Q. When choosing a recording studio what should we look for?
A. In a word, comfort. Making music is such a personal creative endeavor you want to make sure that you are in an environment that promotes your creativity.
Q. What should a studio “feel” like?
A. Whatever studio you are considering, you should take the time to visit the studio, walk into the space that you’ll be making your music and get a sense for how it’s going to feel to create in that space.
Ask to hear some samples of music recorded at the studio. What you hear should please you. If it doesn’t, ask yourself if that’s going to translate into your recording.
Get a sense for what it will be like working with the engineer. You want an engineer who will encourage your best work. If you sense an attitude that will challenge your creative process then you probably want to keep looking. You want to feel a partnership in the creation of your music. Capturing your best recording should be just as much a priority for the engineer as it is for you.
Make sure you’ll be hearing a mix in your headphones means it’s easier for you to play your part, too. At Tanglewood we provide each player with his or her own personal mixing station so you can customize it to your preferences. Less drums, more bass, more vocal… you decide what will allow you to play your best.
There are many technical considerations in a studio. You want to make sure that the technology is not going to stand between you and your music. Nothing is worse than being inspired to play your best track and then having to wait while the engineer figures out what is going wrong in the control room.
Q. What’s the purpose of our record?
A. Your recorded product should be as unique as you are. But there are a couple of questions you should ask up front. No matter what your product, a fundamental question is, “Who is my target audience?” Who are you playing to? Is this recording’s purpose to attract the attention of entertainment directors who might hire you to perform live at their property? Or are you looking to secure a record deal? Those are two very different targets. So the material you choose to record should be very focused on the priorities and interests of your target.
Q. How much time will we need?
A. Setting up for a guitar/vocal obviously takes much less time than for a band featuring an eight-piece drum set, bass, two guitars, keyboards, lead singer and three backup vocalists. But the thing to remember is that pre-production is key to making your time in the studio is as efficient as it can be. Having a good game plan will ensure that you can move quickly toward your end goal. We’ll meet with you in advance to map out the structure of your sessions. Answering some pertinent questions in advance can save you hours of wasted time.
Q. How do we know when we’re ready to record?
A. Recording is a wonderful learning process. It can teach you so much about your music and your playing. Because playing in a live situation is such a fluid process, a musical moment passes in time and is soon replaced by the next. In the recording process you have the benefit of capturing that moment and instantly revisiting it. Sometimes that is a glorious experience, sometimes not. As artists we continue to grow from the process of creating. The recording process gives you the chance to put your performance under the microscope and examine it in fine detail. Whether you’re ready to record your first national release or your first demo, the experience will undoubtedly propel your music making to a whole new level.
Q. What is the recording process?
A. Preparing to record should include some important homework. A song list, lyric sheets (for your producer/engineer), instrument breakdown for each song, and a guide to tracking should be formulated in the pre-production process. Of course, rehearsal is the place you find agreement on the details for the elements in your recording.
The day of your first session you will already have a good idea of how things will progress. Plan to arrive in advance of your session so you’re not waiting for someone to get started. If one of your players (probably the drummer) requires more set-up time, have them scheduled to arrive in advance of the other players.
Expect more time than you think for set-up. Players will need to play alone for the engineer to get their sound dialed in. While that is taking place, the process will go much faster if there’s not a lot of distraction with extraneous conversation or other instruments playing.
Once set-up is done, your engineer will probably ask you to play a short rehearsal just to make sure that the levels you’ve given him in set-up are indeed what you will be reproducing in performance. (Performers are famous for giving 110% in performance, thus blowing the roof off of the levels set during set-up.)
By now, (thanks for your patience) everyone should be ready to cut that first take. With everyone indicating that they are “ready to roll” your engineer will give you a “standby” (that means get ready to play) and “rolling” indicates that you are now recording. When you finish the take it’s important that you let every instrument “ring out”. It’s often overlooked that when you hit that final chord the note continues to ring. You want to make sure that no one steps on that ring out and that you successfully capture the decay of that note until it has evaporated completely.
Q. What is the overdub process?
A. With the advent of multi-track recording came the ability to record additional tracks over already recorded tracks. Very often we start with the rhythm section (the instruments that carry the basic structure of the piece – the piano, bass, drums or the equivalent). After those tracks are in place we can continue to overdubs. Subsequent tracks are added to the rhythm section to fill out the piece. Some artists have a set method for their overdub process. Usually the order is chosen to best support the final lead track (vocal or solo instrument).
Q. What is the mixing process?
A. After all your tracks are recorded, then comes time to decide how each track will appear in the final mix. Louder, softer, tonal characteristics, effects, how a part will build throughout the song… all these (and more) are decisions to be made for each and every track. The more tracks you have the longer you should expect a mixdown to take. And remember, with todays mixing capabilities, even the finest details can be addressed, from minimizing a single breath to tuning up a phrase that didn’t quite make it to pitch.
Q. Do we need a “producer”?
A. A producer is usually someone with a great deal of musical experience who can act as an additional set of ears for your music. It’s important to choose an individual who brings a new, fresh perspective to your material, someone who can assist in fine-tuning your musical product. Think of a producer like a great coach who gets the most out of your performance in the studio. One of the benefits of working at Tanglewood is that our engineers are also musically trained and have a great deal of experience producing a variety of music. Without having to hire an independent producer you’re getting the benefit of a producer on each and every session. (Of course, depending upon the services rendered, a producer may be paid a separate fee either by the song or by the album project.)
Q. How should we prepare for the studio?
A. Come prepared to capture your best performance. That means rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. The studio is not a place to discover what you want to record. It’s simply too expensive. You can do that by exploring your material fully on your own, making decisions about the structure of your music well in advance of your recording date.
A special note: try to rehearse your material at half, or better yet, quarter volume. You may discover that some things have been hiding underneath the cloak of all that volume. The very best music derives its integrity from precision. Many times volume simply hides a whole lot of imperfections.
Make sure your equipment is in great shape. New strings, fresh cables, effects units with no buzzes or grounding problems. You don’t want to spoil a great track with unwanted sounds.
You may want to bring snacks or drinks for breaks. You want to keep fresh and your energy up. Tanglewood has a great break room just outside the studio for catching a quick pick-me-upper. The refrigerator and soda machine are always available to you, as are the number of nearby take out and delivery joints.
Q. What are some do’s and don’t in the studio?
A. Come prepared to have a great time. That doesn’t mean it’s a party, though. Making music is something you thoroughly enjoy. But it’s a craft of discipline. Be prepared to focus all your energies on the music and let your inspiration lead the way.
Remember that the studio is an artificial environment. The equipment that we need to capture your best performance is all around you. Microphones, headphones, gobos, pop filters, rooms with double doors… all these are necessary to accomplish the task of recording your best stuff. However they do create a different environment that you’ll need to get used to.
Don’t touch studio equipment that has not been put in your hands. In general, keep your hands on your instrument and leave the studio equipment to the engineer. Your engineer will let you know what you can handle – that will usually include your headphones and your personal mixing station. Remember that cables are attached to everything. Watch where you step. You certainly don’t want to try to walk across the room while wearing a set of headphones. You’re attached by the cable and walking away while still wearing the “cans” could damage you and, more importantly, our expensive set of headphones!
Be prepared to be patient with the set-up process. Every microphone needs to be placed in order to get the very best sound. Depending upon the needs of your recording, that can mean dozens of mics, each with its own placement requirements. After they’re placed, your engineer will need to make the adjustments in the control room to “dial in” the sound for every mic. The set-up takes patience but once it’s done you can proceed to making music, confident that what you’re capturing is a clean, pure track for every part.
Q. What’s the difference between a “demo” and a “record”?
A. Demonstration recordings are meant to show your talent in a positive light but are not always expected to have the final polish expected of a master commercial release. However, in today’s world, high standards are simply expected even with demo recordings. There is really no reason to turn out a recording for which you have to make an apology. Today’s recording technology can capture pristine tracks even within the most modest of facilities. The key to capturing a great performance is really found in the skills of your engineer.
When pushing past the demo stage, a recording usually will have much more thought and preparation and many times includes more elaborate production elements (i.e. more tracks, more players, more involved arranging). A commercial release for national distribution almost always is sent to a mastering house for treatment of its final sonic characteristics.
Q. What mastering services does Tanglewood provide?
A. Mastering may include many different treatments to your final mixes. If you’re expecting your record to be competitive with other national releases, you absolutely want to invest in the mastering process. It simply provides sonic treatments and corrections that are more refined and exact to create the very best sound for your track.
If you are putting out your first record and are “testing the waters” of your commercial viability, the mix master that is created for you at Tanglewood should be fine. We’ve turned out many CD’s for our clients that have gone directly to duplication and been quite successful. If your album should happen to get the attention of a big record label, they’re going to have the whole album mastered anyhow. The mix master that you receive from Tanglewood will be optimized so that your tracks are all speaking at proper levels and equalization within your collection of material. Tracks will be timed so that you have a smooth transition between songs and even fade-throughs from track to track when it’s appropriate. Your disc can also be formatted with ISRC and UPC codes to make you fully ready for the duplication process.
Q. Once we have our recording done, how do we get it packaged?
A. Before you can send your CD out for duplication, you’re going to want to consider its packaging. An effective album design can be the key to buyers picking up your CD in the first place. You certainly don’t want a generic looking cover to stand between your buyers and your music. So put great care in the message your package sends and what it tells your public about you.
At Tanglewood we’ve been designing album print work for our customers for years. Because your design is going to be handled by professional printers, it’s important that whoever is doing your design be familiar with the requirements of modern printing. The pre-press preparation for your printed material can be quite complicated.
Q. We’ve been quoted a cheaper rate at another studio. Why is your rate higher?
A. Experience and facility. Many of our clients have actually chosen to record at other facilities first. When comparing their subsequent experience to Tanglewood they frequently comment that they were able to get twice as much done in less time at Tanglewood. We pride ourselves in being fast and efficient because we know the music-making process.
We have also taken great care to provide you with the most comfortable setting for your music-making process. Our live room is beautiful and spacious with three isolation chambers and great sight lines. We provide a personal headphone mix for each player so that you hear exactly what you need to hear to play your best.
Q. My friend has a home studio and great software. Why shouldn’t we just record there?
A. The technology available to the personal recordist today is nothing short of phenomenal. Then again, it is, even in the simplest versions, quite complex. Depending upon the expertise of the engineer running the equipment you should be able to turn out a very adequate recording.
So you may want to consider some of the following factors:
Will you have adequate space for all your players to play together? After all, music is at its best when players are feeding off of each other’s energy and musical inspiration.
Will the acoustic space you’re playing in allow your instruments to sound their best? Every room has a sonic coloration. The size, shape and materials in the room all have an effect on your sound.
How is my recording environment going to be isolated from extraneous outside noise?
It’s really frustrating to have just laid down the most exciting performance you’ve ever done and then learn that your track is sharing that performance with the trash truck that just drove by.
How long will I be waiting while my engineer figures out how to set up my next take?
When you are inspired to play, even a small detour can get in the way of your musical genius unfolding. You want to make sure that the technical process is not standing in your way and that when you’re ready to lay down a great take, so is your engineer.
Q. Should we record covers?
A. If your target is expecting to hear you deliver a convincing rendition of popular material, by all means show them what you can do. However, if your audience is supposed to be impressed with your unique ability to create music, then doing someone else’s music as originally recorded is probably a lesson in futility. If you want to cover someone else’s tune and still impress your audience, then bring something brand new to the material. When this new recording is heard your audience should say, “Wow, that’s a whole new way of looking at that song.”
Q. I’ve got some karaoke tracks. Can I record my vocals to them?
A. Young singers have a resource today that can be a major boost in helping them create demos and develop their talent. There are wonderful, fully orchestrated back-up tracks available that can provide the underpinnings for a demo recording and keep your studio budget at a small fraction of what it would be to produce that material from scratch.
However, there are a few considerations to keep in mind. Unless you are looking to be hired as an impersonator, copying another artist’s performance is really not going to get you anywhere. To do a song just like Bruce Springsteen or Faith Hill did it originally might lead your listener to draw that comparison, in which case, you’re almost always going to come up second. After all, the reason the song became popular in the first place was due to the original artist’s rendition. So when working with back-up tracks you should make sure to bring something truly unique to tonal quality, phrasing, and interpretation.
Q. I’m thinking seriously of recording at Tanglewood but still have some reservations…
A. Tanglewood is a friendly place. We love it when people just have an interest in our facilities and ask for a tour. We usually end up talking together for quite some time about the prospects of a possible recording project. We’ll check our calendars for a time that fits into your schedule and ours so we can get to know you and show you around our studios.
