going to set a mic in front of your amp, or around your drums, and press record. Sure, there's much more to it than that, but a good engineer's responsibility is to capture the sound as it is happening, not to manipulate that sound into something completely different.

Perfection

Enough emphasis can't be put on the 'feel' of a take, as opposed to the absolute precision in which a particular take was executed. Of course, we all strive for a certain degree of perfection, but it's important not to get too hung up on it. Nine times out of ten, what was first heard as a mistake cannot be detected with a bit of a break from the music.

'Happy Accidents' are an amazing part of the studio experience. What you've practiced a thousand times can turn into something completely different, and often times much better, if you will only take a step back and hear what was actually played, as opposed to how it was 'supposed' to be played.

Did the drummer speed up at the end of the song? Outside of playing to a metronome, realize that drummers have a tendency to speed up a bit; even the best drummers. There are producers that when having a drummer play to a click track, will actually speed the click track up bit by bit over the course of the song to give it a more 'real' feel. Just remember, there is a difference between a drummer that just can't keep time, and a drummer that does what drummers do and sounds real.

Have fun

Being in the studio is hard work but that doesn't mean it can't be fun. It's easy to get overwhelmed, especially when that record light is on and the clock is ticking, but don't forget to relax and have a good experience.

A favorite story from the studio was of a drummer getting so frustrated after blowing take after take that he finally had to get off of the drum throne, take a walk outside and have a cigarette. His band mates went outside with him, calmed him down, and as they were ready to head back in to continue he said "Well, that was a $15 smoke". The guitar player told him it was fine, to relax, and that the take would come to him like it had a hundred times before. Sure enough, a little break was all it took, and that 15-minute break probably saved an hour or two of frustrating studio time.