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Before You Come to the Studio

Decide how many and which songs you'll be recording and have them prepared BEFORE your session. Practice the songs straight through, including intros, endings and dynamics. Work out all your solos before you get to the studio. Be prepared to play with headphones on.
If you can, play to a click track, metronome or drum machine to practice your timing.
Put a new set of strings on your guitar at least 2 days before the session. Do not change them the day before, as they will go out of tune quickly.
Check your equipment for buzzes, ground irregularities, squeaks and rattles, and fix any problems.

What to Bring to the Studio

Guitarist: Bring your guitar, tuner, any effects pedals (don't forget batteries), cables, picks and extra strings. We have amps available for recording, but you are also welcome to bring your own.
Bassist: Bring your bass, any effects pedals, picks, cables and extra strings. Bass guitar is almost always recorded directly through the board, so a bass amp is not necessary.
Drummer: At a minimum, bring your cymbals, snare, kick pedal and drumsticks. If you would like to bring your own drum kit, remember it will add time to the setup.
Vocalist: If you have a favorite vocal mic, bring it to the session. Bring your lyrics even if you have them memorized!
Recording Media and Beats: If you already have and want to use your own backing CD or beats remember to bring them.

In the Studio

TUNE YOUR INSTRUMENTS! Guitarists and bassists should all tune with the same tuner, and drummers should tune their drumheads. If it's out of tune for the performance, it will be out of tune on your final mix.
When ending a song, WAIT until the engineer tells you it's OK to talk, which can seem like forever.
When you mess up, and you will because everyone does in the studio, don't let it get to you. Some people really get affected by a bad take, and it usually shows in the next take, not usually for the better. We have the luxury of being able to press "rewind" and go again - a bad take is not the end of the world!
The best mix is achieved by an excellent recording. A "fixing it in the mix" attitude will make it harder to get the final product right. A common misconception is that a lot of reverb or delay will make a bad track sound good. Nothing could be further from the truth. An out-of-tune note with a huge amount of reverb on it gives you a lot of out-of-tune reverb! Remember: a bad track will always stick out. No amount of effects or anything else will make it sound better. The only way to fix it is to remove or replay it.

The Mixing Session

This is the time when you will "mix down" the tracks to 2-track CD-R. This is your final stereo master and will be the last chance to get everything sounding exactly right. After the mixdown there is no going back except for re-mixing, which is mixing the whole song all over again.
Mixing has three stages. First, you go through each recorded track and adjust the sound so that the instrument (or whatever) sounds as good as possible. Secondly, the effects are added. Effects are things like reverbs, delays, flangers, phasers, compression, gating, and all the other wonderful "toys" that modern technology has provided for us. The third part of mixdown is the actual balancing of all the tracks together to get the best blend. Levels will have to be adjusted, and some tracks will have to be turned off and on at particular times during the song
Be open to suggestion if you are new to the studio, and don't think you have to try a certain complex recording technique just because you read in somewhere. Each song is unique and must be recorded in a fitting way.
The quality of your recording is directly related to the quality of your instruments. In other words, a crap drumset or guitar will still sound like a crap drumset or guitar no matter how good the engineer or recording equipment. Use the best quality instruments you can!
The quality of your recording is directly related to the quality of your performance.

Mastering

Mastering: This is an optional (author's opinion: mandatory) step where engineers at the reproducer run your tape through the appropriate filter for the format (CD, vinyl, or tape). The dynamic range may be compressed or expanded, the whole mix is EQ'd, and everything ends up on another medium. This may be DAT or hard disk (for CD, vinyl, or tape), or 1/4" tape (for cassettes).

Reproduction

Reproducing: For CD's, they take the final master tape/disk and create a "glass master", the glass disc that is the mirror-image of your CD. This is used to press the plastic for the CD.


The Studio Rates and Conditions Photos Studio FAQ Gear List Contact Tracks	Studio FAQ Before You Come to the Studio Decide how many and which songs you'll be recording and have them prepared BEFORE your session. Practice the songs straight through, including intros, endings and dynamics. Work out all your solos before you get to the studio. Be prepared to play with headphones on. If you can, play to a click track, metronome or drum machine to practice your timing. Put a new set of strings on your guitar at least 2 days before the session. Do not change them the day before, as they will go out of tune quickly. Check your equipment for buzzes, ground irregularities, squeaks and rattles, and fix any problems. What to Bring to the Studio Guitarist: Bring your guitar, tuner, any effects pedals (don't forget batteries), cables, picks and extra strings. We have amps available for recording, but you are also welcome to bring your own. Bassist: Bring your bass, any effects pedals, picks, cables and extra strings. Bass guitar is almost always recorded directly through the board, so a bass amp is not necessary. Drummer: At a minimum, bring your cymbals, snare, kick pedal and drumsticks. If you would like to bring your own drum kit, remember it will add time to the setup. Vocalist: If you have a favorite vocal mic, bring it to the session. Bring your lyrics even if you have them memorized! Recording Media and Beats: If you already have and want to use your own backing CD or beats remember to bring them. In the Studio TUNE YOUR INSTRUMENTS! Guitarists and bassists should all tune with the same tuner, and drummers should tune their drumheads. If it's out of tune for the performance, it will be out of tune on your final mix. When ending a song, WAIT until the engineer tells you it's OK to talk, which can seem like forever. When you mess up, and you will because everyone does in the studio, don't let it get to you. Some people really get affected by a bad take, and it usually shows in the next take, not usually for the better. We have the luxury of being able to press "rewind" and go again - a bad take is not the end of the world! The best mix is achieved by an excellent recording. A "fixing it in the mix" attitude will make it harder to get the final product right. A common misconception is that a lot of reverb or delay will make a bad track sound good. Nothing could be further from the truth. An out-of-tune note with a huge amount of reverb on it gives you a lot of out-of-tune reverb! Remember: a bad track will always stick out. No amount of effects or anything else will make it sound better. The only way to fix it is to remove or replay it. The Mixing Session This is the time when you will "mix down" the tracks to 2-track CD-R. This is your final stereo master and will be the last chance to get everything sounding exactly right. After the mixdown there is no going back except for re-mixing, which is mixing the whole song all over again. Mixing has three stages. First, you go through each recorded track and adjust the sound so that the instrument (or whatever) sounds as good as possible. Secondly, the effects are added. Effects are things like reverbs, delays, flangers, phasers, compression, gating, and all the other wonderful "toys" that modern technology has provided for us. The third part of mixdown is the actual balancing of all the tracks together to get the best blend. Levels will have to be adjusted, and some tracks will have to be turned off and on at particular times during the song Be open to suggestion if you are new to the studio, and don't think you have to try a certain complex recording technique just because you read in somewhere. Each song is unique and must be recorded in a fitting way. The quality of your recording is directly related to the quality of your instruments. In other words, a crap drumset or guitar will still sound like a crap drumset or guitar no matter how good the engineer or recording equipment. Use the best quality instruments you can! The quality of your recording is directly related to the quality of your performance. Mastering Mastering: This is an optional (author's opinion: mandatory) step where engineers at the reproducer run your tape through the appropriate filter for the format (CD, vinyl, or tape). The dynamic range may be compressed or expanded, the whole mix is EQ'd, and everything ends up on another medium. This may be DAT or hard disk (for CD, vinyl, or tape), or 1/4" tape (for cassettes). Reproduction Reproducing: For CD's, they take the final master tape/disk and create a "glass master", the glass disc that is the mirror-image of your CD. This is used to press the plastic for the CD.
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