best place to record an album in dublin?

paulg1770

where is the best place, price and quality wise? I would be looking to record folk/ acoustic songs but as i only play guitar I will need beats, midi etc added to the songs. Does this get included in most of these recording studios or will i need more muscians? Will it cost extra to have the songs mastered and how long does the process take for say 10 songs
thanks

pgasm

try www.cliquerecordings.com

just outside dublin

Obi-Jim

In My Opinion, its more about who records it for/with you.

If you're going the midi percussion/other midi arrangement route, then maybe it'd be best to get somebody who works a lot with that type of work, or get an engineer/producer who has a good programmer that they use quite often.

A lot of engineers also may have a pool of musicians that could play on it for you, this is very common.

But honestly, someone that's very good at what they do, could record you in you're own bedroom and make it great, whereas a lot of "engineers/producers" could take you to abbey road and you'd still get a mediocre demo. There are a lot of guys who don't work "for" studios but may use a specific place quite regularly but also use a room elsewhere if budget is an issue. You'd really have to discuss the matter with whoever it was and see what they could do for you.

Regarding time, the best thing you can do to speed up matters and save money is to be very well rehearsed and have you're arrangements all sorted out to perfection. The best thing to help with this is to get some very very rough demos of you're songs (even record them through a chat mic on you're computer) to discuss with who ever will record it. Also, ensure that you listen to some stuff that the guy has done before and compare its quality to something you may compare yourself to (i mean production/sonic etc... quality, not the songs themselves)

I know this doesn't help with you're question of "where" to do it, but i think these are important matters to consider before you dive into such a big project, you'll do better in the long run for it. I'm sick of seeing people wasting money on some of the stuff you hear people come out of an expensive studio with, they have been better off buying better gear or touring around, than ever recording it.

Hope this helps, a little bit at least.


P.S. Normally i wouldn't imagine an engineer adding beats etc.. to your track would normally be included in a "day rate" of a studio, however i'm sure you may be able to get a whole project price, if you were doing an album all in one go. Also, i'd say you're talking about 20 days in total of recording/mixing, maybe more to include pre production or if you don't have the songs down note perfect to a click (open to opinion) and maybe a lot less if you're arrangements are as basic as guitar, vocal and some midi percussion and bass.

frobisher

It's the monkey not the machine. Although nice machines are a very good start. What' your budget?

PaulBrewer

It sounds like you need a collaborator more so than a studio immediately.
Are you on MySpace ?

ZV Yoda

PaulBrewer wrote: »

It sounds like you need a collaborator more so than a studio immediately.
Are you on MySpace ?

Yip, I'd agree with Paul there... actually somebody on this very forum recently recently offered their services for providing classical music arrangements to recordings (it's just an example - I've no affiliation with this person, don't even know them!).

The process is essentially the same whether you want to add classical music, honky tonk piano, orchestral drums, weird spaceship sounds or dance beats. In most cases, the most cost effective approach (short of hiring actual musicians) is to record the instrumentation via a midi keyboard/device which triggers the chosen sounds/instruments using virtual instruments (i.e. different software on a Mac/PC which provides the various sounds).

I’m no expert, but you’d really need to work with somebody in advance to agree how you want your music arranged. If you don’t really know, then pick a particular song/genre that you like & tell the collaborator/producer “I want my song to sound something like that”

DamagedTrax

hey,

ive sent you a PM - ive a lot of experience recording and providing midi back up for singer/songwriters if you're interested.

like the guys here already said there are a ton of producers around that also do this. it all depends on your style and the end results you want to obtain.

fitz

Yeah, to add to what the guys have already said; you're looking for a producer who'll do your pre-production with you, getting you ready for recording and guiding you through the studio process when everything's ready.

I think there are probably plenty of us on here who would be capable and interested, given the right conditions/material. As Paul asked, have you got a myspace where people can hear the bare-bones material? That's where you need to start if you want to attract a collaborative producer to work on your project. No-one's gonna get involved in something like this without hearing what material you're starting with.

paulg1770

Thanks lads for your advice so far, here is my latest song, my other material would be similar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acSjbqG44qy4 my MySpace stuff is old and not the kind of stuff I’ll be recording so no point in posting the link. I have a fair idea of the actually arrangements I wish to go with my songs, I can do my own raw recordings in advance to prepare who ever ill be getting to record them properly. My budget will hopefully be about 300 per song max (I’m not sure how realistic this is but that’s why I’m posting here to get an idea). I’m looking to keep the songs simple enough i.e. Vocals, Acoustic guitar, acoustic guitar lead riff, both of which i could provide and just a few simple layers to lift the songs in various parts. I don’t know now if midi would be appropriate, like i say I’m a novice at recording probably shouldn't have mentioned that at the start.

fitz

Should be do-able on that budget if you're well organised.
Listened to the youtube track.
Uncomfortably similar to "Such Great Heights" by Iron & Wine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQIGDyEkngY

dav nagle

Getting real players will be worth it, don't cut corners, even if if it means waiting until you can save the extra cash.

Denalihighway

this may seem obvious, but from the musician perspective:

totally agree that its more about the person than the equipment, but obv good equipment helps.

- do some research on what they have produced before. Does it have the kind of sound and vibe you'd like? Some producers have a very specific approach to things and it may not be compatible with what you want. This is important. Some producers on the otherhand will do any genre and manage to get the best out of what is presented to them. It's your job to try to maximise the likelihood of finding the right person.

- no harm to ask around about them, you dont want someone who's going to be disorganised, over opinionated, difficult to get on with it etc so if you hear bad things, stay away or else yo might waste your money or else still be recording the album in 2012
- rehearse rehearse rehearse, know your arrangments, lyrics etc very well to maximise you studio time. Especially on a short budget. Good idea about getting some raw arrangements to the producer and having a chat with them about the songs and where they're going

- Unless you decide your arrangements are done and not for discussion (which is probably not the best idea unless you're Radiohead) be prepared for constructive criticism and suggestions to changes in your work. It can work wonders. Depending on how flexible you are, discussing this aspect with your potential producer may have a bearing on deciding whether you record with them. If you're not up for it, well thats fair enough too.

- some people sign contracts as to what's involved - number of hours, output required etc. I've never done it but its an idea in case things go pear shaped.

I rushed this so hope its coherent enough, its all obvious stuff really...you could go on for far longer

PaulBrewer

Denalihighway wrote: »

this may seem obvious, but from the musician perspective:

totally agree that its more about the person than the equipment, but obv good equipment helps.

- do some research on what they have produced before. Does it have the kind of sound and vibe you'd like? Some producers have a very specific approach to things and it may not be compatible with what you want. This is important. Some producers on the otherhand will do any genre and manage to get the best out of what is presented to them. It's your job to try to maximise the likelihood of finding the right person.

- no harm to ask around about them, you dont want someone who's going to be disorganised, over opinionated, difficult to get on with it etc so if you hear bad things, stay away or else yo might waste your money or else still be recording the album in 2012
- rehearse rehearse rehearse, know your arrangments, lyrics etc very well to maximise you studio time. Especially on a short budget. Good idea about getting some raw arrangements to the producer and having a chat with them about the songs and where they're going

- Unless you decide your arrangements are done and not for discussion (which is probably not the best idea unless you're Radiohead) be prepared for constructive criticism and suggestions to changes in your work. It can work wonders. Depending on how flexible you are, discussing this aspect with your potential producer may have a bearing on deciding whether you record with them. If you're not up for it, well thats fair enough too.

- some people sign contracts as to what's involved - number of hours, output required etc. I've never done it but its an idea in case things go pear shaped.

I rushed this so hope its coherent enough, its all obvious stuff really...you could go on for far longer

Yup

studiorat

Hi,
The youtube link didn't work for me. But the Iron and Wine reference caught my eye, acousticky. I gotta say there's not much room for midi in stuff like that, it's all about nice detailed recordings of good players. As an "Engineer/producer" (little 'P') I like working with this kind of thing...

Can you post or send me some more links to the songs? The budget you were talking about might be do-able, using a nice studio and some good session guys. I could try and work out a budget/recording schedule for you after hearing some more of the music.

Few days, pre production, bit of rehearsal, some tracking days, overdubs and mix, that's easy. Getting all the right musicians on the same day with a small budget is the hard bit, IMO.