10 hours of studio time...

[marcccc]

Can someone tell me what you can get done in 10 hours of a studio. Our band got 10 free hours of recording time in this studio in hollywood called Emuna. Anyway, we were debating what songs we should do and how many and so forth. My question is, what you usually get done in about 10 hours. I dont know exaclty what they (the studio) has there, but I'm pretty sure its up to todays standards of recording. We are a three piece rock band with not much complexity in our music. In other words our songs are short, simple and we are a small band. This is our first time in a "real studio" We have recorded our first cd in our lead singers lving room with a br-8 and came our ok, but nothing satisfying, so we have experienced a little with recording. What can I expect for a first time in the studio, on 10 hours of recording?
Thanks for anything,
-Marc

[Prism]

Wow...lucky break! You could potentially waste 10 hours in a studio, but if you ask questions in advance and be prepared, I bet you could get a good number of tunes on tape. It might help to have a producer to assist you. Someone with experience who you can rely on to make good decisions and won't waste your time.

Isaiah

[Shailat]

It depends on what youre expetations are.

I suggest you rehearse your asses of playing together as a band.
Get as tight as you can playing together.
Make sure your instruments are in top shape before you go into the studio.
Make sure the song is well thought out way before you go in to record.
Record the band live and dont overdub unless needed.

Dont mess around in the studio and work focused and you can get 3-4 songs recorded well with a nice rough mix.

[noground]

I've known of bands that have done like a full length album in 10 hours and also some that have gotten 1 song done in that time

If your whole band stays on the same instruments for all the songs, the drumset is not that big, etc... and you can do it all live in a couple takes, you could probably get a good 30 minutes on tape before you are out of there. Keep in mind that much of the time is set up (setting everything up in the room, miking all the instruments). If that only has to be done once in this session (i.e. none of you change instuments ) then you can just play through all of your songs (if you can do them well) in the amount of time that it takes to play the songs. Also mixing will be easy because the levels will be mostly the same for every song.

If by chance the vocals are complicated and will take a while to get right in the studion don't expect to get more than a couple songs done cause you NEED to make sure you leave enough time for vocals (people often don't realize the time that should be left to do these)

best of luck with it!

[blackbuck]

I've been in the same situation. What we did was bust 8 songs, laying down the drums (once miked), guitar, bass, and vocal simultaneously, as if live, doing 3-4 takes. Then for the primary four songs we went back and had the drummer retrack/fix the drums, then the same with the bass, then the same for me, then the vocalist.

Though, what I'd suggest is to just do 3-4 songs. We ran out of time and had to go back and had to compromise on some of the vocals. Mysteriously the vocals really become a bitch once you really get into it. Same with the drums. Once you start tweeking things, you have to make sure to go full bore or else the initial "live" recordings sound better!

I say plan on 3-4, have two more ready "just in case".

[mixmkr]

generally, I think sonusman's reply is pretty much on target.

a couple additional suggestions to sonusman's practical and reasonable schedule.

1. spend the first 5/10 minutes discussing this outline with the engineer...that way you'll all be on the same page. I would suspect that any decent engineer would intiate this conversation anyway. But....most likely, your engineer for this "prize" recording session will most likely be the only engineer (and/or owner)...or the 2nd engineer, who will also act as your tracking/mixing engineer, producer, person who tells you where the bathroom is, etc....

2. agreed on the silly questions.....like..skip 'em (such as, "you can fix that guitar/bass mistake in the mix...right??") yeah...you maybe can...but play it right in the first place...huh???

3. Possibly your 3 piece band can "kick ass" in a "live" situation, and you might think all you need is just an accurate *documentation* of what you do in on pass (take...ala no overdubs). yes....maybe no... But general CURRENT trends are, you can do more for your music audio quality by singing AFTER rhythm tracks, etc. Same for solos, etc. So....can you play your stuff without singing at the same time??(either as a reference or a guide to playing). If not, scratch vocals will be a necessity, and a whole 'nother post about going in that direction.

4. Just repeating....let your engineer/producer/butt wiper....be your tour guide to this session. Don't worry about the clock...a competent engineer with a well specified goal will do that for you.

5. Repeat...use sonusman's time frames...they are logical...accept no others....they are wrong!! (generally)

6. Have a KICK ASS, MUTHA F*CKIN', GOOD TIME!!!!!

[jeffteel]

Sonusman is spot on!

I haven't been in a studio for 7 years, but the last time I was, it was ugly.
We were trying to do a better demo than we could on our 8-track. We thought we were missing just a few little things.
Man, we were all f*%&ed up!
Sonusman is so right about the drums. We spent two freakin' hours tuning drums! We always thought they sounded fine, but what a difference in the clarity of the rythym with those babies tuned well.
And my setup sucked too. I had the gain on my Mesa/Boogie up to a minimum of 8 when I normally played...plus I used stomp boxes on top of that. I had the bass and treble at about 7 or 8 each, with the mids on about 3! I thought I was it! Then the engineer convinced me to lower the gain and bump up the mids. It sounded weird at first, but when I listened to the tune played back with the lower gain track...wow...I haven't been the same since. The guitar is a mid-ranged instrument...don't scoop the mids. And lower the gain if you don't want it to sound like mush.
We intended to record 4 songs, but only got one finished. But man did we learn a lot. That one polished tune got us more gigs than the 4 we had originally recorded on our 8-track.
Hey man...good luck to you.

[BBB]

Also, I want to overemphasize the importance of being well rehearsed with your songs ahead of time. The studio is not a place to try new harmonies, experiment, or write new parts to songs (unless you have an unlimited budget). It is a place to record. Have your songs well practiced and you will be much more efficient in the studio.


Matt

[sjoko2]

cool post sonus. The biggest selling single I've ever recorded, a #1 worldwide (a bloody long time ago), was recorded, mixed and mastered in a little under 2 hours.

The best way to do a lot in little time is to go back to the "old" way of doing things - rehearse your asses off until everything is as tight as a duck's ass (watertight!), get into the studio, and play live. What does it take? WORK REHEARSE WORK

By the way - PLEASE visit my post in the cave "Pete Bardens seriously ill" I need you guys to help.

[necromancing]

Wow! Thanks Sonusman. We recently got a new drummer and plan to go into the studio shortly. It's hard to beleive, but he is a perfectionist when it comes to tuning his drums. I'm glad to see we picked the right guy.

Secondly, I like what you said about the mid-range on the guitars. I'm the guitarist, and I always wondered if the midrange should be turned up higher. I think it sounds better that way too.

But I'm curious, what does "intonate" mean, and why can't I do it myself. Why do the bass and guitar need to be "intonated" before recording.

Can somebody help me out?

Thanks.

[BBB]

Setting the intonation is the process of adjusting the string lengths so that each note along the same string is in tune along the fretboard.

To adjust the intonation of your instrument, compare the 12th fret harmonic with the 12th fret fretted note, either by ear or by tuner. Both should be the exact same note. If they are off, move the bridge or bridge saddles closer or farther from the neck of the instrument until the notes are in tune. For example, if the fretted note is flat compared to the harmonic, the string length from the 12th fret to the bridge is too long and the bridge saddle must be moved closer to the neck.


Matt

[Dolemite]

Originally posted by BBB

Setting the intonation is the process of adjusting the string lengths so that each note along the same string is in tune along the fretboard.

To adjust the intonation of your instrument, compare the 12th fret harmonic with the 12th fret fretted note, either by ear or by tuner. Both should be the exact same note. If they are off, move the bridge or bridge saddles closer or farther from the neck of the instrument until the notes are in tune. For example, if the fretted note is flat compared to the harmonic, the string length from the 12th fret to the bridge is too long and the bridge saddle must be moved closer to the neck.


Matt

OK, keep in mind that I'm an idiot and I just started learning guitar, but could you explain this in a little simpler terms? Is this something better left to a luthier or is this something I can do with a tuner and some patience?

Thanks

[vox]

It's easy to do with a tuner and some patience.

Tune the guitar with the tuner as close to perfect as you can get it.
When you fret the twelfth (or 24th) fret it should be the same note as the open string only an octave (or 2) higher, if it isn't it means that the string length from the 12th fret to the bridge is wrong, if it is sharp it means that the string is too short, if it's flat it means that the string is too long.

Almost all electric guitars have a way that the bridge saddles can be moved, on strats it's just a screw that when tightened pulls the saddle back and when loosened lets it go forward.

[tubedude]

Heres what I would do in ADDITION to everything mentioned, based on experience...
This is the way I think, and this is smart... find out what the studio books per hour, for example, lets say $40 an hour... thats $400 for 10 hours. Get your bandmates and yourself to split that amount of money however many ways, and buy yourself a 2nd day. Thats TWO days in the studio for the price of one. More time to set up drums, more time to track, more time for for precious layering. The 2nd day is always smoother than the 1st (usually). If you dont buy an extra day, you are nuts. Then devote at least half of the second day getting the best mix possible. You can spend 10 hours just MIXING a song sometimes. Get the second day. Besides, that turns into twice the experience. Also, spend the time between 1st and second day reviewing the song... sometimes something cool you never thought of pops up when you hear the rough mixes (that you take WITH YOU TO LISTEN TO THAT NIGHT) already sound fantastic and it sparks creativity cause it almost sounds like a new song.
2nd... while setting up your equipment, inquire as to what equipment the studio has. Sometimes an old vox hanging around will totally destroy the clean sound that YOUR amp has. Go for the vox. If they have, say, a Marshall 900 head, and you have a Mesa... by all means, track left with the Mesa and right with the Marshall. Add as many colors as you can.
3rd) You wouldn't believe how grueling it gets playing a song that you've already played 2,000 times 8 times in a row. To top it off, when you go back and layer stuff, you're gonna play it anywhere from 2 to 10 more times. Then you're gonna listen to it a few times. Then you're gonna hear it at least a million more times during mixdown. Be prepared for this, it is cumbersome and makes you almost dislike your own music. By be prepared, I mean mentally be ready to give your best performance everytime. You;d be surprised how performance gets crappy when you are tired of playing the song.
As an example, go get a CD, find any random song, and listen to it 10 times repeatedly. Torture. Now try that about 30 times and you get the picture.
4th) Kinda keep the talk down and let the engineer do his job, but DO ask smart questions. You can learn a ton if the engineer is cool. Keep an eye on what he does during mixdown and what kind of EQ and effects he uses, and TAKE NOTES on them. This will help you by:
1) You can attempt to recreate some of the things live
2) You can learn to do some of it yourself at the home studio
3) If the guy is real good at carving space, you, of course, will post mp3's of everything and tell us what he did to make everything fit real nice!!!
4) You can post everything you learned on this site and maybe help us the way we are helping you!!!
Peace,
Paul

[mixmkr]

buying a 2nd day, isn't such a bad idea.....BUT....that's exactly why the studio *donated* its free time in the first place..

...oh and extra CD copies at $5, plus..gotta redo that lead vocal on song 2, hey..."we got a good recording....we need to go back.".....etc, etc

you studio owners hear this???

[Dolemite]

Originally posted by vox
It's easy to do with a tuner and some patience.

Tune the guitar with the tuner as close to perfect as you can get it.
When you fret the twelfth (or 24th) fret it should be the same note as the open string only an octave (or 2) higher, if it isn't it means that the string length from the 12th fret to the bridge is wrong, if it is sharp it means that the string is too short, if it's flat it means that the string is too long.

Almost all electric guitars have a way that the bridge saddles can be moved, on strats it's just a screw that when tightened pulls the saddle back and when loosened lets it go forward.

Ahhhh, OK, that's much cleared for a simpleton like myself, thanks man. I always wondered what my Tune-o-matic bridge was for! Hehe...

Another dumb question here: there's no similar bridge adjustment on (most) acoustic guitars (I think I've seen it on a few), so is is just not needed or is this where Mr. Luthier comes in and dicks around with the truss rod and all that?