What to Expect:

Depending on what you want, there are normally two modes of operation. 1) record a 4-6 song demo with the main tracks recorded simolutaniously with vocal and some over dubs added latter; or 2) you can focus in on one or two songs, producing a very polished (radio friendly) song.

The rule of thumb is the better you are, the cheaper it is.

A Typical Recording Session

On average, a 5 song demo will require about 34 hours (2 or 3 days to record the basic tracks, vocals, harmonies, and solos, plus one or two days to mixdown and master). A good rule of thumb is: 1 minute of recorded music = 1½ hours of studio time. Here is the "typical" recording project breakdown:

The Day Before The Session

The drummer will come in to set up, tune, and get the drum sound the day before the session (normally on a Friday night). When the drummer leaves, the board, mics, and drum kit are set and ready for the session the next day. Since drums tuned for stage use are different from studio drums, and you want to make sure that you have the best sound going to tape, anticipated that there will be some tuning of the drums required.

Day 1, Basic Rhythm Tracks

The bass can direct from their rig into one of our quality preamps then to the board. This provides a high quality sound with no bleedover from other instruments. We'll usually mike the guitar amps and we have various high end tube applifiers if you are interested, avalible at no extra charge.

The first song normally takes about 2 to 3 hours. This includes guitar amp setup, placing microphones, eliminating hums, hiss, and buzzes, setting headphone levels, getting everybody warmed up, etc.

Once set up, each song from there take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or so per song, depending on the number of takes needed. Figure about 6 to 8 hours for the basic session. It's a very long day but we'll take a lot of breaks. All you're going for on Day 1 get down a good drums/bass/rhythm groove with a scratch vocal. The singer shouldn't push on any of the vocals on the first day.

Day 2, Solos, Overdubs, and Vocals

You'll add solos, and possibly redo some tracks because you came up with something better. That takes about 5 hours. You did rough vocals during the basic session to help with timing. Now, you'll do the finished vocals & harmonies if you didn't blow your voice during Day 1. Figure on about 2 to 5 hours for vocals.

Day 3, Mixdown Session (Several Days Later)

Final mixdowns take about 4 hours for the first song and about an hour each for the rest of the songs. You'll listen on different speaker systems (we can even broadcast directly to your car radio, using our FM stereo transmitter) and we'll adjust the sound to get the best compromise for the final mix. Figure about 8 hours for mixdowns, or longer. Add another 4 hours for mastering. A "typical" five song recording project runs something like this:

Session Hours
Drum Setup 2
Basic Tracks 10
Solos & Overdubs 5
Vocals & Harmonies 3
Mixdown 8
Mastering 4
Total 38

Quality

What kind of quality can you expect for your money? Expect a finished CD that's as good as any pre-recorded product that meets FM Broadcast standards. Depending on how you feel with the performance, we have partnered with a pro-mastering company which we can send your mix to at a discount rate. This will provide the added gloss ready for FM radio play.

We provide CD duplication and printing of jackets ready to send to radio stations and sell in clubs.