A Typical Recording Session
Recording Times
A 5 song demo requires about 34 hours (2 or 3 days to record the basic tracks, vocals, harmonies, and solos, plus one or two days to mixdown and master). A good rule of thumb is: 1 minute of recorded music = 1½ hours of studio time. Here's a "typical" recording project breakdown:
The Day Before The Session
We'll have your drummer come in to set up, tune, and get the drum sound the day before the session. When the drummer leaves, the board, mics, and drum kit are set and ready for the session the next day. Since drums tuned for stage use are different from studio drums, we suggest you use one of our drum sets, since it's fine-tuned to the room and we can get an awesome drum sound with them. We have six different snares to choose from. Bring your own cymbals, snare, kick drum pedal, and drum seat if you like. Of course, you're free to use your own drum set, but figure on a lot more setup time
Day 1, Basic Rhythm Tracks
The bass can go direct to the board, or to our Ampeg SVT-II preamp or your bass player's rig. We'll usually mike the guitar amps and we have the Peavy classic 50 tube head with a Marshall 1960 "A" cabinet with Celstion Greenbacks, SansAmp TRI O.D,. and a Randall HT100 head, all of which have an incredible range of great guitar sounds, avalible at no extra charge.
Song 1 usually takes about 3 to 4 hours to record (including guitar amp setup, placing microphones, eliminating hums, hiss, and buzzes, setting headphone levels, getting everybody warmed up, etc.).
The rest of the songs take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or so per song, depending on the number of takes or effects needed. (One song will take a lot longer than the other songs - I don't know why - it just works out that way.) Figure about 6 to 8 hours for the basic session. It's a very long day but we'll take a lot of breaks. All you're going for on Day 1 is a good drums/bass/rhythm groove with a scratch vocal. The singer shouldn't push on any of the vocals today.
Day 2, Solos, Overdubs, and Vocals
You'll add solos, and possibly redo some tracks because you came up with something better. That takes about 5 hours. You did rough vocals during the basic session to help with timing. Now, you'll do the finished vocals & harmonies if you didn't blow your voice during Day 1. Figure on about 2 to 5 hours for vocals.
Day 3, Mixdown Session (Several Days Later)
Final mixdowns take about 4 hours for the first song and about an hour each for the rest of the songs. You'll listen on different speaker systems (we can even broadcast directly to your car radio, using our FM stereo transmitter) and we'll adjust the sound to get the best compromise for the final mix. Figure about 8 hours for mixdowns, or longer. Add another 4 hours for mastering. A "typical" five song recording project runs something like this:
Session Hours
Drum Setup 2
Basic Tracks 10
Solos & Overdubs 5
Vocals & Harmonies 3
Mixdown 8
Mastering 4
Total 38
Quality
What kind of quality can you expect for your money? Expect a finished DAT, cassette, or CD that's as good as any pre-recorded product and meets FM Broadcast standards. We use only high quality chrome, high-bias cassettes. or CD-Rs that you can send to radio stations and sell in clubs. Expect CD sound quality, but not on the cassette - only in the studio, on your DAT, or a CD. Cassettes don't have the dynamic range. The new trend in mastering for cassettes and radio compresses everything and boosts the overall level of the final mix. This is a trade-off that sacrifices some of the dynamic range for a punchy final product that's "in your face". We include mastering at no additional charge.