How Long Do I Need To Record?

Saturday 119th February, 2011 by Darren M

Paying for a day in the recording studio can sometimes feel like a bit of a gamble. Many musicians are unsure what to expect from an hour, 4 hours or 8 hours in the studio..

Rough Guide

One song should take about 5 hours if everything is well rehearsed and there are no hiccups.

But, remember that the more time you have on a song, the better the results will be. Mixing is particularly time consuming (when done right) so 8 hours for one song might be a better option.

If money is tight you certainly could "bash out" 2 songs within an 8 hour session but they may be lacking is "polish".

 

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Let's Look Closer ...

Set up

Before you can start recording you must set up. A band could take one hour to set up, tune up and run through final arrangements before any recording is done.

Try and choose a recording studio that has a drum kit permanently set up and ready for recording as this will save the most time. Apple Beam always has a drum kit ready to go to save our customers time.

Slow producers

The speed of your producer or engineer is also another factor when judging how much you can achieve. A slow producer can do much more harm than simply waste money, they can kill the atmosphere and cause frustration .

Make sure you work with very highly skilled producers who can provide a fluid recording experience with no long pauses between takes. Apple Beam studio producers are known for their speed and accuracy.

How well rehearsed are you?

No matter how much you think recording is like rehearsing .. it is not!

Once you get in the studio nerves will set in, small imperfections in your performance will annoy you and the clock will seem to tick twice as fast as normal!

The studio experience is very different to the rehearsal experience . Our advice is to rehearse twice as much as you think you need to. It's best to spend extra on rehearsing than waste money in the recording studio (which costs much more).

How complex are your songs?

Obviously your songs complexity plays a big part in how much you'll be able to achieve in the studio. A three piece rock band may be able to bang out 2 tracks an hour whereas a song involving strings and lots of live instruments might need 16 hours!