Location Recording Tips

CHOOSING A VENUE

Because you have knowlege of your local area it makes complete sense that you should choose and arrange the use of the venue where you want the recording to take place, when deciding on a venue be aware of anything that could potentially interrupt or stop the recording, for example internal noise caused by heating and cooling systems and lights, it is impractical to record next to a busy street, close to railway lines or under the flightpath of the local airport, it may also be worth checking with your local authority whether there is any scheduled maintainance such as highway repairs or tree surgery that may involve the use of noisy equipment or plant. There are many advantages to recording on location but the venue must lend itself to two main considerations, the bands requirements and the producers requirements, please take time to read How To Make A CD Trevor Caffulls very informative article which includes hints and tips about choosing a good venue, we agree with his preparation philosophy completely.

REHEARSE REHEARSE REHEARSE

Remember that what you are about to record will be listened to for many years to come, make sure that your repertoire is rehearsed to your highest standard, try to arrange a series of rehearsals leading up to the recording weekend; that way the sessions will be more enjoyable, to leave rehearsals until the recording session is very time consuming and very expensive, the better prepared you are the better the end product will be.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO RECORD?

Most of our recordings have taken place over a weekend (Sat/Sun) this allows ample time to record the sixty minutes or so of music required for your cd, our aim is to achieve around seven or eight minutes of useable music for each hour of recording. We will send you a tried and tested recording timetable which we have found to work really well, put together with a little flexibility in mind the timetable proposes recording session times, breaks for refreshments and important periods of rest.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

We arrive at your chosen venue to set up our equipment about two hours before the first session starts, in some instances when there are longer distances for us to travel we will arrive on the Friday evening, the engineer and producer will be available to answer any last minute questions once they have everything ready to go, you should supply copy scores for the music you will be recording and discuss the order in which you prefer to record your programme; the order in which you record does not have to be the final cd running order as that can be changed later so bear in mind particularly when to record soloists and the more challenging pieces in your repertoire. Please advise your players about bringing a mat or some kind of towelling for brass mutes and percussion instruments which are a common source of unwanted noise during recording as are mobile phones, digital watches and pagers, we will also remind you of that on the day.

EDITING AND MASTERING

Once the recording session is complete we return to base where we listen to all recorded takes. By referencing notes made during the session and reading the scores we 'edit' the different takes together to produce a Œfirst edit¹, this first edit will be sent to you for listening and you should make notes of any areas for discussion, marking bar numbers and a specific time reference to the cd clock.

Where practical one person will be invited to our studio for the 'final edit. If you are unable to attend then a copy of the final edit will be mailed to you. Once we receive your written instruction we create a CD master and despatch to the manufacturing plant for replication.

ARTWORK

We have a professional graphics department who will design and layout your ideas for printed parts to industry standard, your booklet may include things like programme notes, photographs, a list of performers, soloists any special notes and sponsorship credits etc. Please only use high quality photographs, any text information to be included should be word processed, spell checked and supplied on cdr or sent by email.After this we will either supply you with proofs of the printed material or you will be given a website address to view them online so that you can approve the design, colour and text, any alterations must be received in writing or by e-mail and after a further proof reading we will ask you to approve the booklet in writing before it goes to print.

A common delay to manufacturing deadlines is caused by the artwork not being received in time, to avoid any delays you should start compiling your ideas as soon as possible.

COPYRIGHT

You must obtain a licence for any music you record which is protected by copyright. The Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) provide a simple way of obtaining a copyright licence, such a licence must be obtained before a manufacturer will start work. This is the only cost not included in your quotation

It is important that you provide a 'track list' as soon as possible which gives details of composers and titles of your intended programme in order that we can advise on any copyright control issues. We will supply and help you with application forms for your licence, we just can't sign them on your behalf. The MCPS licence is quoted at 6.5% of the retail price of your cd's however in certain circumstances it is possible to aquire a limited use licence for school groups or ensembles who are recording for charity or to raise money for instruments, terms and conditions apply and we are happy to answer your questions regarding copyright licensing.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST AND WHAT'S INCLUDED?

The quotation you receive from us is the price you pay and includes the hire of all recording equipment, the engineer and the producers fees for all recording and editing sessions.

• All travel and accommodation.

• All Editing and mastering sessions.

• Design and layout of the artwork for the finished product.

• CD manufacture, printing, packaging and delivery of compact discs to one UK mainland address.

Not included in your quote are venue hire and MCPS copyright licence fees.