"Recording Your Music" Part 2 'Be Prepared!'
By Eric Tunison, Owner of Groove Tunes Studios www.groovtunes.com
This is the second of five articles in the series “Recording Your Music!”. In this installment we will discuss how to prepare for your recording session. –ET
Selecting a studio that’s right for you. (They’re not all the same.)
Now that you’ve decided to have a professional recording made you will need to decide where to go to get it done. Most musicians choose studios located close to their homes. Atlanta residents have a multitude of choices. A recent search of “Recording Studios” for the greater Atlanta area on www.kudzu.com brought up 298 hits! You can enter your zip code on this site and then search “by distance” from your home. Better yet, sort the list “by rating”, find the highest rated studios close to your home, and go from there. Call a few studios and talk to their owner or chief engineer about your project and try to get a feel for whether you think there’s a fit. Ask what types of music the studio specializes in. The engineer should know music just as much as he understands how his studio works.
These days 99% of all music is recorded digitally – gone are the days of reel-to-reel analog tape decks. You should ask the studio if they use the digital ProTools HD recording system, which is the industry standard. Avoid falling into the trap of asking about costs until after you have visited with your prospective engineer and toured the facility in person. You should have an overall budget in mind but try to remain flexible on pricing as each project is different. Your engineer should be able to provide an overall cost estimate after you’ve met with him. Be prepared to answer basic questions that your engineer may have to help him estimate the costs, including: What Genre Is Your Music, How Many Songs Will You Be Recording, How Many Band Members Are There, What Instruments Will Be Recorded, Approximately How Many Tracks per Song are Expected, How Many Vocals and Backup Vocals per Song, and Will You Need the Studio to Provide Any Session Musicians? Groove Tunes Studios is one studio that many local musicians in the greater Atlanta area have come to know and trust. Find out more at www.groovetunes.com or call Eric Tunison at 770-842-5511.
Be Prepared, all Boy Scouts and Recording Musicians!
Once you’ve selected your studio and have scheduled a recording date you will need to prepare for your session. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
Before you arrive at the studio:
In the next article we will discuss what to do and what to expect the day of your recording session. – ET