Recording Services

What to Expect

THE SET UP   If you've ever done any of this work you know that the clock starts ticking when you walk into the studio. Here, all of my sessions include a 1/2 hour of free set up time. Which means I spend at least 1/2 hour preparing the studio prior to your arrival.

I also do not charge you breakdown time, which often gets rolled into full production studio time. Part of this is because I want to make this more affordable for you and the other part is that I only do small to mid-size productions. The 1/2 hour of set up time I do in advance provides us with more time to get the recording we want, rather than having you stand there while I run cables. It's simply more efficient.

What this DOESN'T mean is that EVERYTHING will be set up prior to your arrival. It will all depend on what the session requires. Either way, I will always spend the 1/2 hour before your arrival setting up for you. Free.

RECORDING TIME This is where we will hopefully spend the bulk of our time. The first piece will be sound checking to make sure we are getting the sound we want. We'll record small 'takes' and listen back to ensure it's the sound you are looking to get. Once that is done we will record your music.

It's typical to record a song one to three times so you can choose which one you'd like mix-down for your CD (more on mixing later). Much more than that and you may be getting too picky, so watch out for that.

You'll really want to have a good idea of the songs you'll be playing, as well as their arrangement. This is where it gets very easy to ~~waste~~ spend time, when you should really be recording your song and moving on to the next one. So BE PREPARED with your music. If you are going for the live feel and have a handful of people recording with you, try to get at least one rehearsal together. It's not necessary, but it would help.

MIXING This is the part of the project that helps refine all the raw tracks into a cohesive end product. This is where slight (or dramatic) effects are added, any musicians mistakes are fixed (as good at they can be), volumes for each instrument are adjusted, etc. Also, panning the instruments/voices so that the overall track has a bit of a spatial feel, rather than a mono 'all-sounds-lumped-together' feel... all these things are key aspects of the mixing process. This process can easily be an endless task and is often limited (thankfully!) by budget.

At first, a raw mix must be done first which often takes an hour or longer depending on the # of tracks and parts for each track. This is done by the engineer on their own and is very important first step before we start focusing on the 'final' mixdown. This step includes melding multiple takes together, 'cleaning' up any potentially noisy tracks, creating basic volume leveling, assigning buses, etc.

Some artists prefer to have the engineer manage this part without having to be present themselves, or other artists like to be more of an active part of during it.

The final mixdown process can have the artist as involved as they'd like to be. Sometimes this will mean that I get what I feel is a good final mixdown and pass it on to the artist who listens to it and comes back with detailed notes on what they'd like to change, and so on.

Other times, the artist might want to be a part of the mixdown process every step of the way. This often takes longer, but if the artist wants more of a hand in their creation, that is another way to do it. Keep in mind, this is something that can easily be endless, so having some discretion when we begin this process is best.

FINAL MASTER    Once we're done and you have the final mix you want, the rest is up to you. If you really want to go the extra mile and plan on printing up 1000's of these, you may want to send it off to a Mastering studio to do their magic. If you plan on doing a small production run, you may save your money and simply duplicate the CD's yourself and sell them on your own.

My services offer free consultation on whichever direction you go. We can figure out the best avenue to take based on whatever intention you have for your music.

PRICING GUIDELINES

Below is some *suggested* pricing scenarios. Take a look to get an idea of what the cost might be for the type of production you would be interested in.

It's very possible to do a 3 or 4 song CD quality recording for under $150. It's even possible to quickly record 5 basic songs (with minimal musicians) for under $100.

It all depends on how well the musician knows the song, and how particular they are on the mixing phase. Once it's recorded, it's all up to you how far you'd like to go with it.

NOTE: These are NOT price quotes from me, this is to help you get a better idea of what the cost might be.

Small Production
    # of musicians: 1 to 3
    # of songs to records: 3 to 5
    Hours of SET UP: 0
    Hours of RECORDING: 10
    Hours of MIXING: 6.5
    TOTAL HOURS/COST: $400 - $600

Small to Mid-Size Production
    # of musicians: 2 to 4
    # of songs to records: 3 to 5
    Hours of SET UP: 1/4
    Hours of RECORDING: 11
    Hours of MIXING: 7
    TOTAL HOURS/COST: $550 - $700

Mid-Size Production
    # of musicians: 3 to 5
    # of songs to records: 4 to 6
    Hours of SET UP: .25
    Hours of RECORDING: 13
    Hours of MIXING: 8.25
    TOTAL HOURS/COST: $600 - $800

Mid to Full-Size Production
    # of musicians: 3 to 6
    # of songs to records: 5 to 7
    Hours of SET UP: .5
    Hours of RECORDING: 15.5
    Hours of MIXING: 12
    TOTAL HOURS/COST: $800 - $1000

Final Note...

   Recording your music is a very fun and rewarding experience. It's such a great gift to yourself and others... and one that lasts forever.

   In the recording world... a little money rarely goes a long way... unless you can find a small studio with a recording engineer who is looking for more experience.

   And that's what I am.

   So if you have any interest, feel free to contact me today with any questions and we'll get you recording your music immediately... but don't forget to practice your songs first!

- Shaun