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1. CATCHING IT ON ‘TAPE’ - TIPS BEFORE YOU HEAD FOR THE MUSIC STUDIO

You want to produce your CD so you just blunk down your money and go, right? WRONG! Make sure to do the following before your guitar case clears the front door.

1. Record a live performance once. Don’t just record a session but LISTEN to how you sound. Have any weak areas? If so, fix them BEFORE you book your time.
2. Prepare extra songs. You never know when you might need two (or more) extra tunes for your CD.
3. Know your songs. This sounds elementary but don’t wait to find out your bass player doesn’t quite have the line down for song 3 like you assumed. The studio is not the place to find this out for the first time.
4. Build a sound mind and body in advance. Don’t decide the week before your session that you’re going to stop smoking, quit drinking and start getting a good night’s rest. Have yourself physically fit far in advance.
5. Who’s your Engineer? Have you listened to their prior work? Engineering is more than just pressing buttons. If you’re using the studio’s engineer go over your music so you understand each other BEFORE you go in to record. Clear up any uncertainty or questions in advance because what you think the record should sound like could be oceans apart from the person in the Engineer’s chair.
6. Run a checklist. At least two days before recording do an inventory checklist. Do you have extra strings? Check. Do you have the extra power supply to your keyboard? Check. Extra blank sheet music or writing paper? Check.  Run down the list of everything you’ll need so you’re not doing it at 7 am when you’re half asleep and running late to get to the studio.
7. Meet at a central location at least two hours BEFORE your studio time. This, of course, depends on how far the studio itself is from you. Just be sure to give yourself the chance to meet at a single location so no one is left behind or lost. Meeting two hours in advance also offers the chance for band members to ask final questions they might have forgotten in all the earlier excitement. If you’re a band and you can all fit into one vehicle (or two vehicles) that’s great! Otherwise, travel separate, but together, so everyone gets to the same final destination.

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2. CATCHING IT ON ‘TAPE’ TAKE TWO - TIPS AT THE MUSIC STUDIO

Okay, so you know everything you need to do prior to arriving at the studio but do you know what else besides playing and possibly singing that you’ll need to do? Consider the following top ten tips:

1.  Be on TIME. By ‘on time’ that means ‘early.’ Most studios don’t care if you’re 15 minutes late. A traffic back up or missed alarm clock is not their problem.  That’s 15 minutes less of recording time and if it comes down to a matter of every second counting, you could be in a world of hurt.

2.  Instrument Advice 101. It doesn’t matter if the new Gibson you bought last week is better – use instruments that are familiar to play. New strings, reeds, etc are good if you plan to use anything ‘new.’ Also, be sure to bring along extras such as drumsticks and guitar strings. Last thing you need is your lead guitarist running to the music store in mid-session for a new string while the clock ticks your dollars away.

3.  Drink Advice 101. Water is good but don’t use any ice. Cold will constrict the vocal cords. Warm drinks like tea are actually better to wet your whistle while keeping you ‘stretched.’

4.  Musical Focus. Remember that the technical side isn’t as important as emotions when it comes to music so don’t get caught up on the tech side of things. “Barbara Ann” by the Beach Boys is one of their most beloved songs but give a close listen and you’ll notice it’s the emotion and ‘fun’ that makes the song enjoyable. Technically…the song is a disaster. So, focus on the important part of the music – the emotion and ‘feel’ you want to invoke. That should be first and foremost.

5.  Work Focus. Check your friends and groupies at the door with your coats. They’ll only distract you and slow you down.

6.  Know when enough is enough. You’ll eventually get tired and then you’ll get sloppy. You didn’t put down your hard earned cash to record slop so know when to call it a day. Yes, you might have paid for the time but you don’t have to use it all. You just need to use it right.

7.  Get over the ‘But there’s tape left’ disease. You might have tape left, but don’t fill it just to fill it. It’s best to have back up songs in case you do find you want to add a little more, but don’t record more because you think you HAVE TO.  Truth is an EP with quality songs is far better than an LP with filler.

8.  Make back up copies of everything you record. ‘Nuff said.

9.  Get it right the first time. Don’t assume we can fix it later in mixing. If it doesn’t sound right, do it over immediately.

10. Tune up often. Again, sounds like common sense, but you’ll be surprised that in the ‘rush’ to get things done in your allotted time you might be overlooking the fact that…quite frankly your instruments sound terrible. So take a few moments during recording to be sure you’re in tune.

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3. MIXED UP ON MIXDOWN? HERE’S A BRIEF 101

“I’m an artist, not a mixer!” Okay, but if you plan to spend any time in the studio there are a few things you might want to know when it comes to mixing/recording. Here’s a breakdown of mixing/recording options and what they mean.

Digital Audio Tape (AKA DAT) recorders have the ability to record in the format that is required for commercial CD or audio CD-R production. For final mixing, DAT works out just peachy, but if you’re adjusting levels or adding a bit of EQ and compression to the file keep in mind that every time you do, a small amount of resolution is lost. For popular music that has a lot of ‘noise’ going on it’s not a huge issue, but for tracks that have more of an acoustic sound it can be detrimental. Remember too, fade outs should be done at the mastering stage, not on DAT because you run the risk of sounding grainy.

Analogue tape can be a pain, but it’s a champion when it comes to warmer sounding masters. If you use analogue tapes, be sure to test recording levels because ‘soothing’ can turn to audible distortion. You don’t want your masterpiece to sound like nails on a chalkboard. One of the key benefits of analogue tape over digital recordings is that analogue deterioration is progressive and easier to detect than digital files that simply cease to function.  The downside is it’s quite expensive and needs high maintenance (keeping it free from dust, care and cleaning of the heads, etc.).

Minidiscs are good for your home mixing needs, especially if you’re doing dance music or something similar that contains multi-instruments. Again, when it comes to acoustic sounds or anything that is ‘stand alone’ you could get a less than perfect result (IE distortion). The same is true of minidisc-to-minidisc recording. Expect a little less quality than the original. On the upside, however, minidisc is affordable for the home user, although some machines might require an optical/coaxial converter for a better quality sound.

CD-R recorders are very reasonable money wise, but they’re not without another price. Audio quality is identical to pressed audio CDs and most machines can handle both analogue and digital inputs. The problem however is you won't be able to record at a higher bit-depth and then alter down later, so in terms of quality, you're no better off than mixing to DAT. Since mixing isn’t really an option you need to be perfect the first time out, but when you compare the costs of CD-R to other types of machines it might be worth it to do a few ‘extra takes’ than to pay a hefty total upfront.

Whether you go analogue tape or CD-R the resource you finally go with should meet your needs. Minidiscs do well for serious demos to send to record execs, but if you’re just doing free copies for friends or fans for promotions, CD-R is perfectly fine. If you’re doing a recording with the hopes of having it sold talk with your studio engineer who knows your music personally to get the right advice. Remember the old expression, the only dumb question is the one that’s never asked, so bend your engineer’s ear and get the skinny on what would work best for you.

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4. SPOTLIGHT ON…ARTHUR COLOMBINO

Arthur Colombino is capturing audiences all over New York City with his rich soulful voice, dynamic stage presence, and his diverse songs that take over your body and mind. Born in Belleville NJ, Colombino has always been active in music and aspired to entertain. His father Ralph Colombino (a/k/a/ Ralph Michaels) was a singer in the 60's and 70's signed to Capitol and Columbia Records. His father groomed Arthur’s voice and taught him to sing. Colombino learned at a young age to cultivate his voice and would go on stage with his father during a performance and sing. Colombino started writing songs and playing instruments while in grade school. Throughout high school, he was a member of numerous bands, which played all over New Jersey and New York. With his distinctive voice, college radio called and started playing some songs in their rotation.

Colombino attended Kean University in New Jersey and studied acting, but left school early to act in off-Broadway theatre, TV and film. He signed with Vince Cirrincione (Halle Berry's manager) and was immediately signed by an agent. Colombino's first passion has always been music so when a band called Q beckoned he left acting and re-ignited his musical career. Q went on to record two CD's - one with producer Roger Glover (Deep Purple) and the second with Rob Fraboni (Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Rolling Stones).   Arthur toured around for years playing clubs and theaters all over the country. All of the songs on this self titled CD "Arthur Colombino" were written, performed, and produced by Colombino and are a registered trademark of BMI music.

·         When did you realize you wanted to be a performer? ** The first time I realized I wanted to be a musician was the first day I saw my father perform when I was a kid. When he sang, people really listened and I felt the power of performing. I was hooked!

·         What musical acts have influenced you over the years? ** The musicians that influenced my style the most would have to be U2, The Beatles, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Marvin Gaye; The Police. Those groups and artists were in my household growing up and helped me develop my own style somewhere between rock and groove.

·         What do you like and dislike about the music biz? ** It's a definite love/hate relationship in that I love writing and performing songs in front of a live audience, but the business has changes so much since I was a kid to where they look to market someone more because of their looks and not for their talent. I've been fortunate enough to do some modeling in my past and know that it's a good stepping-stone, but I'd rather have people listen to my songs and appreciate the music and lyrics instead of the cover of the CD. (Even though I really like the cover of my CD, ha ha.)

·         Musically, what’s your greatest strength? **My greatest strength has been, and always will be, singing. I always took pride in the fact that my tone, pitch, and range were exactly what I could with for because when I am recording, I never have to say to myself, "I wish I could do that." Song writing and playing all the instruments on my CD is just a plus, even though the song is the most important thing.

Arthur’s website can be found at www.arthurcolombino.com and his CD’s are available at CDBaby.com. To see Arthur live, check out his home page for dates in the New York City area.

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