Why You Should Seriously Consider Using a Professional Recording Studio

Cliff Goldmacher is the owner of two successful studios, an accomplished songwriter, session musician and a regular contributor to EQ Magazine and Pro Sound News. He can be reached at cliff@cliffgoldmacher.com.

Who's the Expert

You’re a songwriter. It’s what you do. It’s what you’ve trained yourself to do through countless hours of study, practice and effort. Your songs are yours and no one can write them for you. In other words, you’ve become an expert at writing your songs. That’s how it should be.

However, if you’re going to treat your songwriting as a business that you hope to profit from, then it’s in your best interest to employ experts at every level. In other words, unless you’re also a recording expert, I’d advise you to employ the people who are. Writing a great song is the first and most important part of the process but a high quality, well-performed demo of your song comes a very close second. Unless you’ve devoted as much time to learning the art and craft of recording as you have to your songwriting, you will be doing your songs and your career a disservice by attempting to record your demo yourself.

We’ve all heard the argument that a great song is a great song and anyone with ears should be able to “hear through” any recording no matter how rough. To my way of thinking, this is the music industry equivalent of being set up on a blind date with a person who may very well have a heart of gold but who doesn’t bother to shower. In other words, you’ve only got one chance to make a first impression with your song and given the competition out there, it had better be a great one. You might even meet a music industry person who can genuinely hear through a rough recording. This may be true for that one individual, but if you’re planning on showing your song to a variety of artists, managers, producers and A&R reps as well, it’s never safe to assume that anything less than a first-rate recording will do. By “first rate” I don’t mean full-band or elaborately produced, I simply mean your song should be recorded and produced by professionals.

How to Find a Good Recording Studio

One of the most daunting aspects of the recording process for most songwriters is simply finding the studio that is right for them. Word of mouth in the songwriting community and the recommendations of your performing rights organizations (BMI, ASCAP & SESAC) are great places to start. My recommendation is that you should treat this part of the process just like you would any business decision. Gather as much information as you can and base your decision on where you think you’ll get the best service and, of course, the best results.

The Studio

With the advent of improved recording technology and affordable, high-quality equipment, professional recordings can be made almost anywhere. Recording is no longer the exclusive domain of the big, multi-room complex. That being said, there are a few things you should consider before choosing a studio for your project. First and foremost is sound quality. Ask the studio owner/engineer for a demo of something that’s been recorded in their studio. But you should be more specific still. Ask that the music on the demo be in the style of the music you’re planning to record. For example, if you’re making a country demo, it doesn’t matter if the studio has a great sounding R&B demo because that won’t necessarily translate into a great sounding country recording. Secondly, make sure you’re comfortable in the space where you’ll be working. Although working in a big, beautiful studio can be inspiring for some, it can be intimidating for others. You’re going to be spending a lot of time in this place, make sure you feel at ease there so that you can relax, work effectively and enjoy the process.

The Engineer/Producer

It’s not only the studio you’ll be spending time in but also the engineer/producer (often the same person) you’ll be spending time with that matters. You’ll want to make sure you’re comfortable working with this person as you’ll be entrusting them with your music. A few things to look for in an engineer/producer include organization, patience and focus. The more experienced and professional they are, the more you should feel like they have your best interests at heart and want nothing more than to give you the best product you can possibly have. There should be no ego whatsoever involved no matter how accomplished/experienced this person may be. A simple reminder for those of you who are new to the game…it’s not the engineer/producer’s role to judge whether the song is good or bad. The assumption is-and should always be-that you’re there recording your song because you know it’s good and ready to be recorded. It’s their job to take that song and make a great demo so that it’s ready to be heard. All this to say, don’t be disappointed if you don’t get comments about whether your song is good or not, it’s actually not the engineer/producer’s place to comment.

The Money

Beware of being penny-wise and pound-foolish. Remember that you’re running a business and investing in your business is an essential part of helping that business grow and ultimately bring you a return on your investment. This does not mean, however, that you shouldn’t have a crystal clear understanding of what the costs of your demo will be. When it comes time to discuss price with the studio, remember to ask for an itemization and all fees. The obvious fee would be the hourly rate but it’s important to ask what other charges you might be incurring. This can be anything from a separate engineer charge, costs for burning CDs and even separate charges for certain pieces of studio equipment. A studio using an hourly rate system ought to be able to give you a fairly accurate estimate for what your overall project will cost. Some studios simplify the process even further by giving you an all-in project fee that is decided up front. It’s always better to know all of this at the beginning of a project so that there are no unpleasant surprises when it comes time to pay.

Know Your Strengths

There are only so many hours in the day. If you’re early in your career as a songwriter, you should be spending those hours working on your songwriting and devising every means possible (networking anyone?) to get your songs heard. However, if you’re truly fascinated by the recording process itself and are willing to invest the time, then by all means learn to engineer and produce as well. There’s never been a better time to get involved in recording due to all of the innovations and improvements in recording technology. If, however, you think you’ll save money by doing your own recordings without investing an equal amount of time to learn how to engineer, the end results will hurt your cause more than any amount of money you might save by recording yourself. As I’ve heard said, cheap can be expensive.

Conclusion

Let me be clear. I’m not recommending that you go out and spend your hard-earned cash on a professional recording every time you write a song. If you’re planning on having a career in music you have to be judicious in how/when you invest your demo budget. But, when you’ve got a song or songs that are ready for prime time, I’m simply suggesting you treat them that way.

Comments

[AIRSONGS DETROIT PRODUCTION TEAM !!!]

THE FORMULA IS FIND THE BEST SONG,SINGER,MUSICIANS,ENGINEERS,AND STUDIOS AND GO FROM THERE. THIS IS VERY TIME CONSUMING AND VERY EXPENSIVE. HOWEVER,IF YOU SIMPLY CANNOT GET ALL 5 WITHIN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME (OR TIME IS OF THE ESSENCEAND DOLLARS MAY BE RUNNING LOW ), THEN, 4 OUT OF 5 AINT BAD !!!! WELL...............

[D.R. Doc Hollingsworth]

I tend to disagree with you when it comes to secondary markets, meaning smaller cities. In these markets most recording studio owner/operators/engineers are not producers and in a lot of cases poor engineers. Not to say this is the case everywhere.

I have had the fortuitousness to have recorded in some of the better studios on the west coast and it seems that in the secondary market where I live today I, as a musician find I can do better by myself in my own studio facility.

And for the most part as long as I pay the due diligence to make sure what I am tracking is high quality and that I take the time to do a proper final mix, all I need is a mastering house to put the finishing touches on my work.

What I find to be the problem is that most studio engineers make for poor producers as they have no song sense. In other words they don't have the fore thought to say hey that doesn't quite work with the melody. Try this instead. Or let's add some embellishments and background here to really set the mood. They are strictly about this is how I get a good clean sound to the board with the right tone.

A good producer will challenge an artist and add things to the music to make it sound like a real top notch piece. Not just capture the recording and tidy things up. Any shmo with Protools can do that.

[Earl Okin]

Hi!

Most of what is said above is true. HOWEVER, the REASON it is true is that, unlike years ago, most A&R type people don't seem to have musical 'ears' any more.

When I began, you could play a song to someone at the piano or with a guitar, tell them the sort of arrangement that you had in mind and they could 'hear' the finished product in their 'mind's ear'!

These days, even a demo. isn't enough. They want to hear a finished track!

However, this isn't that cheap. Even the cheapest studio will cost several hundred per day...and you'll need a day per track if you want to produce that top class sound, including mixing etc....unless you really get lucky and everything works, first take!

Not that this helps, because most of them seem to want you to have your own band, have the writing skills of a 40yo+ writer, but be well under 25 years old!

That's why so much rubbish gets out, these days!

[Bobby]

yes and no..you can polish your old work shoes, just as some professionally record their songs but if the song isnt that great ..no one wants to listen to it.case and point ..most of todays popular music sounds ..like their churning them out in some factory...money doesnt make everything better....but all cheese dont taste the same...no ?
and you got his person asking" what happened with your shoes ?..ha .
Good Lord ..I miss John Lennon...
you can catch all the vibe you want ..but it may be nothing more than a pebble thrown into the water...

[Chixsngr]

I have mixed feelings on this. I always take the linear approach. I do what I can safely do at home, tracking almost always. Depending on what I intend to do with the song, and can afford, then I send tracks to an engineer to mix. I always send projects out to be mastered.

I have a hard time justifying spending the cash to track honestly.

[Chris]

This article has made me soo happy, because i've been writing songs since i was 11 and engineering them since i was 13, I have studied both equally and now i'm 23 and not to toot my own horn but I think i kick a** at both and i'm SO happy i don't have to pay ANYONE to record my own songs!! This article really made me appreciate the benefits of being your own audio engineer.. Thank you!!

[Jack Barakitis]

Hi Cliff

I enjoyed the article, points well taken. My background is artist at heart and also engineer. I was a business partner to a demo studio for 4 years. We started out with ADAT's ending with a Sony/MCI 24trk/2inch deck and a 56 channel DDA console. An amazing journey to say the least!

Investing in a studio recording is also an advantage in expanding the creative expression of the band. I have been blessed with audio engineers that not only were gifted in capturing the vibe, but offered creative techniques none of us in the band would have imagined. Let's face it in the music biz the more hats you wear the greater the opportunities you have. We hired graduates of recording schools that possessed a multitude of talents that exceeded all of our expectations and became an integral part of the band regardless of what studio we recorded at.

Another advantage is learning to express the same musical passions out of your comfort zone. This is a must for any musician to experience. When we hired studio musicians first half of the interview was talent the second half is how comfortable are you when your in the isolation booth, headphones and capturing the vibe quickly and easily. I realize this reflects a studio musician, but in essence how well does the band work under pressure?

We have seen new bands come in book 48hr slots only to be wired on coffee, sodas and completely lose the vibe. After the third, fourth, fifth takes you become desperate just to get your part down, only until later you say to yourself I could have done better. Regrets that you are reminded everytime you hear that song. Soon your favorite song becomes the one you could have, would have should have done over! Ahhh!

An up and coming alternative is hybrid demos. For those bands with a limited budget and an audio geek in their midst or have friend with a passion to engineer. We would help create a hybrid demo. Depending on your style and instrumentation we would have bands come in and record the drum tracks to a scratch guitar and vocal. Then go to their home studio and complete the song. The recording quality of the drum tracks are key in capturing the tone and quality of a song. Especially if you can play on a pro kit already setup with mics/levels at the studio.

I've done just about any combination to maintain "the vibe". In most cases it's finding where the band feels most comfortable performing it.

Another hybrid demo are the presence of night clubs having a Digital Audio Workstation on site. Want to capture that live feel? Bring your audio engineer with you and capture the bands vibe right on stage. We have had great success with this because of the audience feedback enhances everyone's performance. Especially when you have ALL your friends come down. Oh and make sure there is a microphone pointing directly to the audience. We've done live demos and all you hear is a faint crowd in the background...oops!

Studios have come a long way in the last 25 years, and with collective intentions to capture the most important element (VIBE)coupled with a sonic quality that competes with mainstream studios is not only possible it's happening all over the world.

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
- H.D. Thoreau