“Ethan and his band are an incredibly talented young group” exclaimed George. “All the tunes on their 4 song EP were written by Ethan, and he and the band have a great vision for who they are as artists.”

Covering the engineering and mixing duties was Eric Bates, with logistical support from brother Eugene Bates. George was enthusiastic in his praise “the Bates guys have a great room, rivaling studios in major music markets. And the service is second to none. Plus they’re just great guys and make the process fun, especially for newcomers like Ethan. The relaxed and fun vibe contributed to making this project a great success.”

NMT is proud to have BBR as one of our partner studios in the Southeast, and even more pleased to have Ethan Asters and his band as clients. Be sure to check the audio samples from the final mixes as well as the pics taken by videographer Rick Sutton.

There are two main types of microphones: condenser and dynamic. Ribbon mics are a third category – more on them later. Condenser mics are usually categorized according to their diaphragm size: small or large. Examples of small diaphragm mics are the Shure SM 81, AKG 451, and Neumann KM 184. The mics are known for their transient response and high frequency clarity, so they end up on cymbals, and acoustic guitars. Large diaphragm mics such as the Neumann TLM 102, AKG 414 and the Blue Microphones “Baby Bottle” are great on vocals and acoustic instruments. Don’t forget: since these guys have built-in electronics, they require 48-volt phantom power from the mic preamp.

Dynamic mics include the venerable Shure SM 57 and 58, the Electrovoice RE20 and the AKG D112. These mics are usually capable of sustaining higher SPL levels, so you’ll find them in front of guitar amps, snare and kick drums. Ribbon mics have made a comeback over the past several years. Companies like Royer and AEA are making excellent ribbon mics for all types of applications.

Next time: Microphone pick-up pattern and placement.

Charles Harnach is contributing editor and director of Birmingham operations for Nashville Master Tracks. You can view his website at charles-harnach.com

So you’ve finally done it. After much prodding and prompting by family, friends, and fans, you’ve decided to start work on your first recording project…congratulations! Whether you are recording a single or a full CD project, it all starts with that all-important first session. For the sake of this article, let’s assume that you have a band or you’ve hired session players (more about that later!). Either way, your first session is going to be thrilling/exciting/boring/nerve-wracking and all of the above…but most of all it can (and should) be fun! Here are the aforementioned “Seven Steps” that will help make your first recording session a great experience.

1. Ready! Set! Rehearse!

Other than that first visit when you fell in love with the vibe of the room (and paid your deposit), your first session is probably your first time in a studio. Relax…it’ll be just fine. And what will make it just ‘finer’ is to be prepared. Studio time is not cheap, so the last thing you want is to finish writing the song in the studio. Know exactly what songs you want to record and even set yourself a schedule for the day. Be ready with lyric sheets, chord charts, etc., but make sure YOU know your songs. Practice makes perfect…but practice at home.

2. That wasn’t the right song for you, Dawg!

The American Idol judges are right more often than not. Just because you can sing jazz AND rock AND country AND show tunes…doesn’t mean that will all sound good on the same CD. Here’s where a producer is invaluable, by giving you the honest assessment of what songs sound best. But if you can’t afford a producer, a producer can be assigned to you (in the form of a friend whose musical tastes you trust). Variety can be the spice of life, but in the studio try to pick songs that ‘hang together’ stylistically.

3. Singing in the C of Key!

Number 3 of our list is related to Number 2. Many singers put their songs in keys that are either too high or too low. Look at the highest and lowest points of the melody and find a key that is comfortable. But beware! You might need to push it a little in order for your voice to have the right amount of excitement and energy. Again, a producer could help here, but don’t be afraid to ask your studio engineer for tips…he or she can really help you shine!

4. My cousin plays drums… well, he used to!

Face it…recording ain’t cheap. It can be really tempting to try to shave some $$$ off the budget by not using studio players. And while your cousin may play drums, the rarefied air of the studio is not for the faint of heart. Every little note, chord, buzz, and rattle is ‘under the microscope’. I’ve seen really good ‘live’ players wilt under the glare of the ‘red light’ when cutting tracks. And while you may save money by using other players, it usually takes 3 times longer than if you’d used session cats. You really do “get what you pay for!”

5. The First Cut is the Longest!

“Geez…we’ve been in the studio for 20 minutes now and we haven’t recorded anything! The drummer keeps hitting the kick drum over and over and over. Then he did the same thing on the snare!! When do we make some music?”

Don’t panic! It ALWAYS takes a few minutes to get set up, check levels, headphones, etc. Thus the first song of the day always takes longer. Here’s a free tip; start with a song that is ‘up’ and that you could sing in your sleep. There is an art to keeping the creative fires burning in the studio (don’t hit me…“Producer”). You’ll be amazed how quickly the rest of the tunes will flow after that first track!

6. To entourage or not entourage… that is the question!

“You’re making a CD? Really? Cool! Can I come? And my brother plays guitar… he won’t say anything and just hang out in the corner…”

Unless you can afford an entourage (and a huge studio to house them), try to keep session visitors to a minimum. It’s really exciting to be make a record and it’s understandable that folks want to enjoy it with you, but all those folks can be REALLY distracting for the engineer and players trying to make you sound your best. Here’s an idea… take LOTS of photos and even shoot some video. You can post all this on You Tube and Facebook and all your friends and future fans will dig your awesomeness! And your engineer will thank you too!

7. The buck stops here!

Our last tip may sound simple, but it’s really the most important one; this is YOUR project! We’ve seen it time and again. The session players are coming up with some great sounds, and one of the gang has a idea that the song will flow better if we do 2 choruses before the solo. They ask you (aka ‘the client’) ‘what do you think?’ You smile and nod and away they go!

The problem is that you really hate that idea! But these folks are paid studio professionals…they can fix it later, right? Wrong! While modern recording technology is amazing, at the end of the day YOU are the final arbiter of right and wrong. If you don’t like it as it’s being recorded, you won’t like it on your ride home. Speak up! The entire studio team is there for you and want you to have the best project AND the best time doing it. Remember…it’s YOUR record!

George Vinson is contributing editor and director of Nashville operations for Nashville Master Tracks. He is also guitar player extraordinaire and director of project150