Creating an album

[iwantdigimon]

Hi guys,

I am interested in creating just a single album with friends.

Any idea what's the cost involved and where I can get it done? Heard about multi-track recording, but is it the same thing?

thanks!

 

[visa]

at the very least it'll cost you a few thousand dollars! don't settle for anything less.

 

[iwantdigimon]

are you serious?? Its just one cd of songs. You mean when all the songs will add up to a few thousand, or the process of recording itself?

 

[theliverevolution]

think both. it'll cost you time and money, mianly cause its also not a case of playing it once, then done. there's a lot of refinement, re-recording, etc...

 

[iwantdigimon]

anyone tried this before?

 

[Cavett]

Are you recording it with a band or are you just wanna record your singing to a minus-one track?

Many factors involved to produce a sonically good album.

Plus be prepared to fork out some amount of cash too.

 

[iwantdigimon]

Thanks for all the info guys! I guess it wont be too bad if the cost is gradual, its paying up front a few thousand that's difficult!

 

[reez_rock]

I hope I can answer this question. I'm currently recording our 4 tracks EP with my band. We are doing track by track recording
Market price in singapore for track by track recording is abt 60-70 bucks.
Mixing is separate cost and mastering is another separate cost.

We are still in the midst of recording the last song for my lead guitar tracks. We've done our drums, basses and the other guitarist tracks. Finished 3 songs of my guitar tracks. Haven't record any vocals yet. So far we have spent abt 31 hours of recording and we've forseen that we need another 12 hours to complete the recording, another 4 hours mixing before we send it overseas for mastering. So in total we need abt 47 hours worth of recording to record 4 songs. So I guess you can do the math

if you running on a strict budget or ust recording for fun, I guess live recording will be a good option. Tho the quality is faaar apart. If you decided to go for track by track recording, I strongly suggest go for a good studio with a good sound engineer. I've done several recordings in Singapore. Some studios can charge you pretty lower price but the sound engineer is not certified and some just a software operator that can't give you constructive comments on sounds, tone, playing, etc.

my recommendation goes to Focal Pro. The sound engineer, Mr. Gavin is highly capable and ve a wide knowledge in sound, software, amps and playing.

Hope this helps. Sorry for the long writing

 

[iwantdigimon]

thanks so much! haha what a coincidence, i just saw focalpro's site, thats why i came here for advice! I guess i will settle for live recording then; since i dont know how multi-track works! sounds really complicated.

 

[pianomankris]

I don't live in Singapore, so can't advise any studio in particular, but I can maybe give you some advice about studios.



Make sure you can play in time to a click track (metronome). This will save you a LOT of money.


I used to do some session work, and one of the session guys I worked with got shouted in to do a guitar part (PS when at the pro level you are expected to play a piece perfectly at first sight it's tricky). OK, so he got shouted in, and made a mistake - one tiny mistake - and he got fired. He hasn't done session work since.

The reason being that we were in Abbey Road studios, and the studio hire costs about £2000 an hour (about 5500 Singapore dollars) - him making a mistake on a piece that lasted about 2 minutes meant 2 minutes had been wasted - and at £2000 an hour, 2 minutes is a lot of money.


So - my point is - make sure all the band can play in time with a metronome. This will save you making mutiple takes of a track - which is when the costs begin to mount.

Studio editing can correct tempo alterations, but studio editing usually takes longer than the actual recording itself. So it is best to be so tight that any take will be good.



You would probably be better off recording using your computer, and some computer software - why don't you do this? This way, there isn't the pressure of time.

I do that when recording classical guitar - I use a Neumann mic, run through an Alesis IO2 through Cubase on my computer, and it does the job fine.


It depends on what you are recording, though.

But you should have a think about your options before booking a studio.


PS don't think i'm trying to put you off going to a studio - i'm just making you aware of some of the issues. If you are in a band, and one of the band members drifts out of time every now and then, this can cause major problems within the band.


So, to summarise - #1 priority - playing in time.

 

[tpiledriver]

thanks for sharing pianomankris!!!!
nice one.

 

[iwantdigimon]

okay, just to clarify,

I dont have a band, and I'm doing collaborations with friends

I don't plan to make it big with this, its just a one time "fun" we all agreed on

we all share passion for music, so we are picky on quality as well

im pretty much sure where we're headed for, guess it'l be live recording. haha

 

[reez_rock]

Then I guess the best option is to do it at home...track by track...no time limits...can redo as much as u want...almost zero budget.....I still like to do it if I have the time sometimes.

I'm using a 90 bucks audio technica mic to mike up my 30 watts marshall amp to record my guitars and bass, using downloaded drum loop. Record, edit and mix everything using Adobe audition aka Cool Edit pro...Sounds pretty good actually tho definitely not professional standard...at least my gf said it's good when I did 1 song for her...hahaha

 

[iwantdigimon]

thats nice of you! alot of effort put in there! haha I guitarpro-ed songs for my gf -_- guess i have to learn from you alr!

anyways i have a drummer friend, so i guess home recording is out of the question! thanks anyways!

 

[AgingYouth]

Try Lion Studios. The place looks great for live recording. It's big enough to put in a couple of installation booths.

Google the address yourself.