Today choosing a place to record your music may become a daunting task. There is indeed a lot of options out there, ranging from home studios to professional ones. It gives you a lot of choices but all the ads and marketing campaigns can be misleading. So which one will be the best for you? We at EKmixmaster studio understand how important it is to make the right choice, so in this article we will give you a few tips that hopefully will help you decide.
Pay attention to the staff of the studio
We recommend that you start with meeting the audio engineer. The studio may have all the fancy equipment in the world, but if their engineer has little experience, even the best equipment will bring mediocre results. So when you are looking for a place to record your music, get to know the engineer. Make sure he is well suited for your needs and requirements. It is a good idea to opt for the studio with the most experienced audio engineer. He will make the job quicker and achieve better results.
Environment
While choosing the studio, make sure it satisfies all your practical needs. If you are recording an orchestra, you would want to stay away from places with small rooms, but if you are recording pop music – a small, cozy space would do the job. The place should be comfortable and ideally have kitchen facilities because you will spend quite a lot of time there. Choose the one with good acoustic treatment, or you may end up with a track that sounds good in the studio but loses all its shine when played through car speakers. To avoid it, choose a place built specifically to record music and avoid rooms and garages that are not suited for this purpose. It is a good idea to visit the studio beforehand. If you can’t do it, you may listen to sample recordings to see whether you like the sound or not.
Equipment
The best results are achieved when an experienced engineer uses high-quality equipment. But the thing is, a good engineer can use not-so-good equipment and still get a great recording. That is why a good engineer is more important than good equipment. Therefore we recommend that you prioritize quality over quantity. Many studios lure you in with impressive lists of equipment, but you will end up using way less than they offer. Therefore make sure they have the essential gear. That includes high-quality microphones and sometimes outboard gear such as preamplifiers, compressors, EQs e.t.c. The DAW used by the studio is also very important. Most places use the industry-standard ProTools, however, if you are a beginner and you are not familiar with this DAW, it may be important for you to find a studio where they use the DAW you are comfortable with.
Hourly rate vs project rate
Money is an important issue to consider. A lot of newcomers choose the place with the lowest hourly rate, however, it’s not the best strategy. Remember what we said about experienced audio engineers. They charge more but you will end up spending less time recording because they work faster. If you want to get a lot of studio time for the lowest price, you can go for it, but we recommend that you focus on quality instead. Some audio engineers charge for a project. This method is more efficient as the artist is focused on the whole project and is not in a rush.
Another thing you should take into consideration is the reputation of the place. There are many well-known studios out there that are famous for their unique sound. If you can afford to rent one of these we strongly recommend that you do. However, if your budget doesn’t allow it, there are plenty of new studios that offer high-quality services for an affordable price.
