A Short Primer On Your Band’s First Recording Session
So you and your band have worked hard. You’ve saved enough money to book time at a recording studio. All the merch sales, donations, and gigs have paid off. Well, almost. You are now entering a whole new level of band life and there is much riding on your time in front of live mics in an environment that may be brand new to you.
The capturing of the music in real time will be the ultimate barometer of your sound and furthermore, will define who you are as a unit. I’m not taking
away from the fun and learning that goes on during live recording sessions, however there is much to consider as you prepare for this experience.
In order to have the session go smoothly with few snags, here are some things to consider before your studio date arrives. Go into the session with an open mind. Be flexible and open to the advice of the sound engineer and to each other. The mere act of recording can expose parts of your music that could use tweaking. Riffs that worked during your “garage sessions” sometimes do not translate well on recordings leaving you with quick decisions to make.
To minimize such issues, ask yourself this question: Does the band have all parts worked out with no trouble spots? Does each member have a working knowledge of each other’s parts? In other words, do they know how all the pieces fit together? Is everyone capable of playing or singing what they are required to play or sing? Sometimes technical issues are masked during band rehearsals due to volume, less that idea sound in your space, and underdeveloped “hearing”.
Prior to the session it may be wise to rehearse the song parts one, two, or three at a time. Have the drummer and bass play. Then add keys or rhythm guitar. After that, add vocals and harmonies. Be prepared to start your songs from different sections. If anyone in the band cannot play from any section instantly then the music is NOT memorized and precious time will be wasted and the costs will increase.
Finally, the issue of equipment comes up. Does everyone have decent equipment to record with. More often than not, you will use what the engineer suggests. Don’t be offended if your 6 Line (lol) amps sound doesn’t cut it in the studio. Are your guitar players using too much gain and distortion during rehearsal? Have you thought about cutting it down to about 3/4 of what they are used to (at least for the rhythm parts)? It’s shocking how much that will clean up your sound.
Remember to provide your engineer with a detailed list of your songs and the structure. If not, the clock will tick as you try in vain to describe how each song goes. That is a gigantic time waster. Provide also each member’s role on the songs. Who sings harmonies, who plays tambourine, when does that elusive cowbell part come in?
A few hours spent on firming up all these details can save you hundreds of dollars and can clean up your session in a big way!
-Mark
blistering funk/soul track by Maryland’s own Vonn Love, sets the tone for a ride that will have you moving for the next 5 plus minutes! Vonn Love’s clever approach to the subject of “woman” is at once engaging, tongue in cheek, and just plain fun. His ability to combine the best of soul, funk, and blues is tops in the genre.
middle section of the tune.
Okay boys and girls, I have a question for you…
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) – The use of 7th chords was a bold move by anyone in the 17th century let alone a hard-working church musician/composer from Germany. But J.S. Bach was not to be ruled by anyone. He used 7th harmony to the extreme and boldly set forth a harmonic language that to this day remains head’s above the rest. Moments of jazz and rock spring forth that sound surprisingly fresh and modern. The most astonishing part of Bach’s music was his movement through keys. Like a magician he treated keys as pawns pushing them to their breaking point and finally releasing them allowing them to return home exhausted and spent. Music to J.S. Bach was like child’s play and done so effortlessly that one would have to be a court reporter to keep up with the rules and traditions he shattered.
ather a composer, and his sister a fine musician and pianist, mattered not. He was the most genius of all musical geniuses. Mozart was not recognized during his lifetime for the powerhouse he was, however by the time he composed his 40th symphony he was headed for music that would surely change the landscape of the art. Had he lived long enough he would have changed music more than Bach himself. But unfortunately, bad health and unhealthy living caught up with him and cut short the most brilliant musical mind in history.
classical system. Even today, his ideas still reverberate among us as Beethoven’s life of defiance, drama, and duty still inspire and motivate. We can be comforted in the knowledge that the status quo can be broken, broken by an unorganized genius. Beethoven lived in disorder and chaos as family situations drained no little time from his music. His composing style mirrored his personality. Where Mozart could and would copy music from his head down onto paper with barely an alteration, Beethoven would labor over a section of music for days until he was satisfied. But, never once think that these quirks of personality took one bit of creativity from this ultimate master. Ludwig Van Beethoven set out to change music, to rebel, and that he did. Lesson learned? Yes. Musical sameness can be altered by a brave young genius who cares not what others think or say.
s mission statement clearly: “I myself love music passionately; and because 1 love it, 1 try to free it from barren traditions that stifle it. It is a free art, gushing forth, an open air art, an art boundless as the elements, the wind and the sky. It must never be shut in and become an academic art.” He set forth to change the harmonic language of music and surely put a dent in it. Jazz musicians owe him a debt of gratitude for giving them a new way to stack chordal and melodic tones. Thank you King of Rebels.
Robert Johnson – Nasty, down and dirty; raw and uninhibited, this man, Robert Johnson, would infuse his music with freedom, emotion, and pain and create a legend that will never die. He lived and played like a rebel and without him the blues would never have remained true to its core, an expressive and artistic sonic carrier of feelings and ideas that would change the very nature of music at its foundation. His guitar and vocals were complex and groundbreaking. Never did a blues artist carry such a message, a message of despair and pain that described the lives of blacks living in the south. His music, his blues, was deep going beyond what anyone had ever even conceived before. Robert Johnson, like many other famous musicians (Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain) would only live to the age of 27. Johnson’s lifestyle would catch up with him as he was poisoned by a jealous boyfriend just as he was being discovered as a genuine and groundbreaking artist. But in his short lifetime Robert Johnson revolutionized blues guitar and the music that he loved and lived so deeply.
nd completely shake that chord to its very foundation. His downfall, of course would be drugs and a slight mental illness that would plague him constantly. However, there was no more fearsome improviser than Charley Parker.
and open the doors for everyone who followed. The King had his faults, but the cult of personality that remains around his memory is astounding. One of the most astonishingly moving performances would be one of his last. There can be no doubt that he single-handedly started a revolution and groundbreaking performances are golden still.
nd Jimi took the electric guitar and totally dismantled it from the inside out opening the way for thousands and thousands of players who still use his groundbreaking sonic experimentations as a foundational part of their expression. The legacy of Jimi Hendrix will always be mixed as there is no escaping the spectre of drugs and excess. However, Hendrix was a soft-spoken and gentle soul who unfortunately became immersed in stardom; too many “friends” (who did nothing but distract him); and the music business itself, which proved once again that it can build up, use, and throw away its own.
ompanying song is a dedication of sorts to the increasing amount of female guitar players new to the scene. It’s one of the great movements in the world of music performance, education, and recording. Maybe it’s because I’ve taught guitar in public school for 12 years that I am able to see this first hard. With this increased interest, involvement, and desire to play guitar from females the music scene has and will continue to change. It has to right? How can the status quo be maintained when the literal face of guitar playing is becoming more gender friendly?
that music will never be the same once the full impact begins to manifest itself. Miss Swift has influenced countless young girls to pick up the guitar and play (no pun intended Who fans). But, not just to play, but to sing also. She is a powerhouse in so many ways. Say what you will you naysayers, Taylor Swift will go down in music history as one of the most powerful women in the business, and rightly so.
way that differs from each other than that will translate to other areas of life and art.
@MarkGTR 
