Recording session nightmare

[Nashrakh]

As he was dialing in the mikes as the track played they started singing those low guttural sounds and he began laughing.

I would consider that rude and unprofessional. Not defending the band bailing on him though.

 

[LBS-bass]

That all depends. At least based on my own experiences.

Compression helps with levels. Up to a point. But it can also boost unwanted noises. And heavily compressed vocals usually don't sound that great. So there's only so much compression you'll generally want to use anyway.

Noise gates can help when you're not singing. But they won't block noises you make while you are.

Best bet is to do it as right as possible on the raw track and not rely on magic boxes to fix what's avoidable, assuming they even can. I mean sure, with today's gear virtually anything is probably fixable after the fact. But it takes gear and time. And in a studio that means money.

Like we say in the IT world: Don't expect major miracles unless you're prepared to pay for them.

Yes, doing it right is always the best bet. But when you're running a studio that's open to amateurs, you don't always get that. So you just have to do the best you can, as budget allows. Unfortunately, "I can fix it in post" isn't something the amateurs ever understand, either

 

[40Hz]

Yes, doing it right is always the best bet. But when you're running a studio that's open to amateurs, you don't always get that. So you just have to do the best you can, as budget allows. Unfortunately, "I can fix it in post" isn't something the amateurs ever understand, either

Nope. But if they're not going to remain sounding like half-assed amateurs for the rest of their lives they'd better learn to understand it.

 

[Cliff Colton]

There appears to be an expectation in the music business that everything is free. Play for free, record for free, listen for free.

I'm going to call my water company today and tell them I don't like the water so I can get it for free. #forfree

 

[Tony In Philly]

Nope. I don't have access to the recordings.

Maybe in a fit of ego she'll post it to YouTube or Soundcloud someday. It's amazing how many people don't filter out their sub-par stuff there.

 

[GBBSbassist]

Nope. I don't have access to the recordings.

Even if you did, I'd strongly advice against sharing them with others. That's extremely unprofessional on the part of the studio to be releasing another artists' music against their wishes, especially under the guise of shaming them for being bad at music.

I get it, the session sucked for him, but look on the bright side. It was only two hours, and they didn't go and book an entire weekend.

 

[smurfco]

I had a truly horrible studio experience once. It was so bad that I don't even like to think about it. It was just awful. Everything about it was bad. You name it, it was terrible. Nothing was good, and in the end everyone agreed that it was just bad, really bad. Man, what a horrible time.

 

[scuzzy]

I can't say much, I'm humbled every time I record, whether at home or in a proper studio. I suppose the major difference is, I know it's the Indian.... Not the arrow.

 

[RustyAxe]

The thing is this is a good sized studio, with top $$$ equipment and a steady supply of professional musicians making quality records there. But they have decided to make their place accessable to anyone, within reason. They give price breaks to less affluent clients but they aren't about to give away their time for free.

Maybe you misread me. I was talking about a very respected local studio, top notch in every way. It's a business, and every client's $$$ is good there. But they can't record talent that wasn't in the room.

 

[red_rhino]

Like we say in the IT world: Don't expect major miracles unless you're prepared to pay for them.

Quoted because truisms like this should be reinforced.

 

[Kmonk]

I wouldn't refund their money. They paid for the studio time and used it as agreed. It's "Tim's" fault that she couldn't sing.

 

[Medicine Man]

It wasn't until I started dabbling in recording that I realized I'm not as amazing as I had previously thought. Playback is a cruel mistress.

 

[40Hz]

Quoted because truisms like this should be reinforced.

More than truisms in IT. Like so many things, there's almost always a solution for any situation. Unfortunately, the cost is usually progressively prohibitive the more spectacular the degree of intervention required.

 

[TreySonagras]

Sometimes a photographer has to take pictures of an ugly person. Cash the check.

 

[holdfast]

Ha! What a shet show. Reminds me of many years ago when my friend switched over to Pro-Tools in his home studio. He took on as clients, American Idol type wannabes. Depending on what the client could offer, which was often very little, he would help write the song, come up with the arrangement, play virtual and real instruments, sing backups and mix it down. He played me a song that he did for a young female client. He'd autotuned the vocal to death, but you could hear in spots that it was still out of tune. When he ran the song with autotune off, the singing was abysmal. The person could absolutely not sing at all. It makes you wonder how many radio hits these days are done by non-singers.

 

[JimmyM]

I would scrap the session... no charge, but they don't get to keep the tapes.

Forget that! To subject me to that kind of torture takes money!

 

[Moose22]

It wasn't until I started dabbling in recording that I realized I'm not as amazing as I had previously thought. Playback is a cruel mistress.

I find it works both ways. Sometimes I listen back a couple weeks later and find something I liked that I didn't realize I did so well.

Then I start to sing and... well, lets just say it can be quite humbling. And then I'll start picking at my timing, which seems good when I'm playing but rubs wrong when listening from outside. But it makes a really good way to find what you need to work on. If you can take the indignity of brutal self evaluation, at least.

 

[JRA]

After they left, Tim told me they were easily the worst clients he's had to deal with since they opened the studio 3 years ago.

tim did fine.


FWIW: i owned and operated a free-standing, pro studio for almost 25 years: this stuff happens regularly (although, not frequently --- the cost of studio time prevents newbie-inundation!).

 

[brianrost]

I would consider that rude and unprofessional. Not defending the band bailing on him though.

Death metal was a brand new style at the time, he had never heard that kind of singing before.

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

I've recorded a number of those...the guy who is "producing" this "amazing singer chick" and they show up, she is hot, he is meh.
we spend time on the backing tracks, usually bass/drums/keys/guitar, then I put up the vocal mic, and I always start with raw sound...no compression/eq/gate/reverb, nothing. Just to get levels and find a place to start.
and boy oh boy, 98% of the time, the pretty girl starts singing, and both their faces turn sour. I go, "you OK?" and they go, "ummm, it sounds weird."
so then I start adding stuff on until we get something that they can agree on, but usually it takes hours and it is quite difficult.
but that is why we call it work and not fun.

Of course, there is that 2% that has come in and the girl goes up to the mic while I am setting levels, and I gasp in shock and say, "stay right there, that is great!"
those are the days when I am happy to own a tape machine.