I’ve been making recordings since I was eight years old, and in the interest of making a good recording, I learned early to be prepared.

As a musician, I often “write a song” and run to record it only to find that I haven’t written a song, yet. Meaning, I find myself with some chords, a basic rhythm and the lyric and melody, but what kind of drumbeat and bass move the song? Do I hear a piano or is that a balilaka in the background? How about some harmonies, or some kind of build to the bridge? The song is written, but far from written and ready to record.

Preparation is more than Pre-Production.

What are your pre-production tips? You can share them, in the comments.

Folks often come in with a handful of tunes and a couple “band members” who don’t really know much about the songs, and hope to wing it and make a record. OK, it worked for Chester and Lester, but we can’t all be them. It is also understood that if you are paying for professional musicians, they should be able to improvise a track together rather quickly, but I am talking about the total DIY folks

Sometimes we are able to salvage a situation like this quickly, sometimes it becomes another lesson in preparation. Having the Barn prepared for the project is one of the essential elements in being able to capture an improvised session (or any other) with ease. Some simple steps will save you hours in patching, trials, and frustration and will

Make your sessions flow like you’re part of the band.

Know what you are going to record.

The more you know, the better off you will be. These are some questions to ask.

• What style of music is it?
• How many musicians?
• Are we cutting live or individual tracks?
• How many instruments and what kind?
• How many songs?
• What kind of finished product are we after.
• Who is providing instruments?

Know how you are going to record it.

Of course, different styles of music require different recording techniques. For bluegrass, you are going to want your best condenser mic and cleanest pre-amp. For solo acoustic guitar and vocal, you probably want to have a couple nice condensers and a good dynamic mic, such as the ubiquitous SM-57 handy and maybe a clean pre and one with a bit of color.

Things are a bit messier with a full band production. For this you will need to have a bit more going on, like:

• Drums should be set up in the room at least 24 hrs in advance, new heads are preferred. The drums should also be tuned and all hardware needs to be in proper tight and non-rattling condition. Co-ordinate with the drummer to make this happen.
• If you are familiar with your room, you probably know how to place guitar amps to get the best sounds from them. Get those areas ready with mic and amp stands. If you are like me and you already know that the amp gets mic’ed with a 57 because that’s what you have, set it up and don’t forget the cable.
• If you are recording as a live group, you should have some gobos and a vocal booth read, or utilize closets, bathrooms, and bedrooms if necessary for separation. This won’t be an issue if you are cutting individual tracks.

Now you are beginning to see why you want to know how many instruments,  musicians, and tracks there will be, as well as who is providing the instruments. At Small Barn, we are fortunate to have a nice selection of amps, instruments, percussion and keys to work with and most of it is set up to record most of the time.

Having things set up will save session hrs that would usually involve musicians standing around waiting – not cool.

Make them feel at home by:

• Clean the place up! Dust, vacuum, clean windows, shake out the dog’s pillow, wipe the ashtrays, and get rid of the garbage. Then, Make the Gear Shiny! It’s like a nice parfait, everybody likes shiny gear.
• Have bottled water and sodas on hand. The number of musicians and tracks gives us an idea of how much.
• Snacks may also be in order.
• Mow under the tree. Er, I mean, clean the bathroom.

What creature comforts do you recommend or enjoy? Tell us in the comments.

These steps will help your sessions flow smoothly, but they are not all there is to keep in mind. Be sure to read the second part of this article to get to the really important stuff. It won’t be officially published for a day or two, but you can read it in advance here.