FUNKY CAT STUDIOS

Before You Go In

Record your songs during live gigs and pre-production rehearsals. Even a simple cassette recording on a boom box may reveal weak parts of songs.

Have all the musical and vocal parts worked out. (Know your guitar solos! Practice those harmony parts!)

If you plan to use a click track, make sure your drummer is comfortable playing to it. (To get "tight," practice to a click track at a very slow tempo.)

Rehearse more songs than you plan to record. You never know which songs will sound strong on the final disc. (If you plan to have a four-song EP, prepare six songs just in case.)

Take care of your body before and during your recording sessions- Eat well, get enough sleep, and keep your ears rested and clear.

Setting up

Be early! The clock starts running when you arrive.

Make sure you and the engineer have the some "vision" — go over your song with him/her before recording.

Use new strings, cords, drum sticks and heads — and bring spares!

Find out the hours of the local music store just in case....

Don't use new gear or different equipment that you haven't used before, even if it's "better than what you have."

The Recording Process

Remember, it's emotion and feeling that make the best song, not necessarily the best technical rendition. If you mess up a part while recording, don't stop and start over. That can easily cause you to burn out. Instead, punch in the correction.

You don't have to fill all the tracks. Don't try to force something that won't fit.

Always keep in mind the focus of your music. If it's the vocals, plan to spend the most time on them.

Get the sound you want while recording. (Never assume that you can fix it in the mix)

Unless you have unique effects, record individual tracks clean and add effects later.

Don't necessarily double track everything. Doubling a lead vocal can hide all the subtleties that make a song personal and likable (although it can work well for a chorus).

Know when to quit for the day. If you're tired it will show.

Keep guests out! It's your recording, Guests will distract you and may sway your opinion of how the music should sound.

Tune up often.

Singers: always bring water but don't use ice! Ice constricts your vocal chords, Hot tea with lemon and honey works just as well.

Monitoring the mix

Listen to your music at moderate levels in your car or on a boom box. This is how most of your fans will listen to it, and mixing at loud levels will fatigue your ears and distort the "true" sound.

Sometimes it's good to take a day off and come back to listen. The same applies for mix- down. Ears don't last very long in the studio!

As you review each mix make sure you can comfortably hear all of the instruments,

tweak the mix on a small pair of speakers at an extremely low volume. Headphones are also very valuable at this stage, but don't base your final decision on them. You should be able to pick up each instrument even at this level.

Know when to quit for the day. You're better off quitting a session early when you're tired than wasting time making a bad mix that will have to be redone anyway.

Mixing

Listen in the studio to CDs you're used to hearing on your home stereo to get an idea of how the studio's system sounds.

Determine a band spokesperson ahead of time. An engineer getting five different opinions on how to mix will grow tired and fry to rush through the job.

Think about the songs as a whole and not just the individual instruments. Otherwise everyone will want their instrument louder

Count on and budget in unforeseen delays.