Reccomend me a great place to record a demo in the NYC/LI area.

[AgressivePassiv]

Looking for a place to record my current bands demo In and around the NYC/LI area. All we have agreed upon is we want it to sound raw and not overproduced. If I had to label our style of music I'd call it heavy alt rock. I would love to find a place comfortable with micing my rig(SVT CL, Fliptops 410 and various overdrive/fuzz/distortion pedals). My last experience I went direct and I wasn't satisfied with the engineer's "re-creation" of my tone. Any guidence would be great. Thanks.

[bassgod0dmw]

Astoria Soundworks?

[AgressivePassiv]

Anyone else?

[Flyingfrets]

If you don't mind coming across the river, Trax East in East Brunswick/South River NJ is pretty decent for demo work.

[ShoeManiac]

As with any recording project, your budget is pretty significant when it comes to asking for a studio recommendation. That, along with your general style will be big determining factors in where you might get steered.

Another great New Jersey studio near NYC? Clearcut Recording in Garfield. Great in house gear, a very cool owner/engineer, and a relaxed vibe.

[AgressivePassiv]

Originally Posted by ShoeManiac

As with any recording project, your budget is pretty significant when it comes to asking for a studio recommendation. That, along with your general style will be big determining factors in where you might get steered.

The better places I've checked out mostly charge $50 per hour. We're hoping to knock out 5 or more "radio quality" songs for $1000 or less. May or may not be realistic.

[bassgod0dmw]

Originally Posted by AgressivePassiv

The better places I've checked out mostly charge $50 per hour. We're hoping to knock out 5 or more "radio quality" songs for $1000 or less. May or may not be realistic.

I'd say that really depends on the band and how many takes you guys need to lay down tracks. $1000 basically gives you 20 hours of time. If you do the songs live as a full band you'll certainly save time.

Set up, tracking, mixing, mastering.

[ShoeManiac]

Originally Posted by bassgod0dmw

I'd say that really depends on the band and how many takes you guys need to lay down tracks. $1000 basically gives you 20 hours of time. If you do the songs live as a full band you'll certainly save time.

Set up, tracking, mixing, mastering.

+1

If you want to record 5 songs in that timeframe, your band had better be very well rehearsed and ready to go. And I agree about tracking together, too.

Preparation is the key. That includes recording your rehearsal sessions, and working on the fine details in the rehearsal room and NOT in the recording studio. This is how you manage to keep your recording time & budget down at a manageable level.

Plan for setup to take a good 2 - 3 hours. Getting drum sounds alone is going to be one of the more time consuming parts of this endeavour. I've been through enough sessions to know. And on that front you may even want to see if your drummer might be prepared to use a studio's house drum kit. Odds are that if he does, the engineer will be able to spend a lot less time working on getting a drum sound than if your drummer brings his own kit.

[metlman72]

Brock's studio in Hicksville. My band just finished up an album there. Great guy, who is a great engineer. Has a great set up and the price is unbelievable. Best thing is he is abass player so you will be good to go..... sound wise. Check him out on FB.

[AgressivePassiv]

Originally Posted by metlman72

Brock's studio in Hicksville. My band just finished up an album there. Great guy, who is a great engineer. Has a great set up and the price is unbelievable. Best thing is he is abass player so you will be good to go..... sound wise. Check him out on FB.

Will do. Did you go direct?

[metlman72]

I did but you don't have to. I was reluctant to say the least, but this guy has like 10 grand with of plug ins for pro tools. Either way you will get the sound you are looking for. He has old school amps if your looking for that. He has new gear as well.

My band us a 3 piece, doom/thrash/death/stoner original band. We recorded drums and bass together and guitars were in a separate room. Again he will record your band the way you want it done. We did 7 songs, bass and drums were done in one session with scratch guitar and vocal tracks. I had to very little dubbing which took less than 30 min the second session. Guitar tracks were another session and vocals yet another. The mix down and mastering took the longest, but we did not use a click track and that's the reason.

Regardless of where you go, be prepared it will save you lots of money in the end. Hope this helped a bit.

[Joe Nerve]

Unfortunately, not going direct will throw a wrench in many studios setups. They'll need to isolate your amp and work at getting a sound you like. For some its no big deal, others it'll take some time to work out.

I'd suggest gathering all the studio info you can, then calling and talking with who you're going to be working with. There are lots of guys these days who do amazing work in little basement studios for very little money. Especially in NYC. Most of those guys have samples of their work online, and you can ask lots of questions. Get an idea how experienced/inexperienced they are.

As for time needed... As already mentioned, depends a lot on how well you guys know the material. If you know it all excellently, then I'd allow at least 2 hours for setup (though its almost guaranteed to take more), and then realize exactly what the rhythm tracks will take. Even if you know it all inside out you'll want to do at least 2 takes of each (probably more), then listen to the tracks, discuss, and do whatever punch ins ya might have to. That takes a lot of time for each song. Many people think they can bang out 5 songs in just a little more time than it takes to play them, but with all the above I just mentioned it actually takes at the very least 6 times the length of the song to get a good solid take (2 takes, 2 listening back, and time for overdubs). And that's not counting time between takes, finding punchpoints, tweaking sounds, and the inevitable flubs and retakes.

And that's just rhythm tracks. Vocals and guitars are a whole nuther story which is entirely dependent upon the talent and perfectionism of the people you're working with. As is the mixdown. Count on at the absolute least an hour and a half for each song at mix down, though the reality is most bands spend more than a day on each.

Just throwing this out there to keep it real.

[AgressivePassiv]

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

There are lots of guys these days who do amazing work in little basement studios for very little money. Especially in NYC.

Any reccomendations?

[metlman72]

Also remember that most times you can not or do not want to dub drums. That pretty much has to be right. It just doesn't sound natural during playback. If the drummer makes a mistake..start over. In the end its better than trying to dub and not being satisfied in the end. I guess there are exceptions like a stab or something like that.
Again be prepared and if you can use the click track. I thought no problem, but with thar click in my headphones I was lost. It does save time in mixdown though.

[Joe Nerve]

Originally Posted by AgressivePassiv

Any reccomendations?

Unfortunately, not really. Pretty much any time I record its in a friends studio, or being paid for by someone else at a place that costs way too much. Just finished 5 songs at great price in a studio beneath rogue music in midtown, but I'm pretty sure it was a favor. I can find out for you if you like.

What I did when helping a friend out once was search Craigslist and the voice classifieds. There were a lot of studios being advertised.

I have a friend who owns a pretty slamming studio on Staten Island, www.cherrybombstudiosusa.com, but it would be a hike for yas. If interested I could try and get you a good deal. My only other recommendation would be a place in Bklyn called electric plant studios. The owner is a master at making quick recordings that sound pretty damn good. The nerve used to go to him for demos, and we were actually able to bang out 3 songs mixed in around 6 or 7 hours. Had to use his drums though. And we were able to do 2 nd guitars and vocals vocals in 1 or 2 takes. I don't think using your own amp would be a problem. There are however a few sacrifices you'd have to make if ya use this guy. If you're interested we could exchange numbers and I'd be able to tell ya the pros and cons. His name is vin cin, by the way.

Hope that helps some.

[AgressivePassiv]

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

Hope that helps some.

It does thanks.