The Music Making Process according to Wes

Some of the terms and stages of the recording process are often misunderstood. Please make time to read through all of this if you are planning on recording in the future. Feel free to leave a comment and fill in if I am leaving something out.  Plan/Vision –  What kind of project will be best for you? Maybe a 3 song demo to send to record labels, possibly a 5 song EP to have something to sell at shows, or a full length CD that has all the songs your fans have been wanting to hear.  Research where and how to get your project done. Develop a budget. Have a marketing plan to get your stuff out to people. Be intentional and professional.  Pre-Production –  Narrow down your songs to the appropriate number. Experiment and find out the best key and exact tempo for each song. Look at the song as a whole. Does it say what you are feeling? Does it build? Is there tension and resolution? Rewrite it if you need to. (The recording studio is not the place to make these changes.) Look at each verse and chorus and the transitions. Are they cluttered? Does your drummer know what fills he will play and when to play them? Do the guitarists know the best rhythm to play so that they open up room for the vocals? Are the bass and kick drum tight together? If you are anal like me, dig into each and every single beat of the song and know how you want to play it. Then learn how to play it perfectly. This is where a producer can step into the scene and really take a band or songwriter to the next level.  Songs by very nature provoke much feeling. Therefore, it's easy for the song creation process to create deadly bombs inside of band members when opinions start to be thrown around and those receiving them have an emotional attachment to their work. Make sure you pick and choose your comments wisely and have an open mind to receive constructive criticisms and/or try new ideas. Remember at this point it should not be about what you like the best – it's about what the song needs.  Recording/tracking –  Your songs should be ready to be recorded. You already know what studio you're going to use. (Sometimes people record drums at one studio and the rest of the band at another less expensive studio.) Most studios these days record onto a computer hard drive. Some top of the line facilities still use 2-inch analog tape (which is quite expensive but sounds really good.)  The flow of the recording process depends on the type of music. Typically the drums and bass record first with a scratch (quickly put together, not the final recording) rhythm guitar and vocal track. Drums usually take a lot of time. They are the foundation of the song. They have to be perfect. Then rhythm guitar is put down (recorded). Next could be vocals or lead guitar. It depends on the song but most of the time I want to have a good vocal track recorded before I add lead guitar and auxiliary percussion. However, sometimes those instruments change how the vocalist sings, so if you think that might be the case - they could be recorded first. Sometimes everyone in the band likes to experience the whole process, other times some of the members may not have to be at all the recording sessions. There can be a lot of pressure on a band member when he is recording and the rest of the band is glaring at him wanting him to get the part right so that they aren't wasting time and money. Sometimes, the less people in the studio, the less pressure there is on the recording musicians. In some cases bands prefer to set up the whole band and record everyone at once. There seems to be less pressure that way and people may flow off of each other and feel the energy of the band that they are used to in a live setting. However, the details of each instrument can easily be overlooked when there is so much to be listening for at once. This also limits the potential of the editing process a great deal.  Editing –  Most recording engineers can do a little magic when no one is looking. (Fix timing and tuning). But it's ALWAYS better to play/sing it perfect than for the engineer to make it perfect. Sometimes people don't expect or want any editing (the kind of people I like a lot). Other times people want you to fix everything and make an orchestra play in the background. Believe it or not – there are some limitations so don't count on the engineer being able to fix a bad performance during the editing process.  Mixing –  Once all of the parts are recorded, the mixing engineer starts the process of mixing. Typically he will hear the recording of the song one time and then envision how the song could sound. Then his job is to take the song to that place.  He can use a mixing board (console) or a computer program that simulates a board. The engineer will listen to each track individually and use effects such as EQ, compression and reverb and find the perfect volume and panoramic space. Other than the artist, the mixing engineer plays the biggest role in the quality of a project. He should be very familiar with the genre of music.  Sometimes bands like to watch the engineer mix but this often causes the process to go much slower. When I mix a project I like to be alone until I get it where I think it should be – then show it to the artist and make whatever adjustments we deem necessary.  Mastering –  Once all of the tracks from the different instruments are mixed together to one stereo track (mix), the mastering engineer has the final chance to alter what people will hear. In the past the mastering engineer was the one who transferred the song off the recording tape and put it onto the record. Today, he is the one – often overlooked – who listens to each mix then does what he can using EQ, compression and other effects to make every song sound consistent no matter what type of speakers you are listening on. On a well-mastered CD the volume of each song is close to the same and it sounds fatter and clearer than the raw mixes. Mastering is also where the transitions from song to song are adjusted using fade ins and outs.  Replication/Duplication – During this process the mastered CD is printed on a large number of CDs. Duplication is like taking a 1000 blank CDs and burning your music on each one. Replication is the creation of 1000 new CDs with your songs on them (a little more expensive than duplication but less likely of a chance that they will get ruined by scratches or won't work in certain types of CD players).  I hope this helps prepare you to accomplish your next project.