Best Irish Studio

Generic Dreadhead

Hi All,

My band will be looking to record our launch EP early next year and want to find some quality studio at a reasonable rate.
We're looking at 5 songs, in a rock/metal genre, 4 members.
Budget would be €2,000 or under ideally.
We are based in Cork
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Cormac

Kettleson

Some tips:

Make sure you know your parts before you go into the studio. Scarce studio time should be used for tracking and mixing not rehearsing ideas.

Some studios might offer better prices by using inexperienced engineers. That can delay the whole process. (On bigger budgets you would be best getting a producer in who has a good track record)

Ask to hear previous demos, but bear in mind they might have been made on bigger budgets than yours.

Go to a studio that has a reputation for recording your style of music.

Very often one-person owned studios who have an understanding and penchant for your music are the best ones to go to.

Have a clear focus what the recording is for. To get gigs, to impress labels, to get airplay or for your web site? They are different products.

If you want highly finished tracks, try less is more. Record fewer tracks and ones that are ready to record, than to attempt to record the "full album" and end up with work that is merely guide/scratch tracks.

Decide a time plan and manage your time in the studio. Have a clear plan what you want to achieve.

If you have set out to record 5 tracks, your time schedule will indicate if you are running out of time to record vocals and mixing. If so, you"d be best dropping one or two tracks that look the least to make an impact. Otherwise you will be running into the scenario where you will have to book more studio time.

Stay focused, but take creative chances if the opportunity arises and time allows, avoid hangovers and enjoy the buzz....good luck.

Generic Dreadhead

Thanks for the above Kettleson
I should clarify a few things.

€2000 is the max we'd be looking at, absolute max that is.
If we can get everything done for €1,000 - €1,500 all the better.

We have already done the home recording thing on a few occassions and want to take things to the next level. I appreciate that home recording is a good start, but now we want to get that extra 20% of brilliance one can achieve with a good studio set-up (i.e. Drum 'Room' Mics, high level vocal booths/mics etc etc)
Here are some of our previous demos for example (no vocals on these btw).
https://soundcloud.com/cormac-genericdreadhead/sets/1-000-clich-s-later

Ideally we would like mixing and mastering included in the overall cost, even if it is sent off and not necessarily done by the in-house engineer.

Ideally a producer/mixer with an understanding of distribution would be a plus as once we have the demo done, we'd like to print-it to CD.

We're hoping to get the whole lot done within one week, we'll be going in there with the songs perfectly practiced and playing to click tracks

Kettleson

I can hear why you would like a live drum room. You might want to get a daily rate for each studio and work out the maths that way. Liking the guitar/bass sound too. For the style, its easy on the ear, which IMO is a v good sign.

For 2 days tracking, I'd add 2 days mixing. Mix with the studio you record in.

These are guessing figures....

You can probably get mastering done €40 to €80 a track each. But I haven't had used outside mastering in a while.

Say 4 days at €300. Factor in €200 mastering. €1400 so far.

Are you including CD manufacturing in your total?

Ask studios what their daily rate in and what mastering facility they recommend.

Kettleson

As an idea, you might want to focus on getting a real good live room to record the drums and do guitar tracking elsewhere. It might be a chunk out of your budget, but Studio 1 in Grouse is mighty, and will do no harm to give them a call for price. Deals to be had, in and out in a day to record drums.

Fandango

Dare I say, look for the right engineer/producer and go with the studio they are most comfortable in once its affordable. A top quality studio is useless unless they know how to use it right and have experience with your style of music. Obviously ya dont want to be in a dump but the people recording it are more important. Research some engineers/producers in your genre and contact the ones ya like is my advice.

HRR

For 2000 Euros you could buy decent Harddisk Recording Equipment and record yourself. If there is one thing I learnt from recording in studios the time factor is most important. With a limited budget you will always have that pressure to rush through the recording or the mixing will suffer because you are running out of time while your budget is used up. If time is not a factor anymore your recordings will be better and you can hear that. Use your rehearsal room as a recording studio and take as much time as you want. OK, maybe buy recording equipment for 1500 Euros and use 500 Euros to have it mixed by a pro if you don't think you could do that part on your own. I have heard productions that were literally made in someone's living room that have international standard.
And of course you have that equipment everytime you want to record again.

HRR

Kettleson

HRR wrote: »

For 2000 Euros you could buy decent Harddisk Recording Equipment and record yourself. If there is one thing I learnt from recording in studios the time factor is most important. With a limited budget you will always have that pressure to rush through the recording or the mixing will suffer because you are running out of time while your budget is used up. If time is not a factor anymore your recordings will be better and you can hear that. Use your rehearsal room as a recording studio and take as much time as you want. OK, maybe buy recording equipment for 1500 Euros and use 500 Euros to have it mixed by a pro if you don't think you could do that part on your own. I have heard productions that were literally made in someone's living room that have international standard.
And of course you have that equipment everytime you want to record again.

HRR

That's very true.

Waking-Dreams

HRR wrote: »

For 2000 Euros you could buy decent Harddisk Recording Equipment and record yourself. If there is one thing I learnt from recording in studios the time factor is most important. With a limited budget you will always have that pressure to rush through the recording or the mixing will suffer because you are running out of time while your budget is used up. If time is not a factor anymore your recordings will be better and you can hear that. Use your rehearsal room as a recording studio and take as much time as you want. OK, maybe buy recording equipment for 1500 Euros and use 500 Euros to have it mixed by a pro if you don't think you could do that part on your own. I have heard productions that were literally made in someone's living room that have international standard.
And of course you have that equipment everytime you want to record again.

HRR

On the other hand, when you use a studio you’re also paying for the experience and skill that the engineer/producer will have developed over many, many years – just like a musician who has developed their playing skills over many years.

For a band to purchase a load of equipment and ‘give it a go’, they’re probably starting from the very bottom, so it could take a long time before they can record anything noteworthy.

I’ve done the whole self-recording thing and it’s a great songwriting exercise - I still use it today. But if the recordings are destined for public release, it pays to have it done properly by someone who spends the same amount of time (if not more) recording/engineering as I do at my instrument. Sure, people are forgiving of home recordings but why would a band want to hold themselves back?

It depends on the type of music, of course. And as for the comment about home recordings having international standard; yes, it can be done but you have to probe further: 1) what kind of experience did they have at home recording and 2) what sort of home recording equipment was used? Good mics and sound replacing can work wonders, remember.