Some words of wisdom...
These are tips that might help you and your band prepare for the next recording session.
They are not rules, but guidelines. Most come from years of experience!
- Practice every day! The top players play every day, and many hours a day!
- Try to get with people who are as dedicated, if not more so, than you are! You will learn more if you work with people who are truly dedicated.
- Take pride in learning your instrument be it guitar, drums or vocals.
- Help your singer! Most bands are afraid to really tell the singer what they know about music. Exchange knowledge, especially with your singer. Many times they do not play an instrument and need a little help.
- Record your rehearsals. Do as much pre-production recording on your own as possible. It may even eventually become your career!
- Master your instrument! The most frustrating moments in the studio are when the musician can not nail his part. Patience goes a long way. Frustration is very contagious. It is always fun when people stay positive and do not get too excited about things. Preparation is the cure for frustration.
- If you are really ready, you will not struggle in the studio, or live or anywhere. DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Practice!
- Become an educated musician. Learn music. Learn how to count rhythm. Learn music theory- notes, intervals, scales, chords, arpeggios, progressions, the history behind what you are playing! Take ear training classes -- anywhere! Train your ears free online -- Google -- free online ear training.
- Eat before arriving at the studio. It seems kind of obvious, but you would be surprised how many people show up with an empty stomach because they were running late. Hungry musicians seldom make the best music that they can, and usually get frustrated pretty quickly. Snacks are also good, they keep the work going!
- Alcohol is usually not a good thing in the studio. Strongly discouraged!
- Have your money together before you book time! Too many bands try to leverage others in the band into paying by forcing the project into the studio when the finances are not there. It usually backfires.
- Don't waste your time or the studio's. One person should represent the band when it comes to keeping schedules and paying the bill. The studio should not have to chase down individual members of the band to get paid. The band is one entity, and all are equally responsible for payment. If a member does not pay, the others are liable and expected to cover payment at the end of the session.
Songwriters
- Everybody should write music who plays it!
- Get a drum machine or drum software. Learn how to program beats, keep it simple at first. Try even and odd time signatures. Try to come up with something new every day and record it -- even a little portable cassette player will work.
- Build up a collection of parts and ideas and exchange them with the other guys in your band. You will be surprised how good it feels when someone in your band discovers a diamond in the rough on your demo tape and gets excited about -- especially when you might not have even remembered writing it. Many times it takes others too recognize the coolness of a part.
- Be prolific! Write music as often as possible. I would put my money on a band that could write one hundred songs over a band that has just ten. Write thirty and pick the best twelve or so and record them! Write more material than you need for each recording.
Guitarists
- If you have two guitar players, take the time to compare notes. Make sure that you are playing the songs correctly. Help fill in the gaps in each others styles. Map out your parts so when in the studio, nothing gets forgotten, and your tracks get recorded efficiently.
- Get your guitar set up! Good intonation is never more important than in the studio. Setting your own intonation is easy:
- Use a good tuner - Play each strings harmonic at the twelfth fret and then compare it to the fretted note on the same string at the twelfth fret.
- If the fretted notes pitch is higher (sharp) than the harmonic, detune the string, move the saddle away from the nut (toward the bottom of the guitar) a little bit and then check again with a tuner.
- If the fretted notes pitch is lower(flat) than the fretted note, then move the saddle closer to the nut (the headstock). Check again, and adjust until harmonic is same pitch as fretted note at the twelfth fret.
- Heavier strings get more tone, buzz less and record better because they have less travel (retain more tension). Bring extra packs of the strings you use to the studio - you never know how many you will go through. Many strings are defective and put out more than one note. Really listen to each string ring, and if it warbles and puts out more than one pitch, it is probably bad. This is more common with the wound strings.
Bass Players
- Bass players need to be sure to bring a new 9-volt battery if they use active pickups. New strings on the bass also sound better for recording.
Drummers
- New drum heads are a must. We like Remo pinstripe heads for toms, Remo ambassador coated for snare, and Remo power stroke 3 kick heads. Just our preference (for most rock projects). Single ply heads dent fast and will not last through a long session.
- Heavier drum sticks will typically sound punchier than lighter sticks.
- Drummers using felt beaters should turn them around! Felt should only be used for jazz. plastic hitting the head is where all of the attack comes from- with felt it comes out blurry.
- Try the DW beaters, they have a lot of mass and sound great!
- Moon jelly is great for dampening resonant drums. Do not choke off your drums with tape and dead ringers. Let them breathe. We like to tune the bottom head to the same pitch as the top head. Again, just our preference!
- The higher the cymbals are placed off of the toms, the better they and the toms will sound. When cymbals are right over and next to the toms, they bleed right into the mics and make it harder to EQ cool high end needed for the toms.
- Try playing a little lighter on the cymbals and a little harder on the kick, toms and snare! I have said this too many times to count!
- Figure out your tempos and tempo changes with a click track before you come into the studio. Map it out on paper if necessary! Time is money! Same with arrangements. Come in prepared with fills planned, and experience with a metronome.
- Every drummer should practice with a metronome a few times a week at least! Practice makes perfect, especially if we are using one to record the project with. Some drummers listen to a metronome when they are not even playing.
- Drummers should get a practice pad and learn all of the rudiments. If you are a double bass drummer, try to apply the rudiments to your feet as well as your hands. Learn to play all of them on demand.
Singers
- If you are a singer, buy a keyboard and sing with it every day! Learn the major scale on the keyboard (c d e f g a b c) and sing with it. If you play all of the black keys, you get a minor pentatonic scale, which is the basis for the blues. Singers should master AT LEAST these two scales.
- Singers should get vocal training. There are some great teachers around, and your voice is worth preserving. Singing incorrectly will damage your voice, and the older you get the better you get, so think about the future and keep your voice. If it hurts and you are hoarse at the end of the night, you pushed it too far or you are doing it wrong. How many famous singers were amazing when they were younger, but seemed to lose it as time went on and the were gaining success. Brutal is cool, but not if you lose your voice in the end. A voiceless screamer does not sound very brutal!
I hope this helps. More later.....
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