Recordity
Search
So you want to record your shit, eh?
I want to start a revolution.
Nothing brings me more happiness than
helping to bring new music into the world.
Be you in a metal axes of evil rogue
state, a plinky plonk piano leaning smoking newness vibe, or a punk grind
madonna covers band, I’m throwing the following few ideas at you to think
about before commiting your shit to vinyl.
Prepare Ye the way of your recording.
Checklists
There’s 3 checklists here to think
about. Definitely worth a look.
But I don’t want to steer your recording in any particular direction,
only where you want it to go. Most
of it is basic stuff, shit that will save our time and your money during the
recording stage.
Having said that, completely disregarding
any advice I may have, is AOK. That
can be part of the magic.
Some more exploratory. Some to be filed under ‘trust me, I (i.e. Mark) am wise in
the ways of the rock’ or ‘shit, I (i.e. you) wish I’d have thought about
doing that during the recording.’
Essential
- These sound obvious, but read them, and do and tick them off if you think
their important.
·
Make sure everything you need to make
your recording works
·
Guitars - Check pick-ups / electrical
connections. Buy new/spare strings.
·
Drums - Tune up skins. Buy new/spare skins, toms wont sound all Mat Chamberlainy if
the skins are fucked. Clean
cymbals/or leave them dirty, depending on which you prefer. Borrow stuff e.g. cowbell, splash cymbale etc.
Drum key etc.
·
Amps - Make sure they work, check leads,
kettle leads, bring fuses, amps, valves, screwdriver.
·
Your lyrics - Bring lyric sheets
·
Time booked - Make sure you take time off
work etc.
·
Bring a blank tape for taking away rough
mixes to examine your playing. Get
happy with what you've played.
Preferable
- These are more luxurious commodities, but worth a gatch also.
·
Supply me with a prerecorded version of
the songs you want to record - As rough as you like.
·
Hesitantly, I suggest bring CDs of bands
you want to sound like so we can use the production as a guideline.
But it’d be nicer to set sail for a new uncharted land, rather than
copying someone else.
·
Production ideas - Start thinking (weeks
before recording) of production tricks you want to try e.g. extra vocal, guitar,
keyboard, percussion parts you'd like to try.
·
Think of the idea of production values
for your songs - What kind of treatment would do them most justice...
·
e.g.s Edwin Collins 'A girl like you' =
60's sound mixed with harsh guitar solo...
·
Bjork 'Anchor Song' - Just saxes and
voice.
·
Metallica 'One' - Zero reverb, paired
down, almost innocent.
·
Early Therapy? or Helmet stuff.
Use of picolo snare.
·
Will your song (or all parts of a song)
sound the best with a full band arrangement.
·
Think of intros or outros(e.g. ‘Basket
case’ or ‘Stay away’), song structure(Paranoid Android Vs. Molly’s
Lips), vocal harmonies arrangements(Beach Boys vs Beatles), extra tamborines
(QUOTSA vs The Carpenters).
·
Thinking of getting your vocalist drunk
out of his/her mind to ensure best vocal performance (?)
·
Think of using odd sounds e.g. Bicycle
bell(Jimmy Cake), animal sounds(e.g. Daniel Johnstone using cricket sounds and
hence ace sleeve credit “cricket - legs”), spoken word(Slint), lo-fi AM
radio/TV stuff(22), feedback(‘When the music’s over confusion double guitar
solo- The Doors), randomness (John Coltrane) etc.
·
Think of not doing any of this shite.
·
Bring any pedals / microphones /
instruments you wish to fuck around with.
Other concerns:
Time is money. Regretably,
this is so. But also, time is
precious. Think of the recording
process as trying to get the best realisation of your songs onto tape. That means trying to get the best take. You most of all know what that is.
But getting the best take out of you can
come down to knowing when to stop after take 54, when to try one more time, when
your too tired, when your just right, whether you need to take a break.
Point is, the more time you fuck around
with something, the more of a hole you dig.
Maybe the song wasn’t ready for the studio.
Why me?
You look at me and you get to feeling...
Benefits of recording with me:
I know that a
well made recording is understanding the nature of all the instruments being
played, knowing how to bring out the essence of what’s being played, getting
it to sit right in the mix, with the rest of the instruments. Getting it to sound ... musical (if that isn’t too
subjective a thought).
I’ve played
in all kinds of bands
Veneer -
keyboard, guitar, vox
Moonboot -
Keyboard, guitar, vox
Tooth - bass,
vox
Jammed with
(i.e. played 1 or 2 gigs/songs with)
Goodnameforaband
(Vox, guitar and drums)
22 (drums)
bandog (bass,
for 3 songs cos Mike hurt his finger)
Mr Creosote
(bass)
Giveamanakick
(1 song, acoustic guitar)
Niall Quinn and
the Pennywhores (drums)
The Bubblegum
Craze (drums and guitar)
I play trad
Irish music too. Mostly guitar
accompaniament.
I’m more
flexible than any big fuckoff studio that will charge you an arm and a leg.
They wont give
a fuck about your tunes. But I
will!
I’ve recorded
every genre of music under the sun (almost).
Solo violin,
death metal, reggae, trad, singersongwriter stuff, punk, rock and roll,
electronica, classical, pop, goth, novelty tunes, spoken word, electroacoustic,
and even a bit of musique concrete.
I don’t care
about how good or bad your band is. I’m
just happy you exist and are expressing your creative talent.
I’d be happy to record you. Some
of you may annoy the shit out of me, and I may hate myself afterwards for
bringing your shit into the world. But
most of what I’ve recorded has been beautiful.
OK
So what else
are you selling?
OK, it’s no
secret I’m in the AMC.
The AMC, along
with bringing bands to town, wants to help develop local bands too. To
that end, bands who record with me will get the following benefits
Advice on how
to press up Cds/vinyl
Possibility of
doing a compilation of Limerick bands
Advice/help on
distributing Cds around Ireland and Europe (fuck getting signed, there’s ways
to get known outside the mainstream)
Advice/help/contacts
on touring Ireland/Europe.
I’ve been
part of nationwide releases with Veneer and Tooth.
I know how to get Cds distributed with the bigger shops eg Tower, HMV,
Virgin etc and the smaller independent shops e.g. Black Spot, Sound Cellar, Road
Records etc.
I also know
people who distribute music throughout UK and Europe.
The main thing
is I know how easy it is to get out there, and get your band known.
It’s up to you to grow and mature as a band.
This help is just to stop you withering into nothing which is what every
Limerick band seems to end up doing.
The technology
/ expertise / contacts are there. There’s
no excuse. Fucking do it.
TAPE OP
CONFERENCE
I went to this
conference, and it was a bit like eating the salmon of knowledge.
A bit like when
Jonah Lomu was given a rugby ball, a bit like when the sun was given a solar
panel or tree, a bit like when Harry met Sally.
I’m most at
home when beaming on board the space ship recording prize. I’m an audio geek who’s jeans are too torn to get into
the secret fanclub. Recording is a
fire that I love to stand next to/in.
OK, more later. Read more about the tape op conference mojo here