Where to start? The next step in music

[Joey C]

Hey guys, so I got some questions for anyone playing live shows and also for people have recorded their first album/EP.
So, lets start with recording. My band and I have a list of songs that we have made from start to finish. the next obvious step would to be to record them. My question is, how do we go about it? I want to get it professionally done. We can record ourselves, as we all have experience in it ( to an extent ). But we rather have it done right and well. How much should we expect to pay per song, with recording, mixing, and mastering? Where do we go? How do we find these studios? How and what should we negotiate?
Then once we have that done. Like lets say we have a 3-5 song EP, in our hands. How do we go about getting gigs/live shows? Just a little bit of info about us, we are based out of the Bay Area, California. Our sound is a hard rock/heavy metal sound, with “big guitar and large drums” Kind of like a7x but with other influences.
What sorts of gear should we have before we set up that gig? And if you guys have gone through this process and have already been playing live shows, what do you wish you had known before doing it?
I have a whole slew of questions and literally just don’t who to ask, so expect more from me lol
Shred on and thanks to everyone that has already helped me in this amazing journey!!

 

[Ed Seith]

LOTS of questions here, and many that are situational – hard to answer beyond generalities, but I’ll hit what I can.
1. Find demos by local bands and if you like the sound qualities (even if you don’t like the music) reach out to them, asking where they did their demo. Call the interesting studios and ask about their rates. Recording is typically by the hour or day, not by the song, so how much you guys have your shit together before studio day COUNTS in REAL DOLLARS. Mixing and mastering will be found in the same way – you could also ask the studio engineer where he would recommend. When recording, make sure you like what’s going to “tape” NOW. If you have an engineer who keeps saying “that can be fixed later” or “in post” or “in mixing,” then push back – you will have less direct control in those areas if you’re not an established band – usually you send the stems (individual track recordings) to them, and they mix autonomously, and send to you for input. The more times you send it back to them, the more they start to think about charging you more.
It’s going to be expensive anyway, and mic’ing the drums will take the better part of the first day, so your drummer should be practiced enough to shoot for no more than 2 or 3 takes of each song. Each instrumentalist should know exactly how to dial in the tones they want for each part of each song. Fiddling and “finding the magic” works when you have A7X dollars in the studio. It doesn’t work at all when you have Joey C dollars. Studio will have microphones – LISTEN TO HIM (or her) when he makes recommendations. He wants to help you get your best demo, because when you sound good, other bands ask you where you recorded. Guitarists, if you have digital gear, find your tone ABOVE 100 Hz. Under 100 Hz will be cut in the mix, so the bass can be heard. You have been warned. Killer beefy guitar tones that get their beef at 80Hz sound like a buzzsaw cutting through paper when you high-pass at 100Hz and he WILL high-pass at 100Hz.
Stay clean in the studio. I don’t know if you drink, toke, shoot, or whatever, and I don’t care, but don’t do ANY of it in the studio. You’re wasting EVERYONE’s time and YOUR money.
Mixing engineers will usually only want to work with one or two band members, and whoever you choose should be honest and arbitrary. Even though I’m a guitarist, I have a tendency to bury some of the guitars and make the drums a little too loud. That’s the kind of thing you want, as opposed to the guitar player who controls the mix, and all you hear is guitar in the final product. You see?
For gigging, you can go as cheap as a boombox in the room, if you place it well. Sure, a demo is better, but they also want to make sure you can do it live, on the spot, in a room, too. Expect to play to no one, and you won’t be disappointed. You will probably do that a lot. I did it for most shows I played over 10 years. It’s not a living. Getting “the break” is hard. Keep at it.
NETWORK. Get out where musicians get out in your city, and schmooze. Get to know people. Don’t be an asshole.
That last line is your mantra for your entire career in music. DON’T BE AN ASSHOLE.
Nobody wants to help the asshole, and we ALL need help. GOOD LUCK! It’s exciting, and fun!

 

[Joey C]

Hell yea!
Thanks Ed. Really put me in the right direction with that post. I’m very excited, I have about a year and some change with my current job contract. but once I am out, I plan on putting in every single second of my life into music, and before that time, I,m learning as much as I can. I’m also practicing every waking moment. I really appreciate taking out the time to respond. I will also definitely be posting videos here and there to get criticism on it to see where us as a band and guitarist can improve.
Thank you very much!

 

[Ed Seith]

Absolutely! @jak can also offer some insight as she’s been specifically shopping studios in the last month. I haven’t been in a professional recording studio since 1995 (but it was kind of a cool one, since it’s where Dream Theater did Images and Words). You guys should look into learning how to DIY, too – a decent computer and outboard gear and software might cost less than a good studio demo, and you can then just KEEP ON DEMOING stuff without more investment. Something to think about, especially if at least one of you is tech-savvy.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

I heard in the breakdowns avenged usually lay out the song before going in. Meaning they probably have a demo of their own. Even if its rough cut and raw. Doing your own doesnt hurt before going in. Gives you time to learn the songs too.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

I know exactly how you feel man! There comes to be a point in time when you feel that you deserve it enough to give yourself a really good quality recording. For my singer and I, we have had these songs for 14 years and we decided that they deserved a good polished sound. With you being in the Bay area of California, I can guarantee you you’re gonna pay a hell of a lot more than what I’m paying here. But because you have a full band you don’t have to pay studio musicians for other work so that works in your favor. For me right now, I laid down $600 to get a discounted rate for one song. But that might be more because of the fact of other things we are adding into it like a small male Voice quartet. And that is a slightly discounted rate because of purchasing a 10 hour block. That was one of the biggest things that hindered us from recording when we lived in Los Angeles. Really good professional studios are psychoticly expensive. And they love to waste your time. We paid almost $3,000 for 2 songs that didn’t even get completely finished. You need to walk into a studio and you need to allow them to give you a tour and sit and talk with the engineer. If you are young they will take every opportunity to try to take advantage of your naivity. Make sure you all walk in there with confidence and especially because you have your own skills with recording make sure you show that so they can’t bluff you out. Ask if they offer an entire album rate as some studios will give you a flat rate if you choose to book an entire album with them. Or ask if they offer song rates or 10 hour block sessions at discounted rates. Also, make sure you work with someone who sees your vision. The biggest problem we had in Los Angeles as everyone tried to get my singer to sound like Ann Wilson because they said that’s what would sell. But that’s not her at all. We are finally happy with where we are because the engineer has a vast repertoire of dealing with metal bands and he gets our vision. The biggest thing of expenses will come from how well you know your songs. Make sure you have practiced to a metronome and your band agrees on every single thing including how you want the actual final production to sound. Tell the engineer some examples of what type of sound you are going for before you actually book your time. You can take in an album of a band and say we like the sound of this Entire album. For example, if you like that Avenged Sevenfold sound from COE, you wouldn’t want to take in Immortalized from Disturbed and say this is what you wanna sound like. That will give the engineer a good idea of how to approach recording you and will save a hell of a lot of time and money. Also, make sure that your engineer is not a loader where he takes numerous breaks constantly. We went in for 8 hour days and unfortunately I think the engineer was too lazy and got burnt out easily and he kept wanting to take breaks and wasted our time. As far as getting shows together be prepared to have to spend money. That was another thing that killed us in Los Angeles was that you had to pay to play anywhere and it was fucking expensive. That’s why you will have 6 bands on one bill. I would recommend getting the fire lit under your ass and promoting yourself as hard as you can and everywhere you can. And don’t just make a Facebook account and invite people to your show. Go to your local music stores and post up flyers. Go to other shows and network with the other bands and make your good connections. As far as live gear goes? Just make you sure you have stuff that sounds good and that you don’t turn your gain all the way up and your treble all the way up or people in the front row will hate you for burning their ears out
Most places require at least a half stack for the guitars. And usually opening bands will share a drum kit. But I have seen some people just like a combo amp if it gets pretty good power to begin with. When you go to look for your studio, do Google reviews Yelp reviews Facebook reviews and everything. Call the people up and talk to them on the phone. And here is a big red flag for working with anybody. If they don’t answer their phone and they don’t respond back to you, and you keep calling and the keep not answering, move on. That goes to show they lack in professionalism and you don’t even wanna deal with that. I hope I helped in some way. Good luck with everything!