The Recording Studio

I have a new appreciation for musicians that you'll never know. These people don't play on stage in front of thousands of people or make millions of dollars. They go to work each day in the recording studio playing the music we listen to every day. You probably hear many of them on the radio on your favorite songs, although they aren't singing or playing the guitar solo. They are most likely playing some small part in the background.

My band is currently working on a demo record to give out to club owners to try to get some paying work. Two Saturdays ago, we spent six hours in a recording studio trying to record the drum tracks for four songs. We spent two hours just getting everything set up. Then we spent three hours recording and re-recording the same thing. Because we have a limited budget, we quit when we thought it was good enough to work with. We'll go back and record other parts then Dustin, the engineer that owns the studio, will work some magic and make songs out of the pieces we recorded.

The studio is in an industrial park near Sacramento, CA. It used to be some kind of high tech company that went out of business. The conversion to a recording studio has turned it into a place that is conducive to being creative. It is decorated in a casual manner which is relaxing. The down side is the large room where we had the drums set up doesn't have air conditioning. As the morning turned into a Sacramento, June, afternoon, the heat started to rise. We spent more time in the small control room which had air conditioning, returning only to the big room when necessary. My turn ended up being while we were working on the last song of the day, which was the hottest part of our time there. The drummer and I played the same song several times while listening to the accompaniment on headphones.

Overall, I'm glad for the experience, and actually look forward to the next session. But I have a new respect for those that do this everyday to make a living and have to get it right the first or second time, every time, or they don't work. I've learned a little about what it means to be a working musician.

The thing is...

I still want to be one.