Click It or...Have a Poor Recording.

Hello kiddies...Tales from the Crypt anyone? Anyhoo, welcome back, all. Glad to see your shinning faces once again. That's right, I can see you right now. Do not be alarmed.

Today we'll be discussing the importance of the seemingly elusive metronome (or click). Use of a metronome in practice, performing, and especially studio recording will make you a better artist/band by improving your internal clock, and save you time and money in the studio.

In a band setting it is most beneficial for the drummer to have a click so they stay on time and then the rest of the band can follow. This translates magnificently into a live setting, especially when the drummer continues to use the click during performances. The easiest way to do this is create the click track in Garage Band, or any other recording software, and load it onto an MP3 player for the drummer. The biggest reason to do this is groove. The foundation to any band is the rhythm section. If it's not locked in, then the rest of the band can't get locked in, and the people attempting to enjoy your music can't get locked in. This translates into a poor experience for everyone, and you don't keep band members or fans around if you can't quite nail this down.

As a solo artist (you and an acoustic guitar and/or piano for instance), it is extremely advantageous to practice and/or perform to a click for the same reasons listed above. Especially because when there are no drums, you and your instrument becomes the rhythm section.

In a studio session, this is key for many reasons. First of all, if you're used to practicing to a click, then recording to a one shouldn't throw you off at all. This should make your sessions go much smoother and cause you to take less time in the studio, which is the first way it will save you money. The second way is that when you record to a click, the engineer will spend much less time in the editing stage making sure all your instruments line up with each other; another crucial aspect to a quality final product in many cases.

What does this mean for everyone? Figure out the tempos to all your songs, and practice to a click. It's going to be a little odd at first if you haven't done it before, but you'll get used to it as long as you stick with it.

Good luck, kids!

Kyle

Studio Efficiency Part Three: Pre-Production and Performance

Howdy, kiddies! Welcome back. Today's installment is part three of my Studio Efficiency series. Its focus will be on the importance of pre-production and performance and how they directly affect studio efficiency, how much money you're spending, and your over all experience.

So I'm going to assume you've read Studio Efficiency Part One: Planning and Part Two: Cost, and now feel you are in a good place to start choosing your studio and potentially your producer. Once you have all that set up and a start date confirmed it's time to turn your focus to the music.

Pre-production is the most important part of the album preparation process. It is the one that has the potential to save you the most money, time and headaches. This is also when you really want to consider pulling a producer in. As I covered in Studio Efficiency Part One: Planning, one of the producers job is to monitor flow of the project. The other part of his job is to help the band/artist through the pre-production and writing period.

During this period you will make final decisions as to what songs are going on the album (LP or EP), and finalizing every single part of them so that the only experimentation going on in the studio is that of the sonic aspect and quality of each instrument. This is also the time when you will perfect your performance of each part. Get down every guitar lick, every drum fill, and every melodica solo. And work out all vocal melodies and harmonies as well as deciding who will play what part.

There are many reasons a producer is highly valuable at this stage (as well as every other stage). One being, he/she is an outside member of the band and therefore has an objective opinion (ideally). The producer can succeed in being objective because the songs weren't written by them and they shouldn't be emotionally attached to any one particular tune. This is important because he/she can be the mediator in any band disagreements and look at it from a "what's the best decision for this record" point of view. The other reason having an outside-the-band perspective is huge is the producer may bring a different musical element to the songs, pushing them in a unique, new, or interesting direction. For a young band/artist, it is even more important to obtain the services of a producer because, ideally, he/she has more song writing and studio experience than the artist and can be a mentor throughout the entire process.

The point is to walk into the studio having a near perfect plan so no time or money is wasted. In the recording industry, it is an expectation of you , the artist, to have your music ready when you come into the studio. As we discussed in Studio Efficiency Part Two: Cost, there are different ways that studios may charge you. If you're getting charged hourly, then the consequence is obvious. The more time you take to figure things out in the studio, the more money you're spending. If the studio is charging you a flat rate for you album with an hour cap, they may get frustrated because you're essentially using your recording time as rehearsal. Both of these are hugely detrimental to your budget, final product, and most imporantly, your experience.

Creating music is a truly magical thing, and getting the opportunity to put that music into a medium that can be treasured for decades to come is far too important to have ruined by something as avoidable as lack of planning and preparation. If you've read all three parts of this series (Planning, Cost, and Pre-Production/Performance), you should be on your way to properly planning for one of the most amazing experiences of your life.

Now go make me some music. You have 120GB to fill up on this damn iPod I just spent a ton of money on...yes this is your responsibility. :-)

Any questions? Hit me up. kyle@artisanslabel.com series.

Studio Efficiency Part Two: Cost

Back for more, eh? How’d the planning go? Ready for the next step in the process? Either way, lets dive in!

Pricing structures vary from studio to studio, so it may help to find out which you’re working with prior to the planning stage. Some places have a per song charge, some a day rate, and some are hourly. Keep in mind that day rate and per song structures usually have a limit (or cap) on hours. Find out what that limit is, and compare it to your plan. Can you get everything done under the cap? If not, what’s the charge for going over?

Another typical rate policy is a reduced hourly rate for a specific number of estimated hours for the project (i.e. 75 hours estimated for 5 songs, or 15 hours per song) and then anything over the initial estimation can hike back up to the normal hourly rate – similar to going over the cap on a per song or day rate.

These are things that can end up costing you a lot of money over the course of the project. The best way to avoid pitfalls in the estimated hours pricing structure is to estimate high. Add a two to five hour buffer to your per song estimation to be safe. When you’re doing hour estimations, and paying hourly, most studios will only charge you for what you actually use so there’s no danger in estimating high. If it’s a flat rate(as in the per song charge or day rates), then you pay that amount and likely will not get any sort of refund for going under the hour cap.

I want to quickly address what some of you are probably thinking. If you haven’t tackled the planning phase yet, then 15+ hours per song may sound like a lot. When, however, you start to break down the recording process piece by piece, it will start to make sense. Keep in mind when I estimate 15 hours for a band, just about half of that is editing and mixing. Average edit/mix time on a commercial track is 8-14 hours per song. If you listen to tunes on the radio and like the sonic quality, then you have to realize that’s the time it takes to get them to that point. That being said, at a mid-level studio, you’re probably looking at about 6-8 hours per song. This is usually because mid-level facilities are the destination of the more budget conscience artists who can’t afford the $1,000 per day it can take to have it done at a high-level studio like Ocean Way or NRG. Most importantly, the mixing process is where the song will fly or crash and burn; it would be a serious miscalculation to cut it short.

All the above advice will save you much time, headaches, and money in the studio. And when you’re trying to concentrate on being creative while recording, it’s nice to have all these kinks worked out ahead of time.

Next weeks’ “Studio Efficiency Part Three” will focus on performances and the importance of pre-production.

Mixing Patience: A Time and Money Saver

What's up kids? I'll be your Saturday blog host for this and every Saturday after for God knows how long. I know what you're all thinking, "a blog on Saturday?" I might as well be in the Fox Friday night T.V. lineup. But I digress...

Howdy! My name is Kyle Griffin. I'm the House Engineer here at ArtiSans Label Studios on Fender Avenue. What I bring to the table is my passion, professionalism, and killer set of ears that I have individually insured (just like America Ferrera’s teeth…those are some serious chompers). I'm absolutely in love with every aspect of music-making and get a high from being a part of every step. As far as the education goes, I have a B.A. in Recording Arts and am a Digidesign certified Pro Tools Operator.

Okay, so none of that matters. I know you're all here to read the random meanderings of my infinite wisdom...or at least the crap that I think I know :)

So today I'm going to go on a quick rant about having mixing patience. When it comes time to have your album mixed, I promise it will not save time, money or your sanity to be there during the initial mix process. What it comes down to, and what needs to be understood, is it's going to sound like crap before it's going to sound good...that's just the way it works. So when the singer is asking to have more reverb on his voice when the engineer is trying to balance the snare and kick drum, it's not helping the efficiency of the process. It is, however, costing you (the artist) more money. Every time the engineer has to stop and explain it to the singer, then the guitar player, then the keys player, et cetera, et cetera (the bass player’s opinion doesn’t matter…take that JC!), it’s going to cost you cash.

My suggestion: Don’t be there for the initial mixing. Some studios and/or mixing engineers already have this as a policy. Instead, let the mixing engineer do the initial mix then come in for a review session where you go over specific changes. What everyone needs to remember is that the initial, or "base mix", isn't the final product - there’s nothing you can do or say during the initial mixing that can’t wait for a review session (i.e. featuring certain guitar parts, tighten up the bass, or bring up the floor tom).

Also, have a “post-production” session with your mix engineer before he gets to work where you go over all the specific things you want done. Also in this session, you want to give the engineer a list of albums that you love the production on so they can use them as reference.

Now I know this is going to be a major problem for some of you, so here are my suggestions: Find a mixer that you believe in. If you know you like their final product, then believe in their process. Or, find a mixer that doesn’t mind you being there.

Until next time!

Kyle

www.artisanslabel.com

studio.artisanslabel.com