Making the studio comfortable for the musicians and engineers ( usually just that guy they call, “me”) is only part of the secret to fast, groovy tracks.

Having the gear set up and gobos in place, drums tuned, and selecting the mics is not going to get you all the way there.

I told you a couple of days ago that I would get to the important bit, and here it comes. It Boils down to this:

Make sure it All WORKS!

Here’s a handy list to finish you up feel free to add to it by commenting.

1. Computers, Recording units, Tape machines all need to be inspected and cleaned, possibly serviced. You should have back up drives with your OS and for storage, or extra tape.
2. Cables and connectors: you want to have extra mic, line/instrument, speaker, and midi cables of assorted lengths. They all need to be checked and found to be in good functioning condition. If you drag them around an assortment of stages, you may want to wipe the grunge off. And check the ends for rust or corrosion.
3. Gear – this goes for mic-pres, compressors, consoles, headphones, interfaces, amps, instruments, the whole derned kit. Got it. Do not rely on a dodgy piece of equipment. I don’t know of much that is more annoying than a piece of gear that shuts itself off and on at odd intervals. Two of my pres do that, and I will go to great lengths to avoid them, until I figure out how to fix them.

So, check ‘em out, fire them up and make sure they act right. Twist knobs and clean scratchy pots and faders. Bang on the old TV, like Dad used to, and get it all going good. And, if you’re like me, and your very favorite stuff to work with is old and weird and doesn’t work right, do what I do – use it anyway. That deserves a stupid smiley…

There you have it, with the bits in this article and the important stuff in the one before, your studio will be prepared and you should be equipped to be a studio smoothie, and make every session flow like chocolate syrup over ice cream. Oh! I gotta go!

What works in your studio?