Sound Advice

Recording Preparation 101, Part One

I spend a great deal of time recording other gospel groups and artists, and I am always amazed how unprepared many groups are when they show up for a recording session. Whether it be for the tracking date, or later on vocal sessions, Southern Gospel groups of all levels are notorious for not having their act together musically. So, with that in mind, I thought I might vent a little and give some of my ideas on how best to prepare.

Choosing The Songs

Right off the bat, this is where I believe many groups short-change themselves. I see two sets of problems when choosing songs. The first problem is groups recording cover tunes of recent releases by name artists. You see, not many people really want to hear yet another bad clone of “Midnight Cry” but would much rather hear the original from Gold City, and inviting the inevitable comparisons between your version and that of Gold City’s may bring a negative you might not want. The other problem I see is recording material that is less than stellar, sometimes from the pen of one of the group members. A good thing to remember, just because you wrote the song does not necessarily qualify the song as worthy to be recorded. Choosing songs is an art form, and not many in this ole world have mastered that art, including me. Even some of the finest groups going today are guilty of recording songs that are little more than “filler” songs. A friend of mine called these placemats. That might be a bit cold, but I think you get the picture. When Southern Sound first got started some eleven years ago, I looked high and low for good songs, both new and old, for us to sing and record. Among the tapes I made for the guys were several songs that I had written, but I purposely did not tell them any of the songs were mine. They went through those songs with a mission. And my songs?? Most of them got canned with comments like, “Pass…… don’t here it. Naw, doesn’t do anything for me. Not our style.” It was a humbling experience.

Another thing I see from time to time is not having a good cross section of songs, or songs that don’t match in theme and style. For instance, if you recorded a complete CD of songs in the vein of “God On The Mountain” you might want to forego “Sail On” as musically they are light years apart. Having one song drastically different in feel and structure can actually diminish the listening experience for your customer.

Too many fast songs or too many slow songs can also have a detrimental effect. I did a recording some time back for a group and every song on the project was ¾ time. Now they had no clue about time signatures and when I brought it to their attention, the leader said, “That can’t be true. We’ve got 6 slow songs and 6 fast songs.” I walked off and had a cup of coffee.It would have been pointless to try and explain what I was talking about.

Choose songs wisely. There is nothing wrong with bringing back an old classic, or even re-recording a recent hit release. But in doing these, make sure you give the audience a different bite of the apple. Make the arrangement your own, don’t clone someone else’s.

There are many writers out there today begging groups to record their songs. Many of these songs are great Christian works of art, and very worthy to be heard. Sure there are some real duds and as the old cliché says, “You’ll have to kiss a lot frogs before you find your prince”. But there are great songs being written today, one only needs to search hard till you find them.

Selecting The Producer

This is where the rubber meets the road as the old ad once said. Southern Gospel is blessed with many great producers, and we also have our share of those who talk a good line but either don’t have the musical chops to do the job, or simply don’t care enough to do it right. A good producer can be the difference in a great project, or one that you are ashamed of. It really is that drastic.

A good producer will listen to your group, and first and foremost, have an understanding of where your musical styles and your musical expertise level is at. He will then go through the material you have selected, and either approve or suggest changes that he thinks need to be made. He will select studio musicians based around the style of your group, and not necessarily his pet players on every project. Your CD is not the producer’s work of art, it is yours. It is a collection of songs and arrangements that should reflect the style and persona of your group. If it does not, the producer has not done his job. If your style is more progressive, having a steel and a fiddle player might be a waste of time and money. If you are more country oriented, you might want to choose players with that type of feel. And it might be prudent to have one guitar player on one session and another player on another. Selecting the best players for the song or songs, is of up-most importance. These decisions are meat and potatoes for a good producer.

Having a day with the producer to go over the songs, preferably with a piano close at hand, is a really good idea. I personally love to have the session leader, usually the keyboard player, to come to my home a night or two before the tracking date so that we can go over the songs and write chord charts for the session that follows. The time spent doing this can be worth its weight in gold. Recently, I had Jason Webb come over and we went through the songs with him. I suggested a few chord changes here and there, and Jason, always the perfectionist, gave his opinions as well. Having another good musical person to bounce ideas off of can really be of great benefit to your project. I really believe in this procedure and have found it makes the tracking sessions go far more smoothly. Yes, you do have to pay the player for the time this requires, but it is money well spent.

If you have a good producer he will have a stable of great players, engineers and studios he is comfortable with, and he will know how to pick and choose to get the best combination for your particular style. It is also quite proper for you to request a certain player. He may be fine with your choice and then again he may have a valid reason why you should not go that route. I used a piano player on a session a few years ago, and he caused me more grief than I can possibly relate. Needless to say, if a group asked me to hire this one particular player, I would balk in a big way.

Day of the Session

By now your producer has been chosen, and the studio and engineer have been lined up as well. The various musicians are milling about getting ready to do what they do best. Don’t panic when you don’t see the same urgency in their faces as is most certainly in yours. They have been there, done that, thousands of times before, and your session, although vitally urgent and important to you, is another day at the office for them. They will tease each other, tell a few funny stories, talk about their hobbies or the latest vintage guitar they bought, but I guarantee you, when the red light goes on, they will be professional all the way. Several years ago, I was recording a Barbara Mandrell project with producer Tom Collins, who I dearly love to work with. He had hired a bass player on reputation without actually knowing the guy. Between takes, Tom insisted that all the musicians gather in the Control Room to listen to the playback as each song was recorded. This particular bass player would however, remain in his seat, and begin reading a book during these times. This infuriated Tom to the point that he eventually fired the player off the session and called in another guy. A few days later we were doing a tracking date for Ronnie Milsap. By now, all of Music City had heard the story, so session drummer Larry Londin brought in a box of books and secretly handed one to each player on the session that morning, including Milsap. After the first song, Tom in his cheerleader fashion was trying to herd everyone into the Control Room to listen to the playback. To his amazement, every player on the session instead pulled out a book and began reading, including Milsap, except his was upside down. For a brief moment Tom Collins had this look of panic that was priceless. Of course it was a gag, and even Tom laughed when he finally realized that he had been had. The rest of the day went by great, for that set a tone for the entire day. There were a couple number one singles recorded that day, and it is a day I will remember forever. So, when your session players begin teasing one another or telling those funny stories, don’t fret. Your music will be better for it. Make the day fun for them and I promise it will translate to your recording in a very positive way.

On your session date, assign one person within your group to sing all the rough scratch vocals. The players only need a concept of where the vocals will lie and how they will phrase. Having the same person who will be later featured on the song is really not important. Even if you don’t sing the right lyrics, the musicians can get the feel of how to play around the vocals. Usually having multiply persons doing the scratch vocals is a time consuming process that you should not do. Each time a new person is put into the mix there is a certain amount of time needed for them to get accustomed to singing with headphones and for the players to get used to a different voice in their cans. Most often the best musical person you have in your group is the person that should get the job. He or she can sing enough of each song to make the session progress smoothly. This is a time when you need to set aside any ego or competitive character for the betterment of your group and for your project.

Having one person designated as the go to person for the producer and engineer is also a great idea. Everyone talking at once with different ideas can be a disaster waiting to happen. Not only is it confusing, it is also frustrating for both the engineer and the producer. Any questions or ideas within your group should be presented by one person, not four or five different people. And you should be prepared to relinquish the final decision to your producer, for that is what you hired him for. If your entire group is to set in on the recording, make sure you tell them to remain quite if they stay in the control room. I have had group members, family and friends set in the back of the control room and talk so loud I could not hear vital conversation between me and the musicians. I have found myself turning up the volume on the monitors only to have the people in back of me talk louder still to overcome the increase in volume. If you must talk among yourselves, go to the lounge. We as engineers and producers are paid to listen and listen intently. When your group attempts to talk above the music, you are only costing yourselves studio time and invariably, quality. I understand that the recording process is an exciting time for many, and we want to experience all there is to experience in that day, but we still have a job to do, and we need your help and thoughtfulness to get that job done well.

Many producers are like me, who both produce and engineer at the same time. I have done this for so many years that I can do both and it does not bother me. Other producers have no skills at all in engineering and some engineers have no business producing. Kevin Ward is a good example of a great producer/engineer, and my old buddy Kyle Lehning is another. When I engineer only, and have a producer setting at my side, I have to remind myself I am not the producer and I should keep my opinions to myself, unless my opinion is asked for by the producer, and not the artist. I am working for the producer and I answer only to him, in this case.

I am a very fortunate person as I have learned from the best in the business, and even after all these years, I still learn something on each and every session I do. When I quit learning, and when it no longer is a passion for me, the time will have come for me to lay it down. As I said earlier, Southern Gospel has many wonderful producers. Guys like Nick Bruno, Kevin Ward, Wayne Haun and countless others, are all great Southern Gospel producers. Good ones are available but beware, there are those that only wish to take your hard earned money and run, just like in every other business in the world today.

Conclusion

Preparation for recording is not hard to do, but it is detail oriented. Don’t make any shortcuts here, and don’t leave anything to chance. As my dear ole Dad once said, “It is amazing to me how no one has the time to do a job right the first time, but they always seem to find the time to do it over.” So, do the job right the first time, you will be glad you did.

Next month we will talk about vocal recording and some great ideas that can save you time and money.

Until next time,

Ben Harris
http://www.southernsoundquartet.com