Any advice for recording in a studio?

[NOLA Bass]

Oh yeah, check your damn tuning as mentioned above between every take. If you don't have a quality tuner, now is a damn good time to buy one. If you can use a quality pedal tuner vs a headstock tuner, I would.

Also, don't be afraid to ask a fellow bassist to borrow something that you don't have (like a quality pedal tuner, a killer direct box, even a bass, etc.). Offer to rent it, or at least offer them some dinner or a few beers. I had someone tell me after they recorded that they wish they had a REDDI DI like I do. I said, you just needed to call or text and you absolutely could have used it that weekend. It just sits at home 99% of the time. I would have lent it out, but appreciated a 6 pack too. So many gigs are cancelled right now, I bet you'd be surprised how available that gear is and for many gigging guys they'd appreciate a few bucks or a free meal.

 

[Ken Morgan]

1. Turn your cell phone off, focus on task at hand
2. Remember to play to support the song. If that means 16th note runs all the time, do it...it
FB that means bouncing 2/4 on I and V, do that...
3. Having options is a good thing. If you have a couple of different sounding basses, take both.

 

[twinjet]

I definitely don't pretend to know everything, so I'm asking this respectfully and in the spirit of acquiring knowledge myself: what benefit is derived from this?

Feedback into headphones can suck a lot. Obviously, this is a rare occurrence. One would hope, anyway.

Play your part in a manner that is perhaps simpler than you normally would. Less is more in the studio, IME.

Truth. My first job, a pop/rock album, I played stupidly simple parts. I look back thinking how I could have made it more tasteful here and cooler there, but ultimately the part that made it to tape filled the band out how it needed to be. No complaints 11 years later.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Oh man
I've recorded several EPs and an album in this way, spending days making individual tracks for each instrument and layering them together in the mix. Obsessing over the individual perfection of each part in isolation.

Then we deiced to hire a studio guy who did live video tracking: Record the performance as a live multitrack, no overdubs or individual tracking, simultaneously video the band. The tracks were not perfect, but it was the best we ever sounded IMHO, and it took a fraction of the time. (if you don't count the years of rehearsals and gigs that polished our execution up to that point...)

If I ever hit the studio with a band again I will always push for a live multitrack with minimal overdubs.

I’ve done some live recording like that. It is fun for sure and I do prefer it for some things but for my current band I do like guitars to be doubled left and right. We have two guitar players but they often don’t play the same thing. In fact they rarely even play in the same tuning. The rythm guitarist primarily uses baritone tunings and the lead guitarist tunes higher. Also I can’t play bass and keys at the same time.

 

[LBS-bass]

Do do that(or at least try it), making sure the levels are right. Things might get quiet, but who was it that said, 80% of what a musician shoudl do is to listen...
I want to keep my ability to do that.

There are also different kinds of earplugs that might be worth looking into. Mine drop the levels by 25 db and i can still have normal conversation. They don't make me deaf, they just take the edge off things.

Yeah, my take is don't put the headphones on your ears until the engineer has your channel dialed in. Then you can ask him or her for fine adjustments, but the odds you'll have your eardrums blown are pretty low.

 

[Peteyboy]

Yeah, my take is don't put the headphones on your ears until the engineer has your channel dialed in. Then you can ask him or her for fine adjustments, but the odds you'll have your eardrums blown are pretty low.

It's been a long time since I've been in a studio that didn't have a little headphone mixer @ each position. Individual volumes and overall EQ. I don't think that's considered high-tech or out of the ordinary in 2020 is it?

 

[LBS-bass]

It's been a long time since I've been in a studio that didn't have a little headphone mixer @ each position. Individual volumes and overall EQ. I don't think that's considered high-tech or out of the ordinary in 2020 is it?

It really depends on the "studio" these days. In 2020 you're more likely than ever to be ushered into somebody's spare bedroom for tracking. Headphone amp? Hahahaha!

 

[Peteyboy]

It really depends on the "studio" these days. In 2020 you're more likely than ever to be ushered into somebody's spare bedroom for tracking. Headphone amp? Hahahaha!

I was young and pretty when I moved to L.A. in '92 - I don't get "ushered" into spare rooms at the same rate these days.

 

[LBS-bass]

I was young and pretty when I moved to L.A. in '92 - I don't get "ushered" into spare rooms at the same rate these days.

LOL. In 1981 the only rooms I got ushered into were the big studios, because that's all there was. If you recorded anything at all it went 24-32 tracks onto 2" tape. But nowadays not everyone is spending the money for those kinds of rooms, because they don't have to. If you have the connections and the bread to only do those big studio gigs, that's awesome. But it's probably not the norm around here for most folks.

 

[mrcbass]

LOL. In 1981 the only rooms I got ushered into were the big studios, because that's all there was. If you recorded anything at all it went 24-32 tracks onto 2" tape. But nowadays not everyone is spending the money for those kinds of rooms, because they don't have to. If you have the connections and the bread to only do those big studio gigs, that's awesome. But it's probably not the norm around here for most folks.

This has been true in my limited experience. I've been involved with multi-tracked recording in three locations:
1. My house (with me as the studio) - rock with two guitars - one track at a time - only dost was my time
2. A buddy's house with him as the studio - jazz (KB, bass, drums)- all together with some punch ins - he didn't ask for money, but we gifted him a few hundred for 3 or 4 sessions.
3. In an actual "commercial" studio with a paid professional doing the work. - same band as #1. 1 song, about 5 hours (vocals were very time consuming), $500.
This studio, set in an industrial "strip mall" had one room where the instruments were recorded, a small vocal booth, a room for the engineer and a small green room. The bass and drums were recorded together and all other parts were done one track at a time. The guitars set up their rigs in the room, but played from the engineers booth so they could really crank the volume without hurting anyone. I'd have much preferred recording together, but I doubt I'll ever get that type of "big studio" experience.

For most of us, this is probably the reality of what a "studio" is anymore.

 

[night_mail]

Hey wow thanks for coming through everyone, glad I posted this, getting a lot out of all the responses! I appreciate you all!