22 Lessons about Recording in the Studio (for the Musician, by a Musician)
Every Artist should read this before heading into the Recording Studio!
Will Clarke, owner of Prana Studios in Atlanta GA has contributed to this article.
1. Practice your songs with a click
Unless you are recording a LIVE album, practicing your music to a metronome makes overdubbing or any sort of correction in Post-Production incredibly easy. I know many engineers that will not record without a click simply to avoid the headache. If your musical group has music (or a drummer) that fluctuates between tempos, you need to rehearse the music to a pre-determined BPM before showing up to your session.
2. Show up Prepared
My opinion is: A great studio session is one that runs quickly and efficiently. If you and your bandmates are pressured into last-minute problems or troubleshooting (such as vocal delivery, guitar melody, or rhythm section misalignment), it can be a real strain on the recording process.
If you are looking to become a session musician, remember this saying: You might not be the best player in the room, but you can certainly be the most prepared.
3. Recording a Song is like Building a House… it takes forever and it’s f*cking expensive.
Before you even get to work on the song, you are going to spend hours designing and planning. This is the Pre-Production Phase. Some studios will do days of Pre-Production to make sure that when it’s time to record final takes, every detail is hashed out. During this time you will put down the foundation, sort of the backbone of the song. Whether that is the beat or an acoustic demo or a full-band recording, you always want to put down the foundations first. Now you have some context of the greater plan of the song. Likely candidates for the first Final takes will be drums and bass, within the context of a scratch guitar or melody track. Next, you record the main identifying characteristic of the song, such as lead melodies and vocals, or lead guitar. From there, you add finishing touches — finer details that reinforce the greater creative goal of the song, such as vocal harmonies, horn lines, solo sections, time-based effects, percussion, and texture.
From my experience, the Recording Process goes something like this:
Pre-Production
Final Drums + Bass
Pads (Rhythm Guitar + Keys) — OR
Melody (Vocals, guitar, keys, whichever instrument is playing the melody)
Harmony (Horn section, backing vocals, etc)
Texture (ambiance, percussion, overdubs)
Production (Reverb, Delay, Room, Panning, Mixing, Saturation, Drive, Fade In/Outs, etc)
4. You can always add reverb and delay, but it is impossible to get rid of.
Most likely, your mix engineer will add reverb and delay properly. However, some artists are adamant that they know best:
Scenario 1:
Let’s say you are in a Dream Pop band that has vocals running through a highly saturated vocal effects pedal. Your singer absolutely nails the take of the chorus, except for one thing: the singer accidentally smacks the microphone with their hand because of their *sick dance moves*. If you are only recording the vocal signal wet (with effects) as opposed to dry (without effects), not only are you recording the physical smack of the microphone, but you also are recording the 2 seconds of reverb that comes after. If you recorded Dry, you can easily edit out the hit and saturate the dry vocals with effects in Post. But if you recorded Wet, this becomes a brutal challenge for even the best engineer.
Mixing Engineers agree that it is IMPOSSIBLE to remove any amount of reverb or delay on a recorded instrument. This is why we record dry signals and send the performer a wet signal in their monitor mixes. We make separate tracks for important, time-based effects like reverb and delay, and give those effects their own adjustable levels and parameters for real-time monitoring without affecting the integrity of the dry vocal track.
Scenario 2:
You are the keyboard player of an indie rock band and you are playing a Rhodes. The built-in tape delay on your Korg SV1 Keyboard is pretty great! So, you slap it on. Turns out, your delay timing is too long and too prominent in the context of the mix. Unfortunately, in this scenario, there is nothing the engineer can do to fix that. With any and all time-based effects, you want to start small and build big, or use none at all. You can always re-amp the clean signal or re-record the instrument with effects to taste.
5. Re-amp your guitars for the perfect tone
Scenario 3:
You are in a Heavy Metal Band. Your guitar player takes a 4 bar solo before the Pre-Chorus Breakdown. The amount of Gain and Distortion on this solo must be absolutely Perfect — and while your effects may be incredibly dialed in to your ear, the Engineer always has a different perspective. So the Engineer will split the recording process into two parts:
DI Box — Use for recording Dry signal
Re-Amping is a non-destructive process of recording a clean tone (usually through a DI box straight from the Guitar) and then re-recording that clean signal into a guitar amp & Pedal effects separately over top of the song at a later time. This gives the band and Engineer the opportunity to fine-tune the gain, distortion, compression and any other effects to perfection without compromising the initial take.
Many engineers split the initial guitar tone and record both a wet & dry signal, especially in genres of heavily affected guitars (like Metal, Rock and Roll, Pop, & Psychedelic Rock). All musicians hold a bias towards the sound of their instrument as it appears to them while they play. Which is why when a guitarist hears their own wet take played side by side in context of the full mix, they many times choose the engineer’s.
6. Understand the Concept of the “Mix Space”
Kick Drum — center bottom
Snare — lower center, left side
Cymbals — Shimmering over top, spread wide
Pad — fills in the stereo image
Lead melody — loud and proud, center center
Rhythm guitar — center, panned appropriately
Bass — sandwiched between the Kick Drum Low and High
Blues Band Mix Space — Globe Institute of Recording & Production
7. Make a recording schedule
What days do we do this? What days do we do that? Making a schedule allows you to keep track of your timeline and your budget!
It also helps to keep the recording engineer prepared. Here’s an example:
Monday = Pre-Production Day 1
Tuesday = Pre-Production Day 2
Wednesday = Load In, Set up
Thursday = Drums, Bass, Rhythm Section
Friday = Vocals, Melody
Saturday = Solo Sections, Re-Amping
Sunday = Textures, ambiance, transitions, finishing touches
8. Agree on who wrote the song.
This is important for two reasons — 1. Publishing rights (who takes credit and royalties for the intellectual property of the songwriting) and 2. Who has the final say on any creative and technical decisions in the studio, on that song. Knowing who wrote the song will help the Engineer appropriately direct questions and concerns in a 1 on 1 style, instead of towards the whole band (which can lead to time-consuming debate.) This is not a huge deal, but I personally like to be aware of the creative dynamic of whose input is more valuable than others. I’m really only adding this because part of being a recording engineer is working within the dynamic of a group of creative individuals, and you don’t want to accidentally disturb it. And I’ve seen some arguments for sure… moving on.
9. No family members or friends while tracking
Please leave your parents and siblings at home. I generally welcome significant others (because spouses/partners of professional musicians “get it”) but if your companions in the studio are distracting an engineer while they are working (or worse, distracting the musician while you are working), the Engineer might ask them to leave…. its not vacation time for your Engineer. Its get-work-done-time.
10 Leave the Drama (and the drugs) at the Door
As a general rule, keep your distractions away from the Engineer. Recording is a very stressful and methodical task. If you’ve got beef, take it outside. If you’ve got a joint, I appreciate the offer but…
11. Don’t steal our Gaff tape, that stuff is expensive.
*guilty*
12. Most performance-related flaws can be fixed in post
Miss a note on the solo? Edit it in post. Vocalist didn’t deliver that line quite right? Don’t worry, there’s 12 other takes. Not enough Reverb? I Give it the ole’ Re-Amp treatment. Kick drum is off beat? Copy, Paste, baby! Efficiency is the name of the game in the recording process.
13. However, two things must be addressed immediately: Time and Pitch
This is an objective issue that can foil the recording process. If your engineer tells you that you are either: Rushing/Dragging or Out of Tune, be cognizant that this small flaw can jeopardize the track later in the Recording Process (when you add elements like harmony, melody, and texture).
Which leads nicely into the next tip:
14. Tune your instruments in between takes
Please bring a tuner to the session. In general, you should be ultra-aware of your tempo (if you are a member of the rhythm section) and your tuning/intonation (if you are a member of the melody section).
15. Do some exercise/stretches
This is really important — Exercising in between takes can significantly increase everyone’s mood and energy going back into the studio. You can actually hear the difference in the takes. Not to mention it can help relieve all that stress and any pent up aggression you have towards your band mates. Not only is exercise good for not having a heart attack when you are 50, it’ll actually make the recording process much smoother and the takes themselves better (in my opinion).
16. Show up prepared… to wait
75% of your time will be spent sitting and waiting, or listening to your band mates record, so bring something to keep you occupied but that won’t take you out of the zone. I recommend a video game that you love but that is also something that you can put down in an instant and that you aren’t really invested in. Something simple, like Mario Kart or Super Smash Brothers, or even a Pokémon game.
If you want to stay in a creative vibe, I recommend bringing something to draw or doodle with. Put on some headphones and go dance outside. (We have a Rubix cube that sees a lot of love)
The most important thing is not to bring something that will remove you from the mindset of the studio environment. I certainly do not recommend bringing your day job! I’ve heard many times: “I’ll just bring my computer and knock out some emails for my Marketing job while I wait for everyone to finish tracking”. This is a bad idea — it will remove you from the headspace that you, the creative artist, need to be in to make the most out of your time and your engineer’s time. Unless it is related to the Band (ordering merchandise, responding to Promoters, confirming show details, etc), I would leave it at home.
17. Beware of Burrito-itis
Pretty self-explanatory.
18. Hot tea makes a good coffee substitute for long recording sessions, but water is even better.
Staying Hydrated is super important, it’ll keep you focused for the longer sessions, not to mention being hydrated is just awesome in general. Also, make sure your vocalist knows about Throat Coat, that stuff is the mamma-jammas
19. The engineer is not your enemy
The Recording Engineer has one job: Be the bridge that transfers the highest quality version of your music into the physical world. This manifests itself differently from producer to producer… some engineers are technical producers and some engineers are people producers. It’s a balance of therapy and tough love, tech savvy & emotional capacity, having the mental fortitude to keep going and the discipline to know when you’ve gone far enough. The bottom line — The Engineer is just doing what they believe is the best thing for the final product. So if your engineer delivers constructive criticism to you, such as “That take was a decent take, but I can hear the energy level dropping a bit. Let’s take 15 and regroup”… don’t take it personally.
20. Bring your A-Game
Aside from the mental discipline needed for an efficient and productive studio session, I argue that every musician should take their instrument to the shop to get “tuned-up” before you begin your session.
Guitarists: a tune-up can address problems such as: Buzzing frets, Intonation problems, and Electrical noise, and will usually set you up with a set of fresh strings
Vocalists: Don’t go partying the night before and lose your voice plz & thx — signed, everyone.
Drummers: Put on new heads before the session and tune your drums every couple hours. Double check the chains on your kick and hi-hat pedals.
Producers: Check that all your cables, sound cards, interfaces, controllers and adapters are working before coming into the studio. We may not have what you need!
Everyone else: Don’t make fun of the drummer for tuning their kit, just be proud that they showed up at all (kidding :P)
21. The #1 goal should be capturing the energy of the performance
There is an indescribable rush of emotion and power that arises from well-performed and recorded music. It’s like tasting your mom’s signature dish, or watching a group of fighter jets dance in the skies. Where just for a moment, you forget about all the technical barriers and frustrations and troubleshooting… you forget to monitor the faders on your console or the dB levels on your mic pre-amps… and you sit back in awe at the musical masterpiece crafted in front of you. And you look down at your computer screen and watch with a smile as that energy is grasped from the ephemeral and poured like concrete into your hard drive. It’s the absolute best part about being an engineer —Capturing the joy and energy and… well, the magic.
22. Don’t suck, Have fun
I’m gonna get a tattoo of this one day.
Thanks for reading :)
~ Josiah Garrett
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Meet Your Teacher:
26 Years Old
Youngest Current Published Author with Mel Bay Publications
Full Time Freelance Touring Musician
Published 3 Books for Bass Guitar
Studio Engineer
Live Engineer (FOH & Monitors)
Venue Bathroom Cleaner
Biased because he’s writing his own “About Me” section
The very best
Josiah Garrett, photo by Cathy Marszalik