Studio Sessions

Live at the sessions

At STUDIO X10SIONS we take full advantage of what's out there, always on the lookout for new developments in sound manipulation & creation. We are able to focus on what we do best … making music!

Creative thinking & the Process

Recordings begin at the hardware side of the studio.
First we establish a tempo/bpm and setup the artist’s folder on the hard drive to store all consequent files for the forth coming recording sessions. Midi files are created in Cubase Studio 4 along with an audio folder for importing external waves for either a software mix or to add insert effects for flavor in the final mixdown.

Next we begin with the click track, a side stick or cowbell, and start to build up a drum kit sound to compliment the basic arrangement of the song. A Bass Drum / Soft Bass Drum, Hi-hat / Soft Hi-hat and Open Hi- hat / a Snare & other snare types / Toms and percussion / Cymbals, fills and drum rolls. We then play in the basic Bass guitar parts to the rhythm and melody line. Once tweaked to the musician’s liking, depending on the over-all feel of the song, we replace the midi Bass track with a real Bass Guitar track and change the sound to fatten up the bottom end.

Now the over all beat and groove is in place for rehearsal from the artist. As the artist practices the song, the producer listens for new instruments to compliment the style/genre of the arrangements, mostly not exceeding 5 instruments to create a live band sound. Then we bounce all the midi tracks to a hard disk multi-track system and hook-up the artist’s instrument for AD/DA recording. At this stage, we setup the live effects so that the artist can hear the effected sound while playing. The effects are not recorded at this time. When the final take is accepted, a rough mix is made so that at the end of each session, we can listen back to all the tracks and check the output is consistent throughout all recordings.

Finally, a stereo mix is made and transfered to the hard disk for edits, post mixing and eq. When that is all finalized, the stereo master is exported to file as a 44.1kHz wave. The final mix is sent with included requirements to a MASTERING service.
We use Audio Master UK.

the Flow

• Meeting with the artist
• Picking instruments
• Planning recording dates & times
• Arrangements & tracking
• Laying down the basic tracks
• Recording the demo's
• Extra musicians (Hire & Fees)
• Mixing & Post editing
• Mastering & Revision
• Final Product