Recording Tips and Tricks
Submitted by Walter Treppler
Web Site URL: www.abovethedogs.com
Country: United States
Business Phone: 314-228-1737
Name of Recording Studio: LauberLand Studios
Studio Location: 3425Watson Rd.Suite 100 (side door upstairs) St. Louis, MO 6313
Tell us about your recording studio and the services you offer:
Above The Dogs Studios has 1186 total square feet of Recording space. It features an 821 square foot main room, 275 square foot control room and 90 square foot isolation/vocal booth. Projects include songwriter demos, commercial voice over work, custom beats, rap/hip-hop, bands and video post-production.
We have amps, keyboards and a full drum kit available at no extra charge.
Recording Tips (250 – 600 words): Getting a Good Recording (That you can be proud of.)
Quality starts with the members of the band, their instruments and the quality of the performance.
To get the most out of your recording, we suggest the following:
First, the songs you choose must be extremely well rehearsed and all parts and arrangements worked out before coming to the studio. This means all lead parts, vocals, etc. I can’t count how many hours bands have wasted trying to get the right lead part or the vocal harmony on a song. Work out vocal harmonies with an acoustic guitar so you can hear each other. Do a boom box recording for the lead guitar player to take home and work out his lead parts. You can, also, check your tempos and the groove of the songs.
Recording Tips
Second, your instruments should be in tip-top shape when you come into the session. Put new strings on guitars and/or basses (broken inthe night before). Make sure the intonation is correct. If you can, take it to a guitar tech. Amplifiers and foot pedals in working condition (new tubes if they don’t sound good). Horn valves cleaned, saxophones with all pads in good shape, keyboards in working condition (no missing keys, audio outputs in good shape, etc.).
Drums should be tuned and new heads (if you can afford it). If they don’t sound good in your basement (or wherever you rehearse) they won’t sound good on a recording. If you have more than one snare, bring them all. You might find the old junker sounds better on a recording than your high dollar one.
Third, YOU as band members are instruments. Get plenty of rest before the session. Come to the session sober and with a clear head. You may think you play/sound better when you’re drunk or stoned, but when you hear it back sober, you’ll find that this is not the case. The recording session is for getting the best version of yoursongs recorded AFTER you have all the parts worked out. Leave your“creative inspiration” for rehearsals and jam sessions.
Fourth, the mix down session can make or break the quality of the recording. Let me repeat. The mix down session can make or break the quality of the recording.
Recording Tips
If you can follow the above and knock out 3-5 songs in 3-4 hours, the rest of the studio time can be devoted to the mix. So many times bands don’t leave time enough for the mix down. This is, probably the most important part. Making sure the instruments sound good together and you can hear the parts at the appropriate places is extremely important. Adding the right amount of effects to the recording can make or break it. It’s important that you leave yourself enough time for a good mix and mastering.
Recording tips submitted by Walter Treppler of www.abovethedogs.com
Learn how to build your own recording studio.