by David Samuel

Created on: March 23, 2009   Last Updated: March 24, 2009

The recording studio is not the place to hammer out your song. So let us start there. Before entering the recording studio you should understand how to chart out your song. Bringing charts to the studio will help out the producer and any musicians performing in the studio. You should also grasp the importance of playing to a click track. Being able to perform to a click track allows you to utilize the day and age of cutting and pasting in the studio. This can be very helpful and cut down time in the studio.

For example, let's just say you killed the first chorus with the most magical guitar part equally matched by a stellar vocal, but could not find it on the remainder of the song's chorus sections. No worries, mate, we will take the magic and spread it over the whole song, fitting it in perfectly because you just played to a click track. Saving you time and money with countless takes trying to capture the same mojo you had on the first take.

After you have charted out all your songs and figured out what tempo they are all at for the click, you are now ready to venture on to find yourself a studio to capture this masterpiece. Just remember these little tips and you should be just fine.

1. Find the experienced engineer and producer who is willing to work with your budget. Do not look for the studio that has pro tools! I have heard demos that have come out of million dollar studios that did not sound as good as a home studio. Why is this? Most likely they could not afford the engineer that knew how to work the million dollar studio is the reason why. You are better off looking for a guy who has a reputation of making artist sound great instead of looking for a pro tools studio. A good engineer/producer is able to make a decent home studio sound closer to an L.A. recording than an L.A. studio with a bad engineer.

2. Make sure you listen to other recordings the studio engineer has released. It seems simple enough, but how many bands forget to do this? They get all caught up with what equipment the studio has and what it looks like when they should be more concerned with how good is the guy that is running the show. I mean, you are trusting your baby with this guy or girl.

3. Is he personable? The engineer should be knowledgeable but he should also be very personable. You don't want to be spending 8 hours a day in a studio with a guy who is a tool to work with. Find a good balance of character. This is your baby you are investing in.

4. Bring your favorite albums to reference

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