Going into the studio for the first time

[Bayou_Brawler]

I'm going into the studio for the first time to record a "serious" album.

any advice from my more experienced talkbassers?

[baba]

Record both direct and with a mic'd cab at the same time.

I like to track in the engineer's room without earphones, listening to the nearfield monitors. You may try this if the headphones aren't working for you.

Prepare to be very bored most of the time.

[bassicinstinct]

Originally Posted by baba

Record both direct and with a mic'd cab at the same time.

I like to track in the engineer's room without earphones, listening to the nearfield monitors. You may try this if the headphones aren't working for you.

Prepare to be very bored most of the time.

Amen to every word of that.

[Meyekul]

Reherse everything approximately one million times before you go in; such that you could play the songs 100% correct blindfolded with one hand behind your back. Why? Because no matter how well you know a song, every mistake is going to shine through in the studio, and every take costs more money and causes more frustration which will show through in your recordings.

[embellisher]

Get plenty of sleep the night before.

Lay off of drugs and alcohol for two or three days leading up to the session.

Practice your parts on your own and have them down cold! You don't want to be the one asking to do 10 retakes on your part.

Clean your bass and change the strings a day or two before the session, and work them out enough to get the tuning stable.

If you don't like the sound of fresh strings, change them a week or two before the session.

Bring some bottled water(some studios do not provide this) and some of your favorite snacks. Bring a couple of things to keep you occupied while you are waiting to play, or waiting on others to listen to their multiple retakes. A book, a Gameboy, magazines, etc.

Have fun! We are going back into the studio in July, and I always enjoy it, although there usually is some boredom involved.

Bring a boom box and a portable CD player with $10 headphones to listen to your mix. Oftentimes something that sounds awesome on $5000 near field monitors will not sound as good on a car stereo, a boombox, or cheap headphones.

[43% burnt]

Lots of good advice. Practice, but try not to stress it too much, no matter how good a player you are everyone flubs a note here and there. Don't let it ruin your take...keep playing, finish your part the best you can. You can always punch in that part after.

If at all possible mix the next day, or have everyone take an hour brake (at least)...leave the studio. Come back with fresh ears and listen to it again before mixing. That way you can change anything your not happy with. After several hrs in the studio listening to the same songs over and over it's hard to hear what it really sounds like when its being mixed.

I like the boombox idea too...It always sounds better on those crazy monitors.

[bassturtle]

+1 to everything posted here. Most importantly - relax

Good luck, buddy. Let us know how it goes.

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by bassturtle

+1 to everything posted here. Most importantly - relax

Good luck, buddy. Let us know how it goes.

All good advice...along those same lines...

Lots of players who are infrequent studio-goers get really uptight and nervous once they're in a studio...and get even worse when the tape starts rolling. Work on going in with an attitude to do the work and not the stress. Don't expect it to be all fun...there's lots of tedium, work that material into the ground before you get there...nothing worse than reworking stuff in the studio that you should have known wasn't gonna work beforehand.

Spend the week or two before running 4-track versions of the songs in practice. Listen, learn and adjust the material...rerecording each time until you get something you like. Make sure all your band members have their sound...I've sat in a studio while a keyboard player had to program D-4 sounds for half a day. No fun and expensive.