3. FIND A STUDIO

Enough with the legal talk, Poindexter - you're ready to play some hard music! Chill. You're now at the stage where you have to find a reputable studio in your area. Here are our tips:

  • Start by asking other musicians in town about places they would recommend. You probably have friends that have made demos of their own, and they will want to talk about the process.

  • The Yellow Pages are not a bad place to start your search, either, but you'll need to do a lot of phoning before you settle in on any one place.

  • Check out StudioFinder.com.

When interviewing potential studios, ask about the following:

  • Ask about the number, age, and quality of their microphones, and the location of the studio (e.g., On a major highway with lots of noise? Below an air field?).

  • Ask about the cost per hour to record with their engineers.

  • Ask about their splicing capabilities. Splicing is the ability to digitally remove a portion of a song and replace it with another take of the same section (giving you more freedom to change things or screw up).

  • Ask about their turnaround time for a final product. (And no, two years is not a good turnaround time. If they suggest that it is, run. Fast.)

  • Ask the studio to give you an approximate cost estimate for the entire project, from start to finish. It may be difficult for them to give any precise figures, but even a rough estimate is useful, because if it is very near to your budget limit, you know you shouldn't use that studio - you may exceed your cost capabilities. For a professional studio, it usually costs somewhere between $100 and $1000 per hour, depending on what city you're in. Sure, you might find some deals that'll cost $44.99 per hour, but these may be plebes who do a little freelance recording on the side. You get what you pay for.

  • And it never hurts to show up in person to check out their facilities before you make a decision about which studio you should use to record your songs. Also ask for some examples of their recording work so that you can hear the job they do for yourself.

  • If some of your friends are already great sound recorders, you can just rent studio space to do a recording. Discuss it with the studio and figure out if it's worth the cost.

Typically, going to a studio to record means that someone will be in the studio to work the equipment for you while you play. Since they charge by the hour, though, you have to be as efficient as possible. Don't show up without having practiced, and don't show up expecting to do some improv - you're not famous yet, and you can't afford it. We'll discuss these performance-y details in greater depth in the next step.