The Recording Process 2- Tracking Days

Posted by Josh on February 3, 2012

On the last blog we focused on pre-production and set up now we head on to tracking days also known as recording the tracks. At this stage your group should be well practiced and any issues cleared up so no arguments take over tracking as this just slows down productions, leave extreme bickering for breaks .

Let’s just jump right into this, when it comes to tracking days there isn’t too much to say except: Play your instruments and play them RIGHT. Play as perfectly as you can, the less editing and quanitzation required during the editing phase after recording, the more money you save and wouldn’t you rather be known as a musician who can play his/her instrument rather than an edited robot? If you can’t play it live, don’t fake it in the studio, it will catch up with you eventually. Editing is NOT the solution nor should it be the goal, it should be the LAST OPTION. This sort of thing goes down all the time during tracking:

“Hey can you just auto-tune that?”

“Can you just sing that? Give it one more shot, you’re almost there!”

“Well that’s what auto-tune is for….”

“That’s what your voice is for. USE it!”

You’re in there to lay your tracks down properly as GREAT as you can. During tracking you shouldn’t even be thinking about tuning and quantization. The focus should be on playing your instrument with skill and finesse. This doesn’t mean you have to be a Steve Vai on guitar, Victor Wooten on bass, Tim Yeung on drums and Warrell Dane on Vox, it means you need to play YOUR greatest; your GROUP’S greatest. Should you make a mistake, keep playing, this is where overdubbing/punching in comes into play. Let’s pretend you’re tracking live style, everyone is grooving along and playing great, then….

-guitar lick mess up-

“cut, cut!”

-everyone stops tracking-

Punching in is what you want to use in that particular situation, if everyone else is doing great, just hammer through it as you would do playing live in front of an audience. You’re not going to quit because you messed up that one guitar lick, so why do it during tracking? There’s zero need to cut off everyone else.

If by chance the particular part DOES mess everyone else up, then making the choice to stop all together is fine, remember you aren’t directing and producing the session, your engineer is and believe me we’ll know where everyone messed up and if it IS a big one, we will stop you. For small slip ups, the general rule of thumb is to keep going. Every time you start back from the very beginning of a track, you’re taking up more time that could be spent FINISHING that track and moving on to the next one.

The best thing to do is make sure all rhythm tracks are down as mistake-free as possible and when it comes to the small mistakes, simply punch in and record over them. If you can play everything 85-90% you’re doing a great job. Leads and solos are best left for overdubs because one is able to focus better and for organizational tracking purposes it makes sense.

Plan to do many takes as well, it’s not uncommon to record 10-20 takes of a part until you nail it just right, only well versed and well practiced/studio musicians nail parts in a few takes which is why I emphasize practice so much before ever even recording.

The final blog will cover more details into overdubbing (and all of it’s uses, not just fixing mistakes) and how punching in works.

Feel free to use the social bar and share, stumble, like and tweet to your heart’s content!

Josh

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Category Categories: Album Production, Recording | Tag Tags: editing, Music Business, Music iIndustry, overdub, pre production, punch in, recording, recording engineer, recording process, tracking | No Comments »

The Recording Process 1- Pre Production and Set up

Posted by Josh on January 24, 2012

I’m back after being out with a bronchial infection and it’s time to (as Billy Mays says) GET ON THE BALL! So, I’m back with the most requested topic on the FB Page Poll which happens to be about the recording process. Obviously, after this I’ll focus on music marketing techniques to help you with establishing your brand online. Now that’s out of the way, let’s get started!

The first thing that happens in the recording process is ALWAYS pre-production (pre-pro). What exactly is pre-pro? Here’s an excerpt from the book explaining that term:

Pre-Production: The process of establishing a complete picture of the production at hand, examining all aspects of current songs, making sure no major compositional adjustments need to be made, microphone selection, locking in the studio and establishing an artist profile.

In other words, pre-production simply makes sure that you are ready for tracking and it helps us engineers get to know you as a person or your group as individuals in a band and your direction much better. It is indeed a bit of an interview process but for good reason. If you don’t know where you’re going and aren’t prepared, then why bother? Proper planning saves time, money and frustration for everyone involved including studio owners. It’s a pain in the ass to tell us you’re ready and have us contact our connections for you to NOT follow through, so always be serious and don’t waste people’s time in the industry.

Certain arrangement aspects are adjusted during this phase as well from any scratch tracks you may have, be open to suggestion for improving your music, collaboration is what this is all about. If no arrangement suggested are needed, the process goes by much quicker. Be as prepares as you can possibly be before ever contacting an engineer or stepping into a studio.

After finding out that you’re prepared and what your direction is both musically, career-wise and sonically, this gives us exactly what we need to begin microphone selection from the get-go. Let me show you how I do this:

Let’s assume your group is a Jazz group who wants a bit of a modern-style production:

In 1- Kick- D112 (the response of this particular microphone gives a nice beefy kick with enough attack to cut through a mix and can be adjusted with a transient designer if needed to tighten up)

In 2- Snr Top- i5 (This particular mic can withstand high SPL and has a relatively favorable snare curve already)

In 3- Hat- KSM137- (This condenser mic can withstand high SPL and is relatively flat with a slight boost around 10kHz to bring a little sizzle to the hat)

In 4/5- Tom1/2- D3 (Compact hypercardiod microphone perfect for toms)

In 6- Floor tom- D4 (Similar to the D3 but with extended low end for bass heavy percussion)

in 7/8 Overhead L/R- AT3035 (This particular condenser is very flat and offers great detail of the cymbals)

In 9- Bass- DI (with a great DI and preamp, there’s no need to mic the bass, it’s also much cleaner)

In 10/11- Elec Gtr L/R- SM57 (Standard mic for any guitar cab)

In 12- Sax- AT Pro 35 (this condenser mic clips onto the bell of the sax or any woodwind/brass instrument and has the perfect response)

Now, this is in a perfect world, not all studios have all these mics but this is how we think. A studio has it’s own mic locker and doesn’t always have the things one might need so you learn to compensate with alternative mics.

We could take the same scheme and reduce it for a classic Jazz production:

In 1- Kick- D112

In 2- Snr Top- i5

in 3/4 Overhead L/R- AT3035

In 5- Bass- DI

In 6/7- Elec Gtr L/R- SM57

In 8- Brass and Winds- U87 (Everyone crowds around this classic large diaphragm condenser, controls their dynamics as if playing live)

That simple to go from one production type to another once everything is figured out in our heads!

After all this and securing the studio we get the sessions set up in our DAW with tempo, click track and any time signature changes. Afterward comes set up day! Keep in mind it’s extremely common to go in and set up during the night, get everything set up and get all the instrument gains ready; then come back in the morning and record the tracks. This isn’t always the case; in the first scenario it would be more likely that aforementioned procedure would be planned which means drums/bass/guitar(s) would be set up previously and the next day would consist of tracking those instruments followed by overdubbing any extra parts.

For the classic jazz production, you can do it all in a day after setting up and laying down all rhythms for each track, next, slap the U87 in the center of the room and let the brass and woodwinds do their thing dubbing over the previously recorded tracks.

I hope this has given you a better understanding of what takes place from the very beginning, this is why proper planning and pre-production are so crucial! One of my mentors and great mastering engineer/arranger (J Dub) praises my methodical sense in production and this is why. Everything gets planned in detail, even 15 minute breaks. Every piece of the puzzle matters more than you might realize.

Feel free to use the social bar and share, stumble, like and tweet to your heart’s content!

Josh

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Category Categories: Album Production, Recording | Tag Tags: Album Production, audio engineering, mastering engineer, mix engineer, pre production, recording, recording process | Comments 1 Comment »

How to Communicate in the Music Industry

Posted by Josh on January 7, 2012

Okay….I’ve blown my lid and I’m going to nip this stuff in the bud. It’s ridiculous and I know I’m not the only engineer/producer that goes through this.

“Hey whats going on..i was passing thru and saw that you engineer!! Man ! i need one in the worst way lol..anyway ,I work with some great potentials andy all I need now is an engineer..so this is what i will do..i will either send you links or email songs to you so that know what Im working with..I dont have a deal or a budget but i’ll I can do what I can but let me know..go to (link that doesn’t work here) or make it easier go to youtube and type in (blah blah) there as well or to (blah blah 2) OR just google (username here) and you should see everything..thanks for your time bro.. ”

Sincerily Yours
Name Here

If you are this person…STOP IT. If you can not type a grammatically correct sentence or paragraph….Don’t even bother messaging anyone in the industry. Secondly, SPELL PROPERLY.

Now let’s focus on the deeper aspects here that are misguided and completely disrespectful to both a producer/engineer AND YOURSELF.

Asking for free work is a no no, it will NOT happen unless there is a contest going on that one may be holding otherwise forget it! Assuming we will work for free shows you have no respect for what we do and think we are just expendable. For you, it shows you’re not willing to invest in yourself and that your ego is out of control.
“This is what I will do.” Screech to a halt right there….You’ll be doing nothing until it’s been agreed upon.
“I don’t have a budget” Well get one because production isn’t free nor is it cheap. Doesn’t mean we won’t work with you on your budget but….be realistic.
“Make it easier” What would make a message like this easier would be….-gasp- providing a full link to what you want us to listen to! We don’t have time to sit there and type in everything.
“bro” This should be self explanatory.

This message stinks. It’s unprofessional, disorganized and ridiculous to read and I nor any industry person will ever take you seriously, you’ll be lucky to get a response but I always do because that’s the professional thing to do . All of you artists and future music producers need to clean up your act and start acting your parts. It begs the question: “Would you contact a label in this manner?” If you answered yes, good job putting your name in the eternal trash bin.

Now let’s turn that message around so I can show you how to communicate PROPERLY:

“Hey whats going on..I was passing through and saw that you’re an engineer, I work with some great potentials and would like to work with you, but I have a low budget (give us a amount in dollars here).

Here are the links to my music:

(link 1 here)

(link 2 here)

etc

If you would be willing to work with me and my budget I would like to discuss further.

Name Here”

It’s essential to be direct and communicate in a direct manner in this industry. I highly advise you to take this advice when contacting myself or any other engineer on the planet.

Josh

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Category Categories: Communication, Music Business | Tag Tags: communicate, Communication, mix engineer, Music Business, Music iIndustry, music producer, recording studio | No Comments »

Music Mixing Process 4- Effects

Posted by Josh on January 3, 2012

I’m back after a holiday break with the final part to the mixing process series which happens to be effects (also abbreviated as FX). Previously we focused on Automation

I believe this will be very self explanatory with the samples I have prepared, you’ll instantly hear the changes.

We mixers use different effects for different purposes, however the most common effects used are:

Reverb
Delay
Chorus
Flange

Each of these effects serves different purposes. Reverb adds spacial properties to an instrument or group of instruments. When you’re in a small room with lots of tile and you clap your hands, you most likely hear a slight sizzly delay, that is what reverb is. A natural series of delays and reflections. Reverbs can be scaled to be as big as a cathedral or as small and tight as a bedroom.

FX Processing

A delay is exactly what you think it is. When you’re in a cave and yell “Hello!” and it trails off. Delays are typically used for fattening things up (vocals) or making stuff trippy, especially when paired with a reverb and flange on a guitar track.

Chorus and flange however are not always used, those two are actually great for use with slightly out of tune vocals, with the pitch shifting effects of those particular effects, they can allow the ear to mesh issues together and sound just fine. Chorusing can also add some extra depth to a reverb.

Flange is most commonly heard on anything guitar. From psychadelic rock guitars to the shredders of metal, you’ve heard the sound in one way or another, if not, that’s okay, you’ll hear a flange here today.

Most of these effects are the same in essence, they are all series of delays and reverbs in different loops and combinations, chorusing was discovered in the days of analog tape as well as flanging.

Without further ado, here is a mix without any effect processing:

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Now it takes a different feel with some reverb added all around in different doses as well as delay on the guitar:

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Instruments begin to mesh in a different way, further establishing separate spaces and creating cool ear candy all at the same time.

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That particular flange has some chorusing properties included with it and these effects were exaggerated for easy spotting.

This post completes the Music Mixing Process series. I hope that you have learned valuable information and insight into the processes and understand why certain things are done and how they are achieved. It’s more than just ears, it’s knowledge of the tools at hand as well as creativity. Being able to at least understand the things an engineer explains to you will help make your studio ventures much more productive when the time arrives to ask any questions or discuss a mix.

Not everyone can mix or produce, much less record, so it’s essential to your musical endeavors to let us handle the work, especially if you choose to send a PR kit to a label or distribution company. They want sonically pleasing, quality recordings and mixes which you will not achieve on your own and that is just the truth. That’s not to say there aren’t those who CAN do it all, but because they know balance both engineering-wise and with their career and schedules, they’re able to do it all.

Investing in an engineer that you trust and can keep coming back to is a great investment in yourself and your music.

Comment below with Facebook or use the social bar and Like, tweet or stumble to your friends and family. I’m available for any questions or mixing, just fill out the contact form.

Josh

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Category Categories: Album Production, Mixing | Tag Tags: audio engineering, chorus, delay, flange, mix engineer, mixing process, music mixing, reverb | No Comments »

Music Mixing Process 3- Automation

Posted by Josh on December 16, 2011

Moving on from equalization we arrive at Automation

What is Automation? Automation is manually adjusting volume, EQ parameters or effect parameters to achieve a multitude of goals.

These goals can be used to add a little more mid-range punch to a vocal at certain areas (listen to Nickleback, you’ll hear this one everywhere) which allows the vocal to “pop” a little more.

You also might use automation to add more reverb decay at a specific point in the song for creative purposes or you might decide to add just a little more feedback on the delay at a particular solo or vocal part.

Automation can also be used as manual compression which is what we will focus on. Manually going in and taming peaks for a more natural, smoother response from the particular instrument that is being automated. The most common use for automation though happens to be vocal tracks. I don’t care if you’re Lara Fabian, Fergie or Sebastian Bach, chances are you got some automation. Nearly every vocal gets it. Of course a vocal can be tamed with 6dB reduction on a compressor and the explosive peaks reduced with a limiter but this method takes away from dynamics; for instance you have a lyric that says something like:

“Today is the day I fight BACK!”

Using the method described above, this can take away excitement from the word “BACK!” and doesn’t help give it that push needed to really emphasize the word, so in place of heavy compression we would use automation to completely control the response of that word by manually reducing and boosting audio in specific points. The initial plosive from the “Buh” in back would most likely get a .5dB reduction to reduce the plosive content yet allow it to come through in a smoother manner. The rest of the word would then be adjusted to be even in volume.

This is what automation looks like while we're working. As you can see, it can be a bit painstaking.

The second goal of vocal automation is to make sure that every single word, syllable and phrase is heard clearly. The vocalist is the star, they’re the face of the group, thus they should be heard quite well. That though process is not one everyone agrees on though. Most rap artists like to have the beat slightly above and around them (as if they’re surrounded) rock/country artists typically want their voices to be heard either slightly above the music or a nice, even blend. If you want your vocals buried in a mix you should not be a vocalist or rapper though. Burying vocals doesn’t sound good, the beat can still be focused on while you are clearly heard. You don’t hear Snoop or Dre burying their vocals do you? Didn’t think so.

In essence, you can do a LOT with just one word. With automation you could reduce the initial impact of “B” and boost the “A” in back to sound like bAck! or emphasize the “ck” for a percussive timbre to the word.

I could get very in depth on this subject but I don’t feel that is necessary unless there is more input for fun automation tricks and such.

Here is a vocal part that has been processed with EQ and compression and no automation:

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Now the same vocal part with automation:

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Now no automation within the mix:

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And automation:

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(all audio is RMS matched for even listening)

I’m sincerely not expecting any of you to hear these extremely subtle changes as most of your ears aren’t trained to hear 1/2 a dB of movement. For most people a 3dB reduction would be heard very easily. Automation isn’t about giant movements when it comes to vocals (unless it’s necessary) it’s about very subtle changes adding up together. Waves Audio created the Vocal Rider plug-in which is perfectly fine to use if an artist has a tight budget or in a general mix situation such as a mixtape. If you think you heard the changes, comment below and I’ll let you know if you’re right.

This can take away all the effort involved but doesn’t always do exactly what you want it to do. It’s a great plug-in for general use and smaller budgets, but manually compensating for a vocal gives the option of many creative ideas.

Automation is the longest task in mixing because it can take up to 2 hours sometimes on a vocal that needs some serious work. Time CAN be saved with automation once you get the first bits done due to the fact that you can simply copy and paste the automation data to the same verse or chorus.

Copypasta is a good thing! So is knowing when you need to use the vocal rider plug-in. Personally, I’m all about doing the automation myself and drawing the points in, why? Because I get further satisfaction knowing that I really gave my all on that particular mix, but I tend to save manual automation for larger budget productions.

Comment below and don’t forget to tweet/like/stumble and share!

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Feel free to connect with me on any of the above too.

Josh

Category Categories: Album Production, Mixing | Tag Tags: audio engineering, audio mixing, automation, mix engineer, music mixer, music mixing, music production, recording | No Comments »

Music Mixing Process 2- Equalization

Posted by Josh on December 8, 2011

Previously, I gave a layman’s term example of what a rough mix actually is. All levels with no processing and achieving a solid base mix to work from.

The second step in in music mixing is equalization (EQ). What is equalization?

Frequency Spectrum

Equalization: Pinpointing anomalies in the audio frequency spectrum and reducing them along with boosting pleasing frequencies to deliver a uniform sound and create a musical mesh.

In layman’s terms, equalization is simply taking out the bad to leave room for the good stuff!

Here is a quick rundown of frequency:

0-32hZ- ULF (Ultra Low Frequency)
50-180hZ LF (Low Frequency)
200-800hZ LMF (Low-Mid Frequency)
1kHz-6kHz HMF (High-Mid Frequeny)
8kHz-20kHz HF (High Frequency)

All frequency is translated as musical notes as well, but I’m not going to go into that, if you want more information on this particular part of the musical puzzle, refer to the wikipedia link above. Musical notes can also be translated to organs in the body too along with healing which is backed by medical research and alternative medicine.

EQ is the second most important part of mixing because if your sounds aren’t shaped properly, they will not have balance, room or individual integrity which means the sounds will be dull and have no separation between them. Again, we’re creating a musical mesh which means that every strand has to be interlocked to produce a whole piece.

There are many types of equalization plug-ins and hardware available on the market today, the most popular producer of plug-ins happens to be Waves Audio. EQ is better heard than explained so here is an example of a guitar part by itself and with EQ:

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(without EQ)

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(with EQ)

What do you hear differently between the two examples? Comment below and see if you have relative hearing. I’ll let you know if you’re right. Something you might notice about this particular guitar after processing is that it sounds somewhat thin. That is due to rolling off excess low end to make room for bass/kick/floor tom and any other bass (LF) frequencies. Thinning things out is extremely common in equalization for mixing, but absolutely necessary to make those threads for our msuical mesh. Once they’re all combined you get the final mix result. All audio is level matched.

This is the power of equalization and proper leveling:

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(rough mix)

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(full mix)

Can EQ be learned? Of course as with everything else in life. It’s known as relative pitch but as an artist your focus should be on the creation of your ideas. Let us Mixers handle the technical stuff, after all, that’s what we’re here for!

I hope you are beginning to see why mixing can be costly, it’s not just guys throwing presets on your stuff (well, some do but that’s not mixing, that’s bullcrap) every single track needs it’s own equalization; no presets will make you sound like someone else regardless of what marketing techniques plug-in manufacturers throw your way. It takes extensive critical listening skills and much more to be able to properly EQ 24-48 tracks. Can they be used as a starting point? Of course, but they aren’t there to mix with, that’s what experience and ears are for!

Fun Fact: If everything is recorded properly, you don’t have to EQ too much, only what needs some shaving.

feel free to Contact me for any questions or blog posts you would like to see!

Josh

Category Categories: Album Production, Mixing | Tag Tags: Album Production, audio engineering, audio mixing, EQ, equalization, mix engineer, music mixer, music mixing, music production, recording | Comments 1 Comment »

Music Mixing Process 1- Levels

Posted by Josh on December 4, 2011

On the APS Facebook page I posted a poll asking all of you what you were interested in knowing about in regards to the music industry and majority vote was for mixing.

I will split this explanation up as I believe it will be easier to tell you about everything involved, so let’s get started!

Mixing: The process of creating sonic balance and harmony by:

Gain Staging (levels)
Compression (taming instruments)
Equalization (shaping instruments to live in their own space)
Automation (used for automatic, real time changes)
Effects (creating spaces and more)

Gain staging is the first process involved with mixing after cleaning up any silence on tracks. What this accomplishes is two things:

Establishes proper headroom in this digital domain
Starts the mix

music mixing levels

Headroom is significant in mixing due to the fact that there is so much room dynamically that you do not need to record or mix very hot as one might do using tape machines and big consoles for pleasing saturation. If levels are too hot in the digital realm, you risk clipping and destroying the integrity of the audio. You really only want to reach clipping with older consoles that saturate nicely, otherwise, avoid clipping at all costs unless for specific creative purposes.

Here, you can see the levels of all the tracks which are hovering around -18dB, this particular level offers the most benefit while mixing as it leaves plenty of headroom for the mastering stage and establishes proper gains for the instruments to avoid clipping and distorting.

Essentially, the goal of gain staging is to begin the “rough mix” which is just a term for general mix balance. Once that is established, compression and EQ come into play to really begin shaping the sound field. Mixing is truly the art of balance because as engineers we are constantly going back and forth between various EQ plug-ins, fine tuning levels and effects to achieve the best spectral balance we possibly can with the material given to us.

There isn’t too much more to say with gain staging except that it is necessary in quite a lot of cases, especially in those cases involving tracks that come in around -5dB all over. That’s just way too hot and completely unnecessary in today’s production world. That being said, all of us engineers mix completely different from one another and have different views, a lot of audio is subjective but a lot is also generally agreed upon.

I won’t focus on explaining compression too much as you can simply refer to the following post for information and explanations on compression.

In short, compression simply tames loud spikes to get a more even and smooth level response. It can also be used to bring lower information UP as well, but if you want more specific details on compression, just refer to the previous blog.

Comment below using Facebook and don’t forget to click “Like” on the APS Fan Page to keep up to date!

Category Categories: Album Production, Mixing | Tag Tags: audio mixing, compression, mix engineer, music blog, music mixing | Comments 1 Comment »

Album Production Book Sneak Peek 2

Posted by Josh on December 1, 2011

I’ve been writing my fingers off and trying not to lose my mind Nicholson style, so far so good, no twins, no red bouncing ball and tricycles.

OK, here’s a sneak peek from chapter 3:

—————————

What happens next?

“Once all the pre-production work is done, the next step begins and that is the beginning of the actual production work: Recording, Editing, Mixing and Mastering.

When the date has been booked, that is when everyone will regroup back in the studio, so chances are you may have a final few days to get all the tracks played as cohesively as you possibly can during practice. I highly recommend practicing to a metronome if you are not used to playing to one; well, go buy one, you’re going to need it if you plan to be a session musician or continue making albums…”

”

It’s all about being organized obviously, and this step has to be done so any assistants know where to hook up which microphone or an input is out on the board for whatever reason and must be switched to another input channel.

A great engineer will be one of the most organized, no BS kind of guy or gal you’ve ever met. Our hard drives and filing cabinets are labeled A-Z for a reason. We can’t properly do our jobs if we are not organized and thorough. Hearing and doing tasks in detail is what we do best.

———————————–

“Just because we’re no BS doesn’t mean we’re no fun though! It means we don’t have time to play around; other projects, previously scheduled sessions, mixing tasks, so on and so forth, therefore we don’t want to waste any time, nor do we want OUR time wasted because every second literally does count in our world….”

I hope you’re all enjoying the snippets so far, after I am done writing, next comes editing and then promotion/distribution. I plan to release this on Kindle/Paperback.

Josh

Category Categories: APS News, Album Production, Mixing | Tag Tags: Album Production, audio mixing, book, mastering, music blog, music mixing, recording | No Comments »

2015 AIDS Quilt Panel

Posted by Josh on November 30, 2011

Thanks to the cool folks over at Klout, I was able to create a cool panel for the 2015 AIDS/HIV awareness quilt, I recommend making one yourself. It’s for a great cause and will make you feel good after making it.

Take a peek at mine:

http://www.2015quilt.com/Home#p=2905

Then look up on the top right corner and click “Create Panel”

Education is our weapon in many avenues. Never stop teaching.

Josh

Category Categories: APS News | Tag Tags: 2015, AIDS, audio mixing, awareness, HIV, quilt | No Comments »

Album Production Book Sneak Peak 1

Posted by Josh on November 13, 2011

This is only page one, but it should be very apparent that the information I will be providing is going to open a LOT of eyes and expose a LOT of TRUTH about this industry and how things are REALLY done with REAL cost examples. . Enjoy

Chapter 1:

The Road to the Record

Cliché title? Sure, but nothing describes your journey better than this. The road you are fixing to embark on is one of excitement, fun and success and one of much less stress, frustration and money spent should you choose to follow the information provided.

You might be asking yourself: “Save money? How? Production is expensive!” Well the answer to that question is two-fold:

Time = Money. Especially in the case of a recording studio and production as a whole. The more time you spend in the studio, the more money you will inevitably spend thus putting yourself further into debt.

Production is expensive? Yes and no. If you are a group with 5 members and a studio/engineer quotes you $6,000.00 for an album you are actually getting an excellent deal. Why? Simply divide 6,000 by 5 and you arrive at $1,200.00/member.

You may have heard that you need $1M, $500,000 or even $50,000.00 to record an excellent sounding album but that is a fallacy and you can get equivalent sounding work done for SO much less! $10,000.00 will get you an excellent radio-quality production in many situations. High dollar albums have so much cost involved generally in the form of “work-for-hire” musicians/producers to create those hot tracks for you to listen to.

I want you to understand that there ARE million-dollar TRACKS out there and that is perfectly fine should the funds be around but it’s also a waste of money in my opinion. With that said, let me break down a $1M budget track for you:

Budget: $1,000,000.00

Songwriting : $20,000.00

Producer: $20,000.00

Mix/Master: $10,000.00

Marketing: $970,000.00

Now do you really find $6-20k THAT much for your entire production? If the answer is yes, I want to suggest that you heavily evaluate why you are interested in making music (especially if you are in a group). You cannot be cheap when it comes to album production, especially if you’re looking to impress labels; if your tracks sound like trash, they’ll play a bit of office Frisbee with the disc.

STILL not convinced I can help save your checkbook? Here is a typical production for a 5 member group:

Budget: $10,000.00 ($2k/member)

Pre-Production: $2,000.000
Tracking: $2,600.00
Editing: $1,800.00
Mixing (could take a week or two): $2,000.00
Mastering: (generally about a day or two) $1,600.00

The costs laid out above can get you whatever sound you desire be it a lo-fi 70’s sound or a pristine, dynamically accurate production. Also, never rush your productions, ALWAYS save up. Chances are you’re not on a label, therefore you have no deadline except the one implanted in your noggin.

Did you also know that an album can be recorded in a day? If your group is tight enough, play “live” in the studio and get everything done quicker, this can also save you lots of time and money, in some cases it can save you double. Let’s take a look at that:

Budget: $10,000.00

Pre-production: $1,000.00
Tracking: $1040.00
Editing: $825.00
Mixing: $2,000.00
Mastering: $1,600.00

Savings: $3,535.00

More updates will come with more writing, I hope this stirs up some excitement .

Category Categories: APS News, Album Production | Tag Tags: Album Production, audio engineering, audio mixing, book, mix engineer, music blog, music production | No Comments »