This page is for those of you unfamiliar with the recording studio experience.  Perhaps it might answer some of the questions you might have about making recordings.

First, some tips about how to prepare yourself for a productive session.  These can help you to save time and frustration.

• Prepare your instrument.  New strings, new drum heads, new batteries, singers drink plenty of fluids in advance an take care of your voice in the preceding days.  Bring extra accessories with you for emergencies.
• Prepare yourself.  Know your music and be well rehearsed.  Have an idea of what the finished product might sound like.  Experimenting in the studio is great fun, but costs more than experimenting at home.
• Remember that the instrument and the musician have the greatest effect on the quality of sound.  "Studio Magic" does help, but the most dramatic improvements are made by having the best instruments played as well as possible.
• All of the copyright and usage fees are the responsibility of the artist.  Make sure that you have permission to perform, record, duplicate and/or distribute your selected music.
• Understand that you are the talent.  Make your wishes known.
• Bring anything and anyone that you like with you.  Make sure it adds to your comfort when you perform.  That includes food.  Pets and kids may cause extraneous noise and use of time, but they are welcome as well.
• Be prepared to redo songs and parts as needed.  This is the time to get it right.  You can do as many takes as you need.
• Most of the fragile things in a studio have been placed out of harms way.  You shouldn't be afraid to touch things.  Just don't bonk any microphones too hard.
• If you're not having fun, then you're at the wrong studio.  Hire someone you enjoy working with.

Now for some technical information.

• All recording studios are not created equal.  They can range from a tape recorder in the back seat of your car to a multi-million dollar facility where the rich and famous spend a year on the new album.  They have different capacity for how many instruments and microphones can be recorded at one time.  (We can handle up to 24 at once/per take  or several hundred individually).  They come in different sizes.  (We have about 1200 square feet - on occasion we can record "on location" at your venue).
• The Recording Engineer with talk with you and decide where in the studio to setup your gear.  He may use more than one microphone or other input for each instrument.
• When possible, we isolate instruments from one another (sometimes in different rooms) to allow for later corrections and changes (without overlap or damage to the other parts).
• It takes some time after each instrument is setup and ready to go, to set volume levels for each track (microphone or signal).  Feel free to warm up and practice a little as we set those volumes.
• You may be asked to play as a group in order to setup a headphone mix for the artists.  This will take a little time as well.  Feel free to ask for adjustments in the headphone mix.  It does not affect the recording itself.
• The Engineer will let you know when he is ready to record a take.  At that point, the use of your time is up to you. 
• You can play songs as a group, or have each artist play one at a time (playing along with a previous recording).  You can also use a combination of these two methods. 
• You may chose to listen to what was just recorded after each take, or after several.  It is up to you.
• Mixing generally takes place after all of the tracking sessions (recording of the instruments and voices) are thought to be finished.  If anything needs to be re-recorded or another instrument added, that can be done, but it may cause us to start mixing that song over from the start.
• During mixing, each instrument is analyzed for clarity and improved in any way possible.  It can also be altered to change it's sound, including limited tuning corrections.  All instruments are adjusted in volume, tone, pan and other effects to make the sounds mesh together.  You are invited to be a part of all parts of the process, including mixing and mastering.
• Mastering is any alterations that take place after the sounds are merged into Right/Left Stereo (or 5.1 surround; whatever the final format might be).  Some artists like to send their stereo tracks off to a dedicated mastering studio.  This offers guaranteed improvement, but can often be expensive.  We offer mastering if desired as part of your completed tracks.
• We will listen to the tracks on multiple speaker systems at the studio to make sure that the sound transfers well from system to system.  You will be invited to take a CD home with the mixes to listen for problems and corrections.  You should listen to it on as many players as you can find.  The engineer generally does the same.
• Corrections and alterations can be made as many times as needed during and after mixing and mastering.
• You will be provided with as many master discs as you need.  We are not a duplicating service per se, but we will provide you with information on such vendors.  We can also do the duplication on your behalf at the regular studio rate.
• We can do album design and packaging help on request as well at the regular studio rate.

Hopefully that will help you to understand what it means to make use of a recording studio.  Give us a call or email if it sounds like fun to you.