Some of the technical aspects right now
that I'd like to get into the recording
recording aspect of this
billion dollar industry that we're
involved in, call the entertainment
industry, I
think one of the most important areas
is the concept
of knowing what you want to
achieve on record before
you go in to have a certain perspective.
And that is achieved by knowing,
you know, if in fact, it doesn't
necessarily have to be, quote unquote,
a literal concept.
In other words, every tune
being related to each other.
But in terms of knowing the feel of
what you want to get across and the
balance, the type of tunes that you want
to do on the album and a certain
kind of pacing, it's very important,
the pacing of the tunes or the sequence,
because in radio,
I've been there with a couple of
programmers, particularly in New York.
One of the top stations is called WB,
although I don't know if you're familiar
with that in the top DJs, Frankie
Crocker.
And hey, when they put the record on,
I've been in there with a music director
and the program director, and you
literally have like almost
less than 30 seconds go for record,
you know, to see if it's going to make it
and if it's not.
And those first couple of bars, which
is very important, they say, hey,
Pat, so, you know, you might have a very,
very great album, but those first
few seconds are very crucial.
So sequence is very important
as well.
And an album is no better than its
compositions of
the tunes on a particular
LP are very important,
is good.
I would say that is most imperative to
have one, two
or three great hit
singles.
At the same time.
The rest of the album should not be
filled up with what you call fillers
because of a lot of these
groups have done that only to find out
a couple of albums down the line that the
consumer is not as crazy as some
of us would think that they are and say,
Hey, I bought Soweto's album.
They only got that one good, too.
And the rest of it is crap.
You know, it's nothing, you know.
So it's very important to
not only have secrets, but to have
quality compositions.
Now, these compositions could be your own
tunes as well as other
writers tunes.
I find that a number of artists
make the mistake.
Unless, of course, you're someone very
prolific, like a Stevie Wonder or
whomever it could be yourselves, anyone.
Unless, of course, you're very, very
prolific and have quality
compositions you shouldn't try to chase
for in publishing
or composer's royalties
as opposed to 50 cent or dollar
royalties. In other words, some some
artists try to write everything on the
album themselves, you know,
to acquire and keep
all of the publishers royalties when
in fact the writing is not up to par to
sustain a whole album of their own
compositions.
So if you do use other people's tunes,
it's important before you get into that
aspect of the actual recording
of clearing this, that is in terms
of getting their permission.
Of course, if it has not been already
recorded, if in fact nothing
has been recorded and released, you only
have to send notice to the publisher of
your intent to do this.
So it's very important about the
clearance to know and to
let them know that you plan to do that
tune. And if, in fact, there is some type
of publishing situation
that you're looking for to work out if
you want, call publishing their tune
to let them know and see what
kind of negotiation you can make before
you actually go in and record the two to
prevent any kind of hassle before you go
in and record it.
And they said, well, I
think I changed my mind.
I don't want to go to this publishing
deal. And then at the same time, you
recorded the tune of whatever is good
to have an understanding before you go in
the studio.
So those main aspects of concept,
composition, sequence
and clearance are very important.
Before you even play one
note, the next aspect
is just as important as the creative
XPoint, and that is the budget, the
money.
Where will this funding come
from to underwrite this recording
if it's a small demo or something,
or if it's going to be with a record
company or a production house
or regardless of wherever
the source that you get the money
for your budget, it's important
that you set a budget and stick to
it, because even if you have
a record company to put up the money at
first and say, wow, I have this fantastic
budget, I've got three hundred grand or
whatever, or even if it's 20 grand or
whatever to work with, say, well,
I've got this fantastic budget the record
companies pay for.
You know, hey, we're going to play a
couple of notes and they're going to hang
out in the studio.
They'll let you chit chat and everything.
But you got to still pay for it and
to have added to the record companies,
pay for the record companies, only
putting up the money at some
point in time, or this money is
recouped in
almost all instances from your
record royalties.
So it is your money.
So set up a budget and really stick
to it and stick to the music
in the studio.
The next expense is personnel.
Who would you like to play on your
record?
You probably have a very good band that
you might like to perform.
I mean, record with.
But this is a whole different media
in terms of
recording.
It's a different medium.
And if it back these same musicians, if
they're going to feel nervous in the
studio, it might be better to go and get
what you call the studio musician who is
more adept at this area and
who can just go in and knock the tune out
of studio musicians.
However, or
I would say they're more expensive and
that they can command fees
anywhere from sometimes, you know, the
regular musicians get scale,
but top musicians charge
anywhere from double scale, triple
scale. Some of them are talking about
quadruple scale, even though the state of
the industry now, I think they are
negotiating, as we call it now, they
might play a less
people like T.
and Ralph McDonnel and they just ask for
a fee. They can command what they really
want to play on someone's album.
You know, it's not unheard of for these
guys to charge fifteen hundred two
thousand dollars for a session
or to do the whole album.
So personal is important,
as well as
arrangers, special people,
the arrangers, the conductors,
and also to decide
from the outset if, in fact you're
going to be producing the album or
you're going to hire an outside producer.
If if you really feel that you have that
objectivity in the studio
and you can wear all these different
hats, which you will
may be able to do, maybe you could serve
as your producer and save some money,
or if you would feel more relaxed
to just go in and do the performance and
have the input of
a second or third party to bring in an
outside producer.
And also a producer can sometimes,
you know, negotiate a much more lucrative
deal if, in fact, you decide to go into a
production deal.
However, in most instances,
you will be getting a sometimes
smaller royalty
if in fact they do not negotiate
a much higher royalty overall to
cover their expense.
But a lot of times the producers have
such a big name, they can command
these fees and demand
certain promotional schemes for the
record. So you really have to weigh it
at the outset, which is better for you.