booking studio time?

[divineaudio]

been tossing around the idea with my bandmates for a while now in hopes of gaining some perspective on the whole recording process, learning a few things and (hopefully) applying it to future home recordings. so i have a few questions...

how many of you go to pro (or semi-pro) studios to record your music?
do you find it is more productive than home recording? why/why not?
what (if anything) have you learned from doing so?
what are some of the pros/cons you have found in having someone else record your music?
any recommendations for going to a studio? (basic research aside... i wouldn't go to a studio that specializes in r n' b to record our crazy noise-metal! )

[wiss]

what I have gained, if you have the space build your own. With today gear, its so much simplerer than 10 or 20 years ago....

I learned a lot.....mic placement, mic shielding, mixing.....


depends on the owner too.....some are over controlling some are super cool....

shop around...

[Theory?]

been tossing around the idea with my bandmates for a while now in hopes of gaining some perspective on the whole recording process, learning a few things and (hopefully) applying it to future home recordings. so i have a few questions...

how many of you go to pro (or semi-pro) studios to record your music?
do you find it is more productive than home recording? why/why not?
what (if anything) have you learned from doing so?
what are some of the pros/cons you have found in having someone else record your music?
any recommendations for going to a studio? (basic research aside... i wouldn't go to a studio that specializes in r n' b to record our crazy noise-metal! )

Honestly, your best bet to having the best possible studio experience is to talk to freelance engineers. Those who have been around the block a few times know the best studios in the area for different projects and may have an in here and there to get you a better deal at one place or another.

While building your own studio is always a great idea, especially if you're a control freak/record a lot, there's really nothing like going into the studio and buckling down for some real work.

Studio time is a great exercise for any band, I feel. It creates a stronger bond between musicians in my mind because its a totally different process with plenty of rigour involved.

Even in your own studio, you still feel very inclined to relax and take your time, when you're in someone else's studio on the engineer/studio's time, you're forced to get down to business, and I've always felt like that process brings out the best in bands. It all depends though.

Good luck.

[Altitude]

If your happy with your recording arraignment at home and the results, then thats all you need. You go to a studio to use the recording space, their hardware, and their engineers.

[immigrantboy]

My band rents a studio for $220 a month. Quite frankly I wish we had a garage, because we're basically paying for a room with carpeted walls. And its on the crappy side of town. But I don't think it would be considered a pro studio, so I can't really say.

All the instruments in the studio were found in the dumster. Cracked cymbals, zappy microphones, a Casio CTK-400, the works. Except the PA and mixer, which are spiff.

[divineaudio]

If your happy with your recording arraignment at home and the results, then thats all you need. You go to a studio to use the recording space, their hardware, and their engineers.

that's it exactly. the space we are using is limited, and progress toward good recordings is slow. we have been at this for almost two years with our current format and just now are things starting to come together. we always seem to wind up messing around with mic placement or signal path or something, and so far we have re-engineered the whole room no less than four times.

since three of us (out of four) come from an electronic background it seems we just get bogged down in the tech side of things rather than just playing and recording tracks. if we could just streamline the whole process and maintain a degree of quality then all would be well.