{"id":389,"date":"2010-04-12T07:39:34","date_gmt":"2010-04-12T15:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/?p=389"},"modified":"2012-11-09T15:06:58","modified_gmt":"2012-11-09T23:06:58","slug":"when-its-time-to-record-your-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/when-its-time-to-record-your-song\/","title":{"rendered":"When It&#8217;s Time To Record Your Song"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><center><\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-9055632105156461\";\n\/* Half Banner for Blogs *\/\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"8550216682\";\ngoogle_ad_width = 234;\ngoogle_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/-->\n<\/script><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\nThere are a number of things to consider when you decide that your song is ready to be recorded.\u00a0 As a songwriter, you want the best representation of your song;\u00a0 a recording that makes it stand out without creating too many distractions or losing focus.<\/p>\n<div class=\"zemanta-img\" style=\"margin: 1em; display: block;\">\n<div>\n<dl class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"width: 250px;\">\n<dt class=\"wp-caption-dt\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/51308305@N00\/97107973\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"The studio board.\" src=\"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/25\/97107973_0565738f44_m.jpg\" alt=\"The studio board.\" \/><\/a><\/dt>\n<dd class=\"wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution\" style=\"font-size: 0.8em;\">Image by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/51308305@N00\/97107973\">baldguitars<\/a> via Flickr<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Before you make the decision to record a song<\/strong>, make sure it is in its final draft!  I know it sounds obvious, but some songwriters are too quick to rush into a studio because they&#8217;re all excited about a new song.  Does it stand up to the test of time?  Have others who can give you some valuable feedback listened to it yet?  If you&#8217;re a performer, have you performed it in front of an audience?  Don&#8217;t rush the recording part!<\/p>\n<p>If you have your own recording setup, you&#8217;ll recognize some of the terms I&#8217;m going to use in this article.\u00a0 However, I&#8217;ll explain or define them as I go for those of you who are new to the idea of recording.  First of all, I wrote an article quite awhile ago on the recording process for beginners which you can find <a href=\"http:\/\/www.irenejackson.com\/recording.html\">here<\/a>, but that has more to do with the technical aspect of recording.\u00a0 If you are just about to go into the studio to record a demo, for example, you might want to think about what you want before you get there.<\/p>\n<p>1. <strong>Intro Too Long<\/strong> &#8211; I can&#8217;t even count how many songs I&#8217;ve heard  recorded by songwriters in their studios or as a demo that take FOREVER  to get to the first verse!\u00a0 Don&#8217;t make the mistake of creating an intro  that&#8217;s so long it&#8217;ll make the publisher hit the eject button!\u00a0 In fact,  if you can manage to, don&#8217;t have one at all!<br \/>\n<center><\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-9055632105156461\";\n\/* Half Banner for Blogs *\/\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"8550216682\";\ngoogle_ad_width = 234;\ngoogle_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/-->\n<\/script><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>2. <strong>Do you need an <a class=\"zem_slink\" title=\"Break (music)\" rel=\"wikipedia\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Break_%28music%29\">instrumental break<\/a>?<\/strong> &#8211;\u00a0 If you are pitching a song, a wailing guitar solo is unnecessary and may actually detract from the song itself.\u00a0 If you are a band, then by all means, put in the wailing guitar solo.\u00a0 Think about who is going to hear this recording and what will be important to them.<\/p>\n<p>3. <strong>Out of Tune<\/strong> &#8211; this is something I mention in the recording article too&#8230;you&#8217;d think it would be obvious, but make sure that your instruments are in tune before you record!\u00a0 <a class=\"zem_slink\" title=\"Auto-Tune\" rel=\"wikipedia\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Auto-Tune\">AutoTune<\/a> (a handy little software device that corrects pitch) can do some magic, but often it can distort the sound of the instrument (including your vocal!), so don&#8217;t rely on that.<\/p>\n<p>4.\u00a0 <strong>Leave A Little Room for Arrangements<\/strong> &#8211; As a solo performing  songwriter, my instrument ended up being the whole band.\u00a0 Over the years  I got better at playing my guitar so that it became the <a class=\"zem_slink\" title=\"Percussion instrument\" rel=\"wikipedia\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Percussion_instrument\">percussion<\/a> (if  necessary), the bass, and everything else I needed to fill the musical  &#8220;space&#8221; when I was performing.\u00a0 But when I would go into the studio, I&#8217;d  have to learn to play it less or simplify it so there was room for the  other instruments!\u00a0 You may not be recording your instrument at all  because maybe you prefer to leave it to more professional musicians.\u00a0  But if if ARE, you have to think of your instrument differently when you  get into the studio.\u00a0 Let the bass player do the bass runs, let the  drummer drive the rhythm, and unless you are an amazing instrumentalist  and it is truly a part of your &#8220;sound&#8221;, let your instrument be present  without being too dominant.\u00a0 You might consider spending some time with  the other musicians ahead of time, if possible, to work out how  everything is going to go together.<\/p>\n<p>5.\u00a0 <strong>Keep It Tight <\/strong>&#8211; another problem I often hear in demos is when instruments and drums are too loose.\u00a0 You don&#8217;t want to over-quantize (another handy little software device that adjusts the timing of especially midi instruments), because then it won&#8217;t feel &#8220;real&#8221;, but you do want to find the pocket.\u00a0 I love that word, &#8220;pocket&#8221;.\u00a0 I heard <a class=\"zem_slink\" title=\"Quincy Jones\" rel=\"wikipedia\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Quincy_Jones\">Quincy Jones<\/a> use it in reference to having all of the instruments hit the right note at the right time with just the right velocity (volume) and feel.\u00a0 Not easy to do, but worth the effort!\u00a0 One note to think about:\u00a0 let the drummer drive the rhythm.\u00a0 When people are recording instruments especially, they try to anticipate the beat of the drummer, and often play just the slightest bit too soon.\u00a0 Then the song feels off kilter and too loose.\u00a0 Practice with a metronome or a click track.\u00a0 Just <a class=\"zem_slink\" title=\"Google\" rel=\"homepage\" href=\"http:\/\/google.com\">Google<\/a> &#8220;metronome&#8221; and you can find them online.\u00a0 When you&#8217;re working with one, let the click pull your rhythm&#8230;it takes a little work but it will improve your timing immensely.<\/p>\n<p>6. <strong>K.I.S.S.<\/strong> &#8211; when in doubt, less is more.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t try to stuff too many instruments and bits and pieces in there&#8230;it&#8217;s about the SONG.<\/p>\n<p>7. <strong>Lyrics Up Front<\/strong> &#8211; It&#8217;s about the SONG.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t bury the lead vocal in behind a whomping bass and crashing cymbals and wailing guitar.\u00a0 You want them to hear the lyrics, right?<\/p>\n<p>8. <strong>When You Invite Friends To Play<\/strong> &#8211; of course, we all like the idea of having people we know play on our recordings.\u00a0 But recording isn&#8217;t like jamming, it can be very repetitive in terms of getting just the right sound and licks, fills, etc., and then repeating that until everything fits just right.\u00a0 It can start to feel a little mechanical after awhile.\u00a0 I once had a guitar player (not a friend, by the way!) come in to do some lead work on a recording.\u00a0 He had several guitars, lots of effects and certainly had some talent.\u00a0 But he could not repeat something he had done before or even remember what he had done!\u00a0 He really was only good at jamming.\u00a0 In the end I managed to catch a few bits that I could use, but it wasn&#8217;t very helpful in terms of adding some real texture to the recording.<\/p>\n<p>Most of these apply, more or less, to a situation where you are singing and\/or playing on the recording.\u00a0 However, some of you are not singers and would rather have someone else do the demo.\u00a0 There are plenty of demo services around, even online, where you can send a rough recording of the song and have them do it.\u00a0 It&#8217;s important to educate yourself enough so that you can ask for what you want.\u00a0 If you &#8220;hear&#8221; things, like instruments playing in particular parts, or you want a certain sound or feel (soft, energetic, etc.) then you have to communicate that to the people recording your demo.  You might be too intimidated by the process and just want to give it over without any input, however you might not get what you expect in the end.\u00a0 Whoever is doing your demo will, and should, ask you lots of questions first in order to establish what will be needed.\u00a0 Here are some other tips:<\/p>\n<p>1.\u00a0 <strong>Ask<\/strong> &#8211; for a demo or sampling of their recordings before you hire them, so you can assess whether or not they can do what you want.\u00a0 Make sure they are comfortable in the genre your song is in.<\/p>\n<p>2. <strong>Trust Your Gut<\/strong> &#8211;\u00a0 If you&#8217;re not comfortable with the person you&#8217;re communicating with, then go elsewhere.\u00a0 It&#8217;s important to feel that you can say what you want, even if you don&#8217;t exactly know how to say it!<\/p>\n<p>3. <strong>Educate Yourself<\/strong> &#8211; as I said before, the more you know about the process, the more confidently you can ask for what you want.\u00a0 If you don&#8217;t understand something, ask.\u00a0 There are lots of places on the internet\u00a0 where you can research what happens in a studio and the terminology that is used.<\/p>\n<p>4. <strong>Everything Up Front<\/strong> &#8211; most studios will offer you a package deal, one price that covers everything that you want included.\u00a0 If you want some changes after the fact, you&#8217;ll have to negotiate that, but don&#8217;t let them nickel and dime you.\u00a0 Be sure that it&#8217;s clear what you are going to get for your money before you proceed with anything.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s exciting to hear your song recorded properly for the first time. If you take the time to consider everything I&#8217;ve mentioned above, there won&#8217;t be any unpleasant surprises and you&#8217;re ready for the next step&#8230;putting it &#8220;out there&#8221; for the rest of the world to hear :-).<\/p>\n<div class=\"zemanta-pixie\" style=\"margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;\"><a class=\"zemanta-pixie-a\" title=\"Reblog this post [with Zemanta]\" href=\"http:\/\/reblog.zemanta.com\/zemified\/d522afc4-79a7-494b-baec-5f2878f10cfe\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"zemanta-pixie-img\" style=\"border: medium none; float: right;\" src=\"http:\/\/img.zemanta.com\/reblog_e.png?x-id=d522afc4-79a7-494b-baec-5f2878f10cfe\" alt=\"Reblog this post [with Zemanta]\" \/><\/a><span class=\"zem-script more-related pretty-attribution\"><script src=\"http:\/\/static.zemanta.com\/readside\/loader.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are a number of things to consider when you decide that your song is ready to be recorded.\u00a0 As a songwriter, you want the best representation of your song;\u00a0 a recording that makes it stand out without creating too many distractions or losing focus. Image by baldguitars via Flickr Before you make the decision [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,208,207],"class_list":["post-389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tips","tag-guitar","tag-guitar-solo","tag-percussion-instrument"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/prwoq-6h","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}