Introduction

“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.”

- Confucius

The world of modern music and sound production has DRASTICALLY changed since the addition of the internet into the game, and that effect has continued to snowball with the presence of streaming juggernauts such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal to name a few. There’s also Soundcloud, but those are the big players pretty much thus far.

Regardless of those, distractions we’ll call them, because ultimately at the beginning stages that’s what they are, what the process of making a record requires is ALL the same. One must have a creative spark, no matter how it’s conjured, commitment, talent, a beat of course, a marketing strategy, and obviously MONEY.(studio time etc.)

Back in the day it would require much more than today’s privilege has allowed us, so we’re very fortunate in that regard. Most of what would require teams of different specialized people and a large rented out professionally equipped space has been condensed into needing nothing more than a laptop (doesn’t even have to be BRAND NEW), a decent mic (Blue Snowball is highly recommended), an internet connection so you can find or make a beat or grab a sample for artistic effect, (mad Starbucks & other places offer free Wifi; make it work), recording software (Ableton, Reason, FL Studio, i produce in FL Studio personally, Garageband, Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, etc. and ALL of these can be downloaded for free if you look hard enough and want to make your own sound), and some sort of social media. (Ranked: Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope, and Facebook in some cases, everything else trickles off)

In short, we’re smack bang in the midst of a Technological Artist Revolution that’s liberating artist’s from the clutches of record labels and big corporations and putting the artistic knowledge, power and control back into their hands. My goal with this e-book is to allow this to serve as a referential piece for those learning their way around the recording process. I’m going to review some of the basics of the process I feel are essential as they were taught to me (I am a Certified Audio Engineer after all), and bridge the gap for some of the more rigid seeming practices, as well as illuminate some nice tricks to make things flow a bit smoother. I’d like to also use this as a ledger to be consistently edited upon and added to as time progresses. Using this in conjunction with continued reading, TALKING with other people who also want to do this, and plain old experience, I’ve no doubt you’ll be able to lock in and create as many tracks as your hard drive can store.

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Section 1:

The Studio

Chapter 1: The Recording Studio

“I consider the recording studio where I born.”

-Jimmy Iovine

Typically the standard commercial music studio has at minimum one acoustic space meant for capturing the BEST possible sound on a recording medium. They’re often separated structurally as to not bleed sound between rooms. This is why it’s not a small venture for someone who wishes to create their own space from the ground up, there’s a lot of technical know-how that goes into getting a rooms acoustics right. They vary in size, shape, acoustic design, and can reflect ones personal taste to aid in inspiring those who record there.

Over time studios have shifted from small, to accommodate an eras reliance of artificial effects, to large, obviously a full Orchestra would require a larger room with a higher ceiling to accommodate the intense sound buildup, to specialized, such as a small single space, and a control room, purely meant for more DIY type projects.

That last bit, DiY, aka ‘DO IT YOURSELF’, is how the VAST majority of popular songs are being created now. In the comfort of a personally set up home studio. With a very basic setup one can record in almost any space and have viable audio that can be touched up later. You could honestly make use of your closet space to recreate a ‘booth’ isolation effect, or in the middle of your bedroom, nah for real no cap (Cap: to speak falsehoods). I myself have utilized my own bedroom several times to lay verses down, or to even simply practice the act of recording my own voice. As long as your equipment is functional all you really need is a quiet space free of distractions.

Well, there’s a few more things I feel are overlooked, and if neglected too carelessly make or break any recording session you hope to have. The first is ensuring there’s comfortable seating. If the session location is in your home this is primarily for whomever you intend to have in your space as Producer/Engineer, as well as yourself, the Artist. Reason being is truthfully, A TON of time is going to be spent sitting in this spot, simple as that. It is a courtesy to those contributing that time that their posture and booty cheeks are as comfortable as humanly possible.

The venerable ‘Herman Miller Aeron Chair’ is the contemporary style of seating typically found in formal studios. But any cushion chair with proper spinal posture support will work just as well. Speaking from personal experience, bean bag chairs are splendid when you have extra people sitting in on a session. Second, get velcro straps or zip-ties for excess equipment wire. I consider this a safety precaution, as well as a simple means to make any recording space appear more professional, especially if you can get things color coordinated.

Above I used the term ‘Control Room’, which can seem more ominous than it lets on. Formally, the control room is the isolated space from the recording booth, allowing separation between the creative space and space for reviewing what was just created. They usually consist of a recording console/board/desk, which controls the input/output of all the devices in the recording space. It also allows for any and all mixing, spatial positioning, signal routing, and switching between various external devices. (preamps, MiDi inputs, etc) DAWs (digital audio workstations IE: FL Studio, Ableton etc) are commonly setup right next to the console for ease of access. You want to structure your setup to eliminate any excess noise from any amp or equipment piece ideally. Try to get a gauge of the times of the week/day WHEN the people around you, ARE NOT around you contributing personal noise.

Once you have this mapped out, given you have the equipment, finding time to record and getting it done should be significantly easier. I’ve personally utilized my bedroom SEVERAL times to get a track done. The bottom line is go ahead with whatever works best for you.

The best way to know what works best for you is to TRY. Try and then try some more. Get on Twitter and filter in some knowledge from people in the musical world trying to do the same thing. Go out into the world and MEET these same people and converse with them. Get off your couch, and actually go to Guitar Center and try out even the intro versions of some of this new software/hardware that’s dropping around the clock as to build a familiarity with it, and things alike. The more you familiarize yourself with the options & possibilities at your disposal, the less likely you’ll be to blame anyone else for any shortcomings, let alone any poor equipment purchases.

If you’re just starting out, several of those difficult choices I’ll eliminate for you right now.

Go with a hard-disk system if you’re recording in a formal studio. Unless you’ve been blessed with specialized knowledge and know what you’re doing, stick to digital, experimenting with Analog can be put on the back-burner for now. For ease of use, I personally recommend using MACs, but if you know your way around spec’ing and/or building a PC/Laptop, go that route. As far as recording software, Adobe Audition may be the most accessible behind GarageBand and both can be downloaded via a simple web search. Even though it’s 20(19), torrents, as well as, The Pirate Bay, STILL exist and are accessible if you look hard enough.

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Chapter 2: Roles in the Studio

“I see my life in terms of music.”

-Albert Einstein

The foundation of the recording is directly centered around the various talented players and service industries who work in conjunction with each other to produce, sell, and enjoy music.

• •The Artist: the strength of the recorded performance falls upon them. the ‘soul’ of the track must be laid by the artist to act as the framework for the tracks intention & emotion.

• •Add. Musicians/Arrangements: if the artist feels as though they require more than just themselves for a particular track, (guest feature(s), background/backup vocalists, etc) networking and building genuine relationships with like-minded, as well as different artists, is necessary. this means reach out/DM people who already operate in the same genre you’re beginning to immerse yourself in. (to keep it 100, deep down everyone wants to be as big as JAY Z, so it can be a little awkward to break the ice and humble oneself to mentally accept your own weaknesses, your own need for help, and THEN navigate someone else’s ego, but, again, all of this is necessary to the process)

• •The Producer/Engineer: this can be someone you simply buy a beat from, or someone you develop a relationship with as to carve out a unique sound or capture a vibe. additionally, someone who offers unique perspectives on creating ‘final products’ ranging from business connections, creative input, and ideally mastery of the recording process, AKA what makes the track ‘tick’. they must express the tracks true concept and intent through the mix-down. it cannot be understated how paramount it is they know how to position mics, position the artist properly, set levels and pan balances, overdub when necessary, and have a solid means of storing the project.

^^^Sidebar: Admittedly that’s a lot of pressure to put on just ONE person. BUT, all of the information is out there, the vast majority of it for $Free.99.

I began this journey as a teenager who simply saw the video for Meek Mill’s ‘Tupac Back’ on MTV2 one afternoon, heard the beat, and was magically coerced into doing any and everything to figure out HOW those sounds were made. THAT. That is the attitude you must have to truly excel in this field. Having that kind of attitude is what makes the journey of becoming a jack-of-all-audio-trades FUN, what we’re striving for ultimately, right?

Now, I hate to break it to you, but none of that information is relevant…UNLESS you know what you’re looking for. You cannot expect someone else to understand and cater to your vision if you have not developed one for yourself, or at least adopted someone else’s template until you work the kinks out of your own.

This means you need to get cerebral, no Triple H.

The best way to begin to do this is by assessing whom you would like your sounds to emulate. For example, let us take a look JAY Z. Arguably, the most sonically digestible rapper of all time across nearly all demographics and sub-cultures. If you desire to duplicate SOME of that magic he’s worked hard to cultivate for himself, you’d do good in analyzing how he approaches his sound.

Since I doubt anyone who’ll read this will ever get a fabled ‘This is HOV’ text leading to a deep conversation on how he chose his name and the +’s & -’s of adding/omitting the hyphen from his name, the next best thing is to look at his song credits. Familiarize yourself with the producers he’s used over the years. Take note of the ones that are recurring. Then, take that a step further and see which recurring producer yielded him his more successful records. The focus is up to your discretion of course, this can be chart ranking, socio-cultural impact, even if a producer happens to be from the same part of the world as you. I say you might as well take a gander at it ALL, you can NEVER know every catalyst to your own inspiration.

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Here are some preliminary questions you should have in mind when consulting people to be the Dr. Dre to your budding Snoop Doggy Dogg.

• Do they openly discuss ideas with you? What about different strategies you both could employ for mutual betterment?

• Are they a team player? Or do they cap as though they’re for the team, but they’re truthfully only looking to come up?

• Are they solid enough to encourage a new creative ‘vibe’ you want to try out? Are they solid enough to keep it real with you when that endeavor isn’t the one and y’all seem to be wasting time beating a dead horse. (Metaphorically of course. Horses don’t stop, they keep goin’.)

• Do they say “Why NOT?” more often than “Why?”?

All of these are valid questions that deserve to be answered before you commit any money, and more importantly any time & energy to someone with such close access to your art.

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Chapter 3: Studio Preparation

“What we are waiting for is not as important as what happens to us while we are waiting. Trust the process.”

-Mandy Hale

As was emphasized earlier in this e-book, one of the most important aspects of the recording process is the willingness to be vulnerable and TRY new things. An equally as important aspect of a recording project, which is not limited to having creative & business decisions that may involve personal risk, is preparation. There are several ways to achieve this. Though, the foundation should be to discuss & outline each variable that will affect the creation of the ultimate final product. Here are some paramount preliminary questions:

• Does money need to be contributed to make this? How will it be recouped?

• How will this be distributed? Soundcloud? Personal website? Streaming service? Indy? Professional distribution?

• In-house vs. Outsourced production?

• How many other artists are going to be involved throughout?

• Is practice necessary?

• Where will this be recorded? Mixed?

Another good action to take is crafting a ‘Mission Statement’ for the project. Now, this isn’t necessarily what the project is ABOUT, the music should convey that. This is to dictate the focus of all parties involved in the process, and can double as a guide for potential marketing should you choose to go that route.

“Only real music’s gonna last. All that other bullsh*t, is here today & gone tomorrowowiwowowoowow…” -Dennis Graham

That’s an partial excerpt from Pound Cake (feat. JAY Z) by Drake, from his Nothing Was The Same LP (His best work to date) spoken by his father Dennis. His message is fairly direct and is in tune with another famous maxim I’ll paraphrase, “The fast dollar usually dies just as quick.” Both of these expressions are meant to explain that if there is no substance behind WHATEVER you’re trying to do, it won’t last very long. To add some substance to your music, you must practice. Then practice again, and after that practice once more. Do you see the pattern forming? I’ll hit the trifecta of quote for this point with this final one provided by sophomore year French teacher, Nathan Campbell: “Practice makes Permanent.” By this, he meant that simply believing because you DO practice you’ll achieve perfection, is foolish. If you’re consistently practicing the incorrect way, you’ll be embedding failure into yourself. Consistently practice in a proper manner, & you’ll be building beneficial permanent habits that one day may be perceived as ‘perfect.’ Bottom line is you must work very hard at your craft in order to achieve the best results.

Next, you should begin working on the aesthetic of your project as soon as possible. Doodle artwork, concepts, video treatments, photo ideas, whatever comes to mind to aid in making it as tangible an entity as you’re able. This helps invest your mind into this new world you’re trying to craft. It can also help guide the tone of the music, depending on your use of colors. It should all make sense, you don’t want a particularly cheerful, uplifting sounding project to be alongside broody, cryptic artwork. UNLESS, the music or your marketing is able to make it digestible for the consumer. (see what i did there)

In the time between those tasks, your focus should always be on the various songs you plan to record. You never know which ones will translate best once actually recorded, or which will have the most impact in relation to your Mission Statement. Getting in the habit of jotting notes or actively recording (voice notes, the notes app, etc.) could also prove to be something of ‘Ace in the Sleeve” creatively down the line. Sometimes you can be incredibly forward thinking when creating, & end up crafting/saying something that may not fit for the task at hand, but may be perfect later on. There’s been many a time I’ve ended up using beats/verses/title ideas I wrote down months/years ago. As long as it makes sense, it is permissible. This is also a helpful habit because it never costs to pay it forward. Keep documentation of everyone involved, artists, engineers, producers, support staff, people you personally know that inspired you, etc. Something as simple as recognition could mean the entire world to these people, besides it being the ‘right’ thing to do. Keep track of your session dates on a calendar, and where they took place. On a more technical level, document each sessions tempo, the mics used & it’s placement, there various plug-ins/effects used, or anything tweaked to get that desired sound. It’s much better to remember from a journal than entirely ones own memory.

A personal bit of advice I even consistently have to strive to employ: don’t fatigue your ears before doing anything related to a ‘studio session.’ Make sure they are well rested & clear before locking in. It’s very easy to get lost in listening to other people’s work searching for inspiration & burn yourself out before giving your own work the same sort of audience treatment. Esoterically, this is the most important tidbit in this whole e-book: TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY. Get some good rest prior to any session, and make sure to remain relaxed before & during the session. Fruits & healthy foods are great for sessions, anything to stave off hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and keep those energy levels optimal.

Whether you decide to record in a home studio or in a professional studio, it should be treated with the same amount of respect. This helps set a precedent of seriousness and dedication that ideally will spread to all parties involved in the process.

Set a time you want to begin your session, and stick to it. The reasoning is obvious if there’s money involved unless you’ve money to blow, then by all means go crazy. Contrarily, if it’s a home studio session, set a session time, and if it’s not only yourself involved, pay attention to how early other people show up. Life does happen on the occasion, but this is an easy way to tell through actions, how serious your project is to someone else.

Prior to recording you should be privy to certain things so as to not be surprised or end up with, ‘sour grapes’, meaning feeling upset about something you could’ve made yourself okay with earlier.

The biggest is being prepared to record SEVERAL takes. Yes, this means sounding like a ‘broken record’ as it were. Emotions sway, especially when it comes to art. For example, in the moment you could perform a verse aggressively, and LOVE it. But when you listen back the next day, you could have a change of heart & feel like the song doesn’t call for an aggressive tone. But, that’s the only take you recorded from a ~$200 studio session, so now you’re stuck. Needless to say, a very bad predicament to be in. Be safe, rather than sorry, even if you record the ‘perfect’ take, do it again. And for good measure, record it each different way you might want it to sound a few times. Don’t fret even if you do actually make a mistake when laying a verse. A ‘punch-in’ is almost always possible in most situations. Even if one portion ends up weak, another may end up being the strongest.

There are classically Five different types of results that artists produce when it comes to recording vocals:

1. Curves: initial takes are good, takes slowly degrade as they progress, takes ramp back up to initial level, take hits a peak, takes begin to plummet.

2. Quick Starter: takes start strong, but do not improve over time.

3. Long Ramp-Up: artists take a while to warm up to perform, once stride is hit you might get a perfect take or a few really good takes that can be combined into a perfect single.

4. Anything Goes: artist is liable to give you several gem takes, you can composite into a perfect single, or several duds, or a mixed bag. simply record everything with them.

5. Rock Steady: consummate pro who is practiced & delivers consistent takes that aren’t too distinguishable from each other, you only need to choose the best take that caters to the songs end goal.

It’s on both the you as well as the engineer to figure out which category you fall into.

Alternatively, one must know when to call it quits. This likely will come with experience. You should take the very first sign of your voice, or yourself in general, beginning to fatigue, and take a break. Or be sovereign enough to end the session. Technology can only do so much to save a track, same goes for an engineer. Feeling, emotion, and musicality work much better. (Remember Dennis’ words from earlier?) Again, it cannot be understated how critically important it is to garner true musicianship for yourself. Sure, you can put on an effective facade & be successful, but personally, fame & superficial recognition aren’t important to me. If sustainable longevity & genuine respect from those I draw inspiration from is achieved merely through hard work & dedication to the craft, I know the kind of work I’m choosing to do every single time, do you?

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