Case Studies 3

Case Study #3

The XXXX Band wanted to have some CDs available for their fans when they played live gigs. As they were on a tight budget, we had to carefully plan the most effective and efficient way to make their CD. It was determined that they had 8 original songs that were well rehearsed and that they could track essentially live. They booked a 6 hour session that allowed enough time to get set up, check levels and roll tape (or in the case of our Sadie digital multitrack - scroll chips). Each song was recorded twice. We blazed through 4 songs, took a short break and then another 4 songs. There were the odd mistakes along the way that were immediately fixed by dropping in the correct part. The singers layed down "scratch vocals" knowing that they could have another crack at it on another session, but also recognising that if they got it right now, they'd save money.

On a subsequent day, they booked another 4 hours to lay the vocals, unencumbered from having to play and sing at the same time. It was also an opportunity to begin editing countoffs and endings. Track order was also determined during this time. A "rough" cassette was cut at the end of this session to be passed around the band over the weekend. This gave them each the opportunity to ensure that they were happy with their performances and to "speak now or forever hold your peace".

Mixdown took place the following week. Black Inc's engineer took about 6 hours preparing what he felt was pretty close to a final mix. The band's nominated leader then came in for a final screening and fine tuning. A master CD was cut at the end of this session.

One of the members of the band was pretty handy with "Photo Shop" and had prepared materials for the artwork. But as they were on a budget, they organised to have the local printers run laser prints rather than the expense of proper printing. We then duplicated 100 CDs for them and hold the master for further orders.