5 Things to Consider Before Going into the Studio

So you and your band mates have decided to go into a studio, throw down some cash, and record your masterpiece. Now what? For many bands, their first experience in an actual studio environment can be intimidating. If you keep the following five factors in mind though, the process should go much more smoothly, and be infinitely less stressful.

Expect It To Take Longer Than You'd Planned

Bands sometimes think they'll be able to get into a studio space, plug in their amps, tune their guitars an immediately start laying down solid-gold tracks of awesomeness. The fact is that there is an incredible amount of set up that goes into just making sure everyone can hear what they need to hear, and that recording levels are correct. One of the biggest consumers of time is drum setup. Most engineers will spend a good chunk of time making sure the drums are mic'd properly. Incorrectly mic'd drums will be the first way to ruin your recordings.

What You Can Do To Help: For starters, tune your drums before and after you arrive at the studio. Having to both tune and set up mics for your drums will take even more of your precious time. After all, you're spending a pretty penny on this time, and the last thing you want to do is be frivolous with it. I've been in situations where engineers have to actually tune the drummer's drums for him; embarrassing and completely unnecessary.

Guitarists should have their initial, "go to" settings on their amps dialed in, or at least written down, before arriving at the studio. If you're tracking live, all playing together, chances are you'll still be doing overdubs and punch-ins later, so you might as well just get a good basic sound dialed in, and worry about locking down tones and parts at that time.

Do Your Homework

Unless you're working with some insane budget, you won't have the resources to create your album within the studio. If you have that kind of time and money, chances are this isn't your first rodeo, and by all means take your time. However, if you're scraping your pennies together for this project, do yourselves a favor and have your songs completely ready before you go into the studio. If you need to start by just recording a three or four song EP so that every song is as "tight" as it can be, do that. You can always add more songs to the list if you get done with the stuff you're really proficient with.

What You Can Do To Help: Hold at least two pre-production rehearsals with your producer and/or engineers in attendance. These are going to be the people that help craft your songs to their highest potential. Be open to their suggestions, and be honest with yourselves in regards to your performances and arrangements. Then make sure you give yourself enough rehearsal time utilizing whatever suggestions given, so that once that record button is pressed, you are all on the same page.

Focus First on Drums and Bass

It may sound all too obvious, but the bed upon which every good track lies is the rhythm section. If you spend all your time in the beginning dialing in that scorching guitar tone and forsake the drums and bass, you're short-changing the entire recording process. There's no point in having amazing guitar solos on top of mediocre sounding drums or bass lines. The first part of whatever time you have dedicated to recording should go towards tracking and locking-down the foundations of your songs.

What You Can Do To Help:If your band is a White Stripes type band without bass, then focus on the drums and whichever instrument provides that driving pulse. For the most part drum and bass punches and tweaks will probably go much faster than guitar punches and overdubs, and most certainly they'll be faster than vocal tracking. If you take care of your fundamentals first, you'll have much more time to explore the studio process with the instruments and vocal parts that sit "out-front" later.

Have Fun!

It's not every day that unsigned bands get to walk into a building and focus intensely for hours at a time on their art. The stress of this situation is palpable, and can bring about some really difficult tension within the band dynamic. It can be really easy to lose sight of why you're there and to hyper-focus on small details that ultimately will take care of themselves. If you're time in the studio is nothing but stress and "business" what's the point? It won't be enjoyable, and you'll probably never want to do it again.

What You Can Do To Help: This isn't the 1970s or 80s, so I'm not suggesting you bring a bunch of illicit substances into the studio with you, but relaxing yourself in a way that won't be detrimental to the recording process is an absolutely necessity. If that means drinking a couple of cocktails or lagers, by all means, crack open a cold one. The key is to keep yourself relaxed and focused. This is may be easier said than done, but a good balance between work and play is vital to the process. Ask your producer or engineer where the good food is around the studio, and take a break to make a run and feed everyone to their hearts' content.

It's Not An Ice Cream Social

Sure, my last tip involved telling you and your band mates to have a little fun. However, time in the studio for unsigned bands isn't a party, and really shouldn't be treated as such. You're there to record your material in the hopes that it's good enough to make people want to play it on their iPods, and car stereos. If you're too inebriated or distracted by your guests in the studio, your final product will suck and you will have essentially paid for a very expensive Frat Party with nothing to show but poorly tracked songs and a hangover.

What You Can Do To Help: Think about who you invite into the studio with you. Remember that at the end of the day, work still has to get done. Tell whomever you decide to bring along for the ride ahead of time that you want to have fun, but that you still need to get the work in, and that it has to be your primary focus. Also, don't feel the need to "put on a show" for your guests. You don't need to say or do anything to be entertaining to your guests; you need to put all that energy into the performances you're getting on tape. Yes, being in a studio is a great to look cool and sexy, but if having that special someone in the studio with you is a distraction, maybe save yourschmoozingfor another time.