Preparing to Record

We have a recording date in a month, what should we do?

Now that you have a date scheduled, the real practice begins. Decide which songs you’re going to record, and practice them. Practice those songs, until you’re physically unable to practice it anymore. You should be able to play through these songs as easily as breathing. When you’re practicing, and you think: “Alright guys, that was a good practice, let’s call it a day.”, practice all the songs again. You can never practice too much.

What should I be ready for as an individual?

When you record, you test your real ability to play your parts flawlessly while under pressure. You’ll have all the engineers, and your band mates listening to you loud and clear as you record your parts. At band practice and gigs, you might be able to hide that one bad part of your solo under all the other sound, but not while you’re recording, EVERYONE will hear it. Make sure you’re really confident with your parts, and aren’t embarrassed to play them solo’d out for everyone to hear.

Steps to Take:

• Decide which songs you’re going to record
• Practice them as a band until you can’t practice any more
• Practice them (and tell your band mates to as well) until you’re really confident with them

When you ultimately record the song, and the engineers will pick apart your parts if they aren’t good, so be ready for criticism, but the more you try and make your parts as good as they can be, the less criticism you’ll get. Also listen to your band mates’ parts critically, and try to help them work out their parts, and get them to help you with yours.

In summary:

• Practice until you can’t practice anymore
• Perfect your parts, and your playing of them
• Make sure all of your songs are perfect for the recordings