StudioPros

How to avoid the pitfalls of your previous studio experiences—and vastly improve your chances to get your song published with major A&R representatives.

Stephen McElligott reminisces about a recording he made of one of his songs in a local studio. “I wasn’t happy with that production, really,” he recalls. “I thought, ‘Oh gosh, how am I gonna save this?’ I basically turned around and found Studio Pros and thought, ‘Brilliant, they’re my savior.’”

McElligott has been playing music since he was seven years old. He wrote his first song at 16 and soon began playing in clubs and venues around Ireland and Scotland. His music is influenced by music that spans many decades, from The Beatles to Glen Hansard. But after years of writing and performing, McElligott still hadn’t achieved a major goal: recording a professional sounding, radio-quality version of his songs. “I’ve worked with musicians before, and it’s like wearing a blindfold when you take them into the studio because you’ve gotta pay them, and you don’t know how good they are, you haven’t really heard their stuff,” he explains.

Recording A Song Professionally Without Breaking The Bank

The Irish guitarist/singer/songwriter had been in need of a polished, professional recording solution that wouldn’t break the bank. Plus, he was hoping to have better luck submitting his music to TAXI to get song placements and licensing opportunities. He stumbled upon Studio Pros while searching online for recording studios and decided to learn more. “I clicked on it and thought, this is cool, and it’s affordable,” he says. “I had a listen to some samples and thought it was brilliant. I really needed this with the budget I’m on. I would spend 250 Euros on a musician for a day in the studio, whereas Studio Pros is only $125. I thought it was fantastic—it’s not often that you get to work with really good professional musicians, you know?”

Listen to Stephen’s track “She Blew Me Away,” produced by Studio Pros:

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“With Studio Pros, they give you a listen to the musicians’ capabilities, what they’re able to do, and the versatility that the musicians there have. And that really was the winner for me. It was the overall sound even more than the price.” (more…)

Using Studio Pros to breathe new life into some old songs, English Earl successfully proved to himself that he had what it takes to make great music.

English Earl suspected he had some good songs on his hands, but he knew his productions just weren’t going to cut it against the high-quality recordings of today’s music industry. “I kind of wanted to resurrect my old pop songs and write a few new ones, I thought it would be a great opportunity to prove to myself that some of my pop music wasn’t so bad,” Earl says with a laugh. This “resurrection” refers to the fact that he has been writing pop music since he was a 15-year-old in a garage band, but formally Earl was classically trained on piano and violin. After getting degrees in music theory and composition from the Conservatory of Music in Kansas City, he had established his classical chops. But Earl wanted to see how his pop and rock writing had evolved.

In order to really see what he could do, Earl knew he had to graduate from his local Charleston, South Carolina music scene; he needed to hire some real professionals. In the process of working with Studio Pros, he realized that their world-class session musicians weren’t just good for laying down polished sounding tracks… They could also give him valuable input and musical insight to improve the production of his songs.

“I think the main reason I chose Studio Pros was because I knew they had some very good musicians and vocalists there,” Earl explains. “I knew that the people I’ve worked with before in the studio who were just local musicians, they were there to make a living but were not really there to put too much into a song or its production. I felt that the quality of the studio musicians at Studio Pros might be higher.”

Logistics also played a part in Earl’s decision. Most of the musicians he knew were in Virginia (where he used to live), making the price of recording a little too steep. “Living in Charleston made it impossible for me to go back and forth to record there, so I would have to drop all those musicians and start all over again, anyway,” he says. “And my schedule’s so busy, I couldn’t go in and teach everyone a song. Instead I could start recording with Studio Pros and not actually have to be in a studio.” Earl calculated the costs of recording an album the traditional way and decided Studio Pros was the way to go. “It was way too expensive for me to continue [the old way]. By the time you pay for studio costs, the musicians, the time you spent traveling, the CDs themselves and the artwork and everything, I felt like I was spending a lot more money than I needed to.”

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At Studio Pros we like to take from what’s worked in the past and apply it to what we’re doing today. We have worked with many artists that request this sort of “British Rock” sound, and we know just what they have in mind.

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“British Rock n’ Roll”, as they called it, was a significant change in rock n’ roll that took place in the late 50’s/early 60’s in the UK and later spread around the world. Artists were taking from US rock n’ roll influences and giving it a British edge. This style became the characteristic sound of the Beatles , The Rolling Stones , the Who , Herman’s Hermits, the Dave Clark Five, the Animals, The Kinks , the Small Faces, the Yardbirds, and Donovan among many others. It worked. People obviously liked what was coming out of this new era and it changed the wave of music forever.

When we have an artist’s reference to the overall final sound they are going for, we are happy to help in any way we can to produce their song the way they had in mind. Of course, this is not the only sound that we can achieve with our studio musicians at the Studio Pros recording studio, but an option for those post “British Rock” enthusiasts.

To get that “British sound” we tend to use a lot of compression on our piano tracks, space out the drums (big drum sounds are big in this style) and give the overall mix a dark overall sound with compression.

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Mr. Dylan said it best, “The times are a changing”. So are the ways of getting your music recorded. Back in the day you could only go into a recording studio to get your songs recorded. Now, there’s the option of Studio Pros.

Some people may be turned off by this. Sending their music off into cyberspace seems unrealistic and threatening to the songwriter. The truth is each “studio musician and producer” you are collaborating with across the web has a face and a name. Not only are they living, breathing, and laughing people but they want to collaborate with YOU as a songwriter. Recording online is just a way to make recording more convenient for the songwriter.

Studio Pros is the perfect example of this. You can send your song off to Los Angeles to get it produced. Of course all of this is done via the internet, and the next thing you know… BAM, your song is produced and ready for the radio.

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So he lives all the way in Sweden? No big deal. Studio Pros spoke with our favorite Scandinavian songwriter about getting his song produced online.

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Tell us about yourself:

I’m 34 years old with a huge interest for writing music and performing my songs live. I started playing guitar when I was 13 years old and I wrote my first song when I was 23. I play at some local pubs with a friend of mine and sometimes we play with our two acoustic guitars and harmonica at company parties. I live 20 miles from Gothenburg in Sweden and a couple of my songs have been played on the Swedish radio stations here.

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Ever feel like your stuff isn’t good enough for other people to hear? Many musicians feel that way, and as a result, their songs just pile up and collect dust.

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Mark Ibberson is a perfect example of someone who decided to push through those feelings of self doubt and uncertainty, and get his songs out there to share with the world by using Studio Pros music production service.

He’s from a small village near Lake Geneva in Switzerland and has been songwriting for ten years now, but it wasn’t until 2003 that he decided to release anything. Songwriting is his passion he says, “I can do it whenever I want: Late in the evening, on the train to work… or in one of those boring meetings!” It’s usually in the most unexpected moment that inspiration hits you and you just have to write!

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Mark Sadek Ricotta is a man of few words, but when it comes to songwriting he doesn’t hold anything back. Studio Pros just recently did a music production for Ricotta and got in touch with him to get to know the man behind the song.

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How long have you been writing songs?

“I’ve been writing since I was in junior high. I started playing guitar when I was 6 or so. I wanted a toy guitar when I was little out of curiosity and got a few lessons and that’s was about it really. I’ve been playing ever since.

Do you have any major influences in your music and songwriting style?

“My major influences would probably be early 90’s rock, a lot of classic rock, as well as cheesy pop music (it’s the truth). I take a lot from listening to the hooks in pop and applying them to my songwriting.

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Emily Russo is a Boston based diva on the rise who just recently finished a Studio Pros Music Production Service.

Listen to the production of her song “The Price of Letting Go” step-by-step with the Studio Pros process:

Step 1: Song sketch

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Step 2: Recording the drum track

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Step 3: Laying down a bass groove

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Step 4: Adding guitars

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Step 5: Recording keyboards

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Step 6: Final mix and master

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She has been playing piano since she was five years old, and started songwriting when she was fifteen. She is currently attending The Berklee College of Music in Boston where she is studying songwriting.  Emily draws her inspiration for songwriting from many different walks of life – both her own and other people’s. She worked with us on her song “The Price of Letting Go” and kindly answered some of my questions about her experiences with Studio Pros…

Who would you say are some of your main influences?

The Beatles for sure, but also oldies, motown, and old school metal. I’m not really influenced that much by today’s modern music.

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Creating a ‘band sound’ when recording individual session players

One of the most common problems I encounter when producing a track is the lack of a ‘real space’ sound. Most self-recording artists are trying to make the best out of what they have. What they usually have is a small room with home recording equipment. Sometimes it is easier and more feasible to have a musician record a separate track individually instead of a full live band. In dealing with this situation I’ve found a few ways to create a full band sound out of these individual session player’s tracks. The greatest obstacle to overcome in recording tracks separately is maintaining a natural sound. We always need to remember that some styles simply aren’t meant to be recorded separately. Try recording a jazz trio individually and you’ll soon find it’s a mission impossible. In the end, some albums were just meant to be recorded live.

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Ever wish someone could help guide you through the entire music production process? I know I do, and for that, I turn to Studio Pros.

Musicians are notorious for being a bit behind the game when it comes to getting things done on time. That’s what we’re here for. At Studio Pros, we help you record your song every step of the way. We make sure our session players deliver quality material, in a timely fashion. Sure you could book time at an expensive recording studio, and spend thousands of dollars on your album, but why not keep the money you’d save NOT doing that, and work with us instead?!

If you’re having trouble getting things done in a timely fashion, and people aren’t taking recording your demo seriously, I have a few suggestions for you.

1.  Hire Studio Pros. Don’t waste time trying to organize musicians and overcoming technological problems when you could be concentrating on writing new material.

2.  Check ups. Don’t be anonymous.  Make sure you are interacting with the production team at StudioPros and are collaborating on musical ideas with the musicians.

3.  Show there’s prospect. Nothing gives musicians more hope than the prospect of a future in music. Get serious about your goals, and show them you have a plan.

4. : Set a deadline. Whenever you have a project goal in mind, make sure you have an “end in sight”.  Always set a goal for a project completion date.

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