Successfully recording music in a professional environment—even one as relaxed as my place—still requires a healthy dose of discipline and responsibility! IT'S YOUR MONEY—you probably have some serious goals in mind as to what you want to leave with at the end of the day or the end of a project. To ensure that your studio experience is both pleasurable AND productive, I've compiled a list of do's-and-don'ts below based on past experiences that will help guide you through your project with maximum success and minimum hassle...
- How Long Is Your Day?
When I charge you a day rate I prefer that it last a standard eioght hours, but if the vibe is good and I feel that we can reach a particularly beneficial project goal with a little more hard work I'm happy to stretch it out to ten hours. Past that it's considered a new "day" or "by-the-hour" unless we've previously agreed upon a long-term project rate.
- Why Do You Charge A Deposit?
I've experienced a huge amount of people cancelling sessions at the very last minute. Me expecting a session to happen means that I've already aranged my schedule to accomodate your project...often during a weekend slot when I could have been out getting my ya-yas in a variety of ways had I known I'd be free as a bird! Also, I often spend time off-the-clock before you even show up getting the room ready for your project—arranging microphones, plugging in cables, etc. I have simply found that charging a non-refundable $100 deposit on all sessions (subtracted from the balance-owed of course!) keeps people focused on working out the details with their project and sticking to a plan.
- What Portion of The Day is Spent on Setup?
I don't claim to be the fastest engineer on the planet, but I really do believe in being careful! Generally if everyone in the band shows up at the same time I can be completely done with setup in three hours (give or take) and ready to rock. If you get all your tones right first it makes the rest of the day go sooo much faster because everyone is diggin' what they hear in the headphones and there are no technical issues stopping the session. SO from there on it's all about just playing music...which is what it's all about ultimately!
- Get Your Parts Right Before You Show Up
I can't tell you how many folks have wasted hours of their session by inventing guitar solos and the like on-the-spot. It's pretty common for people to seriously under-estimate how long it takes to invent and polish a new part for a composition...especially with the added pressure of being on-the-clock. So, if you plan on getting a four-song demo done in a single day—mixed and mastered—make sure your band knows all it's parts soup-to-nuts or it's not gonna happen and you'll end up either paying me more dough for a second session or walking away with unfinished tracks and no more money to spend on 'em. As stated in rule #1 I give a little latitude on how many hours I spend per-day, but ultimately it's not my problem if you botch a session.
- Beware of Too Many Breaks and Too Much Chit-Chat!
This is really the hardest thing for me to proclaim or enforce, because I really do want to have the mellowest scene going. BUT...the fact of the matter is, your time is valuable and so is mine! When you decided to take the plunge and record your project, you probably had a set budget for getting it all done and based on that budget I've told you how long I can "host" your project in order to meet that goal. It's tough: I do feel that taking a breather here and then as well as general fooling around and comraderie can result in a really fun studio experience and a better recording. So, I try and walk the line between good cop/bad cop on this kind of stuff and nudge people along when I feel it's appropriate. But ultimately it is your responsibility to yourself to make sure that you drive yourself just hard enough to get done what you need to get done. Again, the most typical thing I've seen is a band that has to get their demo done in a single day and ends up leaving with nothing because they took several long snack breaks, shot the shit constantly, and stopped for half-hour meet-and-greets every time a new bandmember showed up throughout the course of the day.
- Excessive Inebriation WILL NOT Be Tolerated Under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!
The Studio reserves the right to eject any member of the Band from the property at any time for inebriation or inappropriate behavior. And no, you won't get your money back either. I'm actually all-for a little alcoholic or herbal cocktail during the sessions (although I myself will rarely join you until the end of the day), but know your own limits, please! There's definitely a point where some social lubrication helps speed up the process, and another point where it turns your session into a complete fucking disaster. Beyond that, I just-plain have a great deal of really expensive gear floating around this place. Spilled beer and knocked-over gear will become your problem instantaneously. For a great example of a band that ended their day with less to show for their efforts and less in their pockets for this very reason, check THIS out!
- Back Up Your Own Files!
I have a limited amount of storage space for digital projects as well as analog ones. Naturally you'll be leaving with your reel if you're doing an analog project, but if all or a portion (such as mixing) is going to be done digitally—as almost all are—it's your responsibility to bring with you or allow me to buy for you some form of digital backup. It can be either a properly-formatted portable hard drive with either FireWire or USB connection, OR one or several DVDs, depending on the SIZE of the project.
- We Live in the Boonies—Bring Food and Drink!
One of the only things people don't like about recording in such a beautiful location is that there isn't exactly a 7-11 at the end of the block! The ranch sit's 1/4 mile down a dirt driveway from a locked gate and from that gate it's another three miles to the nearest fast-food! So, bring lunch, snacks, beverages, whatever you need with you so you don't have to waste the better part of an hour just finding food
- Leave Your Barking Child and Screaming Dog at Home
Great Magnet is not really a child care facility, nor is it a pet hostel. Yeah, I know YOU think they're cute—and they probably are if you're not an engineer trying to get a job done. But in my shoes they're just a distraction, a noise problem, and something to trip over. Plus dogs can be a big problem with our livestock (cows and goats) and cats out here. Arrange for the sitter, please!