When you are recording your focus should always be on the performance that’s happening at that moment. Anything that distracts from this - whether you are the musician, the engineer, the producer or all three at once - can lead to a lesser recording, and so ultimately, a lesser record. The better you can manage your recording sessions, then the more likely you are to be able to stay focussed on the reason why you are there in the first place.

1. Work out in advance what you plan on recording

One common tactic when recording full album projects is to draw a big chart with all the song names down one side, and all the instruments to be recorded across the top. As an assistant engineer, I made up a lot of these! As each instrument is recorded for each song the relevant box is crossed off. Naturally, not every song has to have every instrument, but the existence of a box for it means that it has to be considered, and then perhaps crossed off without recording if it’s decided that (for example) a piano part is not required in the song “My Love”. There is always, importantly, a box in the instruments row for “anything else” so that other instrumentation will be considered, and in fact this little box does force everyone to consider if any instrument out of the ordinary is required. Such a chart not only makes sure you don’t miss anything important on a big project, but it also makes sure everyone stops to think outside their usual boundaries.

2. Hire or Book Extras

If you establish a proper plan for recording before you actually start, you should have a good idea of the instruments, and so musicians, that you need to record. Not only does this allow you to work out a timetable based around people’s availability, but also to book the studios, musicians, instruments and equipment that you may need to get the project recorded. This also means extras can be costed for at the start of the project and so prevents any nasty budgetary surprises along the way.

3. Preparation, preparation, preparation

For those of you who have already taken my course on Everything You Need to Know About Recording Vocals, you’ll already have a good grip on how important preparation is to a successful session, and you’re probably using my cheat sheet in your own sessions already. There’s nothing that can kill the vibe of a good recording session more effectively than constant interruptions and breakdowns because the engineer / producer didn’t prepare properly before the session. It’s unprofessional and disrespectful to the person who is trying to perform. Proper preparation allows everyone to focus on the performances and means the ebb and flow of the session is controlled by the creative process instead of the requirements of setting up or checking signal. This works on a macro level as well as a micro level. On a macro level you should have all the mics you’re going to use for the day on stands, plugged up, and signal path checked before anyone else arrives, and on a micro level, you should have enough tracks ready in your DAW for whatever you are planning to record in that moment, so that you’re not pausing proceedings to constantly set up new ones, set up a reverb etc.

4. Early wins

Ultimately, we can be as organized and ‘left-brain’ as we like, but we are engaging in a ‘right-brain’ creative process so need to be aware of the anxieties and stresses that performers can face when embarking on a project. One way to get a session off to a strong start is by kicking off with an ‘easy win’. What this looks like in the context of the session you’re working on is not something I can guess, but to give an example, if you are recording a few songs with a band, start with the one that’s the oldest / most familiar / easiest for everyone to perform. When they hear that coming back through the control room speakers after the first recording it should allay their fears and get everyone excited for what’s ahead.

5. Fatigue is your enemy

This is worth bearing in mind over the course of a day as well as over the course of a project. To illustrate, a singer can only sing for so long before they lose strength and control. Everyone’ stamina is different here, so if you’re working with someone new (or for the first time in a while) be aware of this and plan gaps and breaks for them into the day. The same is true of musicians - trumpet players can only blow for so long before their lips give out, just as happens with guitarists and their fingers, nose-flutists and their nostrils etc.
Over longer periods it’s important to take breaks and days off too. Often the late-night sessions and long hours are naively glamourized. While working late can sometimes be a useful tool (again, this is covered in-depth in my course), going too hard for too long will cause productivity to crash. Quite often when I was an assistant engineer in a big studio, I would end up filling-in for another assistant for a day or so on a session that had been going on for a long time (like seven-day weeks for a month or more). It was always amazing how little was getting done on these sessions. Everyone was so exhausted but either didn’t realise it or wouldn’t admit it, and there would generally be about 2 or 3 hours of actual work done in a 15-hour working day. If these people had only taken a weekend off, they would have gotten their projects finished so much quicker and cheaper, but these sorts of things are often very difficult to see from the inside. Be aware of the risks, though, and you won’t make this mistake.

It may seem boring to go so deep into planning when all you want to do is start recording, but a little bit of fore thought means you will not only enjoy the recording session much more, but you’ll get better performances from everyone involved.