Hey there everyone,

So my band is looking to do a first recording in professional studio and we are wondering how much time to book for the whole process. We are looking to do probably around 40 minutes of material. I see a bunch of different estimates for the whole thing but none that seem to be particularly helpful for our particularly set up. We're an instrumental two piece (guitars and drums) and we wouldn't be planning on doing a bunch of overdubs. My gut reaction and on the advice of some of some engineers who have seen us play is to record us live as a two piece. I do use a looper which I would want to record onto a separate track (maybe as an overdub) just so we could punch-in if necessary. All of this to say is, I don't think we would take as long to record as a traditional three/four piece band with drums/guitar/bass/vocals etc. How much time (assuming we are well rehearsed) would be reasonable to book? Also how much time would reasonable to book for mixing? Sorry if there are still a ton of variables that I didn't cover but like some people have told us to book two full days some five which is a difference of over a 1000 dollars so it would really help to get some advice.

Thanks!

2 full days would probably be fine for you if you were doing half as much music. 2 would be enough for the tracking, but kind of pushing it for a full length's worth of mixing in my experience.

Also this doesn't appear to be EA specific, so what does a full day mean where you're going? I've done a 2 day session at EA before but day 2 ended up being 14 hours or something nuts, and not every studio is cool with that. No one should really do 14 hours ever but you do crazy stuff when you're young and broke..

penningtron wrote: 2 full days would probably be fine for you if you were doing half as much music. 2 would be enough for the tracking, but kind of pushing it for a full length's worth of mixing in my experience.

Also this doesn't appear to be EA specific, so what does a full day mean where you're going? I've done a 2 day session at EA before but day 2 ended up being 14 hours or something nuts, and not every studio is cool with that. No one should really do 14 hours ever but you do crazy stuff when you're young and broke..

In the wording of the studio a day is at minimum 8 long hours

One thing that might help you decide is what your goal for an outcome will be (along with how well rehearsed the material is).

A mostly live take of the songs, with an overdub or two on each, and mixing that is a clean, faithful depiction of what went on could be quick, although I'd always prefer another day to finish mixes after taking the work in progress and marinating over it before making final decisions. A week, or even just a couple days away from the studio can help ground some decision making.

If you want to use the studio to add a lot of depth and enhance what you normally do, both overdubbing and with some more interpretive/imaginative moves in the mix stage that will take more time.

I've recorded/mixed a full length in two days (at EA) and I was pretty brutal. Granted, that included overdubbing vocals and a couple extra guitar bits, but not much extra.

If you're a two piece, instrumental, and you're not planning on adding too much extra glitter or trying out different pedal/amp combos, seems like you could do three days total, but might want to do four just to be safe. Definitely depends on how much you've demoed/pre-production'd your stuff.

Oh, and you mention a looper pedal thing--if you don't already I'd recommend practicing w/o using the looper if that's how you're going to record, and overdub the looped stuff. Worst thing is going into the studio and realizing you have to play something different than the way you've been doing it for months already. Same thing if you're recording to a click, your drummer at the very least should be playing along to the click before going to the studio (apologies if this is all totally obvious stuff!).

My studio recording experience is limited to two sessions with the same bandmate drummer. All other members different.

2 x 10ish hr days at Engine (w/Colin Studybaker) = 5 songs (EP), 4 members (guitar, guitar, bass, drums, minimal vocals, minimal overdubs, a few punch ins). Decently rehearsed. Most songs were first take but 1 was a bear. Recorded and Mixed in those two days but it was TIGHT. Abandoned about half of the planned vocals.

2 x 8ish hr days at Blam! (w/Sean Morrison) - 9 songs tracked (37 min LP). (guitar, bass, drums, no vocals, some full length overdubs, a couple of punch ins). REHEARSHED SUPER TIGHT. Almost entirely first takes. No mixing other than a rough one. A friend mixed at home a few months later.

So... depending on how well rehearsed, how much overdubbing you need, how efficient your engineer is, will determine your time.

Personally, with 2 members only and almost no overdubs, I'd say 1 day to track and 1 day to mix if you have a super tight set. A looper has the potential to throw my calculations way off. YMMV. I'd probably start with the loop, as I cannot imagine trying to sync a loop after the fact.

losthighway wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:34 pm One thing that might help you decide is what your goal for an outcome will be (along with how well rehearsed the material is).

A mostly live take of the songs, with an overdub or two on each, and mixing that is a clean, faithful depiction of what went on could be quick, although I'd always prefer another day to finish mixes after taking the work in progress and marinating over it before making final decisions. A week, or even just a couple days away from the studio can help ground some decision making.

If you want to use the studio to add a lot of depth and enhance what you normally do, both overdubbing and with some more interpretive/imaginative moves in the mix stage that will take more time.

This is an interesting point to me, we play what I typically would consider straight-forward live music in a more kind of punk vein. So I have always assumed that this kind of music benefits from a more faithful quick depiction of the performance that captures the energy happening in the room. Am I being naive here? Is there a lot we could actually add to that feel in the overdub/recording process? Can anyone think of any records that are heavier/more live focused that really benefited from lots of love in the mixing/overdubbing process?

If you GRIND you can do this in 2 days. You will be tired and stressed, but you can do it.

3 Days would be normal, it'll be work, but you will have some time to breathe and get it done.

4 days and you will be able to relax and focus and do everything you want, if you have the $$$ wouldn't be a bad idea.

(also like the others, the looper throws me off, so I could be off, but that's what I would be thinking if I were in your shoes)

SimplyTH wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:25 pm

losthighway wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:34 pm One thing that might help you decide is what your goal for an outcome will be (along with how well rehearsed the material is).

A mostly live take of the songs, with an overdub or two on each, and mixing that is a clean, faithful depiction of what went on could be quick, although I'd always prefer another day to finish mixes after taking the work in progress and marinating over it before making final decisions. A week, or even just a couple days away from the studio can help ground some decision making.

If you want to use the studio to add a lot of depth and enhance what you normally do, both overdubbing and with some more interpretive/imaginative moves in the mix stage that will take more time.

This is an interesting point to me, we play what I typically would consider straight-forward live music in a more kind of punk vein. So I have always assumed that this kind of music benefits from a more faithful quick depiction of the performance that captures the energy happening in the room. Am I being naive here? Is there a lot we could actually add to that feel in the overdub/recording process? Can anyone think of any records that are heavier/more live focused that really benefited from lots of love in the mixing/overdubbing process?

That's a black hole of wonder in that question. Edit: I think most folks here on the PRF would agree that no frills presentation of authentically good takes is more important than some little layers added at the end. It's definitely not a binary, but less is more might be a good default. Still, sometimes in the 2-3 piece bands adding additional guitar or bass can make things sound more visceral, but it's 'cheating'.

I will say a rapid fire couple days is assuming your engineer can knock out a solid mix with limited time. If I was the engineer I'd say no way. It takes me more revisions to get it up to my and other people's standards, but I'm a part timer. Someone who you know gets good sounds and you're project number 16 for this year is probably going to get things in place a little faster.

Even back when I was more in 'documentarian mode' I was surprised by the variation that went into some of the mixes on sessions like these. It wasn't just a case of mix the first song and the other 9 are done too. Some songs would have more dynamic bass or drum parts that might require compressor tweaking. Some of the more exposed songs would need a boost in the room mics to fill it out or even add some reverb to sound more natural (it can be a thing..). And then there are not fun mix details like editing out the amp hum on break sections or mouth noises between verses (I know, instrumental band in this case).

I guess my bigger point is that even in a straight forward scenario there might be work you aren't anticipating yet, and that's where the extra time will save you.

(back to the original question: I'd say 3 to 4 days for this project. You might even get a $ break if you don't use all of that last day)