What to Know About Studio Recording for Beginners
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011With the advent of digital distribution, it’s more important than ever for bands and musicians to get their work out there. There’s a lot to take into consideration when it comes to recording an album, or even a song, for the first time. Don’t let the overpowering amps or pro gear sway you too much. When it comes down to it, there are two golden rules: know your material inside and out, and find an engineer that knows how to create your desired sound.
“You really need to know every detail of your song, and you need to be able to translate that into language terms that musicians will understand,” said Dr. Joe Ferry, a faculty member of SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Music who has been producing records for over 30 years. “The outside world is not like making beats inside your house; you have to interact with other human beings.”
Ferry, whose work has earned him multiple Grammy nominations, chairs the Studio Production department at Purchase College and had worked with artists such as The Skatalities, John Hammond, and even The Beatles’ George Harrison.
“What George Harrison started out with and what ended up on the album are equally great, but worlds apart,” Ferry said. “What happens when you get into the studio is that your song begins to evolve.”
Once you have your material well rehearsed and are able to communicate it thoroughly, record a rough demo. This can be done with software such as Pro Tools and Apple’s Garage Band, and doesn’t have to be fancy.
“When you’re in a rehearsal space, you don’t hear things the same way,” said Dan Berry, a Studio Production senior at Purchase who has recorded other students’ work in the on-campus studio spaces. “That’s the biggest problem for bands that have never recorded before. You don’t hear every little thing each person is playing, and when it’s recorded everything is exposed.”
Before booking studio time, it’s important to do your homework and research different recording engineers. According to Berry, there are engineers that are specialized in different genres, so it’s important to find one that can produce the sound you want.
“There are some genres, like indie rock for example, that have different engineering techniques and tricks specific to that genre,” he said. “Someone else might not be able to get those tones.”
Since time is money when it comes to studio recording, it’s crucial to do the most you can with the time you have. Guitar players should position themselves in the control room whenever possible while recording, says Richie Castellano, who has been playing guitar with Blue Oyster Cult for the past seven years.
“You and the engineer are looking at the same thing, so it’s a time saver,” said the Purchase alumnus, who recorded Regina Spektor’s first album, and recorded his first CD from home at the age of 17. “You can just say ‘bring it back to measure 59’ instead of struggling with the language. And a lot of studios will let you do that.”
Other than a suitable engineer, another factor when looking for a studio is latency, which is the time it takes for the computer to process a sound and spit it back out to the artist or engineer.
“Make sure you ask about latency and how you’re going to be hearing the guitar,” said Castellano. “You can barely perceive it, but that millisecond is a enough to throw of your timing. And as a guitar player you’ll compensate for that.”
And above all, be comfortable. Work with people that make you feel comfortable in a space that isn’t intimidating.
“Sometimes you’ll get an engineer that does everything you’ve hired them to do, but you’ll just get a vibe that they don’t care,” said Berry. “That makes you feel rushed, and it’s very much an atmospheric type of thing. If a recording is technically done horribly but its one of the best performances the band has ever done, it’s still going to sound awesome.”
