1. What are the pros and cons for recording a 'live' demo?
2. How long does it take to record a song?
3. Do we have to bring all our instruments?
4. Do you work weekends and evenings?
5. Do you have any contacts we can send recordings to?
6. Do you have backing tapes of other songs?
7. Can we record another artist's song?
8. Can you take the vocals out from an original recording and thereby use the recording for backing?
9. I have a recording on another format which I would like to mix down again can you do that?
10. I have been doing/am about to do some work on a home studio setup, could I do some overdubs like drums and loud guitars at your studio and then take the recordings away to work on at home?
11. Can you arrange session musicians or singers?
12. How do we copyright our song?
13. My drums are a bit crap can you do anything with them?
14. Is there anything else we would need to bring?
Q. What are the pros and cons for recording a 'live' demo?
A. It has come to our attention that some bands are disappointed or even annoyed that we won't record them doing 10 or more songs 'live' in a days studio session. It is not that we won't it's that we discourage so we will put forward the cases for and against this situation, both from the bands point of view and ours.
Drawbacks to live recording are situations like this one: the band are doing a great take, the guitarist played his solo the best he ever has in 10 years but halfway through the drummer craps out on a fill. It may be repairable using some creative editing processes, but it will be difficult and time-consuming, and more importantly it will no longer be 'live', so why have the stress of doing it that way in the first place?
A live recording does not show our potential as music producers or a great studio, however being able to work with a band given a little time gives us the opportunity to make them, and indeed us, sound great and with the potential to further their (and our) careers.
Now you may say what about all the famous live albums by well known bands? Well, in something like 95% of cases the recorded material from a concert or concerts has been 'repaired' - vocals redone, guitars/bass/keyboards replayed. The only thing kept from the night is probably the drums - and they may well have triggered kick drums and snares as well. It is alleged that Thin Lizzy’s ‘Live and Dangerous’ album the only material from the concerts is the drums and the patter in between numbers. Everything else - including the crowd - was overdubs.
Before recording any demo you should consider - what do you want the demo for? If you are intending to send it to agents, promoters, labels, managers, publishers or venues to get gigs, how many songs do you think they are going to listen to before they decide whether or not to give you a gig? Half a song maybe then fast forward to the next track and then go on to another band’s CD. One label insisted on only receiving one song, they wouldn't even listen to the 2nd track!! If the recorded quality is poor or the playing poor then you may be lucky if they listen to 30 seconds. What these people want to hear is a bit of production a near finished produced product which is listenable, they don't want to have to turn up the CD player cause it is too quiet and they want to be able to judge the song without having to battle with the fact that the playing is a bit 'iffy' or the singer is a bit out of tune!
It is a good idea to record a decent live demo for yourselves, if only to be able to sit back listen to what you sound like and maybe make changes (such as the arrangements, the key, the speed, the melody etc). When playing live or in a rehearsal room it is difficult to judge what the song is really sounding like because of the volume that bands rehearse at. It is possible to achieve a demo recording with a small mixer a handful of mics and a recorder of some kind but at the end of the day you do not want the 'general public' to really hear it as it is not really what you want to put across as your 'sound'. If you are doing a gig with a decent PA supplied it is possible to attain a great recording from the Front of House Mixer and you get the bonus of a crowd as well for that special ambience. So do a live recording but keep it to yourself for the time being - they may be useful as bonus tracks on a CD when you are selling some.
We strongly feel that it is not in the bands interest to record live demos to send out or use as promo material - it will give the wrong impression to people listening to the recording, however we know that a well produced recording will warrant a listen. We heard one story about a band who had secured a gig on the back of a studio demo that they had recorded and sent out. When they turned up to do the show they were so awful the promoter refused to pay them as he reckoned he had been misled. But think of it this way - he wouldn't have even considered them for a gig if they had sent a live recording!!
Despite all this, we have of course done live recordings in the past. And when we do live recordings, we work just as hard at getting a great sound. We are happy to say that one of our most successful clients used Mark to record some of their shows from the front of house desk through a 20 date tour and apart from adjusting crowd noises was totally live with no overdubs and I believe that particular live album has gone on to sell over 25,000 copies.
To sum up our opinion:
Live demos: record them just for yourselves or do it at a gig (properly) don't send them to record companies, agents promoters etc to try to get deals or gigs - it is not in your interest. If a record company like you then they will want to come and see you for themselves they are not going to go by a dodgy recording.
Q. How long does it take to record a song?
A. How long is a piece of string? It can take anything from 5 minutes to 5 years. It all depends on what you need to do a recording for, how much money or time you want to spend on it and how much of it has been written. Rushing the process can spoil what could otherwise have been a great recording. For Nowadays record companies want well produced demos (take a look at some record company websites ...they state this!!) even to a potential 'releasable' standard (they might like what they hear straight away and release it, or press up more promo copies)
We recommend as a benchmark that you allow an absolute minimum of 1 hour for every minute of a songs length, and add maybe 2 hours for setting up etc. Therefore for a 4 minute song allow 6 hours. For 3 x 4 minute songs lets say you will need about 14 hours minimum. Even by applying this timescale you may need to skimp a bit on 'production'. We have spent whole days working on getting one guitar sound - repositioning mics, changing amps, cabs, guitars, editing takes, etc. For this you will get a great sounding result, but it might have a few annoying little playing errors, which you will have to live with forever!! This recommended timescale is based on a band consisting of 1 or 2 guitars, bass, drums and lead vocal. If you have keyboards, lots of backing vocals (backing vocals can often take longer than recording a lead vocal), brass section etc you should add extra hours accordingly. We are not recommending these lengthy sessions simply to get more money out of you – we just want to be able to give you polished products which show us all in the best possible light. Please remember it is as much our reputation going out of the door with your recording as yours!
For a single or album allow as much as you can within your financial budget - but don't forget if the record company are paying for the recording they will recoup the cost from sales. The average time nowadays on a single is something between 4 days to a month plus... and that is for only one version of one song.
See our section on ‘How Long to Record?’ this contains some example diaries and schedules for a number of different-sized projects.
Q. Do we have to bring all our instruments?
A. We would prefer you to, as you own instruments are what you are most used to, but we do have some alternatives for use here. See our equipment list.
Q. Do you work weekends and evenings?
A. Yes, we will work until we (nearly) collapse. We work Saturdays, Sundays, Bank holidays and evenings all week. We try to avoid overnight sessions as this leads to a loss of the next day. We generally do 10 hour days from 10am to 8pm, but we are flexible and will do shorter sessions on evenings, and later starts/finishes.
Q. Do you have any contacts we can send recordings to?
A. Yes, but we can not guarantee any response from them. We can give you some suggestions as to what to do and where to write.
Q. Do you have backing tapes of other songs?
A. Some but not many. We do have some MIDI files we can prep arrangements if necessary. However if you just want to sing to a backing track call us and we can point you in the right direction for obtaining backing tracks - we can then record the vocals for you and prepare a CD.
Q. Can we record another artist's song?
A. Yes, but should you wish to sell this recording later you will need permission from the songs publisher. For more details got to the PRS/MCPS web site.
Q. Can you take the vocals out from an original recording and thereby use the recording for backing?
A. It is possible to a degree, but it can affect other instruments within the mix. For example you may lose drums and bass, so modern pop/rock recordings it does not always work, but with orchestrated recordings it can be achieved fairly well.
Q. I have a recording on another format which I would like to mix down again can you do that?
A. Probably yes, but we may have to hire in the necessary machines. Usually what we would do is transfer to the formats that we have here and then mix it from those.
Q. I have been doing/am about to do some work on a home studio setup, could I do some overdubs like drums and loud guitars at your studio and then take the recordings away to work on at home?
A. We have recently started a home demos pre and post production service where we offer advice on people with home studios so the effective answer to this is yes. Please see the ‘other services’ section to see more details about this service.
Q. Can you arrange session musicians or singers?
A. Yes, tell us what you need and we could arrange it for you, but don't forget that this can be expensive. We can arrange bass players, drummers, guitarists, brass section, backing singers. We could probably even get a Bavarian Nose Flute player if you so desired! Prices vary depending on what your requirements are.
Q. How do we copyright our song?
A. This info can be found on the BPI website, but in essence this is what you can do for the time being. Once your song has been recorded, put a copy on an audio CD and along with a printed copy of the lyrics, send it to yourself by registered post (so that you have to sign for it when it is delivered), but do not open it keep it in a safe place or even deposit it with a bank or solicitors, but keep it safe and unopened. This then gives you proof of the date etc
Q. My drums are a bit crap can you do anything with them?
A. This is probably just due to the drum heads being worn out or not being tuned properly. If possible replace the top heads on the snare and the toms, or if the tom heads are similar on the bottom swap them around so the unused heads are on the top. We can tune the drums for you. Change the heads over before you come in to the studio if you can, better to do it on your own time rather than ours! If the physical hardware is falling to bits though I would suggest you beg or borrow the necessary item. We can put you in touch with a local drum hire company.
Q. Is there anything else we would need to bring?
A. See our hints page, but one other thing you can bring is CDs of bands you like the sounds of for reference, better a CD than mp3s - the quality is better!