Advise on recording studios

[mightymouse]

hey softies i would like some general advise across the board regarding recording studios, n recording sound (very much towards guitar sound). basically i think i've checked out almost every recording studio in singapore (Almost) n the guitar sound seems to be too damn generic and digital......know what i mean? in the end we're going back to TNT, but if anyone has any other suggestions, please do share some advise.

i'm a drummer by the way, so please do be gentle with the guitar lingo :lol:

thanx guys n gals

 

[sofyan]

blackisle( :wink: ) id say

 

[unsane]

im going to go out on a limb here and say i've yet to hear a hi gain guitar sound recorded in singapore that impressed me.
one exception...doxomedon's song on the myx metal assualt compilation recorded at the old myx studios..that was pretty good.

 

[gkinsingapore]

Head, Heart, Hands, Wire n Wood. 5 components that can drastically alter a guitar sound before it even hits an amp. Gotta say, put a 57 off axis on a guitar speaker and you will record exactly what it hears. The more you read about some of the great rock recordings, the more you will come to realise that there is no science in recording guitar. Great players make great guitar recordings....not engineers. All an engineer can do is try a few mics (but they will always come back to 1 of 3) apply some dynamics and a splash of efx but, as the old saying goes, you cant polish a turd....shit in, shit out.

Dont blame the studio for a bad guitar sound. All they do is record it as the guitar player plays it. Inexperienced players go into a studio with a shitty amp and a pedal board full of distortion pedals and expect the studio engineer to make it sound like Metallica...aint gonna happen! You want a recorded sound that sounds like a Boogie rectifier stack, then you're pretty much going to have to record a Boogie rectifier stack. Pods won't get ya there either.

Great Player+Great Gear = Great Guitar Recording

 

[RazrAsh]

i think u kinda lost him there.. me too actually.. whtcha mean by the 57 off axis thingy??

 

[jbarks]

57 = shure sm57. it's a mic used for many things, recording included.

off axis = off-centre from the cone itself.

 

[serialninja]

1) get a 10 watt tube amp.
2) turn the volume all the way up.
3) mic it.
4) record with it.
5) presto!

 

[TylerDrake]

despite a very intellectual comment about it being the guitarist rather than the technician, i have to say that yeah.. to have a good song you need to be a good guitarist but to have a good SOUND isn't JUST down to the guitar ability?.. it's to do with equipment and the techs knowledge of it... bottom line..

 

[bernardgoh]

fully agreed with what TylerDrake said. everything plays a big parts in recording. if you can't get the source right. be it your guitar selection, pedal, amps, mics, pres, pickup or whatever you can think of. you wouldn't get the sound you wanted.

 

[madmonkeykungfu]

what goes in comes out

there is a saying, majority of the guitarist's tone comes from his hands. The rest is his gear/equipment.


And it is a common practice that during recording, the guitar parts are layered 2 or more times to make it sound thicker and larger. Meaning the same guitar parts are played twice or more to thicken the sound.

 

[mightymouse]

thanx guys, ur advise is really appreciated

 

[konsandy]

hi: i actually wanted to record my guitar music so what i did was visiting the studious & listening to what they have recorded....

in my opionon the most important factor tat i find in choosing a studio is the SOUND ENGINEER not price... u should be comfortable with his style & ability...

i actually recorded in like 4 studios before finding the studio that is both suitable & confortable...

many studios will give u crap service once they know u are not famous superstar with label.. take for instance the 1st studio i went they give me an ametuer traineer rookie engineer that recorded suckly: waste my $$$ then the stupid boss tell me to my face my music suck & i surely fail:

my advice NEVER go to any studio that look down on u or going to be saying bad things or is pessimistic....also some studio very calculating one 1 min extra must pay for 1 hour then they say they burnt the $1 cd also must charge $15?? what the crap.... money face go figure

 

[mightymouse]

actually the thing is, i also dont trust those yamaha studio speakers engineers use! seriously guys, i think that speaker is mean to make even a crappy recording sound good.....

oh well....thanx guys

 

[blueprintstudios]

haha this looks almost like a thread to vent the afterfrustrations of a bad recording experience.
my personal experience would probably be more like bands expecting alot more results out of recording studios than they can produce (in cases bands that don't play it right during recording/as well as in cases where the studio had bragged the "fire" that he can start but can't keep up with the "heat", y'know soundwise.) and sometimes expecting that high quality professional <insert caucasian country here> studio recording. (of course countries like japan have their own unique sound too) out of a low budget studio like the ones in SG. I'm not puttin down local rec.studios as low end, I'm comparing it on a global scale as studios overseas easily hit hundreds of thousands bucks in equipment/acoustic rooms building etc. and I'm guessing they can because of the market demand and the band (or their label) can afford to pay that kinda huge sum money to record and advertise. sometimes I wonder even if a globally-professional studio were to exist in singapore, (I don't know... the nicest studio i've seen locally is Audioplex but I heard they closed already), would the bands be able to pay for the recording price tag due to all the equipment,mic,rent,and of course a skilled engineer who's sound is bigger than his mouth? (we got quite a few of them who's the other way round, down here on this "island")

well reality speaking, I think as there is slowly more support for the local scene bands , that chain reactions to more local recording studios, each raising the "Sound" bar higher , and with the singaporean mentality (like the bubble tea shop craze), competing with each other on bigger discounts. Maximum sound, minimum cost, increasing demand. Although that sounds alot like money isn't gonna be easily earned working in recording studio field, but heck that's the hectic SG life anyway. and hopefully when the future comes we'll see lesser of these complaints. both from bands "kaobeh"ing crappy studios and ado.engineers "kaobeh"ing crappy bands. Slowly but surely people. cheers 2¢ worth.

anyway do check out some of my works/other bands @
http://www.myspace.com/homicidalrage
http://www.myspace.com/dynaxturmoil - leave my daughter alone
http://www.myspace.com/underedge (still rough mix)
http://www.myspace.com/20dischanger - Solitary (demo)

 

[detroit_red]

I say .. Use adobe audition and make your own recordings with your sessions at jamming studios... Like record guitar/drum/bass tracks seperately .. Or can be together if you think you wont screw up easily ...

 

[unsane]

many studios will give u crap service once they know u are not famous superstar with label.. take for instance the 1st studio i went they give me an ametuer traineer rookie engineer that recorded suckly: waste my $$$ then the stupid boss tell me to my face my music suck & i surely fail:

care to share what studio this was? whether you suck or not,this is certainly not the professional thing to say..

 

[blueprintstudios]

I say .. Use adobe audition and make your own recordings with your sessions at jamming studios... Like record guitar/drum/bass tracks seperately .. Or can be together if you think you wont screw up easily ...

well some "aljunied mrt" jamming studios are not flexible. I got threatened to be kicked out for doin' even somethin' as simple as using an MD + mic back in my jammin' recording days. let alone a seperate recording using a laptop. but i'm sure nowadays they're more flexible. hehe. i guess it depends.