In March 2015 I had the pleasure of recording with original music indie band Plaxton & the Void at Digitracks Studio in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The studio time was funded primarily with prizes won by placing fourth in a regional battle of the bands competition. I am writing about my first experience recording in a pro-level studio. Here is my story.
Like everyone else, you're following a drummer.
I wanted to arrive early because I didn't know what to expect. I had already been driving an hour when I pull up to this warehouse looking building in an industrial area.
"This is the studio?," I think to myself. "I must have gotten the directions wrong." "Dammit, I didn't want to be late." As I drive up closer, I notice a small sign on a windowless metal door that introduces the entrance. I sit tight and wait for the rest of the band to arrive. I start feeling some relief from my anxiety when the first of them pull in behind me. I was in the right place.
Image credits: Metavari/Band Parade TV (YouTube)
You can't judge a book by its cover.
We enter the windowless metal door in the side of the warehouse and are greeted by a hallway. There is no reception area. Inside was very nice. Nothing like the first impressions I got on arrival. Pictures and framed silver CD's from artists that had previously recorded there lined the walls. On down to the right are several small rooms. Each painted a different color as if color coded. The mixing room was at the far end. Its high ceilings with sound treatment and guitars hanging from the walls, felt like a space flight control center. Flashing colored lights and sliders from the control board demanded your attention.
Image credits: http://digitracksrecording.com/studios/
Woah, who tuned this? Was it me? I think it was me.
I load in my gear and set up in the big red room. The studio tech is working around me getting the microphones precisely placed and triggers installed on the kick and snare drums. I sit behind the kit and check the tuning. I just put new heads on a few days prior and the drums sound amazing. More likely it was the room shaping the sound. But it sure did sound big. I look into the mixing room through this very large window and see a few of the guys from the band talking to the engineer. I guess they were discussing a plan of action. We had already sent scratch recordings to the studio weeks before so they would know what we were going for. Am I nervous yet?! I was getting there in a hurry. This was really happening.
Image credits: Self
Uh yeah, I'm almost ready. I just need to change into some shorts real quick.
After a quick sound check we are ready to go. I double check my charts. They are laid out just in case my mind goes blank and I forget what to play. My heart beats at a nervous tempo as I hear the engineer's voice in my headphones say, "Everyone set?" I survey the room. I have the bass player to my left and the key player to my right. Everybody else was in a different room hidden by a pane of glass. We give each other a nod of approval and I hear the lead singer's voice say, "Yes." There is only a moment of silence in my ears until suddenly the metronome sound starts. I count in the clicks one bar and the song starts. I quickly fall into the groove and try to create a huge pocket for the other musicians to play in.
Image credits: Self
Uh, can you fix that fill? I think it sounds great. I only want to redo like nine things!
This was my first time recording where all of the instrumentation is recorded at the same time in a live setting. I was used to tracking alone to a click and simple scratch track. I had been nervous for weeks about how this would go. Of course I had this. I had played this song at least a 100 times already in preparation. And just like that the first take was done. I pull out my in-ears and take a cool drink. The band gathers in the mixing room to listen to the recording and decide what needs fixed or changed. We can always go back and punch in the parts that need fixing. A few takes later the recording is what we want. The recording engineer recommends a different snare drum for the next song. He thinks it would make for a better fit. So we make the swap. I trust he has a better ear for these details. The next song is slower and the adrenaline rush from the first song is making it hard for me to settle into this groove. Plus the engineer asked me not to play my usual ghost notes. They don't record very well. After a couple tries and some mental fight-club, I finally find my groove. I bang out the song with only a cymbal crash needing fixing.
Image credits: Instagram/Plaxton & the Void
Well, I'm the drummer so screw you guys.
I sign off that I'm happy with the recordings and kick back on the couch of the mixing room. A few of us listen in as the vocals and extra instrumentation gets added. As expected, I start analyzing my playing. Could I have maybe done that take one more time and better? You guessed it. I'm a perfectionist. I try not to make myself crazy over it. The rest of the band graciously reminds me there is a point of diminishing return in recording. Besides, it cannot be changed now. We've already moved on from that part. The songs were coming together and it would be our best work.
Image credits: Instagram/Plaxton & the Void
That's not how the kick is going to sound when it's mixed, right?
Time had gotten away from us and we were already past hungry. We decide to have food brought in and take a break. Now with full bellies we can spend the rest of the evening in the mixing room tweaking, replaying and tweaking some more. This is when the magic happens. The engineer suggests making some vocal additions. As it turns out, I end up singing gang vocals for one of the songs. One take and it sounded awesome. The songs are stopped and restarted many times as we watch the engineer turn knobs and pushed sliders until the mixes were of a quality you would expect to hear on the radio. At this point we are paying big dollars to be in here. But it was worth it. We were sure this project would be something our fans would enjoy. Too, if anything we could appreciate the learning experience.
Image credits: Self
Yeah, I play all the time.
This is it. We have a finished product. The studio staff said they really appreciated how professional we acted throughout the process. With some smart thinking we had let them know up front that we were open to suggestions. I think because of that attitude we got a lot more for our money. I also have to mention it was pretty cool to see the few people visiting the studio come sit in during mixing. They seem to get more into the music each time we played through a song. We had discussions of possible introductions to a label and recording more songs. At the time it felt surreal. Could we could be on the verge of making it big time?
Image credits: Giphy
If you care to check out the finished tracks.
These two songs are available for free on Bandcamp if you want to hear the finished mixes.
http://plaxtonandthevoid.bandcamp.com/album/we-all-are-one-if-silence-could-speak
Some of the section title sayings I took from Jared Dines video "Things drummers say in the studio." 