Recording questions....

[Guest Kilgore Trout]

dude, recording music is about reputation , not qualifications . thats why every message board discussion on the merits of several local studios turns into a vested interest pissing contest. funny but dull.

here's my words of wisdom for what it's worth:

sound ian's right.

test it out . dont expect lots of mic's, compression and all the rest of a miriad effects and tweakage to fix problems- get yer sound down first. know the band, inside and out. know how things are meant to sound. expand and "rough out" this through cheap and portable technology- be it four/eight or digital hardware- it will give you an idea of areas you need to work on within the band. Expect from a studio something slightly better and more permanent than what you can produce on a cheap as fuck tape recorder/minidisc/phone/etc Personally speaking there are a lot of brilliant studios and "producers" within the aberdeen area- toms is good, a lot of the material on the last compilation were great recordings ( awfully pedestrian bands i might add) well engineered and mixed. same with exile, i've never been to any of the incarnations of mark's set up's but his mixes speak for themselves. the foyer i have no idea about, allthough i have heard thru many sources it is what it seems, i.e a waste time for anyone with a real enthuiasm/ interest in recording music.

in summary.

1. do it yourself. its fun, you can only blame yourself for engineering mistakes and fuck ups.

2. get ready and use a local studio- toms, nicolls one . not the foyer. then "suck it up", marine.....

3. use a local studio and mix it yer self.- dont be a ninny!

4.don't endlessly waffle on about room vibes, bad amps, convex returning nodes and the like on this board and pop the phrase "its a demo" into conversation- if it's a good song, it will sound good with the absolute bare minimum of production, the rest is the bands problem, if not yer a poof.

tits!

biased:

avoid the foyer- its a joke run by a jester. ( hint)

and if it all goes wrong- you ar epoint of origin!

woo-hoo!

[HateEvent]

I really liked Exile Studios.

[Guest Kilgore Trout]

I really liked Exile Studios.

aye, the marky boy know's how to get good drum and guitar sounds. he's a wizard

[Jim Stax]

Aye. Exile for me all the way and you can go out and stay there... Marks got a good ear for drums and guitars as dave said. He will also, if given a free reign, add his producer angle to things and it is generally worth listening to him. His studio is a fab space!!!!!

And

The 'Stanley' chaps have their own set up, although not a commercial studio it may be worth checking out and speaking to them. They worked with Amy Sawers on her latest ep and, for me, it is heads and shoulders above most other local productions (I have heard). A lot of time went into it but it came out rather spiffingly. You can hear the recordings on Amy's myspace.

J:up:

[WoodyRATM]

Another vote from me for exile.

I plan on recording there again, eventually.

I also agree with the production thing, He pitched some subtle ideas for the songs that made them sound much better.

Downside of exile is the bloody tempreture. Insanely freezing.

[unbroken]

the college's own loch street studio is mostly acoustically treated, recorded there myself many times over the course i did there, which in a a way swings it in that studios favour, they have some very good external rack mounted gear. They have an avalon tube compressor which is excellent for vocals and bass etc. And considering I have recorded there before, i know it can produce some very good results if mixed by the right person. 300 quid for a whole weekend of use as well aint too bad, get a coup e tracks done in that time.

Anyone know how much the mill is per hour, because i hear it is 30 pounds.

x

[Dan G]

Anyone know how much the mill is per hour, because i hear it is 30 pounds.

x

Could be. It used to be 25 an hour but may have gone up. Taylor should know?

[Sam 45]

I can't recommend the Stanley guys enough. We did our demo there and thats where all the Stanley stuff is also recorded. Wouldn't contemplate recording anywhere else. (Apart from maybe Chem 19, if i had a lot of money).

[WoodyRATM]

is chem 19 the place in glasgow that has an ampeg bass amp in every practice room?

[HairyScaryMark]

It's cheaper in the long run though. It's only one outlay rather than spending out time and time again because you can't be arsed learning how to do something for yourself.

Knowledge is something that is gained from experience though. What better way is there to experience something than to do it yourself?

That all depends on what gear you buy for your home studio vs what studio you would record in. 'Most' bands record a CD every 1-2 years and take 1 weekend (or a series of weeknights) to record a CD. The cost of this is usullly a few 100 or more. If you were to match the quality of the gear of say, Exile studios. It would never be cheaper in the long run.

SoundIan has previously said (in another post) that he would never advise someone to get a home studio to save money.

If you are in in a band who like to re-draft things 20 times before releasing it, home recording is worth concidering. If you are the sort of band who writes songs in final drafts, fairly early on, you would be best to use an existing studio.

You would also gain knowledge and experience by recording in an existing recording studio. Ask as many questions to the engineer as you like, within reason.

[Alkaline]

That all depends on what gear you buy for your home studio vs what studio you would record in. 'Most' bands record a CD every 1-2 years and take 1 weekend (or a series of weeknights) to record a CD. The cost of this is usullly a few 100 or more. If you were to match the quality of the gear of say, Exile studios. It would never be cheaper in the long run.

SoundIan has previously said (in another post) that he would never advise someone to get a home studio to save money.

If you are in in a band who like to re-draft things 20 times before releasing it, home recording is worth concidering. If you are the sort of band who writes songs in final drafts, fairly early on, you would be best to use an existing studio.

You would also gain knowledge and experience by recording in an existing recording studio. Ask as many questions to the engineer as you like, within reason.

Diff'rent Strokes for Diff'rent Folks i guess. We are the sort of band who want to record every practice and we enjoy recording ideas as a band rather than just limiting ourselves to recording when we want to put something out.

I disagree with you completely on the re-draft/final draft thing.

I've yet to meet a sound engineer who is willing to impart the tricks of his trade. Why would they want to do themselves out of a job?

[HairyScaryMark]

Not strictly relevant but I am told that Mozart would write all of his compositions down, from his head and never change anything.

Beethoven however, re-drafted everything many times until he was happy with it. After he died, manuscript paper was found everywhere in his house of his obsessive re-drafting.

[RF Scott]

Not strictly relevant but I am told that Mozart would write all of his compositions down, from his head and never change anything.

Beethoven however, re-drafted everything many times until he was happy with it. After he died, manuscript paper was found everywhere in his house of his obsessive re-drafting.

Whoa...so what you are saying is...people go about writing music in different ways? Far out.

[Sam 45]

is chem 19 the place in glasgow that has an ampeg bass amp in every practice room?

No thats Lofi.

[emergency72]

I've yet to meet a sound engineer who is willing to impart the tricks of THEIR trade.

You haven't spoke to Mark Thomas then

[Alkaline]

You haven't spoke to Mark Thomas then

I don't need to, we record and mix all our own stuff.

[HairyScaryMark]

On that topic, I have a friend who has studied an HND in Sound Engineering, he did a year at 2 different colleges. To apply to some universities he would have to send them recordings he has mixed. He has 1 recording from his last year and 1 recording that he would "have to find" from his previous year. I was quite shocked as I thought he would be making recordings many times, throughout the year.

It is possible I got the wrong end of the stick, but from what he said to me, this is what I gathered.

Maybe I am just lucky but I haven't came across much in the way of sound engineers trying to guard their 'trade secretes'. Some engineers are not very helpful but from my experience most are more than happy to help you out.