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First, you can always find my most up to date rates on my homepage \u2013 www.thedamageroom.com<\/a> \u2013 and if you have any questions about them, get in touch with me<\/a>.<\/p>\n An initial deposit<\/strong> is required to book the first session. This deposit will serve to book the days you want and lock the rates in (that way, if my rates do go up before we start working together, you\u2019ll still benefit from the old rates).<\/p>\n I like to be accessible to everyone, and I often do sales, so keep your eye out! I am a very reasonable person, but know that if you want me to record, mix and master your band\u2019s 12 songs for $150\u2026<\/p>\n Be realistic. Recording music well takes time and once a band leaves the studio there is still a lot of time consuming work to be done before the material is ready.<\/p>\n Now, on to\u00a0me<\/a>,\u00a0and my role in\u00a0the studio<\/a>. I am a french person, I am very critical and I am also somewhat of a\u00a0perfectionist<\/strong>\u00a0(this is why<\/em> I\u2019m paid!) so I tend to ask for takes to be done and re-done until I\u2019m satisfied (or you tell me that you want to move on). My goal<\/strong> (and the one I think should be\u00a0yours<\/em>\u00a0as well) is to make the best sounding<\/strong> EP\/LP or whatever it is you\u2019re doing and that starts with the performance<\/strong>. If everything is played poorly,\u00a0regardless<\/em> of the mixing engineer, this will be the result:<\/p>\n As a musician<\/em> and composer<\/em> I can also help you add new layers\u00a0to your music with harmonies, leads, or textures with electronic or orchestral ideas. Of course this only applies to certain bands that are looking for that kind of collaboration<\/strong>, my intent isn\u2019t<\/em> to mess with your music!<\/p>\n After the recording is done, I move on to the\u00a0mixing<\/strong>\u00a0stage. While you are more than welcome to come check out the mix in the studio<\/strong> and give me as many notes as you want (within reason) concerning the mix,\u00a0you can\u2019t attend mixing sessions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n After that, I take care of the mastering<\/strong> process, which includes the audio pre-mastering, track sequencing, adding the text info to your tracks and making a redbook CD and\/or a DDP image. You can<\/span> attend mastering sessions.<\/strong><\/p>\n This\u00a0might<\/em> be painful.<\/p>\n Okay, that seems like an obvious<\/em> one, but I can\u2019t stress this enough, you need<\/em> to have a comprehensive practice routine<\/strong>. Ideally, you all<\/em> need to be able to hear clearly what everyone else is playing. For guitar players, that means turning the gain knob down<\/em> a bit, getting a noise gate<\/a> and also practicing just with the other guitar\/bass players to make sure that they\u2019re playing the same notes<\/span> (at the same time<\/span>).\u00a0I can\u2019t begin to tell you how many times this happens in the studio, everyone unknowingly playing the same riff differently.<\/p>\n Another thing you need to remember when practicing is that if you can\u2019t play it slow, you can\u2019t play it fast<\/strong>! There are NO<\/strong> exceptions (okay, fair enough, there probably are a few exceptions, but in all honesty, you\u2019re most likely not part of the exceptions). Practice your songs at slower tempo first<\/strong>, you\u2019ll understand the rhythmic intricacies \u00a0better and you\u2019ll be a lot tighter.<\/p>\n When practicing individually (and if you can, during band practice), you should always use a metronome<\/strong> (there are apps<\/a> for that), a click track is essential<\/em>\u00a0for\u00a0today\u2019s music standards<\/strong>.<\/p>\n All (metal) drummers should watch Flo Mounier \u2013 5 Tips To Improve Your Metal Drumming<\/a>, it\u2019s very insightful and has great advice.<\/p>\n Oh come on! It\u2019s not that<\/em> hard, and in this day and age it\u2019s almost criminally negligent not to do it! Use a notation software, there are many software options out there, my personal favorite being guitar pro<\/a>,\u00a0it\u2019s insanely easy, it\u2019ll help you consolidate what everyone plays (including solos, drum fills, etc.<\/em>), it\u2019ll show everybody in the band what everyone else is doing, and it\u2019ll make it really easy for you to mess with the structure of the song. It will also teach you a lot about rhythmic notation which helps tremendously with tightness<\/strong>!<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also most likely be able to export the tempos of your songs that way, which will save you some time and money<\/strong>\u00a0in the studio.<\/p>\n Alternatively, if you find writing your songs down too boring<\/span> or too tedious<\/span>, you could also just record a demo version of it, just so you can hear it back for some perspective. Obviously, that\u2019ll require either booking a short amount in a studio (possibly mine?) or buying\/owning and operating a DAW<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy guitar makes strange noises sometimes because once, I got drunk and I peed on it, but it\u2019s cool\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Before going to the studio, you should have your instruments set up properly<\/strong>. That means new strings<\/em> (yes, that includes bass guitars), new heads<\/em>, tuning<\/em> those (drums also<\/em> require tuning!!), the intonation<\/em>, the neck<\/em>, the bridge<\/em> and all that stuff. If you can\u2019t do it yourself<\/a>, go to a professional! If your volume knob makes noises, fix it<\/strong> or\u00a0have it taken care of<\/strong>, or else it\u2019ll end up on your music.\u00a0Bring extra strings, picks, drumsticks, heads, batteries, etc.<\/p>\n It\u00a0might seem like luxury to you, but even at a very very \u201clow tech\u201d level (meaning even recorded with dirt cheap equipment in questionable conditions), pre-production is essential<\/strong> and can reveal a myriad of problems within your songs (especially if you\u2019ve skipped step 2!). It can reveal all the parts that sound too busy, sloppy, messy, etc. It\u00a0can\u00a0also improve the\u00a0self-awareness you have of\u00a0your own skills.\u00a0Being able to hear back what you played can be quite the experience, I remember the first time I heard myself playing guitar, it was depressingly<\/em> humbling.<\/p>\n You quickly realize that there is something inherently<\/em> unpleasant about hearing music that\u2019s beyond the performer\u2019s skills. Obviously, the wider the gap between the person\u2019s skills and the complexity of the music they\u2019re trying to play, the more cringe worthy it gets. Inversely, someone whose abilities are well beyond what the music calls for will be more likely to deliver stellar performances more often.\u00a0Ultimately, I think simple and well played trumps complex and poorly performed every<\/em> time!<\/p>\n![\"what?](\"http:\/\/thedamageroom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/what-no.gif\")
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\nSo, understand that the amount of time required to record your songs is\u00a0entirely<\/strong>\u00a0up to you, but if you decide to go for speed instead of quality, remember this simple rule: garbage in, garbage out<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
\nPart II: How to prepare for the studio<\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nLet me first preface this by saying that:<\/h6>\n
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Step 1: Practice.<\/h6>\n
![\"fucky\"](\"http:\/\/thedamageroom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/fucky.gif\")
<\/p>\nStep 2: Writing your songs down.<\/h6>\n
![\"blamsuicide\"](\"http:\/\/thedamageroom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/blamsuicide.gif\")
<\/p>\nStep 3: Set\u00a0up\u00a0your instruments!<\/h6>\n
![\"ru4real\"](\"http:\/\/thedamageroom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/ru4real.gif\")
<\/p><\/blockquote>\nStep 4:\u00a0Pre-Production<\/h6>\n
![\"giveup\"](\"http:\/\/thedamageroom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/giveup.gif\")
<\/p>\nTL;DR:<\/h3>\n
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