Recording Music
Full Production
Full production starts with consulting on the songs and songwriting, how the song, 4 to 6 song EP or a full album could sound and follows through to the mastering and release of the music.
An artist like yourself will want the finished music to present your songs, and your performance, in a way that reinforces the emotion you had when you wrote it. The choices in what kinds of instruments are used, how they are recorded and how they are mixed are vital to making the difference between a “Demo” recording and a “Radio ready” recording. We can take you and your song from an iPhone demo to release ready. We will work with you to create arrangements and find the right sounds that match you and your songs.
Recording
If you are a more experienced musician and you know exactly how you want everything to sound in your recording, we are happy to assist you with recording the instruments and vocals which are then ready for mixing and mastering.
Mixing
If you have recorded some or all of your tracks on your own or at another studio we can mix the song for impact, a sense of space and with the dynamics which help convey the message of the song. We can also add in what is known in the industry as “ear candy” – those little pieces of sound that create added motion and dynamics to a song. It can be doubled vocals, or reversed cymbals or instrument notes, or found sounds that – while very much in the background – create a more professional and finished recording.
Mastering
Mastering of a mixed song is one of the most mysterious aspects of the whole recording process. Even experienced mixing engineers often fail at the mastering process because they don’t understand the difference between mixing and mastering.
At it’s heart, mastering is taking a stereo mix and using: EQ to sweeten parts of the music or reduce parts that are overbearing; compression to tighten or soften the mix as needed to match the intention of the song; limiting to make the song as loud as needed for its intended use whether for radio, streaming, use in film or tv, etc; adding analogue warmth and separation of the instruments and vocals; and anything else that is needed to “finish” the song.
Some compare creating music to furniture building where the design is like writing a song, cutting the parts is like recording, assembly is like mixing, and staining/polishing is like mastering.
Releasing Music
We also can help you get your music out into the world. While releasing music is only one step to making the song a hit, it is a step you cannot skip. There is a lot of confusion about how to get music online and into streaming platforms, and/or made into CDs (which are still being bought by a good number of people) or into vinyl albums. We’ve released many albums and songs now, which means we’ve found great ways to help you get your music out without the mistakes that bog down beginning, and experienced, musicians.
There are a lot of services available to get your song online, but each has its strength and weakness that may or may not help you in your career – let us help you make the best choices.
Marketing Music and Performers
Writing and recording music is just a small part of the overall package you need to have in the profession of being a musician, and they are not not needed for all musicians.
To market your music and/or performances you’ll need several avenues of getting the attention of potential fans. We can create the building blocks so you can effectively market yourself without hinderance. Some of these building blocks include (but not limited to):
Your website
Is a social media account enough? No. Facebook and Twitter are declining in importance, and TikTok – which is cool as I write this – will also decline in the not so distant future as will instagram. What that means is you need your own piece of internet “real estate” that is yours alone, that you control and where you can gather your fans to keep them as your fans. Perhaps they only visit your site once but that is enough with a strong enough funnel to get them started with giving you their email.
Yes, email gathering sound archaic but still proves to be THE number one way for musicians to survive and thrive in todays economy. But we’ll cover email later – just remember SPAM is never good, but keeping fans interested in you and giving them offers they want is good.
Your website also serves as a place to book shows and get press coverage. It used to be, in the ‘olden days’ that musicians would send out big envelopes full of information, bios, CDs and more to venues and reporters. That’s been replaced with the Electronic Press Kit or EPK which resides on your website. We suggest having two EPKs – one for venues so they can see videos of you performing and get the basic information they need to have you perform including what you need for sound systems and stage setup; and the other EPK with bio information, high resolution photos, and sound samples as well as previous press clippings. Those two sets of people need very different kinds of information from you so why send them all to one place? This is where a website can excel at help you market your music and your performances.
Email List
People buy from people, not from messages that say “buy me,” so your email list should help fans to understand you as a person and as a musician as well as show them what the songs are about and why they should be interested. You need to do more than create music, you need to create an “experience” because that is something they will invest in emotionally.
Once they’ve become more invested in you as a person, then you can ask for their help – whether that is joining your crowdfunding campaign, buying T-Shirts from you, and of course buying your music.