How to use a recording studio?

F

farmskis

New member
I have some basic recording equipment and I want to get started doing a little recording. Except I feel that I do not have the skills to do what I want to do yet so I want to potentially use a commercial studio. I have no idea how to even get started with this since I have never used one before. I do not know what to look for or what to ask or even how to figure out where to go. I was hoping someone on here could guide me. I will tell you a little about the project and any help would be appreciated.

I live in Maine and my wife is a worship leader at a church. We are moving and we want to send some examples of her voice to churches in our new area as like a demo. She does not really have access to a band so probably would use backing tracks or possibly a pianist. Is this something a studio would do? How do I set up the time and what is a cost I would potentially be looking at? Any advice is welcome as I am a total newbie in the recording world.
 
Hi

Most of the bigger commercial studios tend to work with sessions musicians, and they can certainly create the backing tracks, and then your wife would just go in and sing her part...BUT....that can get expensive.

There are also plenty of online production services that can generate backing tracks less expensively...BUT...you would have to record your wife's singing, and send that to them to mix with the backing tracks.

I suggest you look around locally for some semi-commercial, project studio where you can 1.) get the backing tracks inexpensively, and 2.) bring in your wife to record her singing. There are a lot of home studio folks who have that capability and can do a great job...so you don't need to go to some big commercial studio just for a basic demo for worship/church purposes. I mean, it's not like you are compiling an album CD for commercial release.

You will simply have to do some hunting in your area to see what is available.
Also...if you can't locate any smaller, project/home type studios, but there are some more formal commercial studios...don't hesitate to stop by, tell them what you are after, and they will either be willing and reasonable in pricing...or at least be able to point you in another direction.

That said...you can find all kinds of backing tracks online...many for free.
If you have even some skill where you can record your wife's voice along with those backing tracks...you might be able to do it yourself.
If this was anything more than basic demo for her voice...I would understand your reluctance due to your skill concerns...but with some backing tracks ready, all you need is a mic, a decent room, some headphone for her to hear the tracks while she sings and you record her.
 
Get your feet wet man. You will not know what you can do until you try.

I started from just wanting to record my own band. It evolved to much more over 30 years. We all learn from experience.

Every little detail makes us better. Learn and evolve..
 
If your church is got a pretty decent size congregation I'd be willing to bet you have someone there that knows someone who has or has access to a home or project studio. Have you tried posting an ad at your church? Networking is the way to go
 
I have a regular client, who've I've worked with for over 30 year, and she's prepared and quick. She can come in WITH a track and walk out with her voice on it in under two hours - and if she does it in my down time - perhaps squeezed in between two other jobs, I'll charge her £30. If somebody comes in with sheet music, and wants it recorded as a piano backing then as I'm really a bass player, I can spend a couple of hours playing it and then editing out the many mistakes - especially if it's hard. Not a note recorded. Or, I can email the pdf scan of the music to a colleague who can return it within half an hour normally as a MIDI file from his studio, and that's going to cost another £30 for him on top of my time. If they want things orchestrated with loads of instruments from listening to a commercial track and mimicking it as a new project, then that can take a couple of days. If the singer turns up and isn't studio savvy, then on one son g we can easily be into ten or twenty attempts, which then need comping to produce the best version. Time wise - we can easily move into more than one day - perhaps three depending on what's needed. A 3 minute track can cost hundreds - and the people asking for prices never understand why they vary so much. If your wife can find a decent backing track, it shouldn't be too expensive and studios are fine with this kind of thing - as long as the tracks are good. My worst scenarios are when somebody turns up with a simply awful track, and I don't really want my name attaching to it.
 
Google studios in the area. Email them, telling them what you want and your budget. Downloaded MIDI tracks might help. The one that said about asking in your church is right. If nobody does know one, there might well be a computer whizz that knows is will be quick to learn a Digital Audio Workstation.
 
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