Bring all the equipment you would use for a gig. (Don’t forget a tuner and spare strings.)
Bring food and water. We have a band fridge.
Bring analog tape to record onto, unless you’d like to use our house tape.
Bring CDRs, so you can take your songs home with you.
You’ll need a roll of RMG International 1 inch 911 tape (this is a replacement for the old Quantegy 1 inch 456 tape which is no longer being manufactured). You can find this at Leo’s in Oakland, or at R&M in San Francisco. It’s generally around $120 including tax. There’s 33 minutes on a roll.
We also have house tape. You can use house tape for free, but you can’t take it with you. We save it for one month after your session.
You’ll set up like you’re playing live. We usually put the guitarist and bass player in one room. The drummer is in a second room, which has a big window looking into the guitar room. Vocalists are most often in a third room, doing scratch vocals for the first few takes.
After we cut a basic track of the songs, we’ll go back and fix any mistakes. Then we’ll add parts and vocals.
When we’re done mixing the songs, you’ll leave with a CD. Depending on the number of songs you record, you may get a rough mix on CD and come back for mixing on a separate day. In any case, you’ll most likely want to master your final recording. I would like to suggest my partner, Myles Boisen of The Headless Buddha Mastering Lab; you can reach him at 510-451-2160. He’s one of many fine mastering engineers in the area.
