Set your objectives

The Product

I get a few calls every week from people who think that the studio is a one day affair. They have the idea thay they can record a ten song album in four hours. Sometimes they actually book a session with those beliefs, even after my attempts to explain why that wont be feasable. Its interesting how some people just wont beleive you no matter what you say. Yes, I understand that a song is 4 minutes long. That has no connection to how long the session should last. Some tunes take a couple of hours to record, some can take days. There are setup times involved, takes, retakes, and retakes of retakes. Then theres overdubs. Your equipment needs to be tuned and set up properly. Vocals usually take about a day in themselves. It is possible to get a few songs finished in a day, but you have to show up early and plan to stay real late. Like 5 am late. (and no the singer cant leave early because the vocals get done last) Ive never seen a decent 3 song tracking session clock in under 12 hours. It just doesnt happen. A rock band can record live takes with minimal overdubs like this, but to be honest, youre better off recording a live show than tracking in the studio. If you play jazz, you know that its all about the live performance. If you have the idea that your session will be live, we have a target, and can build on that. A jazz session is more about the players performance, and a lot of times there are no overdubs or producing. Both of the rock and jazz settings have sometihing in common. The reason you woul go to a studio is to have tunes on tape and in your hands. So the big question is: What are you trying to produce in the studio?

When creating a release, you have to be focused on what the final Product will be. Is this going to be a demo or a full length release? Are you looking to have a high quality recording of what you play to evaluate it, or are you looking to spend the time it takes to make the best possible representation of your music.

The Demo

The concept of a demo release is to have a way to get gigs, introduce yourself, shop labels, or see what the group would sound like in the studio. Sometimes demos are done on a shoestring budget. Frequently, these are assembled in haphazard ways to get things up and running. In other cases, some people plan to record a few songs now, a few later, and a few in a few months, then compile it into a CD. Other times the demo is intended for mass production to build a fanbase by offering the release for free or cheap. (Ive seen clients get up to $5 for three songs) The time it takes to track a 3 song rock n roll demo release should be about 3-5 recording sessions for the best fidelity. Demos can also be knocked out in a day or two. The actual time it takes may vary based on the preparedness of your group, and the availability of the studio you choose.

The Record

The full release is intended for sales, promotion, and distribution. There is a completely different set of rules to the creation of an album. Full albums done right can take anywhere from a month to a year to create, depending on the goals set by your group and producer. When building an album, it is very important to be patient. Things take time, and you need to understand that. Full length records can be tracked in many ways and each groups path will be different. A general example though, has two main tracking sessions at first just to get the drum and bass tracks down. (everybody else plays scratch tracks) Then you evaluate the tracks and plan the rest of the record. You have to think about overdubs, stand in musicians, producing ideas, and what picture you are trying to paint with the music. Needless to say its good to take a couple of weeks to build ideas and plan better. Then you have overdubbing sessions until the songs have all the necescary layers. You obviously get ideas along the way so that also takes time. From personal experience I can say that you cant put a time frame around the creation of an album. Some take a long time, others dont. However, with rigorous planning, you can strive to get things done efficiently as possible, and acheive pleasing results.

Money

Once you have set your goals you then have to evaluate the financial aspects of the process. You should think about the final product from the beginning to the end of your project. There are a lot of costs involved. Each needs to be assesed and budgeted for. In addition to the tracking session time, there are materials costs, expenses during the sessions, (you gotta eat sometime) mixing, mastering, mass production and other costs just for the basic project to be in your hands. It is likely that your time expectations will follow closely to your budget availabilities. I am developing some worksheets to aide in estimating the total recording costs.

So once you know what you are going to record, who is going to play what instruments, whether or not you can afford it, what time frame you want to be finished in, and a resolute state of mental preparedness, you will be ready to record.