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| Music Studios |
| * Recording Tips * |
| "Your One Shop Talent Stop" |
Yourself:
1. Don't be nervous!
2. Substances:
3. Don't wear your underwear too tight...
1. Don't be nervous!
- Have your time planned out in advance as to what song or songs that you want
to work on, how you are going to do it and know what you're going to play "being
prepared = confidence".If you make a mistake we can re-record your part!
2. Substances:
- Alcohol, caffeine and nicotine will adversely affect your playing ability. Besides,
they're not allowed in the studio anyway, save your money and partake after the
session.
3. Don't wear your underwear too tight...
- Wear loose fitting comfortable clothes. If you are comfortable and relaxed you
will give a better performance than if you are tense, strained or tired.
Remember, the studio isn't a place to make a fashion statement or try out your
new spandex stage outfit.
Vocalists:
1. Watch what you eat!
2. Pamper your vocal cords.
3. Relax
4. Try standing when you sing.
5. Get a good mix in your headphones.
6. Have your microphone in the right place.
1. Watch what you eat!
- Be careful to eat a fairly balanced meal before coming to the studio. You don't
want to try singing through a film of grease. Also you don't want to have that
heavy feeling after eating a lot of meats and cheeses which will cause you to
feel sluggish and sleepy.
2. Pamper your vocal cords.
- Water (room temperature) is the best lubricant you can drink as many other
liquids, etc. tend to dry out your throat, fruit juices are great to wet the whistle
and keep up the sugar levels but don't try to drink "citrus" juices because they
will also dry you out. If you can't just have water try decaffeinated sodas like
Sprite and 7-up, stay away from soda's that contain caffeine. Some vocalists
like to use lozenges that contain honey and glycerin to keep the throat moist.
Their are some products available online or at your local music stores that are
throat sprays to help you stay moist as well.
3. Relax
- There's no pressure to "get it right" the first time. Sometimes it takes a few
minutes to settle in and get comfortable. If you are mentally tense you will have
a tense and restricted sound. You want to be able to breathe properly to be able
to hit the note on pitch and keep it there. Shallow breathing is deadly.
4. Try standing when you sing.
- Standing is best because you keep your back straight, your not slumped over
and your lungs are able to use more air. There's less tension on your neck
which keeps you from tightening up too much.
5. Get a good mix in your headphones.
- Don't be afraid to ask the engineer to adjust what you are hearing in the
phones. If you are having any problems hearing what you want to hear you
might tend to "push" your voice which makes you burn out quickly and forces the
sound to the throat.
6. Have your microphone in the right place.
- You don't want the Mic to be so high that you have to raise you chin which
creates tension in the throat. Have the Mic in the direct path of your natural
singing angle.
Guitarists:
1. Put on a fairly new set of strings or newly broken in.
2. Tune your guitar before you arrive at the studio - re-tune when you start
your session.
3. Make sure it all works properly:
4. Bring Extra!!!
5. Clean your Pots:
6. Gear & Miscellaneous:
1. Bring good working cords only:
2. Take good care of your cords!
1. Put on a fairly new set of strings or newly broken in.
- If you put a brand spankin' new set on you will need to stretch them until you can
play more than the first three chords of "Smoke On The Water" without them
going out of tune.
2. Tune your guitar before you arrive at the studio - re-tune when you start
your session.
- Especially if you have a tremolo it pays to make sure your guitar is as in tune as
possible before you arrive to save time when you fine tune it at the studio.
3. Make sure it all works properly:
- The studio is not the place to try out a piece of equipment "your gear" that you
are unfamiliar with or that has intermittent performance. You may find that you
are spending more time getting something to work than putting recording.
4. Bring Extra!!!
- Bring extra cords, picks, strings, batteries, tubes, ground lifters, straps even an
extra guitar or two. Remember "Murphy's Law!" Be sure to bring some tools for
changing strings, tubes and other things that could possibly go wrong.
5. Clean your Pots:
- Get some Color TV tuner cleaner from Radio Shack and spray it into the pots on
your guitar, amp, effects units and even your TV. A little noise from a pot on
stage sounds like a needle scratching across your favorite Allman Bros. record
when your in the studio.
6. Gear & Miscellaneous:
1. Bring good working cords only:
- The cords you bring should be solid, not frayed and/or kinked. So they don't
make crackling sounds or pick up any extraneous hum.
2. Take good care of your cords!
- Roll cords loosely and tie them with a "twistie tie" from the grocery store. This
will lessen the strain on the ends and it will allow you to get your equipment
ready more quickly and efficiently.
| Have you attended the school of cord rolling taught at Super Key Music Studios? If not you should just ask! |
| Gear: 1. Make sure everything works:
anything that needs batteries has fresh batteries installed, make sure that the system doesn't hum or buzz, make sure that all patch cords work & that everything power's up. |
| Super Key |
| * Recording Tips * |