15 Mistakes That Can RUIN Your Studio Recording Sessions

I'm no big-time producer, but I've tracked enough singles and albums with locals to know what brings down a session and what keeps things on pace. This is, in my opinion, a brief exploration of some of the pitfalls that live performers may not be aware of until they get into the studio. Hopefully, by reviewing this list, you'll be better prepared for your own studio sessions, either as a player or producer!

A few notes-
When double tracking guitars, there is sometimes a good reason to NOT do the identical part. This is to create interest and variance in the stereo field. However, these elements are usually crafted with intention, not just randomly thrown in. Although the accidental mistake in a double-track can sometimes result in some very cool effects, the skill of accurately recreating your playing is one that is pretty much required as a modern day rock guitarist looking to record.

In my examples on bass, you won't hear ANYTHING if you're just listening through your phone/tablet! Also, my example of arrangement isn't the best, mixing it in a way that allows you to hear it and also not hear it at the same time was difficult. A good concrete example would be the bass part in Metropolis Pt 1 by Dream Theater, which has a bass-tapping section that is nearly inaudible and therefore I transcribed incorrectly in my video on the song. The producer himself for that album complained often about the young and inexperienced band's ability to properly arrange parts (and Mike Portnoy's dynamics!) so it's not just a personal gripe.

Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:42 General Advice for ALL Musicians
04:26 Advice for Guitarists
07:03 Advice for Bassists
09:03 Advice for Drummers
10:12 Advice for Vocalists
12:24 Advice for Key Players

[SignalsMusicStudio]

Keep in mind, there are exceptions to EVERY rule! I can find you specific cases where I would want every rule here broken, but generally, I think these suggestions are all good practice

[simon_patterson]

I'd forgotten you were a music studio, because you do so many great videos about non-recording lessons.

[StephenJohnWhiting]

I feel like this video was part advice for us, part therapy session for Jake - he seemed to have a lot to get off his chest!

[chameleon-dream-band-official]

"Red button syndrome" is a real problem for me (i.e. tensing up as soon as you hit record). A neat trick my buddy does is to tell me to do a couple of practice runs (whilst secretly recording it). This gives a much more natural take. Unfortunately, I've got wise to this though so we end up playing call my bluff half the time, but it can work!

[nixneato]

Playing alone, with a band, live and in the studio are 4 extremely different things.

My first advice to any new musician is to get the cheapest mic, interface, DAW and headset. Set up a click, hit that record button and look at what happened (timing, dynamics...). These 100 bucks will change your life and make you a much better musician much faster.

[vitornathangoncalves]

"Make sure everything is written".
Rob Scallon and Andrew Huang: i'm gonna pretend I didn't see that

[briansullivan]

I remember recording with a sort of "nu metal" alt rock band in the early 2000s, and the producer had our drummer go first. However, before we got started, the drummer mentioned that what he listens to most when we would practice was what our bassist was doing, so our bassist did a scratch track first, then we recorded the drums, followed by the bass going back over with much cleaner playing... I also sang in a Power Metal band in the mid-2000s, and my brother was the drummer. He just wrote all his parts out in GuitarPro beforehand, and then played along with the MIDI track, since some of the timing and tempo changes would've been tough to program into a metronome, but literally the touch of a button in GP. Lots of different ways to assist people to feel more confident playing to a click... still, nothing works better than just practicing with a metronome on your own

[arayapokey]

I would add, dress comfortably. The studio isn’t a fashion show, you’re going to be playing your parts over and over, getting sweaty, and sitting for long periods of time.

[AJPMUSIC_OFFICIAL]

I had a drummer who would transcribe everything we wrote into notation and he was flawless in the studio. Ill also add memorizing lyrics is important but often you are going line by line and adding layers so having everything typed and placed on a music stand slightly infront and above can be very useful.

It can help to have the vocal lines on synths or something to help you find your place in the harmony also

[iau]

That bit about guitar sound is HUGE. Guitarists always want to use the solo sound they're used to, but don't understand what kind of guitar sounds mixes best in a full band context.

[MinuteAxe]

This is seriously one of the best videos I've ever watched. I apologize if this seems like sensationalism or an overstatement but in 14 minutes you cover so much ground, brilliantly articulate so many facets of the recording process, and zero in on the fundamental dos and don'ts. I've been on all sides of this: I've been the unprepared musician, I've been the prepared musician, and I've produced many sessions where I've encountered all of these issues. If you're a new band heading into the studio Jake has just saved you several thousand bucks...if you listen to him. So well done Jake. Thanks! -Mark

[Austin_Rummel]

"They're not singing harmonies, they're singing disasters"
Lol

[trioofone]

For years I was in a band that toured and recorded. Every time we went into the studio I had a whole binder that I generated that was not only notation transcriptions of parts I had spent a year improvising in the live context, but also I usually had a transcription of all the harmony vox parts, even though that wasn't technically my job. I also had all the chord charts, even though I was "just" the fiddler. I always had the full lyric sheet for every song, even though I was not the singer. And I usually had various notes about key moments (Drummer, watch that break after 2nd chorus that we worked on, for ex...) because I was always the most OCD person in the room. 😆. I have a bookshelf full of binders from various studio projects.

[jsbasch]

I'd add a few things. 1.) a producer, recording engineer, mix engineer, and mastering engineer are different roles. Some people might play multiple roles (especially in the budget scenarios), but if your producer just records you they are not really a producer only a recording engineer. Learn the different stages of the recording process and the roles that go with them. The pre-meeting is good to figure what role the person you're hiring is playing. 2.) before going into the studio, agree how decisions will be made ahead of time. Is it by majority vote, is there a band leader, is it whatever the producer says, etc. 3.) agree ahead of time how credit is going to be given for writing/producing, etc. 4.) Make sure your instruments are in good working condition or borrow/rent ones that are. Get your guitar set up, put new heads on your drums, etc. Bring extra sticks, heads, and strings with you to the studio. 5.) have clear recording goals in mind before going in. Are you using all of your budgeted time to make one song really great or are you using it to bang out as many songs as possible?

[aaronclift]

Solid advice all around, and these are all tips that I've learned from 10 years of recording albums with my band.

I've got some additional advice for guitarists: please, please, please check your tuning before you start recordings. I can't tell you how many times we nailed a take in the studio but had to throw it out because the guitar was out of tune.

Vocalists: know your limits. When you record take after take of the same song, fatigue can start to set in, which will ruin your takes. I would recommend no more than 2 hours of singing before taking a break for several hours to give your voice a chance to rest.

[kevinsturges]

Spot on!
Can I add one more tip?
Singers: do not try to sing outside your range! If you can't hit that high note, then sing something else.

[philosophicsblog]

A producer who just 'sits back and hits record' is not producer. The key role of a producer is to take you from wherever you are to a higher level. So, producers for major talent have a major challenge.

[whaleguy]

The tone thing was a big problem for my guitarist to overcome. I always told him he couldn't just download famous players' presets and tell me to work with them. They sounded good but he didn't understand the nuances of tone, like using a modern metal tone in a classic rock influenced song. He was quite reluctant to give me DI tracks because he didn't want me to "mess" with his tone, but once he heard a finished mix, he was convinced to leave it to me. I run everything by him and nothing is released without his approval, but at the same time, I spend so much time messing around with tones by myself that I can do things he'd never think of. On one of his solos, I actually put on a vinyl record effect that he ended up loving. That's just one example. Now the next thing is to convince my drummer to back off a bit and trust me as well.

[dmoore]

As a bassist I’ve been totally guilty of these points. Not truly hearing the drum parts until I heard the recorded drums. Poor muting making me sound terrible. The embarrassment was a useful lesson to up my approach and technique. Great advice!

[conquerncam]

You should do a video called advice for producers next. As an amateur home studio producer I would love to see that.