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Many in the recording industry will insist that the recording process is too complicated for the average musician to engage in themselves. With incomprehensible jargon, heavy handed sales tactics and serious ego bashing of the musician, many studios simply intimidate their way to a bigger bottom line. Studios will tell the musician that manufacturers insist on getting DATs and CD-Rs that are "to spec" and that the manufacturer will kick back all "defective" materials and insist on the re-engineering of the "defective" master. This is wrong.
Consider the following:
1. Most CD manufacturers do the CD-R mastering themselves. CD-Rs can be mastered from any reliable format. There have been many CDs that have been manufactured directly from two track casette tapes and came out sounding fine.
2. If musicians are savvy shoppers, they can acquire a new eight track digital studio and a DAT recorder for around $1500.
3. The industry "standard" studio charge for a no-frills, full length master tape is about $4500. These are usually One-Take jobs that take a day or two to complete.
4. Legitimate, profit based CD manufacturers are NOT picky about the "quality" of the masters and will put anything to CD as long as they are provided with an accurate log of the master tape.
Obviously, I lean toward the Do It Yourself approach and encourage all who have the time to try this option. DIY recording allows for multi-multiple takes, experimentation and a bigger selection of music to put to CDs. DIY recording also allows the musician to deal with studios on a a level playing field should the musician decide to record in a studio. (If the studio gives a musician guff, the musician always has the option to record at home.) Studios can be a big help if the artist is in a rush to get work done but I personally know of no artist in such a hurry.
I have no specific engineering tips on home recording (i.e., reverb settings, etc.). Use of effects, instruments and other tools are many and styles of recording are innumerable. I do, however, have one method of engineering that I use on a regular basis. I call it Toggling.
I often find myself looking for a specific sound style. In my head is a phrase that usually starts with, "I want this to sound like..." The best way to see if I have achieved this effect is:
1. Drop my song to tape.
2. Put a CD of the group I wish to emulate into my stereo.
3. Put my tape in the stereo.
4. Play the tape and the CD simultaneously and flip the selector back and forth between the tape and the CD.
5. Take notes on the differences and go back to the studio to experiment.
A variation on this is to record your song and the to-be-emulated song back-to-back on the tape and play it a couple of times.
It is a nice short cut that allows the musician take tips from the pros and speeds up the learning process for the beginning recording artist.
A track sheet is way of telling the CD Manufaturer where the tracks are on the tape and how long each track is. Below is a sample track sheet.
Each entry is listed in the Hours/Minutes/Seconds format. Each second in the "Track Length" section is rounded up to ensure that no tracks are cut off prematurely. If a track is 3 minutes and 24.5 seconds long (00:03:24.5), the track is listed as 00:03:25.
If a track begins in the middle of a second on the DAT, the entire second is included for the same reason. (e.g., Track #1 starts at the 15.50 second mark, the Absolute Start Time listed is as 00:15:00. A half second lag time will come between the Absolute Start Time and the actual track.)
All tracks except the Lead and the End are numbered.
Notes are included at the end of track sheet.
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NOTES:
DAT recorded at 44.1kHz on a Tascam DA-30
Engineered by Frank Emsley (AKA Mr. Zipp)
Other: Any dropouts, clicks, pops, buzzes, distortions or any other anomalies on this DAT are accepted "as is".
It is pretty obvious that you are already doing this. The best way to keep the liars and cheaters out of your wallet is to check out all of your options before making any decisions. If anyone tells you that you need to make a decision "now" before the prices go up, just walk away. My experience has been that these types of businesses are hiding something and will make you pay for your hasty decision.
Another idea is to get a CD manufacturer BEFORE going into a studio. This will give you an idea what is really needed before you start recording. All manufacturers are happy to provide Master Tape requirements and other things to you for free. Contacting a number of CD manufacturers at once gives you a view of the competition in the field and various approaches to manufacturing.
The bottom line is this: If you know exactly what you are looking for, you are much more likely to get exactly what you want.