The Six Stages of Album Recording – Part 2

So you want to produce your own album project? Producing a record involves lots of creativity, planning, focus, time and money. There was a time when a record label would take care of much of the process, from securing the right producer(s) and songs, to funding the recording process. At one time this was the norm, but today it is truly a luxury.

Any artist self-producing a project now takes on all of the responsibility for focusing creative output, budgeting, planning and scheduling. Self-producing a record can be very rewarding, exciting and lucrative if done right. Knowing the process of recording and assessing accurately your needs regarding how much time, money and resources will be needed is extremely important to the success of the project.

Without understanding the process of recording, you won’t be able to anticipate and avoid costly mistakes and delays. Your first CD project is too important to leave the details to chance. Provided you have a successful career in music, you will likely have more than one album release in your future; however, your first one doesn’t have to be a bad experience.

I have recorded 12 albums for SCR Entertainment, and over the course of recording these projects I have identified six distinct stages of recording an album. I will present these six stages in three parts as follows:

Part 1 – Stage 1: Preproduction and Stage 2: Tracking
Part 2 – Stage 3: Overdubbing and Stage 4: Editing
Part 3 – Stage 5: Mixing and Stage 6: Mastering

Last week I covered Part 1. If you missed it, go to the archives and check it out before you read on. This week I continue with Part 2.

Stage 3: Overdubbing
After the tracking, which is all about capturing the basic tracks, it’s time for overdubbing. Overdubbing is simply layering additional parts over the foundation tracks. Overdubs can include strings, synth pads, guitars, percussion and, of course, vocals.

These are just a few examples of the many additions that can be made during overdubbing. From simple lead and background vocal additions to very elaborate orchestration, this stage can be lengthy, especially considering the power of today’s computers and unlimited track counts within many DAWs (digital audio workstations.)

It’s very important to find a balance between experimenting with new sounds and layering and capturing what’s needed for a song. Time can be well spent or wasted in this stage, largely because of the potential for experimentation without external boundaries.

Whether on the clock, or working without time constraints, knowing what you want to capture before entering this stage will make things run more smoothly.

Stage 4: Editing
Back in the early days of recording, some mistakes happened which were never edited out because of the character or emotional strength it added to the song or performance. After all, none of us is flawless.

Often, a mistake would require a whole new take (re-playing or re-singing the whole part again) or punching in on the section or note needing correction. Today in DAW-based recording, everything can be fixed. Out of tune vocals can be perfectly tuned; an excellent solo can be constructed out of pieces cut and pasted together from many different takes.

The timing of a performance can even be shifted to be more in or out of sync with other tracks. All of this and more can be, and often is, done during editing. Technology, however, should never be used to compensate for lack of skill or preparation; although in today’s music business reality, it often does. However, no matter the amount of editing needed, the tools of today allow you to do it superbly.

If you have captured quality performances, your editing may be relegated to just removing unnecessary or unused audio files. Rearranging some parts of a song are also a part of editing.

Next week, part three will continue with mixing and mastering.

Wisdom from the Grind: To produce a great album, know the six stages of album recording!