OUR RECORDING PROCESS AN 8 STEP OVERVIEW FOR ALL OUR ARTISTS/POTENTIAL ARTISTS

1) Meet and discuss aims and expectations for this project. i.e. length, number of tracks, number of instruments on each track, times to meet, how many times to meet, cost, etc.
2) Meet to discuss and test setup of your equipment with ours pursuant to achieving your desired “sound.” Time permitting, record some practice takes.
3) Practice your song/s until you can play/sing them consistently each time, use your practice takes to hone each song until you can play them the same, or nearly so, each time.
4) RECORDING: begin each session by discussing your plan for the session. This should include which tracks you want to play, what order you want to play them in, and which parts you plan to record. This should be done for each individual session. Once a song order and etc. has been decided on, it must be followed or we won’t know which songs are which. Remember, it’s your music, and though we will hear a lot of it, we haven’t memorized it yet.
5) RECORDING: actual takes– firstly, there should be at least two takes of everything. Nothing is perfect, and if you don’t do at least two takes, we have nothing with which to fix that which is imperfect. This means two takes of everything, with everything from groups to individuals. This is why it’s so important to practice and be consistent. If you play things different every time, then each take must stand alone, and since none of them will ever be perfect, that would be BAD. Remember the key is CONSISTENCY.
6) PROCESSING: This is where we do our job. Things may come in quiet or loud, we fix them so they are CONSISTENT. That is also OUR WATCHWORD, so don’t feel persecuted, we have to be consistent too. Also this where we add any effects. You may ask why we don’t do this at the same time as you record with say, your pedal, or your voicebox. The answer is this: you are recording something you have practiced and are familiar with, you KNOW that it is a sound you want IN the recording. Effects on our end go by this rule: It is EASY to put them IN, but nearly impossible, if they are recorded at first, to take them OUT. Thus we always have what we call a “RAW TAKE” so that we can get rid of them or adjust them if you like. Effects can include anything from EQ to delays or compression, depending on what you’ve asked for and the character of the track itself.
7) PROCESSING: CHANGES: This is when we give you a copy of what has been done so far, and you decide if there is anything you would like to change. See the Change Sheet for more on this. THE END OF PROCESSING PRODUCES WHAT IS CALLED A “ROUGH MASTER COPY.” THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY A TRUE MASTER COPY, THOUGH IT IS ALWAYS WHAT MOST STUDIOS CONSIDER SUITABLE FOR A “DEMO.”
8) MASTERING: This is the finalizing process by which your music will be fine tuned for radio play, or simply so that it sounds CD quality because you want it to, we do this for free so don’t worry your head about it. Most places charge. AND NOW YOU ARE “PRODUCTION READY.” PRODUCTION IS A WHOLE ‘NOTHER THING, WHICH YOU MAY, HEAVEN FORBID, DO SOMEWHERE ELSE, AND I WON’T DESCRIBE IT HERE.