This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Artist News The Great Escape 2015
Five tips for getting the most out of studio recordings as an emerging artist
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 18 May 2015
Closing his session on recording as a DIY musician during CMU:DIY @ The Great Escape on Saturday, singer-songwriter Chris T-T offered five tips for emerging artists on getting the most out of their recordings with limited resources.
1. Rather than finding an expensive producer, create a producer. If someone is looking to start out in production, suggest working together. If that person turns out to be really talented, you could have an ally for life.
2. Find a college studio. See if you can find a college that’s got a big studio that they’re willing to let you use for free, perhaps so that students can gain experience. This is probably the only time in your life that you’ll get that free studio time.
3. Two-inch reel is a red herring. Whatever anyone tells you, recording to two-inch tape is only worth doing if you’re really experienced in recording and your music suits that retro sound. If you really want it, consider recording on modern equipment and then mixing to tape. At the recording stage, you are going to spend so much more time fixing the problems that arise from using old school analogue recording.
4. Always get an instrumental mix. The first thing that happens when someone offers you a sync is they’re going to ask to hear the instrumental version of the track. If you don’t have that, then you could lose out on that opportunity.
5. Always get the stems. When you’ve finished in the studio, make sure you ask the engineer to give you the individual recorded parts for your song. That way, you always have the opportunity to get it remixed elsewhere. It will be much harder to try to go back and get those stems later.
Read Chris’ own write-up of his full talk here.
