[Harp-L] Re: Recording in studio...advice?

[Colin Epstein <colin_epstein@xxxxxxxxx>]

I recently did the same thing and spent my first chunk
of time in a recording studio.

Along with all the other sound advice that folks are
chipping in with, here's one bit of practicality I
wish I'd had before I went in to record my track: 
Make sure your headphones are on good and tight if you
do any head shakes.  Whenever I hit the two-hole
shakes in my solo, the phones feeding me the rest of
the band's prerecording fell off.  Very distracting to
an already nervous recording novice.  If you do your
two-hole trills by moving your hands instead of your
head, then that's probably not an issue.

Also, definitely be prepared for plans to change.  It
seems what happens in a studio can turn out very
different from what's planned.  My band leader
originally asked me to prep for the song by listening
to a Nina Simone song that had long, drawn out
acoustic chords with hand vibrato.  When we actually
got to recording, she and the engineer decided that an
amplified sound with more single note riffs and fills
fit the song better.  So I had to switch gears right
in front of the mic.  Not a bad thing, but just one
more hoop to jump through for the newbie.

It was a great experience, though, and as long as you
stay relaxed and open to ideas, you should be fine. 
Since I'd never done it before, it was fasinating to
hear the songs evolve as all the tracks come together,
got re-worked, and inspiration struck someone to add
something new.  Of course, part of that evolving
process may be due to the fact that our band is pretty
loosey-goosey, but it was tons of fun.

--
Colin

> > From: Michael Fugazzi <mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] Recording in studio...advice?
> Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 10:22:55 -0700 (PDT)
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> 
> In about a month my band and I are going into a
> professional studio to record the first half of our
> first album.
> 
> Any advice on what to be prepared for?
> 
> I plan on having back ups of everything (harps,
> mics,
> cables, etc) except my amp.  They already have a
> real
> Bassman at the studio, so I should be ok (I play
> through a Bassman Ltd).  
> 
> They also have a real Leslie and I might play some
> rhythm parts through that.  Which I'd also like
> advice
> on.  I know John Popper uses one quite a bit, so I
> have some sound samples, but that's all I know.
> 
> Other then that, this is my first "pro" experience
> so
> I am not too sure what to expect.
> 
> 
> 
> Mike Fugazzi
> Harmonica/Vocals
> NiteRail