We’re learning a lot about what it takes to record our band’s first album.
For your benefit and ours, we’re pulling our experiences together in this blog series (each blog will cover the basics that we learned at each point in the process).
Let our successes, our mistakes, and our lessons learned save YOU money and help you maximize your band’s time in the recording studio.
Because time is a BIG part of what it’s about.
Do you have the time?
The first thing to acknowledge is that recording an album will take time. A lot of time. Now, you may have, like me, watched the Muscle Shoals
Don’t get your hopes up.
Unless you a) are Aretha Franklin at her best and b) have the power of one of the tightest backing bands in the world at that time (The Swampers), you won’t likely get a gold record in one take.
We, unfortunately, are neither, either.
And the truth is, even Aretha Franklin, Rick Hall, and The Swampers probably wouldn’t record those tunes that way these days either. In fact, if I had to guess, the days of wholly-live records are mostly gone.
What do I mean by that?
Picture The Beatles, early in their careers, huddled around a microphone, ooooohing their way into history. Then picture The Beatles, recording the Abbey Road album, each in their own isolated sound rooms, headsets on, long hair in their faces, almost totally (and in many cases wholly) separated from each other.
Long story short, each instrument is recorded separately these days. And while you might start a song playing all together (to make sure you get the feel of the song correct), you likely won’t finish it that way. In our case, we kept ONLY the scratch vocal track (that vocal take I did on that first go). Each instrument then recorded individually, one-at-a-time, layering to build the track. This allowed each band member to record on their own, as many takes as was required to get the part exactly right.
What’s the result?
Your songs are gonna sound awesome!
But the amount of time it takes to record each song is exponentially longer than the three or four minutes it takes to play it live.
How much time, to be exact?
Well, The Rolling Stones (also featured in the Muscle Shoals documentary), in awe of the amount of focus and feeling they were able to generate at the Fame recording studios, referenced their ability to finish a their song in only a day or two, which was, apparently very quick for them.
We’re going on 150 hours in the studio so far, and we’re about two-thirds of the way done, so a day or two sounds about right for us too.
And unfortunately, that old axiom about time being money is still true these days.
Do you have the money?
The second thing to acknowledge is dammit, it won’t be cheap.
You’re going to have to come up with a lot of dough. Of course, the exact amount of dough will vary per studio and depend a lot on a) how prepared you are, and b) how extensive your arrangements will be.
Standard rates in our area are around $500 per day (with a day being a full 12 hours). You may find it for more. You may find it for less. But find out first the pedigree of your audio engineer and the gear they have in house that will be available (or for which you might have to pay extra). I’m using a Fender Super Reverb courtesy of Imirage. It sounds great, and I’m really stoked on the sound. That’s a perk. They also have a steinway. That’s a perk too, though it’s a little bit extra per song to cover their insurance.
Bottom line – do your due diligence on pricing.
As for arrangements, you’ll likely need to pay the players who come in to play for you (if they’re not members of your band). Rates for this vary greatly! Can you offer them a chance of playing with the band later? Will you buy them dinner while they’re recording? Both of those might soften the blow a bit, but remember, they’re there for you, on their own time, so talk about it before hand so there are no surprises.
And let me say this, if you’re going to spend many thousands of dollars on an album that will represent your band or your project for years and years to come (and if you want your work to contend with what’s out there now), make your arrangements shine. Drop an extra couple thousand and pay for the time and the people to add that marimba, or that accordion, and set yourselves apart. You’ll thank me.
And in the end…
I’ll end this first blog by saying this:
This blog is, unfortunately, not in real time. What I mean is, we started this process a couple months ago. My head is finally above water enough to write something more than a stream of n’s, face mashed against the keyboard having fallen asleep (giving evidence to the time crunch and sleep deprivation you’ll likely experience too).
That said, I’m doing my best to
a) put myself in the shoes of me, two months younger (and slightly thinner, given the amount of junk food you eat in the studio – though it’s amazing the amount of food groups can be satisfied by chips, if you just believe..)
and
b) sum up the important parts you’ll find interesting and humorous.
This is and has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Working with the other members of The Pretty Unknown (Mac Esposito, Karl Busch, and Aaron Edgcomb), Tom Gordon at Imirage Sound Lab, and our sit-in instrumentalists (who have thus far included Corky Bennett and Jef Derdarian), has been a dream come true.
Can’t wait to keep you updated and we’re shooting for an album release in August 2014. But be aware, if that date changes, it’s only because it’s taking more of that precious time I talked about above to create our first album – but we’re sure it’ll be worth it!
Cheers!
The Pretty Unknown
A pop band in Reno taking over the world, one diminished chord at a time.
READ “LESSONS LEARNED PART 2: PRE PRODUCTION” HERE
PS!!!
We’re proud to announce the release of our first single: Me and the Moon.
Get it from CD Baby HERE. It’ll be on iTunes and Amazon shortly.
We’ll be launching our Kickstarter shortly where you’ll be able to help fund our project, and get all sorts of great swag from The Pretty Unknown while you’re at it. For now, enjoy our first tune. It’ll be up on youtube shortly, but it’s up here first!