Record Your Music

By Paul Zollo

Getting a Record Deal vs. DIY Record Deal

In the past, unless a recording artist was signed to a recording company, it was pretty much impossible for that artist to record and distribute their music. Since the advent of the internet, the distribution of digital music, and in addition to the prevalence of reasonably-priced recording software (such as Pro-Tools) and hardware (such as the Boss Digital Recording Studios), artists now have the option of recording and releasing their own music. An established record company will have distribution, and a budget that will cover recording, promotion and advertising. However, those expenses are usually deducted from an artists’ royalties, so that it can be a challenge for an artist to earn sufficient income from mechanical royalties alone. (For the difference between performance and mechanical royalties, see LINK) Recording artists are conventionally given an advance on royalties; a lump sum that will eventually be deducted from future royalties.

If an artist records and releases their own music, they have total creative and financial control of their music.

DIY

Music Production

A record producer is the person who is in charge of the recording of music. Unlike a film producer, a music producer does not raise the funds for a project. His job is to direct and lead the project, more akin to the role of a movie director. The producer’s job is to realize a musical vision of a song via record production, the combination of instruments, and voices to make a record. This vision can be his alone, the vision of the artist, or a joint vision shared between the producer and the artist.

• Choosing an Engineer
  
  Nowadays, the most prevalent and cost- conscious way of recording is digital, and there are countless small studios around the country and throughout the Bay Area that use Pro-Tools or a similar recording software to record music. To find an engineer, it’s best to talk to fellow musicians, and then go to a studio, listen to samples, discuss rates, and see if this is someone with whom you can easily work. A good engineer is a technician — but a creative one. His job is to simply and easily mike instruments and voices or record instruments directly to a multi-track matrix, and later to mix these separate tracks into a final mix. You need someone efficient, sensitive, smart and quick. Again, the best method of finding someone is through a recommendation.

• Choosing a Producer
  
  Like choosing an engineer, choosing the right producer is usually best achieved by recommendation, or by seeking out someone who has produced music that you appreciate. A producer must be affordable, must be an easy person with whom you can communicate and collaborate, and must share a similar musical vision. Often a producer will have studios and engineers in mind that they’ve previously worked with, as well as musicians. A producer should be a good musician, able to arrange instruments and guide efficient and creative recording sessions. A good way to determine if a producer is what you need is to sit in on a recording session to see how he relates to the engineer and musicians, and to the artist. If he is someone who has mastered the delicate politics of getting what he needs from musicians without dictating too harshly or being bossy, then he is most likely the right person for you.

Commercial Studio

• Choosing the right studio for your project
  
  Studio time is more affordable than ever due to the advent of Pro-Tools and other digital recording technology. For this reason, you want a studio that can fit your budget, and this is eminently achievable. You first need to determine what your needs are; do you have a band, and if so, do you want to record that entire band playing together? If so, you will need a studio with ample space. Time was when all studios had big rooms in which to record, because most recording was done live, sans any overdubs, so a lot of space was needed. Nowadays, many studios don’t even have room enough to record a live drum set, as many of them use sampled drums or loops instead of the real thing. So space is the first consideration. How much do you need? Are you going to record real drums? If so, you can quickly narrow your list of potential studios down to those who record real drums. Then you can go there, see the drum set up (real drums require many microphones to be done correctly) and listen to see if they get a good sound.
  
  
  If you are going to do an acoustic project without drums, or want to use sampled drums or loops, or if your project will consist mostly of overdubs, then you have the option of using a much smaller studio, spatially-speaking. And a smaller studio generally means lower rates.
  
  
  If that is the kind of project you are going to take on, listen to the samples of recorded music there. Listen to quality, see if they have a good Pro-Tools set up and discuss rates. One thing you want to look for is tidiness; is the studio clean and organized? This is important not only to have a nice place in which to work, (as recording projects most often always require a big block of time, so you’ll be spending a lot of time here), but also because an organized and clean studio is emblematic of the spirit of efficiency of this studio. If a studio owner and/or manager and staff cannot keep the place tidy, that’s a good sign that working there is problematic. Studios that are always clean and nice place in which to spend a lot of time not only provide the intimate, collegial vibe of a good workspace, they also speak volumes about a healthy core at work there, an organic spirit of efficiency, orderliness and productivity.

• Booking Time
  
  Hourly vs. Block Rates
  
  Almost all recording studios offer both hourly and block rates. Whereas an hourly rate might be, say, $30 (just an example), studios offer block rates that give you a lower hourly rate if you commit to a big chunk of time. For example, if you book ten hours, instead of it costing $300, it is $250. Studios do this because it’s in their best interest to secure large many-hour projects. And it’s certainly in your interest, as an artist, to seek out block rates, as any project will almost always require a big block of time, and so you will save money in the long-run.

• Digital vs. Analog
  
  Analog recording is the old method of recording music, the method that has been used for many decades. It is recording music onto magnetic tape. Since the advent of digital technology, there now exists the ability to record music digitally. This means that instead of recording the music onto physical tape, you are recording the music digitally and it is being preserve as a digital file within a computer. Pro-Tools is a digital recording tool which allows an engineer/musician to easily access, alter, mix and manipulate digital files of music.
  
  
  Both analog and digital utilize multi-tracking, the capability to record and later combine and mix these tracks into a unified whole. For a long time, many audiophiles, musicians, producers and engineers contended that the sound of digitally recorded music compared to analog is inferior – too cold and sharp, lacking the vibe of intimate warmth achieved on analog records. But these days the beauty of analog recording has been combined with digital, so the best of both worlds is truly achievable. The use of great microphones, for example, goes a long way towards realizing that warmth of yore, as does good mike placement, the use of tasteful echo and subtle reverb, compression, and mike spacing. And although you are recording digitally, you can do so in an old-fashioned matrix of recording real instruments – real drums, for example, instead of samples, or real strings or real piano instead of a synth – all of which adds that genuine dimensionality that the actual acoustics of real instruments played in a studio creates. So although the main means of preserving sounds is now digital instead of analog, much of the beauty and warmth of analog sound can now be achieved in this digital age.

Home Recording

• Purchasing and/or Renting Equipment
  
  If you are interested in home recording, you can sample the various technology that is available to you by renting. But these days it is most prevalent to use Pro-Tools on your computer, or a similar software. There is also hardware portable studios that you can rent and/or buy. And once you are up and running, it is quite possible and prevalent to rent a good microphone such as a Neumann 87, for example; for the recording of vocals or other important acoustic instruments. Whereas a microphone of this level can be much to expensive to purchase (they are over $1000), rental of one for a day or two is reasonable.

• Software
  
  Pro Tools is the industry standard for the best method of digital recording. A combination, really, of software and hardware, it is manufactured by Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology, and a full spectrum of information about it and other products they manufacture can be found on their website at www.digidesign.com. Compatible both with Apple and with PC computers, it is, essentially, a digital audio workstation platform that integrates hardware and software. It’s used in every facet of recording music, from recording demos, CDs, post production, and TV and film scoring. It is made by Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology.
  As one of the first programs to provide CD-quality (16 bit and 44.1 kHz) multitrack digital audio editing on a personal computer, Pro Tools grew quickly in the sound recording field, becoming popular because of its streamlined interface for non-linear, non-destructive editing. This appealed to analog producers switching to computer-based digital audio production. Much like Google or Photoshop, Pro Tools has become synonymous with digital recording and is the industry leader because it is the best. There are, however, other companies manufacturing digital recording software, and these include Apple’s popular Garage Band, and also Tracktion, Logic Express/Studio, n-Track, FL studio, Cubase, Ardour, Audacity, Jokosher, Traverso, Rosegarden, Otractor, Mixcraft, Sonar, REAPER and RiffWorks. All are viable systems. The only real way to determine which is best for you is to talk to other musicians and engineers, ask to see how they operate their system, listen to their productions, and weigh your options.

• Mini-Studio
  
  There are now several digital mini-studios on the market that enable a musician, songwriter or engineer to record music digitally in a multi-track format (which allows easy over-dubbing) without a computer. These are stand-alone machines. Boss makes several ; each offering a different amount of tracks and other capabilities. Their BR-1200, for example, is a reasonably priced 8-track recording console that not only can achieve easy multi-tracking, but also has mastering capabilities and burns its own CDs. So you can record, mix, master and create a mastered CD all with this one machine. It is more complex to operate than the old multi-track cassette machines that were on the market, but it’s no more complex than learning Pro Tools, and doesn’t require a computer. It also has effects such as compression , reverb, and many guitar sounds and kinds of echo that affect voice and instrumental recording. For more information, you can go to the Roland website; Boss is a part of Roland: www.roland.com . You can also see their entire line of digital recorders from 4 tracks to 16 tracks at www.boss.co.jp. The prices vary; their simplest machine, the BR-900 8-track, starts at about $500. And there are several other portable digital studios on the market, including the Tascam DP-01, the Zoom MRS 802, the Yamaha AW1600 and others. You can do some research online and/or at your local music stores to see and experience the options available to you.

Mastering

Mastering is the final recording process necessary to create a professional product, and is often misunderstood. It is essentially a form of audio post-production, is the art of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master); the source from which all copies will be produced (via methods such as pressing, duplication or replication). (The format of choice these days is digital masters, although analog masters, such as audio tapes, are still being used by the manufacturing industry and a few engineers who specialize in analog mastering.) Mastering enables you to take all the separate songs you have recorded, and to combine them sonically, so that all of them share the same sound, the same dynamics and textures, even if they were recorded at different times and in different ways. Mastering enhances the overall sound of each track, but it also balances the sound, so the result is a coherent and cohesive whole. Mastering is generally considered to be an art form and it should be relegated to a mastering engineer. This task should not be executed even by the best and most experienced multi-track audio and live music engineers. Spending some extra money on mastering goes a long way in ensuring you wind up with the most professional and enduring record possible.

Artwork and Design

Putting out your own CD involves more than recording, producing and mastering the music. It also requires a package. This means you need a designer, unless you are capable of doing it yourself. If you’re not a professional graphic artist, however, you would be in much better shape to hire someone who can make your package look totally professional, in terms of design, logos, credits and photographs.

Hiring a Designer

Like finding a good engineer, producer or musician, finding the right designer is best accomplished by talking to others who have done it, seeing other CD designs, and finding someone who can do a professional job both visually and promptly at a reasonable fee. Please also see “Promoting Your Music”: for further information on hiring a designer.

Artwork

• Art/Photographs
  
  Almost all artists want photos of themselves or their bands on their CDs. Again, you need to find a good photographer to do work for you, and choose photos that exemplify the spirit of your work.

• Logo
  
  A good logo for a band name or artist name or even album title can make a big difference. This is something a good graphic artist can create for you.

• Credits
  
  It’s always best to credit those who worked on your music, and to allow your audience to know who did what. Some use separate credits for each song, delineating who played which instrument on each. If you are a band and the identical instrumentation is used throughout the album, you can simply list the band member’s names and their respective instruments. If there are additional musicians on tracks, you can also list those. You should also credit the engineers, producer, studio and anyone else who contributed to the creation of your album.

• Lyrics
  
  Printing the lyrics to your songs is optional, obviously, but it’s often a good idea if you write your own material to give your listeners the opportunity to read your words.

• Liner Notes
  
  Often people hire or enlist writers to write about a band or artist or specific project in what are known as liner notes. People enjoy having much to look at and to read when getting g a CD, so liner notes are often quite a nice addition to a package.

• What to Give To Manufacturer
  
  You have to provide your manufacturer with the mastered disc with the songs sequenced to your order. You also have to provide all the art-work as laid out by your artist; this includes all photos, credits, liner notes, and art design.

Choosing Manufacturer

Back in the day of vinyl the idea of manufacturing your own records was prohibitively expensive. But in this digital age, the cost of manufacturing our own CDs is within the price range of even independent musicians. There are manufacturers throughout the country, and many in the Bay Area.

CD

Almost all albums being manufactured these days are CDs; compact discs.

Vinyl

It is still possible to manufacture vinyl albums, and many audiophiles content that sound better than CDs, and also prefer the large format for art and lay-out.

Distribution

Once you create and have a CD manufactured, your next challenge is to distribute it; to get it to retail outlets and to listeners around the world. There are a few different ways to do this.

• DIY Distribution
  
  Nowadays with the advent of digital downloading of music, and the mass distribution of music via the Internet, the need to get a distributor to physically distribute your CDs to outlets around the county, and the world, has almost vanished. The majority of music fans no longer purchase entire CDs from stores. More frequently they download songs, and when they do buy entire CDs, they often purchase them directly from an artist’s or b band’s website, or from Amazon.com, CDBaby, or other Internet outlets. Or they purchase CDs at a show. But if your aim is still to get your music into stores, the only way to accomplish that these days on your own, without the benefit of a corporate record company pulling the fiscal strings, is not by getting a distributor, but by dealing directly with stores in cities. If your band is playing primarily in a city— say San Francisco or Oakland — you need to go directly to the major music stores, and speak to their buyers. They’ll want some guarantee that people will want your music, otherwise they won’t want to expend the space to sell your CDs. So it’s wise, when doing this, to direct friends, family and friends to specific stores to get your album. Without customers interested in your music, it will be almost impossible to get stores to carry your work initially, and to keep it in the store. Similarly, when you are playing in other cities, you need to case out in advance the major and independent record stores in that city. It is important to get your CD’s in independent stores since they are free from corporate influence and are easier to deal with in this regard than chain stores. Maybe see if you can put up a flyer or poster prior to your show in that city. Then announce the store where your CD can be found in that city at your show, even if you are also selling the CD yourself at the show. This is really the only viable way to get distribution. Like recording and producing records, distribution is best done yourself.

• Distribution Deal
  
  This is an agreement between the artist and a company to distribute records. This is different from a typical record deal in which the record company invests in the artist and is involved in production, recording, publicity, promotion and more. With a distribution deal, the artist signs an agreement with a company simply to distribute the record — to get it into retails outlets around the country, splitting up sales percentages. There is also digital distribution, as in CDBaby.Com and others.

• CDBaby
  
  Started by Derek Sivers, CDBaby is one of the first and best companies for digital distribution and online sales of your CD. They are a digital outlet for CDs. They service digital outlets, such as iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody and others. You are the label; they are the distributor. There is no charge for this service; you receive 91% of all moneys earned, and they keep 9%. It is a non-exclusive deal, but you cannot sign up with more than one distributor.
  
  CDBaby will sell your CD directly to the public on their website at CDBaby.com. It is an online record store, and it is an ethical one. It costs only $35 per album. They do not share your private information with other companies, or exploit their members, of which there are presently 220,248. They create a webpage just for your album, charge whatever price you determine, and split the profits. When they are out of stock, they inform you in an email, and when somebody buys your CD, you are also informed. They’ve sold almost 5 million CDs online, and have paid over $67 million to artists. For more information, simply go to www.cdbaby.com.

• Itunes
  iTunes is Apple’s online music-store which was created in 2001 to allow music lovers to download music — either single tracks or entire albums. A download of a single song is currently 99 cents; of this, the musician receives a little over two thirds, and the remainder goes to Apple. There are several ways for a musician to get your music onto iTunes — CDBaby (see link) will put your music on iTunes as part of their digital distribution deal, and many musicians consider getting on iTunes through CDBaby as the easiest and most effective way of doing it. You can also deal directly with iTunes: You fill out this application form: https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZLabel.woa/wa/apply . This will give you all the information required.