STEP THREE: Pre-Production
Commit the best songs from the songwriting sessions to a “demo”. Basically, get one or two instruments (usually a guitar and/or piano) and sing the song with a metronome to establish the tempo. Lay out a good arrangement on paper and add any licks or musical ideas on the demo you think might work for the final product. Send these demos to everyone that will be recording so they can play along and prepare their part. It’s helpful to leave out vocal harmonies or too much production so musicians can create their own additions. Practice the songs with the full band as much as possible before you go into the studio.
ALSO: RECORDING YOUR OWN WORSHIP ALBUM?
Listen to industry standard songs you like and find inspiration for drum ideas and vocal lines. Change the key. Find the right singer. Tweak lyrics and chords. Listen to a DEMO of “I Love Your Mercy” by Miami Vineyard. Now listen to the FINAL PRODUCT. As you can see the demo leaves lots of room for musicians to make it their own and many things can change.
STEP FOUR: Recording
Find a great studio and record the drums, bass and “scratch” tracks. Focus on drums and bass, but you can have other musicians play along to inspire the basic tracks. Once everything is set up (which can take several hours FYI) take time to record each song several times. Listen back. Record again until you reach [a] consensus that it’s the best take.
STEP FIVE: Overdubs
During this process, you will overlay all the guitars, pianos, keyboards, pads, horns etc. on top of those basic tracks. Record the vocals.
STEP SIX: Editing and Mixing
Editing is the process of cleaning up the tracks, tuning and aligning vocals, drums etc. Mixing is where you add the EQ, compression, and automation to the instruments and voices to make it sound like a record! You can use the same studio you recorded in or hire an outside ear to do the mix.
STEP SEVEN: Mastering, Duplication, and Distribution
Mastering is the final part of perfecting the audio. Usually, you send your mixed songs to another facility. Each song is adjusted so it fits well together. The mastering engineer makes the volume compatible for iTunes, car stereos and earbud listening. There is tons of science to this process. Expect to pay $10-15 per recorded minute.
Once you have the audio master files you then upload the artwork and audio to a one-stop company like CDBaby who will send the songs to iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify etc.… From there you can choose to order physical product from a company like Discmakers (for CD’s) or Dropcards (for credit card like download cards).
WHAT SHOULD THIS COST?
Countless variables can affect the budget, but I find that I spend anywhere from $500-$1500 a song for a good recording. That includes start to finish — all the way to a shrink-wrapped copy of the CD. This is simply a rough estimate and will vary depending on which studio/producer you hire.
