What a Recording Studio Can Do for you
(and also what it can’t do)
By T. Perry Bowers
Every new client I meet has different expectations. While some expect our engineers to perform miracles, others are impressed by a touch of reverb on their vocals. There is a lot a recording studio can do. Our engineers can make a singer sound like she can sing so much better than she actually can. We have software which makes a drummer (and a whole band for that matter) sound like they’re playing in tempo when they’re not! We can have a singer sing one lyric at a time to get the pitch just right. We can compress guitar sounds so they sound tight and crisp in the speakers. We can edit almost any little imperfection out of a performance. But, if you don’t prepare for the session and you’re not willing to spend the time it takes to record something properly, it may be all for nothing.
A couple of years ago, I got a call from a prospective client. It’s a call that still bounces around in my head. He said, “I have a fourteen piece jazz big band. I’m thinking, if we all play live, you could record our thirteen pieces live in about an hour. Then, just put a quick mix on them and burn it to CD. That should take another hour or so, right? So how much is two hours worth of studio time to get my project finished?” This guy was a literal lunatic. It was the most extreme wishful thinking I had ever heard. Recording thirteen songs by a fourteen piece jazz band would probably take hundreds of hours. Even if they were the tightest band in the world they would need to run through each piece at least twice to get a decent take. As for the mixing process – to work up a decent template on a fourteen piece band would take an entire day.
Many people think that the simple act of recording in a studio will make them sound like a polished pop star. It’s not that easy. The studio can’t make you sound good. We capture your sound – while we can enhance it you still have to sound good to start with!
If you sing well, it will sound great. If you play well and have good tone, you will sound fantastic on a recording. A recording studio can do a lot with tone. If the recording studio has decent amps and guitars, it can really help your overall sound. At Taylor Sound, we have a collection of vintage amps that any guitar player would be proud to play on. Famous producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage) said he had one amp in his studio when he first started out – a 1966 Fender Bassman. If a band came in and they didn’t quite have their guitar tone together he would plug them into the Fender. The musicians were always blown away at the beautiful simplicity of the amp. Butch knew how to dial it in too. Taylor Sound has a 1966 Bassman as well. We use it in the same way. However you need to get a good sound out of your instrument in the first place. You can do this on your own by researching guitars and guitar amps. Save up some decent cash and get something that plays well and sounds good. Don’t expect every studio to be able to pull out a 1966 Fender Bassman.
Most studios have a studio drum kit. They’ll keep it in good shape and tuned up. Since it’s already in the studio it will be acclimated to the environment. If you’re the drummer, I highly recommend at least trying the studio kit. It saves time setting up and may sound better than your own kit. Of course, you may have a particular setup that only works for you and that’s totally understandable. But if the studio kit feels good and fits your style, it’s worth it to adjust a little bit. The engineer has probably put microphones on that kit a hundred times. He knows how to make it sound great. Don’t come into the studio thinking you can play your songs with wavering tempo and the engineer will make it all better. If you can’t play the parts in time, the engineer is really going to have to work overtime to make you sound good. In my opinion, tempo correction software is a last resort. It can’t perform miracles. It’s time consuming and tedious. You’re better off spending your studio time playing and mixing than adjusting algorithms in the software.
We have a lot of vocalists (I can’t call them singers) who ask for pitch correction on their vocals. They use it as an effect. It’s part of their expression. Usually they are rappers who have an idea for a chorus, but they can’t really sing so they use the software to make it sound “good.” While some of this stuff turns out pretty well, some of it is unlistenable. If you’re using pitch correction software like a guitar player would use reverb or distortion, it’s OK, I get it. In certain situations, pitch correction on a singer is absolutely the thing to use. For example, I had a singer come in and absolutely nail a lead vocal line from beginning to end. It was perfect in every way except one little note that was slightly off. Rather than have her re-take the whole vocal or have to punch in that little line, we put a little pitch correction on the note and the take was finished. She probably could have sung that note better, but the fact that the lead vocal was one (almost) perfect take was satisfaction for everyone in the room. However if you can’t sing at all, pitch correction can’t make you sound like an angel.
“Fix it in the mix” is a term that has become a joke in a studio setting. Everyone knows it is not a good idea to leave something for the mixing engineer to fix later, but everyone does it. You need to learn when to fix something now and when it’s OK to leave it for later. It is different for every recording situation. Some recording/mixing engineers are extremely talented when it comes to super technical manipulations. Some engineers have better ears than editing skills.
Take the time to asses your situation and use it to your advantage. If your engineer is a truly gifted editor, use it. He can save you time doing punch-ins or retakes! (Always ask yourself if the song is losing the human feel). If your engineer isn’t a great editor or technician, make sure you re-play or re-sing parts that are out of tune or out of time. Take time to figure out where your engineer’s strength’s lie – in fact finding out the studio staff’s strengths and weaknesses is good to do before you book the studio.
The bottom line is: work with what you have at that moment. Do your research before you settle on a studio and once you’re in the session work with the strengths of the people and the equipment. Find a balance between technology and humanity. It’s always good to shoot for the moon, but you need to know your limitations at the same time.
