Phoenix Recording.com

Phoenix Recording Studios

2008-06-15T17:57:00.001-07:00

The recording industry is alive and well in Phoenix, AZ.
Artist from all over the globe come to record and produce some of the most popular songs on American charts in Phoenix recording studios. The Valley of the Sun is home to many studios who offer the latest technology available to get you the sound you want and need. The "Valley"(Phoenix Metropolitan Area) is also home to some of the industries hottest producers and studio musicians.

PhoenixRecording.com is all about the music business, recording/editing technology and helping Artists hook up with some of the industries finest producers and session musicians.

What is a Producer and Do I Need One?

2008-06-15T17:56:00.001-07:00

With CPU power growing and silicon prices dropping, more and more American musicians are turning their bedrooms and garages into "semi"- pro recording studios. With a few grand or a nice credit line at the local Guitar Center, a band or Hip-Hop group has a shot at making it big with their new gear. "With these killer beats and a Myspace page, I can conquer the world". Well, not so fast. You have the songwriting talent, creativity and a pretty good feel for engineering but trying to write, arrange, perform, produce, track, edit, mix, and master all with the same set of ears and gear is damn near impossible. This is not how the "Majors" do it and neither should you.

So, how do we compete with the "big boys"?
Well, you already have that slammin DAW loaded with the latest samples and synth library and you have a pretty decent signal chain - mic, pre,
A/D converter.
That walk in closet makes for a more than adequate vocal booth and the vocals you have recorded sound loud and clear. Production is almost finished. You work out an arrangement for your song complete with complex intros/outros and drum breaks. At this point you have a good sounding mix and the song structurally is complete. You can post the song on your favorite networking site and sound like a lot of independent artists out there. Kind of plain.

Bands and artists all over the world make the same mistakes when it comes to recording an album or a demo. They budget their money for the gear, they budget their time for rehearsals and gigs and hire a manager, which is all necessary but they forget to hire a producer. The Producer is essential in the recording process. He is much like a movie director who coaches and guides the talent to great performances and captures them on media. Would you ever think of a movie being made without a director?

Handing over the reigns of controlling the recording, mixing and mastering process is a hard thing to do in most musicians' cases. But the decision to accept directions from an able producer can make or break an artist at any time. No one knows the music better than you do. You are the creator with a vision of how your songs should sound. The artist should always stay in control of his creative work but the technical aspects of achieving that sound should be placed on the Producer. A good producer knows all aspects of recording an album inside and out. He has worked with artists from many different genres and can communicate efficiently with Musicians, engineers and studio execs. A producer usually has many contacts in the music scene to get you the sound you want while keeping to your budget. If you do all your tracking and pre-production with your home rig and do your mixing in a professional studio with an experienced producer, you have a much better shot at getting that special sound you are looking for.
additional info

Autotune and Gangsta Tactics

2008-01-16T22:54:00.002-07:00

Singers who can't sing are a dime a dozen. If you use Autotune to keep from cringing instead of as an effect, you probably need to practice with a vocal coach. Going into a recording studio without being prepared is like going to the prom wearing nothing but Chuck Taylors and a g-string. You'll stand out, but for all the wrong reasons. No matter how long you have been in the music business, a good musician should always practice his/her basics and be able to take direction from others regardless of age, sex, race or creed. A great musicians journey is a humble trail to follow. Not all great musicians live the life of luxury. As a matter of fact, most notable musicians throughout history have died in poverty and in debt, or not being fully recognized for their talent until after their death - Most recently, Tupac Shakur, Darell "Dimebag" Lance Abbott and Selena Quintanilla. It doesn't matter if you are a Grammy winning, Platinum selling artist or just another Myspace reject. The end game is all about the ART - the MUSIC - the SOUND. Being able to touch another persons soul with your sonic creations is priceless and timeless. It's not all about the money. It's not all about conquering the market. It's about making great fuckin music and loving every minute of it.

Corporations and gangsters have had control of the the music business for a long time. From Frank Sinatra and La Costa Nostra, to Justin Timberlake and Disney . Money and power drive the business. Controversy perpetuates the business. Sex and drugs run the business. How many talentless hot chics and steroid induced thugs do you see running around on MTV? Too many to count. Do any of them deliver music that is unique to our times? A few, but not many. The music business is now turning to the web for a fresh batch of talent. The music business is suffering because of file sharing sites that allow free illegal downloads of copy written music and independent artists who distribute their own products through networking sites and iTunes. Todays music market is left wide open for independent artists to emerge as ground-breaking entrepreneurs. Unique musical ideas, as opposed to profits will be the wave of the future and become the norm in the 21st Century.

Understanding Copyright Law

2007-08-17T01:13:00.001-07:00

All artists who are serious about furthering their career in the music business should know about their rights and limitations as songwriters and performers. The video below outlines a few basic principles that are important to understand when protecting your intellectual property in the music industry.
Maggie Lange, an attorney and Professor of Music Business/Management at Berklee College of Music, discusses at length the US copyright code and how it applies to the music industry and recording artists.

To Click or not to Click

2007-07-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

When a band makes up it's collective mind to book studio time and record a "few songs", what is the most crucial decision you must make? Where to fit all the groupies in the stretch limo? Should I be seen with Lindsay Lohan at the cd-release party? Don't get too ahead of yourself. The question is - Should I convince my band to play to a click(metronome)?

Playing to a click is crucial in todays commercial music market. Unless your name is Sun-Ra
or you play to ten thousand deodorant-less hippies, you are gonna have a ton of time delay effects and audio edits. In order to keep these edits and effects consistent with the song, you have to have consistency in timing within the song. We as humans tend to speed up on loud sections of a song and slow down in the softer parts. These type of tempo changes wreak havoc on todays audio editors and engineers. If you want to stay consistent, play to a Metronome (click).
There are many metronomes on the market and the best ones to use are built into simple drum machines like the
Alesis SR-16 Stereo Drum Machine
.
Program a simple beat at the tempo you desire and you can write or practice all you want with or without the drummer. When your riffs are ready to go and your drummer has practiced to this same "practice beat", you are ready to track in the studio. With everyone in the band playing to one specific pattern set at a specific BPM, there can be consistent timing within the recording enabling more complex production techniques to be utilized.