|
Recording 101
By: Derik Hendrickson
So you and your band mates have decided it is time to hit the studio – to record and preserve your music for generations to come – along with giving others a piece of your art to call their own. Every musician or group has their own reason to record, and they are all valid. Some bands decide it is time to mark determined points in their lifespan with recordings along the way. To preserve where you were at that time, recording is a great medium to jog memories.
There are many factors that must be addressed before going into the studio, and sometimes the most important lessons are learned only after you've spent countless time and energy on all the wrong things. Hopefully, this article will help push you to become conscious of these things and how they apply to your group, so that your recording experience is the best it can possibly be.
Two of the main reasons to hit the studio seem to be:
- Your band wants to start playing gigs – By having an audio calling card to leave with promoters and booking agents in your area, you are able to help describe what you do by allowing the agent to review your sound whenever they want to. Many times, a promoter will have an act booked and need another band for a bill. One of the first places this person will go to find others to add to this show will be the stack of business cards and CDs on their desk.
- Your band is ready to release an album – The dream of playing music almost always runs hand-in hand with the musician's ego, inspiring one to write and perform songs to feed off of applause as well as driving one to produce albums that can be sold for cash. As any artists will tell you, the minute people start paying you to do something you love, you'll look to find more ways of doing it. The recorded album is one of the main ways for a band of any age and experience to make some money. Selling albums at live shows helps to make the show worthwhile, and on tour, many bands depend on the money they make selling recordings and merchandise to survive and make it to the next stop on the road.
Soon, we will examine these ideas and many more on the recording front. Until then, work on deciding what you want to do when you are in the studio. There are many questions to ask, the first of which is: Why do you want to record?
|
|
|
|
|
|
