This is the text of an article I wrote which was published in Recording Magazine, May 2007. I was also published in the, April 2007, Feb 2006, August 2004, May 2003, January 2003, December 2001 and May 1995 issues (Recording Magazine) and the Fall 2004 issue, Spring 2003 issue and the of "Berklee Today".

Tips For The Recording Composer

By Michael Nickolas

Michael Nickolas Jan 25 2007

As a recording musician, there are a few possible reasons you’ve built a studio setup. I would wager that the majority of you are interested in recording your own music. This could mean bringing in your band and recording some originals, or doing your own project using your main axe along with loops and virtual instruments. In these types of recording projects you are the boss and don’t have to answer to anybody! The methods you choose for recording, mixing and mastering only need to suit you.

On the other hand, your interest may be in being a studio for hire, working for local songwriters, bands, or rappers. In this situation you do have to answer to somebody and could need to approach the recording process differently than you would when working on your own.

Another reason some of you may have for creating a studio setup is so you can work as a songwriter/composer for hire, writing custom made music for opportunities in TV, film and corporate work. Although you are creating and recording music from scratch as you would when working on your own stuff, it is vastly different. You not only are recording to please someone else (like when working with a local songwriter or band), but you are also writing to please someone else. In the case of operating as a studio for hire, your client is usually sitting right next to you, on a freelance composition/recording project your client is not going to be present. How you record should be tailored to these points, and I have a few tips to share that I’ve picked up over the years. Some revolve around recording methods, and some are geared towards other aspects of using your studio as a composer/songwriter for hire.

Before you get into your studio to write and record for the client, get a full description of what they want this piece of music to sound like. Get them to suggest audio examples you can listen to or have them email you mp3 examples. Watch out if they don’t want to provide an example or description but tell you “whatever you think is best, we trust you”.  You’ll most likely be starting from scratch after you send in your first draft.

When submitting your first draft, my philosophy is to send in the best sounding demo you can. I really don’t want to leave much to the clients imagination and believe they may have a problem hearing the final product through a low quality demo. This means putting some time into your instruments and demo mix. Use some compression, panning, eq and reverb. Put a maximizer across the stereo bus to beef up the mix. Bring in a demo singer if necessary so they don’t have to try and hear the song through your possibly less than stellar vocal performance.

As you are recording your first draft demo you should be aware of a few things, and adjust your recording method accordingly. A big concern you will have is tempo. Tempo change requests from the client can be the most difficult to accomendate. Depending on the music, it could mean re-recording all the parts at the new tempo! When making your first draft, choose a recording method that will make it easiest for you should they love the music but want it slower or faster. This may mean initially using a loop or MIDI instead of a live performance. Loops and MIDI can easily be sped up or slowed down, but a live performance will have to be re-recorded in full. Then again, this goes a bit against the idea of submitting the best sounding demo you can, so it’s a balance you will need to work out. Once the demo is approved by the client, you can replace loops and MIDI with live performances as needed at the approved tempo. If you are recording MIDI instruments that you intend to make it through to the final version, make sure to keep the original MIDI performance after mixing down the MIDI to audio. The client may request a different sound for the part, and you will be glad not to have to replay the MIDI performance.

Another request you will frequently hear from a customer is to make form changes. They’ll listen to your demo, like it, but ask you to move sections around. This is easier than making a tempo change, I think. As you are recording the demo just make sure to set the initial tempo and insert any tempo changes into your sequencer. Also set the initial time signature and insert any time signature changes. Put a marker in for each section of the form. You will now be able to easily select individual sections for re-arranging.

Computer mix to a stereo master as much as possible throughout the entire project and do internal digital mixdowns. This way any aspect of your mix can be easily changed. If they request a mix change like bringing down the vocal, no problem. Open the sequence, make the change and export to a new file.

To deliver your demo, use a link instead of attaching it to an email. You can upload the demo to the webspace provided by your Internet Service Provider, then create a link to the demo in your email to the customer. This way you are not clogging up the clients email, and they can retrieve the file at their convenience. You may even be able to see when or if it were downloaded.

After you send in your first draft demo, be prepared for anything as far as their response goes. More than once I’ve carefully met a clients description and audio examples only to learn that providing exactly what they asked for was wrong. There’s not much you can do but politely agree and start over. I once got a job because the previous composer made too much of a fuss about changing “his” music. So they fired him and looked to someone else.

Sometimes the requests you get from your customers will need interpretation. They may not be musically trained and can use the wrong words to express what they need. For example I had a client once tell me the singers intonation needed adjustments at some points. You and I know intonation means pitch, but in this case what the client really meant was “accent” as in how hard a certain word was to be hit.  You may even get the customer that would like the music to sound more “purple”. Your guess is as good as mine on that one. No matter what, your answer should almost always be yes, no problem.

After a series of back and forth your music is totally approved and you are ready to deliver the final product. If you are doing the mastering, make a note to save any related presets. There are times when the final version turns out not really to be the final version and it will be quite nice not to have to recreate the mastering plug-in settings from scratch. Speaking of keeping things, never forget to backup. Remember, in the computer world, if it doesn’t exist in three places it doesn’t exist. I keep works in process on two different drives in the computer and on one drive kept outside of the computer.

One final tip if I may, always charge an appropriate rate for your services! Even if you are just starting out. You have a large investment in gear, sounds and instruments. You have skills in composition, recording, producing, arranging, engineering, computers and all of these skills have value. Too many people are simply so glad to get a writing/recording project that they will literally do it for nothing and I feel this hurts all of us recording musicians!