The great Hunter S.
Thompson once wrote, “The music business is a cruel and
shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps
run free and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative
side.” Fortunately, we can
help!
Here are a few things to consider before your arrival at the
studio:
- Plan your material and rehearse it the way you
want to record it,
preferably with a cassette recorder. You can add anything that
strikes your fancy in the studio
(and it will!), but it's always good to start with a plan.
- Talk to us beforehand about how you want it
done (the FREE
pre-production meeting!). Tell us exactly what you
want so we
can make sure you get it. If you have a better approach, we're
all
ears! And feel free to be as vague or precise as you like. Send us email! Also,
giving us a clue about your plans a day or two before each session
helps us to be more prepared.
- Don't forget to get clearances if you're using
someone else's material (here's a good place to find them). We'd like
a copy for our records, also.
- If you're making a CD with packaging, don't forget artwork
and replication (like Discmakers and Oasis). We will provide the
master CD for the replicator to make thousands of them for you.
- We'll be ready with as much set
up beforehand as is practical. If you need extra setup time
you're welcome come over a little early. "Be prepared."
- If you need extra musicians or actors (the "talent"), we can
get you in contact with them.
- Even though we can edit the cold out of the talent's nose
(sonically, not medically), try to be well and well-rested.
- Bottled water is provided in unlimited quantities.
Remember to take breaks!
- De-luxe accomodations and excellent dining are located
nearby.
Once you get here:
- Relax and let the living-room vibe take you
back to your own living room. If you make a mistake there's no
need to apologize. Some of the
greatest recordings are great because of sheer repetition (see Beatles,
below).
- We will take care of the details so you only need to
create. If you notice anything wrong, or would like to change
anything, let us know; we'll fix it! If it's the middle of a song
and something goes terribly wrong, might as well stop; balance this
with your quest for serendipity. If there's a minor mistake, that
can usually be fixed by punching in, a process where a track is
recorded only for a moment while the line is re-sung or the note is
fixed.
- Please don't blow on microphones; they already live a harsh
life, and some can be damaged by wind. If one needs to be moved,
let us know; we'll move it out of your way.
- Leave a little silence before and after each piece.
Some otherwise excellent takes have been spoiled by an enthusiastic
"That was GREAT!" as the last note fades. This makes it great
only if you want to keep that.
- Speaking of great takes, consider taking one more after
that, "for fun". The pressure to perform is now off,
and sometimes that leads to an even greater take!
- If your song is to fade out, play about twice as long as you
expect the fade to be, at full force. The fade will be added
later. Or not, as some fades can be very effective when done
live.
- If you're recording a spoken-word piece, like poetry or a
voice-over, don't worry about comments during the recording; extensive
editing is a routine part of the process and taking out a spoken title
or
reference is really really quick, and even saves time if it helps keep
track of
what's going
on.
How the whole process works:
- First, you decide what you want to
record. During the process, you may change your mind; some song
isn't turning out how you had imagined, for whatever reason, or you
have a new one you'd like to add. That's fine; it happens all the
time. You can't delay creativity.
- Come in and discuss
your plan and tour the studio! Free
tours of a modern recording studio! You can't go wrong!
We will set up a flexible schedule.
- Maybe you have decided to include a guest artist or session player.
For example, you wrote the Sonata for Kazoo and Piano, but you don't
play the piano; you'll need an pianist and we have a stable full of
them. Or maybe you feel your CD will sell better if Keith
Richards is on it; we'll give him a call.
- Then we start recording,
as outlined above. The first few takes you may be a bit unsure,
and while that's true of almost everything one does, here it's not a
time-waster at all. Sometimes we have to explore the nature of
the material and the sound of the instrument to decide how to get the
best results, but after that it's smooth and quick.
After all, it's not rocket surgery, but it is brain science.
- So now you've recorded all your material. Next we mix it to get the most pleasing
sound (or whatever sound you are after). To do this we may add a
little reverb to place the sound in a natural-sounding space (you don't
sing with your mouth in someone's ear, like a microphone), or a little
more treble to make that electric guitar really twang, adjust the choir
so they are way back in the back and off to the left, make the cello
ring from the mountops and through the canyons; stuff like that.
This is what they're doing when you see a picture of a studio and
everyone is looking really happy because there are a million knobs in
front of them and they can turn them. You probably want to attend
at least the final part of this, because this is where you really get
what you want from your work.
- Once you have a final mix that sounds like your dream, it's
time for mastering. This
will create a CD that's ready for mass production. Professional
responsibility requires us to suggest using a separate mastering
engineer, because he or she will have a new set of ears, and will make
adjustments to the tone and volume of each selection to create a
unified sound over the whole CD. Loud songs may be softened, and
that song in which you decided not to use a bass may get a little more
low-frequency to let the other instruments fill that range so it
doesn't sound just anemic next to the others. And
nothing says you have to go outside; at Foxtail Sound we can do this
step for you; mastering is one of the services we do well. If
you've heard of the "loudness
wars", we participate in that only if you
want us to. Musical reasons persuade us not to participate, sales
reasons tempt us to follow along. It's entirely your preference.
- At some point you will probably want to work with a graphic
artist to develop the artwork
that will be on the packaging. This is the time you would want
that part of the project to be completed. We have a graphic
artist on our staff that can help you with package selection and layout.
- Now that you have your finished CD, you will need
copies. Replication can
be as simple as taking your master home and copying on your
computer. If you like, Foxtail Sound can do this for you in small
quantities. If you need hundreds or thousands, there are many
commercial replicators that will do it at reasonable cost per CD.
Most of our customers that do this make 1000 at first. They also
offer many styles of packaging, such as Jewel Case, Thinline Case, and
DigiPak™, among others. There are styles that use no plastic.
Terminology:
- The "Talent"
is you,
the person or persons being
recorded, as opposed to the engineer (the
button-pusher who has talent
also) or the producer
(who frequently has talent). It is not a value
judgement.
- "Rolling" means the talent can start when
ready, because
all the little red lights are on and the tape is moving. "Listening" is the engineer's notifying the
talent that he
or
she doesn't need to play because the producer is auditioning the latest
take.
- A "Take" is
an attempt at recording a selection. The released version of
the Beatles' "Twist
and Shout" is rumored to have been Take 43 (listen to
John's voice, it sounds beat), so don't worry about trying too many
times. You know, whatever it takes...
Sometimes several takes are made, with different approaches, so the
producer can decide later which to use.
- The "Producer"
is the boss; you, for example. If you
need help with
those tough executive decisions, or to coax an extra ounce of
performance from the talent, we can co-produce and you still can take
all the credit! Otherwise we only speak when spoken to (well...).
- A "Track"
is a recording of one source. Many tracks
can be "mixed"
together to make a complete recording that contains all
the sounds it's supposed to have, at the right time and in their
correct spatial locations
(stereo or surround). "Tracking" is the
process of recording these tracks. Of course, your CD player
shows track numbers, meaning songs, so we hope not to be too confused.
- "Mastering"
is the art of adjusting the loudness and tone of your songs to create a
consistent master CD that sounds just like the ones you hear on the
radio, from which copies can be made. Although we recommend using
an outside facility for mastering (a different set of ears), we are
quite happy and very capable to do this step for you also.
-
Instructions to the Player
by Carl Rakosi, 1971
Cellist,
easy on that bow.
Not too much
weeping. Remember that the soul
is easily agitated
and has a terror of
shapelessness.
It will venture out
but only to a doe's
eye. Let the sound out
inner misterioso
but from a distance
like the forest at night.
And do not forget
the pause between.
That is the sweetest
and has the nature of
infinity.
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