Recording Studio Manchester UK

[Whilst this is all going on because the song went down to a click track the engineer is able to swiftly/leisurely programme a couple of tambo loops & as the discussion reaches an impasse the rest of the band have heard these loops & have decided to file the whole idea in the bin except for the Sixteen Bars under the guitar solo where thay really like both loops running together (which, as it happens, they only got to actually hear when the engineer's mouse slipped & unmuted both at the same time) because it gives a Huge Lift exactly where it's needed ...according to the bass player... which doesn't go down well the lead guitarist cos he thought his solo was already creating a lift... and because the engineer is life-trained in psychology he suggests that in order to recreate the sound of the loops the drummer shakes & the singer hits seperate tambourines at the same time because Live Percussion Parts sound so much better than loops and he also points out how the idea works because it compliments the taseteful phrasing of the guitar solo which is why it gives such a lift to the song and how great it is when a band create something special together by interacting. Despite the Spinal Tap element to this story it is very true - a Band Creating Something Special By Interacting.

This is why overdubs can be a bad thing or a great thing. But there are also 2 types of overdub.

Type 1 of overdub would be a replacement part, either because the original was actually wrong or in order to improve the playing or the sound.

Type 2 is an additional part. Be wary of these if you're on LST. Get all the main parts and the vocals recorded first.

		HERE'S HOW A TYPICAL BAND SESSION GOES: Your drummer is the first person to do some work - either setting up his/her own kit or adjusting the studio kit to personal requirements (probably with, in order of importance, own bass drum pedal, and possibly snare drum & cymbals). The kit is then mic'd up and sounds are brought up on the mixing desk - this can take as little as 20 minutes but on average expect about 40 (if you are booked in for a day or 2). If it's a longer project we might spend longer on the kit sound, possibly experimenting with different snares & cymbals (quite often ends up going back to the first thing tried). The drum sound is very important because it's the one thing that you're unlikely to go back and re-record once there's other 'finished parts' down on tape. It's not impossible to change the drum part (especially if you've played to a click track/metronome which has governed the tempo/speed of the song) but it would be unusual. You have to set this off against how much time you have available to spend on the whole project and whether you can afford the time to 'tweak' the drum sound to tape (it can be tweaked off tape at the mixing stage but you shouldn't rely on this to do anything drastic).
© 1997-2006 Jazz/Folk session Singer with backing tracks
			If you're recording at CRS you will get a good drum sound (hopefully your drummer can play to a certain standard and won't insist on using a terrible, badly tuned kit but this can still be worked with). If you come in with a specific idea of the type of drum sound you want (whether it's John Bonham, Motown, Pantera or Radiohead) then be prepared to spend some time on it. It can definitely be worth it and could be the thing that makes the recording stand out - but whether it will get you more gigs, get you a deal or make people enjoy listening to it more is largely debatable. Having said all that, you may well get exactly the drum sound you're after pretty much straight away - Bottom Line is, if you're not unhappy then don't change it for something that may be 'better' unless you have time (money) to spare.Once the drum sound is sorted (or maybe 90% of the way there) we get the other instruments plugged in & mic'd up. Everyone runs through a song together while headphone levels are sorted and perhaps the 'room mics' on the drums might be adjusted. This might only take 10 minutes, sometimes longer depending on the number of musicians and instruments. Now you're ready to record. On a good day, 20 or 30 minutes later (assuming you're doing 3 or 4 songs), your drummer's work could be done. The way to achieve this is to consider moving on to the next song as soon as you're fairly confident a performance hasn't got any actual mistakes on the drum part.
				This isn't to suggest that you should have a "that'll do" attitude - the drums should be solid for everything else to work + everything else should have been performed (as opposed to played) in such a way that the drummer will have captured the correct feel, vibe and TEMPO. Also.... don't forget that we're talking about projects that involve LST (Limited Studio Time). If you've got a couple of weeks (or months) to play with then of course a more relaxed approach can be great but it can still be worth while just 'getting stuck in'. You'll soon find ways later on of eating up lots of hours. More than once there's been an hour spent arguing about (discussing) the merits of a tambourine part and then the singer tries to wrestle the thing from the drummer because he does the rattley-shakey thing live but drummer reckons he's the percussionist so he should do it on the recording.
	[Whilst this is all going on because the song went down to a click track the engineer is able to swiftly/leisurely programme a couple of tambo loops & as the discussion reaches an impasse the rest of the band have heard these loops & have decided to file the whole idea in the bin except for the Sixteen Bars under the guitar solo where thay really like both loops running together (which, as it happens, they only got to actually hear when the engineer's mouse slipped & unmuted both at the same time) because it gives a Huge Lift exactly where it's needed ...according to the bass player... which doesn't go down well the lead guitarist cos he thought his solo was already creating a lift... and because the engineer is life-trained in psychology he suggests that in order to recreate the sound of the loops the drummer shakes & the singer hits seperate tambourines at the same time because Live Percussion Parts sound so much better than loops and he also points out how the idea works because it compliments the taseteful phrasing of the guitar solo which is why it gives such a lift to the song and how great it is when a band create something special together by interacting. Despite the Spinal Tap element to this story it is very true - a Band Creating Something Special By Interacting. This is why overdubs can be a bad thing or a great thing. But there are also 2 types of overdub. Type 1 of overdub would be a replacement part, either because the original was actually wrong or in order to improve the playing or the sound. Type 2 is an additional part. Be wary of these if you're on LST. Get all the main parts and the vocals recorded first. more>> studio@wwsrs.co.uk 0161 477 6531 • 07830 165494 • 07830 165495