Struggling to get ready for studio time...tips needed please!

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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14320
    given it was only me, I'm not sure that many notes would have been required to remind me who played what :)
    *Sigh*

    thecolourbox said:
    I was only there on a gift experience voucher so, in hindsight, I shouldn't have expected them to care very much!
    Au contraire. A good studio should have been striving to make a good impression in the hopes of your repeat business in the future. How far into your session did the staff seem to cease caring?
    Be seeing you.
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    I'm sure it was more user error (ie me) than them Nigel, they seem well thought of by others. It's more that I'm not good enough for such an environment and that is the heat thing I've learnt - stick to what I know at home
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • TheBigDipperTheBigDipper Frets: 4722
    <big snip>
    Though given it was only me, I'm not sure that many notes would have been required to remind me who played what :)
    In my personal experience, I can leave a project alone for a few days and then, when I go back to it, I've no idea what I was doing last time. Using notes within Logic has saved me rework more times than I'd like to think. I'm not working on stuff every day.

    If you can work without notes, I'm the envious bloke in the corner....   :)
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14320
    Cabicular said:
    which equipment was used.
    How that equipment was connected to everything else. How its controls were set. Whether anyone was manually adjusting those controls during the replay of the multi-track tape. (In dub reggae, for example, it is extremely likely that the delay devices will receive plenty of real time adjustment of the feedback and time parameters.) 

    Cabicular said:
    log books and Polaroids
    If, for the sake of argument, somebody had stumbled across a particular sound by running an electro-mechanical piano through a ring modulator, a phaser and a Uni-Vibe, a written or photographic record of this signal chain would make possible its recreation in the future. This might prove handy come overdubbing time.

    In a recording studio, anything that saves time, also saves money.
    Be seeing you.
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    <big snip>
    Though given it was only me, I'm not sure that many notes would have been required to remind me who played what :)
    In my personal experience, I can leave a project alone for a few days and then, when I go back to it, I've no idea what I was doing last time. Using notes within Logic has saved me rework more times than I'd like to think. I'm not working on stuff every day.

    If you can work without notes, I'm the envious bloke in the corner....   :)
    My songs are simple, the parts very repetitive. I only recorded parts for three songs, two featured the same rhythm guitar sound just on different pickups, two featured the same fuzz sound I always use, so whilst I can see that proper recordists would need notes, mine was hardly rocket science...
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • CabicularCabicular Frets: 2214
    It’s a good habit to get into and I can’t tell you how many times it’s bailed me out even with Daws
    When I’m tracking I run a spreadsheet of parts everyone is going to record and what I’m naming the tracks, equipment used and notes and then cross them off one by one.
    again you would surprised how many times people have come out of sessions forgetting to record an acoustic guitar part or a horn part etc
    It’s one of the reasons I hate recording myself. My brain is too wired into the organisation of stuff to be in any way creative
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  • CabicularCabicular Frets: 2214
    edited June 2018
    Cabicular said:
    which equipment was used.
    How that equipment was connected to everything else. How its controls were set. Whether anyone was manually adjusting those controls during the replay of the multi-track tape. (In dub reggae, for example, it is extremely likely that the delay devices will receive plenty of real time adjustment of the feedback and time parameters.) 

    Cabicular said:
    log books and Polaroids
    If, for the sake of argument, somebody had stumbled across a particular sound by running an electro-mechanical piano through a ring modulator, a phaser and a Uni-Vibe, a written or photographic record of this signal chain would make possible its recreation in the future. This might prove handy come overdubbing time.

    In a recording studio, anything that saves time, also saves money.
    Words of wisdom !
    My first experience of in the box recall was when I did 300ft Gorillas album Gorilla tactics (Paul Hindmarsh of Line 6 fames band). To be able to send sessions between his bass player and myself was revolutionary.
    Not taking a day to recreate a desk and outboard for a track was also very welcome but I’m glad I did all that stuff the old way. The knowledge and background has served me very well
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  • BazzBassBazzBass Frets: 1

    So any practice and prep I do now will be worthless in July as I'll have forgotten it all.

    well then you have to keep practicing it to learn it. otherwise don't bother as you'll waste the 3 hours. You have to know the songs backwards to do a recording session justice
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  • PolarityManPolarityMan Frets: 7273
    From my perspective I think if you have the ability to record guitars at home then there's questionable benefit to using the studio time in that way. Even with a great engineer it's hit and miss whether mic'ing a cab is going to get a better result than going in to an ampsim.

    Where the studio absolutely will add value is either drums or vocals because these are so dependent on room acoustics, mic and preamp selection.

    6 hours might be a long vocal session if you are not used to singing and sounds like drums arent in scope for you so what I would do is have your guitars and backing tracks done at home ready to go then record as much vocals as you can.

    If the engineer is also a decent producer use the time to experiment with vocal layers and harmony etc.
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • PolarityManPolarityMan Frets: 7273
    Reading back I see youve already completed this but for refrence:

    "Six songs gives me roughly half an hour per song, that should be plenty if only singing."

    I think that is unrealistic if you want quality. Our singer is pretty awesome and it took us 2 x 3 hour session to get 4 songs done for our last EP (including some harmony work). Our songs have long instrumental only sections too.
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • guitarfishbayguitarfishbay Frets: 7953
    How long it takes is how long is a piece of string scenario.

    I really like Zedd for pop music, IIRC he spends up to two days just comping and tuning vocals per song, the song he did with Hayley from Paramore is a pop vocal reference for me.

    Karnivool didn’t tune vocals and I think it took them 6 weeks to do Sound Awake. And that guy is an incredible singer.

    Whereas I think Christina Aguilera Beautiful was the only take they did. Amazing performance.

    Its art at the end of the day.


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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    Bit of an unexpected thread revival on this one!

    But yes, the studio day happened, it was only three hours and nothing was really achieved except me concluding studios are probably not for me, as there was nothing I did there that I couldn't do just as adequately at home (notwithstanding my laptop issues) without having to pay quite a lot of money and book way in advance. I only used a couple of solos from the day, mostly so I could honestly say to those who bought me the time that guitars were recorded there.

    Arguably, yes I think I would have been better doing vocals there instead, though my vocals are poor so I'm not sure there would have been much benefit as such over doing it at home it's just that I'd have got more done in quantity.

    I still reckon I could easily do 30 mins per song though on the vocals. I did about three per hour at home once my USB settings were OK. I think good singers take longer as they will then be able to do much more with them. If I do it once and the timing is OK, it's a case of "Yeah it ain't gonna get any better than that" so I move on. There's no point polishing a turd...

    I'm sticking to home set ups going forward.
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • PolarityManPolarityMan Frets: 7273
    Bit of an unexpected thread revival on this one!

    But yes, the studio day happened, it was only three hours and nothing was really achieved except me concluding studios are probably not for me, as there was nothing I did there that I couldn't do just as adequately at home (notwithstanding my laptop issues) without having to pay quite a lot of money and book way in advance. I only used a couple of solos from the day, mostly so I could honestly say to those who bought me the time that guitars were recorded there.

    Arguably, yes I think I would have been better doing vocals there instead, though my vocals are poor so I'm not sure there would have been much benefit as such over doing it at home it's just that I'd have got more done in quantity.

    I still reckon I could easily do 30 mins per song though on the vocals. I did about three per hour at home once my USB settings were OK. I think good singers take longer as they will then be able to do much more with them. If I do it once and the timing is OK, it's a case of "Yeah it ain't gonna get any better than that" so I move on. There's no point polishing a turd...

    I'm sticking to home set ups going forward.We
    I think you'd be surprised how many records are made by people who basically cant play jsut by repeating things in tiny parts until a great whole take can be cobbled together. :D
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • guitarfishbayguitarfishbay Frets: 7953
    If it's a drummer or a bassist it might not even be a real musician in some genres these days either!
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    Bit of an unexpected thread revival on this one!

    But yes, the studio day happened, it was only three hours and nothing was really achieved except me concluding studios are probably not for me, as there was nothing I did there that I couldn't do just as adequately at home (notwithstanding my laptop issues) without having to pay quite a lot of money and book way in advance. I only used a couple of solos from the day, mostly so I could honestly say to those who bought me the time that guitars were recorded there.

    Arguably, yes I think I would have been better doing vocals there instead, though my vocals are poor so I'm not sure there would have been much benefit as such over doing it at home it's just that I'd have got more done in quantity.

    I still reckon I could easily do 30 mins per song though on the vocals. I did about three per hour at home once my USB settings were OK. I think good singers take longer as they will then be able to do much more with them. If I do it once and the timing is OK, it's a case of "Yeah it ain't gonna get any better than that" so I move on. There's no point polishing a turd...

    I'm sticking to home set ups going forward.We
    I think you'd be surprised how many records are made by people who basically cant play jsut by repeating things in tiny parts until a great whole take can be cobbled together. :D
    Ha I know, but would it really be any better? I don't think so in this case
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14320
    A fair bit of song recording can be done affordably by making appropriate use of both home and fully professional recording facilities.

    Most people will probably make a better job of tracking guitars, keys and bass guitar in a relaxed home environment. Drums, vocals and orchestral instruments benefit from a well-prepared room, high budget microphones and outboard signal processors. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    edited July 2018
    A fair bit of song recording can be done affordably by making appropriate use of both home and fully professional recording facilities.

    Most people will probably make a better job of tracking guitars, keys and bass guitar in a relaxed home environment. Drums, vocals and orchestral instruments benefit from a well-prepared room, high budget microphones and outboard signal processors. 
    Thankfully nothing I ever write and need to record will require orchestra, and even drums seem rather too much effort to bother with! In fact in general I think I'm happy with my exploits to literally exist in my own little bubble of my living room from start to finish, I am more sure than ever that for my stuff it would not make any difference so best to avoid studios in the writing/recording stage, or even anybody else to hear it other than myself as this particular project has proven to me there's little point in it being anything more
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • duotoneduotone Frets: 971
    I think you'd be surprised how many records are made by people who basically cant play jsut by repeating things in tiny parts until a great whole take can be cobbled together. :D
    Oi! I think you’ve just busted me
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  • duotoneduotone Frets: 971

    thecolourbox said:

     In fact in general I think I'm happy with my exploits to literally exist in my own little bubble of my living room from start to finish, I am more sure than ever that for my stuff it would not make any difference so best to avoid studios in the writing/recording stage, or even anybody else to hear it other than myself as this particular project has proven to me there's little point in it being anything more
    If that’s what works for you then stick with it.
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  • CirrusCirrus Frets: 8481
    Funnily enough, I had a parallel kinda realisation recently. I've always done all my recording and mixing in my (now old) band's studio space, and hardly ever brought any of it home - all the instruments and recording stuff lived a 25 minute drive away, which led to several years of regular weeknight rushes to eat and get out to the studio to work on stuff.

    This year, I did an album where i turned that on its head a bit, and while I still had to do the loud stuff at the studio space I did everything I could practically do at home in my little upstairs box room. DI'd bass, keyboard stuff, and all the vocals. It was a bit of a hurdle to get over the idea that people walking past in the street might hear me tracking vocals, but I got over it.

    Then I mixed it in there too.

    And objectively, it's not as good sounding a place to mix. But I've found the comfort and convenience of being able to work at home has massively outweighed that. Saturday morning, still in dressing gown with coffee in hand and inspiration hits? The project is 30 seconds away and I can try a new harmony line, re-track a verse, tweak a mix... and because there's not the same time or cost investment, I felt more open to experimentation vs. being in either a studio I'm paying hundreds for or my band's studio which was a big windowless room with grey walls.

    The trick, of course, is still having focus/ intent enough that you ever get stuff finished. =) But for this project at least, I began recording early March and finished 15 tracks by the beginning of July. That's a record for me!
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