Choosing a Recording Studio

Video Transcript

"So once you've decided just how much time you're going to be spending in the studio and what you need the studio for, it's time to start looking for studios. There are multiple ways to do this. I prefer a combination of searching on line to see what studios are in your area and then also talking to people that you know for referrals. A good studio will post recordings that have been done on their premises so that you can listen to what can be done under the best circumstances in the studio. Now one thing that you want to think about in the studio of course, is that if your needs are not humongous, you don't need the best studio. So for example, if your goal is just to record drums, then you don't need to worry about the vocal microphones that the studio owns. It may not matter to you what kind of mixing console they have. What really makes a studio good is the engineer who's running it, because a good engineer can get great sounds out of almost any space. On the flip side, you could be in a top notch studio that's very expensive and then have an intern running all the engineering in which case, your stuff is going to sound horrible. So your best bet is to figure out who the best engineers are in town within your budget. Once you've picked a couple studios that you think are good options, then what you need to do is get in touch with the studios. Talk to the engineers, let them know what you have in mind for your project, let them know the specifications, for example, what instruments are being recorded, how much is being recorded, what your budget is. Also, if you're going to be doing tracking at home, what program are you using to make sure that there's going to be compatibility. And you want to get a sense of the engineer to make sure that the engineer is someone that you would want to work with and be stuck with in a room for hours upon hours. And finally, you want to pick a studio where you're going to feel comfortable, because sessions can be very stressful and you want the environment to be conducive to recording."