I learned this working through my songs on the Friday streams. Prepping for the production aspect really helps put on point on what works/fails before you start spending....I'd also say just having a producer in general is absolutely the game changer. Just when you think you are done.....ha. Thanks again for sharing all the great wisdom! GIGABUSH!!!! See ya at the Friday show.
I've done pre-pro before and I still learned a lot from this. I didn't know the tempo maps in a MIDI file were compatible with every DAW. That's good to know. I've only tried exporting from Logic to Ableton and that works fine, but I assumed that was an extra feature or something. The pitch reference is cool too, never thought to try it with oboe but that makes a lot of sense.
Damn, man, I will never record an album in a studio but this was SO helpful at least in terms of having a professional outlook on preparedness, organization, and the expectations that exist in recording. This will inform everything from my practice routine to my self recorded tracks. Thanks!
More stuff I wish I had known back in the day when I was starting out. Pitch correction is useful to help with writing vocal lines and harmonies in advance too. It's been helping to learn how to sing so that I need way less of it in the final mix.
Even though I've gone through the production process myself, it's always good to touch up some of these concepts to make sure I know what I think I know. Haha. Thanks for the tips, Trey!
I'm a recording fiend. When I was in bands, I tried to record all of the songs, whether it be with a microphone at practice or working on it at home. And to my friends who are in bands now, I tell them to record everything. Being able to play the song back whenever you want is so helpful in figuring out what needs to be worked on and what can be added. And when I recorded my friends' band, I made click tracks and drum tracks for them to play and record to before even coming here or to where they were recording drums. You're 100% right, you should know as much as possible before even thinking of booking studio time so that you can get in, bang out your parts, and get out. The engineer will love you, your bank account will love you, and you'll love the final product.
Great tips! I never have gone to a studio but record and produce at home... It has been an adventure learning how to do it, but some days it would be nice to let someone else do all the rec/prod work
At a bare minimum have your click tracks/ scratch tracks finalized. Know your material through and through. Bring your best A game- means good diet to fuel your brain and have enough energy. Bring several guitars, previously strung and intonated. Bring a work like good attitude- be humble, inspired and focus on playing your best.
Regarding exporting MIDI files, does writing standard notation in a program like Dorico help? If there's some wacky scenario that puts MIDI out of the question, then would standard notation skills save a lot of stress?
Hey Trey, I've been watching through the song writing course and it's fantastic, I was just wondering, is there anyway I can download the complete series of videos to my computer, cheers.
Aren't those surprises in the studio exactly what makes music production so fun and enjoyable? Just kidding :-) Thank you Trey for the video and for laying down all the good arguments for a profound pre-production!
YES omg! thank you god Trey! my first gigs out of college were hired pre-production sessions and demo recordings for bands. sometimes it was just getting that demo down from rehearsals so when they go into the studio they have a guide track and giving feedback on the songs from those recordings. other times it was building the songs from scratch and suggesting harmonies, finding comfortable tempos, how vocals were to be layered, etc. Sadly what was created from pre-production is often what small artists end up releasing and wonder why they aren't getting spotify plays😂. Also the pitch correction thing is 1000%! Most people don't do this and I HIGHLY suggest it. As far as keys tracked at the studio and stuff, i disagree. I ask for the midi and the bounce. sometimes i'll keep the midi, sometimes i'll keep the 2track, and other times i do both. I know a lot of people using really unrealistic sounding VSTs/synths. I'll ask them if they want a more realistic sound (piano/strings/etc) and they usually say yes. For straight synths they often can't get the sound they were looking for with their cheaper setup.
Ahh. Preparation. The musicians nemesis! It's almost as hard as actually learning how to play. I've done a lot of pre-pro over the years. Write, rehearse and learn the songs in your practice place! Then and only then go to the studio. Of course recording has never been a major expense. My cardinal rule for musicians being in my band was that they have to have a job! Of course this was back in the days of tape recording! Midi maps? Huh? Hell, we played live off the floor and didn't even use a click track. Real music, man! Ah, the good old days! Now I just record in my own studio.
Not disputing anything but over-prep also eliminates creativity because everything is done to death in detail. When Metallica first entered Sweet Silence they had barely written four songs for Ride and it paid off big time in spontaneity. Just saying.
You could arguably track everything at home and just send it for mixing, and end up with a very good product. In 2022, it makes very little sense for unsigned band to spend 10k on an album when it's going to generate nearly 0 revenue, thanks to Spotify and most streaming platforms. For example, in 2021, our album was streamed on Spotify for 165 hours and we got 20$ (considering our album is not quite an hour long, if we'd sell 165 albums on bandcamp for 10$... I let you do the math). It makes a lot more sense to do everything that doesn't require an audio engineer by yourself, like... playing your instrument. You don't need to pay 150$/h a dude that will just watch you play and screw up your takes 23 times.
When I recorded in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's pre-pro was done at band practice rehearsing the songs over and over until they were tight as fuck with no mistakes and everyone had the chops to make it through the set without fatigue. Then the songs were recorded live on the floor at the studio. These days I only play in this one band and we record in my home studio. On the album we're recording now we have done our pre-pro by first recording a tight demo that feels right. Most songs have a click track mapped out but a few songs just didn't have the right feel so we ditched the click and just let the demo song slow down and speed up naturally like they would if we played them live on stage. After listening to the demo multiple times daily for a week or so I go back and delete the drums and record the actual take. We then do the same with the guitar and bass. This works real nice but I notice that all of us need a lot more takes to get that final print. That pressure to be perfect you have when you're paying or being payed to track in a pro studio isn't there so no matter how prepared we are we just don't have that same pro attitude and killer instinct we had in the olden days. So in the end it's convenient but that convenience ends up prolonging the recording process. And we're just too damn old and lazy for that to ever change so it is what it is. And that's my story.
Or you know .... practice and find a studio that will do the entire band live off the floor. Too many bands do this one instrument at a time crap to click track ... then time align etc etc boring shit. Practice your fucking instruments. Practice as a band. Record live.
If you’re going to do that, a lot of this same stuff applies though. I guess what I said implied mostly each member practicing alone but rehearsing together is also part of good pre-pro, regardless of how you’re going to track it
You don't need a studio for live off the floor. However, you will need an acoustic treated area, a mixing desk and a proper sound engineer. You might look at churches, because some might even have a mixing desk and many are treated for sound.
