Did you know that Cee Lo Green’s studio is in a treehouse cabin? It was featured this past month in an episode of Animal Planet’s Treehouse Masters.Although the space is cozily small, it’s professional: the studio includes special cork panels to both dampen sound and help reverberations reach the high ceiling, as well as all the gear for vocals and an acoustic guitar.
Are you interested in performing in a recording studio? If you want to take your music to the next level, a studio is the right idea. This is not, however, something you should jump into without doing some serious research first. Here are a few things you should consider before booking time at music recording studios.
How to Prepare Yourself
- A recording studio is not a playground, and you’ll be wasting your money to treat it like one. If you’re coming with a band, make sure everyone is on the same page about taking the experience seriously. Recording studios operate on a schedule and if you fool around and waste your time, there might be no getting it back.
- Practice your songs ahead of time until they’re as perfect as you can manage — you don’t want to spend time in the studio rehearsing instead of recording the finished product. Because of all the production involved, even a single song might take an hour to record correctly — so you want to come with your music ready to go.
How to Find the Right Recording Studios
- The typical studio costs anywhere from $40 to $100 an hour to use, and this rate can vary depending on where you are, what equipment they can provide, and how many people will be helping you to produce your music. If you have your own experienced engineer, you can sometimes cut costs if they allow you to replace theirs.
- The studio you work with should have high quality audio equipment, including a large selection of preamps, microphones and and a mix of hardware gear and plugins. Ask beforehand about what brands they’re working with, and what selection of equipment they have.
- Listen to recordings the studio has produced in the past. Each studio is going to be capable of producing slightly different sounds depending on audio equipment, room acoustics, and sound engineer ability. This can help give you a good idea of how their engineers and producers shape the music they help create.
Are you looking for a recording studio with quality audio equipment? Let us know about your search in the comments.