Looking for a studio to record out EP! Please help us out, thank you.
- Thread starter ThePreamble
- Start date
ThePreamble
New member
Thank you all, for your replies and advice. We don't plan to start recording now, we're just looking at our options. Uh, I would say maybe 2k would be the most we could spend now.
THOA
New member
Though I agree that quality is better over quantity, I would like to put this question to the floor:
Would spending 10k on studio quality album be justified by your album sales? There's no question that it will help, but is recording quality the main factor that is gonna help you sell your EP/album?
Here's some more food for thoughts:
Money that one has to spend for quality is usually the one that discourages bands from stepping into the studio. With 1k-2k, you should be able to have one or two really superb quality tracks at a pro-studio. So that leaves you with your other 5 songs, which is an extra 3k-5k.
But by the time you are able to save up that amount, will the band even exist anymore? Happened to me... a band disbanded a month after they have recorded their guitar and bass tracks. Never got to record drums at the studio cos they were studying and had no money. The guitar and bass recording they did was free, btw.
Also, I think there are too many myspaces out there where bands put their songs that is being recorded live at some live performance. And most times the live recording just puts me off: the quality just does not justify the band cos it was recorded using an MP3 player or an MD or something similar.
There are also some bands who spend a budget amount doing a one take live performance, which include 1-hour of mixing... you can basically hear the haphazardness of the recording and mix.
I've also spoken to and heard of bands who went to a studio recorded 2 songs for one day for a price of $250 with the songs being done within a day. Which makes it a very rushed affair, with little to no room for error, and little to no room for added creativity.
Practicing with a "click track" before going to a studio will help a lot. But how many bands out there actually do that? One of the bands that I recorded did the "click track" way. What was suppose to be a four hour recording for two drum tracks became a three and half hour recording for just one drum track. They managed to finish the second drum track in half an hour, without the "click track". Moral of the story is: a click track, although a great tool to aid you in your recording, it can in fact hinders a recording progress if the band is not used to it. This is especially so when there are constant tempo and time signature changes.
In short, when it comes to recording, you get what you pay for. Too many bands are trying to cut corners when it comes to studio recording in order to cut down the high pricing. At the end of the day you can hear the results of cutting corners. It is inevitable. But how many bands out there can afford NOT to cut corners? Does being able to afford quality means you have more "talent"?
Appreciate your thoughts.
Would spending 10k on studio quality album be justified by your album sales? There's no question that it will help, but is recording quality the main factor that is gonna help you sell your EP/album?
Here's some more food for thoughts:
Money that one has to spend for quality is usually the one that discourages bands from stepping into the studio. With 1k-2k, you should be able to have one or two really superb quality tracks at a pro-studio. So that leaves you with your other 5 songs, which is an extra 3k-5k.
But by the time you are able to save up that amount, will the band even exist anymore? Happened to me... a band disbanded a month after they have recorded their guitar and bass tracks. Never got to record drums at the studio cos they were studying and had no money. The guitar and bass recording they did was free, btw.
Also, I think there are too many myspaces out there where bands put their songs that is being recorded live at some live performance. And most times the live recording just puts me off: the quality just does not justify the band cos it was recorded using an MP3 player or an MD or something similar.
There are also some bands who spend a budget amount doing a one take live performance, which include 1-hour of mixing... you can basically hear the haphazardness of the recording and mix.
I've also spoken to and heard of bands who went to a studio recorded 2 songs for one day for a price of $250 with the songs being done within a day. Which makes it a very rushed affair, with little to no room for error, and little to no room for added creativity.
Practicing with a "click track" before going to a studio will help a lot. But how many bands out there actually do that? One of the bands that I recorded did the "click track" way. What was suppose to be a four hour recording for two drum tracks became a three and half hour recording for just one drum track. They managed to finish the second drum track in half an hour, without the "click track". Moral of the story is: a click track, although a great tool to aid you in your recording, it can in fact hinders a recording progress if the band is not used to it. This is especially so when there are constant tempo and time signature changes.
In short, when it comes to recording, you get what you pay for. Too many bands are trying to cut corners when it comes to studio recording in order to cut down the high pricing. At the end of the day you can hear the results of cutting corners. It is inevitable. But how many bands out there can afford NOT to cut corners? Does being able to afford quality means you have more "talent"?
Appreciate your thoughts.
Last edited:
blueprintstudios
New member
after 12 hours of merlion (vomitting) and 12 hours rest from food poisoning, first things first I'd like to inform ppl to be aware of IMM's Giant's inside there's a "stall" selling honeydew soyabean milk. I'm famous for my machine-like digestive system but something's definitely wrong with that stall.too bad no receipt otherwise sure report... I've already recovered.
this thread does make me wanna speak up a few things as much as THOA has said. first things first, whoever's reading this post and may have "made this mistake and not aware" of saying any studio's "cheap". Try to rephrase it as "inexpensive" or "affordable-compared-to" because it does get insulting to the inhumane hours of effort we put in. unless the sound is really CMI la...
and in my 7th year of recording, so far I realised, there's no such established word like "fast game" in recording. a.k.a "ahh we won't take long, fast game one" because fast game is a word used for either demos, it is to be used only AFTER recording it e.g. : "eh siala, that was a one-take-wonder, heng man, didn't expect it to be FAST GAME". so I have to agree that recording shouldn't be rushed at all. unless you plan to re-record your songs again later. song's recordings are not like New Year photos where you record over and over every year. sometimes you may only choose to do it once. so do it once do it good. doesn't matter what quality it is, infact it's got nothing to do with quality of sound, as long as you're sincere during the recording process, it will reflect into your listeners, and this is something that's not measured in audio frequencies or musicianship. Songs are musical stories of your experiences (unless someone else wrote the song for you). you wrote it sincerely, you play it sincerely, you record (digitally immortalizing of sound) sincerely. You want an example? how "good quality production" do you think it matters when Frente recorded the cover of "Bizzare Love Triangle (Acoustic)" ? if you ask me the sincerity comes directly from the singer. and it's being played on the radio till now...
ThePreamble : ok now there's a few things i would highlight to you as much as to any new still-schooling-talents reading this.
1) you may wanna do a slow homework check @ http://tinyurl.com/recordingstudios (thanks to this thread, I'll be adding THOA's studio soon to the list) THOA damn low profile man haha. usually I do my homework pretty well...
Choose your producer well, cos chances are when you've feel that you're settled down COMFORTABLY with one, you wouldn't spend the similar amount of cash to "guinea pig" another cos this guy is going to represent your band's music in a cd in the long run when your band has a following.
2) errr my schedule is overloaded until after sept/oct or even year end..damned reservist and work.. this one I'll email you, I just received your email.
3) with many of the posters here saying "quantity over quality", I often like to be more neutral and view things from another point of view on purpose to be fair. and that is "Sincerity over everything else + Reality check (since we're talking about money)". e.g : reality check means unless you got rich parents sponsoring the recording, otherwise quality is just a luxury. allow me to ask you this question via experience, how DO YOU know if out of the 5 songs + upcoming 2 new songs, which is best suited for focus of having "high quality recording" ? what if the 2 songs you bombed on wasn't actually much of a hit, and the crappier ones you recorded actually turned out more popular? 7 songs all written and fully experienced with emotions by your band, and should any of the songs be treated biased/unfairly? Who is to judge? if you would like a hint to find your answer : Gig. Gig. Gig. then see which song gets the most positive response from your audience. then you can bang your head against the wall later when you realise your fans love all your songs equally. by the way when I said "experience" ,
http://www.myspace.com/postboxband <-- honestly when I recorded Miss sunshine i thought that was the most cheesy/corny song out of all. like literally out of a kids central cartoon show. but it DOES bring out the happiness of a kids-central in their fans/listeners..the quality of their EP is no USA chart topper but there's sincerity in their music.. well at least I knew I was sincere when I mixed it! haha
http://www.myspace.com/sallysrejex <-- My Love (Acoustic) is a song DISCARDED by local punkrock band 20 dischanger,then given to Sally's Rejex > The Sallys.. recorded for free on Zoom H4, at first I thought of it as "aiya free recording don't need to focus so much attention" until I realised how good it sounded after the lead vocals was recorded and came up with (as producer) that "haunting back vocals" together with the drummer in the intro becomes a crowd favourite.
so this kinda thing there's no fixed formula to it. you'll never know what your songs are capable of.
4) I said it before and I'll say it again : in Singapore music scene, we do what works with OUR system. CGAEFD. is what audience loves. Cheap Good Alot Extra Free Discount. even if you got 2 killer recorded quality songs and broke to miss out the remaining 5 and sell a "2-track" cd. almost guaranteed that your audience will complain why so little tracks.
5) Practise practise practise. and not blind practising. improvement comes naturally, but like Tetris, you gotta first clear off the blanks. find out what is each of your band member's weaknesses.work on them, don't pressure each other, we're all out here to have fun and make music as FRIENDS. i see bands fall apart cos of this pressure.To the member's thats lacking out (always going off time/etc), dont take your band for granted. They'll be patient with you , but they'll only "try". don't do your "JAMMING" in recording sessions! it'll only make your producer's wallet fat!
6) money = financial planning. with $2K budget means each member forks out $400. equivalent of working @ a fast food restaurant for approximately 1 month. or washing your parent's car and doing the household chores in return for extra pocket money (definitely great way to suck up to your parents) stay at home be good boi/ger. Negotiate with your producer on payment see if they accept instalments without interest rate. cut down on smoking, dying your hair, buying the latest teenage fashion, upgrading your guitar pedals , taking cab, clubbing, piercing, eye mascara unnecessarily.
7) finally, all the quantity/quality talk,end of the day you just need to know don't be in a rush to record! Save patiently,commit and focus, your songs and playing will always improve with time/experience, this is the syndrome all bands have when they record NOW, then later shortly 6 months later they'd go "wah shit now we came up this new version of playing and it sounds so much better, now gotta re-record in order to integrate this in", seriously, save the new versions for live on stage. variety in live performance sets the difference between fans listening to the CD + fans attending your gigs.
btw thanks agingyouth/THOA for putting in good words for me haha.
Quote of the day : sure, everyone has talent...but who can put in REAL EFFORT?
this thread does make me wanna speak up a few things as much as THOA has said. first things first, whoever's reading this post and may have "made this mistake and not aware" of saying any studio's "cheap". Try to rephrase it as "inexpensive" or "affordable-compared-to" because it does get insulting to the inhumane hours of effort we put in. unless the sound is really CMI la...
and in my 7th year of recording, so far I realised, there's no such established word like "fast game" in recording. a.k.a "ahh we won't take long, fast game one" because fast game is a word used for either demos, it is to be used only AFTER recording it e.g. : "eh siala, that was a one-take-wonder, heng man, didn't expect it to be FAST GAME". so I have to agree that recording shouldn't be rushed at all. unless you plan to re-record your songs again later. song's recordings are not like New Year photos where you record over and over every year. sometimes you may only choose to do it once. so do it once do it good. doesn't matter what quality it is, infact it's got nothing to do with quality of sound, as long as you're sincere during the recording process, it will reflect into your listeners, and this is something that's not measured in audio frequencies or musicianship. Songs are musical stories of your experiences (unless someone else wrote the song for you). you wrote it sincerely, you play it sincerely, you record (digitally immortalizing of sound) sincerely. You want an example? how "good quality production" do you think it matters when Frente recorded the cover of "Bizzare Love Triangle (Acoustic)" ? if you ask me the sincerity comes directly from the singer. and it's being played on the radio till now...
ThePreamble : ok now there's a few things i would highlight to you as much as to any new still-schooling-talents reading this.
1) you may wanna do a slow homework check @ http://tinyurl.com/recordingstudios (thanks to this thread, I'll be adding THOA's studio soon to the list) THOA damn low profile man haha. usually I do my homework pretty well...
Choose your producer well, cos chances are when you've feel that you're settled down COMFORTABLY with one, you wouldn't spend the similar amount of cash to "guinea pig" another cos this guy is going to represent your band's music in a cd in the long run when your band has a following.
2) errr my schedule is overloaded until after sept/oct or even year end..damned reservist and work.. this one I'll email you, I just received your email.
3) with many of the posters here saying "quantity over quality", I often like to be more neutral and view things from another point of view on purpose to be fair. and that is "Sincerity over everything else + Reality check (since we're talking about money)". e.g : reality check means unless you got rich parents sponsoring the recording, otherwise quality is just a luxury. allow me to ask you this question via experience, how DO YOU know if out of the 5 songs + upcoming 2 new songs, which is best suited for focus of having "high quality recording" ? what if the 2 songs you bombed on wasn't actually much of a hit, and the crappier ones you recorded actually turned out more popular? 7 songs all written and fully experienced with emotions by your band, and should any of the songs be treated biased/unfairly? Who is to judge? if you would like a hint to find your answer : Gig. Gig. Gig. then see which song gets the most positive response from your audience. then you can bang your head against the wall later when you realise your fans love all your songs equally. by the way when I said "experience" ,
http://www.myspace.com/postboxband <-- honestly when I recorded Miss sunshine i thought that was the most cheesy/corny song out of all. like literally out of a kids central cartoon show. but it DOES bring out the happiness of a kids-central in their fans/listeners..the quality of their EP is no USA chart topper but there's sincerity in their music.. well at least I knew I was sincere when I mixed it! haha
http://www.myspace.com/sallysrejex <-- My Love (Acoustic) is a song DISCARDED by local punkrock band 20 dischanger,then given to Sally's Rejex > The Sallys.. recorded for free on Zoom H4, at first I thought of it as "aiya free recording don't need to focus so much attention" until I realised how good it sounded after the lead vocals was recorded and came up with (as producer) that "haunting back vocals" together with the drummer in the intro becomes a crowd favourite.
so this kinda thing there's no fixed formula to it. you'll never know what your songs are capable of.
4) I said it before and I'll say it again : in Singapore music scene, we do what works with OUR system. CGAEFD. is what audience loves. Cheap Good Alot Extra Free Discount. even if you got 2 killer recorded quality songs and broke to miss out the remaining 5 and sell a "2-track" cd. almost guaranteed that your audience will complain why so little tracks.
5) Practise practise practise. and not blind practising. improvement comes naturally, but like Tetris, you gotta first clear off the blanks. find out what is each of your band member's weaknesses.work on them, don't pressure each other, we're all out here to have fun and make music as FRIENDS. i see bands fall apart cos of this pressure.To the member's thats lacking out (always going off time/etc), dont take your band for granted. They'll be patient with you , but they'll only "try". don't do your "JAMMING" in recording sessions! it'll only make your producer's wallet fat!
6) money = financial planning. with $2K budget means each member forks out $400. equivalent of working @ a fast food restaurant for approximately 1 month. or washing your parent's car and doing the household chores in return for extra pocket money (definitely great way to suck up to your parents) stay at home be good boi/ger. Negotiate with your producer on payment see if they accept instalments without interest rate. cut down on smoking, dying your hair, buying the latest teenage fashion, upgrading your guitar pedals , taking cab, clubbing, piercing, eye mascara unnecessarily.
7) finally, all the quantity/quality talk,end of the day you just need to know don't be in a rush to record! Save patiently,commit and focus, your songs and playing will always improve with time/experience, this is the syndrome all bands have when they record NOW, then later shortly 6 months later they'd go "wah shit now we came up this new version of playing and it sounds so much better, now gotta re-record in order to integrate this in", seriously, save the new versions for live on stage. variety in live performance sets the difference between fans listening to the CD + fans attending your gigs.
btw thanks agingyouth/THOA for putting in good words for me haha.
Quote of the day : sure, everyone has talent...but who can put in REAL EFFORT?
ThePreamble
New member
Firstly, I would like to thank the two long posters for their advice. I honesly read every word and took note of it all. As I've said, we're not doing the recording right now, but maybe at the end of the year. Thank you very much for taking the time to post. 
blueprintstudios
New member
thepreamble : the post is for "at anytime of your life in this band.. or any other side project bands". time flies trust me lol. most bands plan 6 months to a year in advance as a normal thing. keep us updated and share with us on soft!
THOA : yeah low profile as in all the while I knew you were in a band/production of your own music but I didn't know you did recording as "mime unit". come to think of it I don't know what Sj2six production is either
THOA : yeah low profile as in all the while I knew you were in a band/production of your own music but I didn't know you did recording as "mime unit". come to think of it I don't know what Sj2six production is either
ThePreamble
New member
Yes we will keep everyone updated, thanks.
THOA
New member
I just thought I add a few more things with regards to the role of a producer:
This is a GREAT example of the difference a producer can do as opposed to a sound recording/mixing guy that you work with for your one day studio recording work. Many people just do not realise how important a producer is when it comes to making an EP or an album.
I have a personal formula as to how much of the budget should be spent on what. Basically: 10%-20% should be spent on producer alone, 20-30% should be spent on technicalities like studio rental and recording and cd pressing and printing, whilst 50%-60% should be spent on MARKETING. :lol:
This is a GREAT example of the difference a producer can do as opposed to a sound recording/mixing guy that you work with for your one day studio recording work. Many people just do not realise how important a producer is when it comes to making an EP or an album.
I have a personal formula as to how much of the budget should be spent on what. Basically: 10%-20% should be spent on producer alone, 20-30% should be spent on technicalities like studio rental and recording and cd pressing and printing, whilst 50%-60% should be spent on MARKETING. :lol:
ThePreamble
New member
How would you suggest someone spent that money for marketing?
blueprintstudios
New member
so far my final say is..
marketing is very important. but my belief is this : "This is why you do this. and I Do that!" + "there's only 14 active hours a day. 8 sleeping. 2 eating/shitting"
as Musicians : you're creative, just play the darn instrument. write the songs.
as Audio engineer/producers : you're the geeks of frequencies and recording/mixing etc. learn/upgrade/and update!
as marketing/band managers : your job is to get the band's name/image out. hook em up with the real things be it radio/mags/publicity etc. not just creating diy mini gigs,t-shirts,buttons and myspace/facebook. and the compass copyright shit.
as singaporeans, you gotta study, work, NS .
bands when you try to record your own band. 14 active hours/day focus on being singaporean and "audio". and when you try to DIY your own marketing, it takes more focus off. I mean seriously if you can commit well, you got talent, otherwise , i'm sure you have good friends who have that ASPECT of talent to cover your marketing or cd design sleeve/photographer etc. when you have a "team" of friends helping each other out, nothing is compromised.
marketing is very important. but my belief is this : "This is why you do this. and I Do that!" + "there's only 14 active hours a day. 8 sleeping. 2 eating/shitting"
as Musicians : you're creative, just play the darn instrument. write the songs.
as Audio engineer/producers : you're the geeks of frequencies and recording/mixing etc. learn/upgrade/and update!
as marketing/band managers : your job is to get the band's name/image out. hook em up with the real things be it radio/mags/publicity etc. not just creating diy mini gigs,t-shirts,buttons and myspace/facebook. and the compass copyright shit.
as singaporeans, you gotta study, work, NS .
bands when you try to record your own band. 14 active hours/day focus on being singaporean and "audio". and when you try to DIY your own marketing, it takes more focus off. I mean seriously if you can commit well, you got talent, otherwise , i'm sure you have good friends who have that ASPECT of talent to cover your marketing or cd design sleeve/photographer etc. when you have a "team" of friends helping each other out, nothing is compromised.