Guitar Gear

I just read this excellent article on SonicScoop on the importance pre-production work and how many artists/bands haven’t done their homework prior to going into the studio or finding a producer. Then the author finishes up with two approaches to cutting an album: The “insane” way and the “smart” way. Of course, he advocates for the smart way, but more importantly, the underlying message of the post is simply this: Before you even think about going into the studio, know what you want to accomplish and also rehearse, play shows, rehearse, play shows, and repeat.

The point is to hone your skills at playing your music. Especially if you’re in a band, make sure the parts that each member plays are completely worked out. What you don’t want to do is spend studio time (read: MONEY) figuring stuff out. You want to know what you’re going to do going in; know how you’re going to sound. If you have any doubts, just don’t do it.

I’ve been wanting to cut another album after having done it myself over a decade ago. Friends have encouraged me to do this. But I’ve actually been reluctant because this time, I want to use different musicians other than myself. In order for me to do this, I need to get the musicians I ask to learn my music, and before we all head into the studio, I want everyone to practice together – a lot. Make sure the bass is playing where I want them. Make sure the drums are funky enough, etc.

And even before I go into the studio, I’ve got to find a studio and engineer that I can work with and who “gets” my music. I went back into the studio a few years ago and worked with an engineer who kept on making “suggestions” that were almost always contrary to the vision I had for my songs. That got annoying pretty quickly, and I had to shut him down pretty hard by telling him I knew what I wanted and I didn’t want his suggestions unless they had to do with the mix and production.

Then, as a drummer, he would “volunteer” his drumming on my songs as I recorded the drums in my demos with MIDI hits and loops.  Moreover, he just didn’t get the style I was after. Luckily, I didn’t have to pay for his work unless I used his drum tracks, and his drumming was just not that inspiring, so I never used them except for clicks.

But it just wasn’t the engineer. I also wasn’t fully prepared. I hadn’t done all the pre-production work. For instance, my songs were brand new, and I hadn’t performed them enough to really figure out how I wanted them recorded. I also didn’t go into the studio with enough material. That’s a huge mistake. You need to have enough to throw away. Even if you’re just doing an EP, which was what I was intending to do, you should have more material than what would fit on the album. Oh well… live and learn…

The point to all this is that before you go into the studio, there’s so much that you have to do to be prepared. Your performance needs to be a foregone conclusion long before you get into a sound booth, and you need to have lots of material. Nothing beats preparations. It’ll save you time and money in the long run. For those of us on a budget, that’s critical.

Here’s the link to the article again. I highly recommend you read it!