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Our new teacher Ben B submitted a very insightful post about what it's like recording music. Here is his article: 

Recently, my brother, John, and I went into the studio to record our first serious project and debut album.  I feel like what I learned from this one experience is comparable to the amount of information you learn in a complete year of college.  What I want to share with you here is some of the musical and practical knowledge I gained in the process. 

Have a Plan             
To have the best experience preparing for your own record date in the studio, and after, you need a plan, and you will probably need more than one plan.  You're going to need to prepare first and foremost musically, but also conceptually, practically, and financially.  Your planning needs to start months ahead.   It should be thorough enough so that you feel confident, but you also need to remain flexible.  Life always has a few surprises.  I’ll elaborate on that later.            

One of the first things you want to do is pick out the music and the band.  That preparation should include picking the repertoire, or in the case of many musicians and myself, composing the music.  You will want to do this early enough to give yourself ample time to prepare the performance aspects of the music.  Don’t compromise the recording by not giving yourself enough time to practice.  Often, in college, students spend an entire month or even a few months working on the same pieces.  You will want to give yourself that kind of time or more considering this recording will be around after many performances have come and gone.  If you have successfully given yourself ample practice time, use it wisely and do not procrastinate. You will also need to pick out the musicians you want to record with.  Notify them a couple of months or more in advance, so you can be positive of who is available and willing to do your record.  You will want committed musicians on your project, and letting them know far in advance will give them time to do that.  Most importantly, rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse.            

Beyond these specific musical preparations, you also want to think of a broader vision.  Knowing your direction or theme and what kind of statement you want to make, helps guide the creation process flow more smoothly.  This broad conceptual thinking will help you in determining the music, the musicians, and it will even aid in the mixing and mastering processes later on.  Goals are also set during this part of the planning process.  What do you want to accomplish with this album?  Are you looking to make money?   Are you making an artistic statement?  Setting specific goals will help you accomplish more and also help determine how you will proceed.            

Some practical preparation that needs  to be considered includes choosing a studio, choosing an engineer or engineers for recording, editing, mixing, and mastering, setting a time-line, and having a general idea of how you will use your time in the studio.  Deciding on a studio can be a tough decision.  You will want to consider the equipment they have available, the sound quality they are capable of producing, their price, and the convenience of their location.  Do your research and ask questions.  To find out more about the sound quality of a studio check out records that have been recorded at the studios you are considering.  Remember that not just a studio determines the quality of a recording.  Though the best equipment can make a big difference, in the hands of an incompetent engineer it can sound like a record made in a basement home-studio.  At the same time a great engineer could use average equipment and get great sounds.  Again, check out records made by specific engineers you are considering, and make sure you trust their work.  The recording process doesn’t end with recording, but extends into realms of editing, mixing, and mastering.  You will want to have an idea of how you will accomplish these tasks as well.  They make a big difference in the overall product.  Even the last step, mastering, can make or break a record. 

In order to accomplish each stage of the recording process when you want or need to, you will want to book each event at least a month or two in advance.  The busiest studios and engineers are booking months ahead.  If you wait on booking mixing, for example, you might be doing it a week or two later than you hoped, and a lot of similar little delays can really add up!  Finally, have a plan for your time in the studio.  Prepare a loose order of the pieces you will record, and have a good idea of whether you will want to do multiple takes right in a row or not, or if you will want to do any possible overdubs after all the tracks have been laid down or after each take as you go.  Having a plan like this will help you use your time effectively and efficiently.  You’ll probably be paying per hour and have some kind of time restraints, so effective time use is a must.  It will also give the other musicians confidence if there is a leader with a confident, yet not overbearing, attitude.  Practical preparations like these will help ensure that your entire recording experience is more relaxed and enjoyable.              

Be prepared financially.  Making an album can be expensive.  It can also be done relatively cheaply, but unless you have a record label, and it seems like fewer and fewer musicians do these days, then to get a good product you're going to have to pay.  You may have to pay for some or all of the following: musicians, copyright royalties for the pieces you decide to use, studio time, editing, mixing, mastering, and then there is everything beyond this including packaging, artwork, marketing, etc.  Contact everyone involved beforehand to see what kind of money you are looking at spending. Know what you're getting into, and make sure to do it in a way you can afford.               

Earlier I mentioned being flexible.  To illustrate the point I’ll share something from our recording experience.  We had prepared our music and had begun to rehearse.  We were shooting f
or a late July recording date, and we were counting on using the month before to continue rehearsing.  We had also decided we wanted to have Chris Potter as a guest artist on the album.  For those of you who aren’t familiar, Chris Potter is one of the best jazz saxophonists alive, and he is consequently a very busy guy.  When I approached him about doing the record he let me know he could do it if it fit in his schedule.  Late July did not fit his schedule and late June did, so we decided to record a month earlier than we had originally planned. We started rehearsing more even though different band members were absent from various rehearsals.  We accommodated our compositions, and we made as much time as we could to fit in our personal practice and preparation.  When the recording date came, everything went smoothly and we had a great experience recording with a truly amazing musician.  It just shows that being flexible is important, sometimes necessary, and will be worth it in the end.     

The Process                            
Eventually, you will arrive in the studio, hopefully all prepared.  The first half an hour to an hour (and possibly longer at a less efficient studio), is devoted to setting the microphones in the right places, checking input levels, and setting up the mix you will hear in the headphones.  All three of these are very important to the end result, and two of these are very pertinent to you during the recording process itself.             

Microphone placement is vital in getting the best sound out of your instrument.  It's important that while the engineer sets up, that you play like you will be really playing during the rest of the day.   Unless you are a pianist, drummer, or similar instrumentalist, if the microphone is placed in a less than optimum position it will become easier for you to be further away or closer to the microphone than desired, and it is also possible that it will become easier for you to go off-microphone.  Off-microphone means that while you are playing you end up too far away from the microphone for it to pick up what you are playing.  Here are a couple of suggestions to further prevent going off-microphone.  First, practice playing with a microphone before you go to the studio, especially if you are prone to lots of movement.  Second, have your specific instrument volume loud enough in the headphones so that you recognize when you are straying from the microphone.  Many instrumentalist and even vocalists move a lot when they are performing, so they will want to pay attention and get this right from the beginning.            

The volume and reverb levels that are set in your headphones will play a large part in your ability to perform well throughout the recording session.  Pay close attention during the process of setting the levels and make sure that you can hear yourself well, and also listen and be sure that you don’t have too much reverb or any EQ that distracts you. Hearing yourself well, and in an honest manner, will help you play your best. Make sure you can also hear the other musicians well. You want to be able to hear each instrument distinctly. Adjust volumes, reverbs, and pans (how far to the left or right an instrument sounds in the headphones). Don’t hurt your ears, but don’t be afraid to crank the volume. It's hard to simulate the sound of playing right next to the other instrumentalists using headphones, so at least give yourself a fighting chance!            

As you set into actually recording the music you will probably want to warm-up or even rehearse a specific part of the music.  Record everything you do.  You never know what you might want to use in the end.  Much of the rest of the recording process is up to personal preference, but I do have some last suggestions.  Take time to listen back to what you have recorded.  A certain take might sound a lot better than what you thought, or there might be a mistake you want to catch and overdub while you are there at the studio.  Listening will help you use the rest of your time more effectively.  Lastly, listen to your engineer.  You are paying him or her to help you sound good, and if he has a suggestion it very well could be just what you need.  Depending on who you hired, they probably have a lot more experience in the recording studio than you do.  One of the best assets you can have in the studio is a great engineer.            

Recording can be an extremely rewarding experience, but the key is preparation.  Don’t leave your recording session up to fate.  Ensure that it will go well before you get there.  Something big or little will probably go wrong no matter what you do, but the better prepared you are, the more likely you will end up with a great sounding album.   One last suggestion: let the music come first!