YOU DON'T NEED NASHVILLE #6: RECORD FOR LESS

Reason #6 you MIGHT not need a record deal? You can record your music yourself for less than you think. BUT, and this is the biggest but in the series, it probably won't sound as good as a label creation.

First of all, let's deal with the goal of the recording. There are two main kinds of recording I want to discuss with indies reading this blog:

1) TO SELL AT SHOWS: This is a recording you want to best represent your music the way you hear it in your head. And you want it to look and sound as professional as possible because no one but your Mom is going to overlook that horrid cover and "indie sounding" recording of yours. You need this disc to sound and look as good as it can. That's the goal for type 1.

2) TO GET A DEAL: At the end of this series, which we're almost to I hope, there will be some of you who wisely, after much thought, decide you DO want a record deal. It's actually a great thing when the right kind of artist and the right kind of label get married. So you want to make a CD that you can shop around for a record deal. That's the goal for type 2.

Type 1 folks hopefully plan on touring on their own for a while to sell and pay off their CD. If you're not willing to work to pay it off (or pay that credit card or loan off) and if you don't have a "sugardaddy" (a benefactor who is giving you money to make a disc - often a dad) then you really should reconsider whether it's a wise use of time and money to make a CD right now. It's not cheap to make a great one and you often get what you pay for.

Now, while it's not cheap to make a good sounding CD, it can be done for much less than labels often pay. A CCM disc can cast hundreds of thousands and as little as 30 thousand and still sound good. And the cheap discs sound good because they are often made around great songs using talented producers and musicians. It's hard to make talent and well written songs sound bad.

My belief is that you can make a good sounding CD for less than most labels if you have good material, talent and a producer worth his pay. To do so there's no need to jaunt all the way to Nashville and pay a bunch of money for a studio. There are great studios here and if you can get one to give you a deal - the best time to record is the winter by the way - then you should take the opportunity. But even the best deal here could be beyond your budget. So if you can't afford a Nashville/LA/New York studio, consider using on of the better studios in a major city near you where you could record for less and be using the same gear.

After a studio, the next things you need are an engineer and a producer. Engineers are very important and often come attached to a studio. Find a studio and they'll be able to recommend an engineer who knows his way around the place.

The producer is the hardest item to procure on your shopping list of recording ingredients. That's because truly talented producers eventually migrate to major label herds and then refuse to work for indies. But there are some out there and you can find them. Listen to other indie records you like and read the liner notes. Pick up a phone book and call the guy. If he's unlisted don't stalk him. Producers are like wild turkeys, once spooked they will take flight and issue a restraining order. Ok, so they're not exactly like wild turkeys but my point is made.

Like that indie band at Alivefest last Summer? Look up their producer. This step can't be skimped on. It will take time and you'll need to listen to their demo reel - a collection of songs they've produced. And if they're in demand you'll have to get in line. But it's worth waiting for the right person who can put the right clothes on your naked ideas. I sell records today in large part because I waited for Monroe Jones and the waiting, with his skills, made my music something worth listening to.

Here's the bad news. There are very few indie CDs, regardless of budget and talent, that end up sounding like a nationally distributed record. But indies I meet have a hard time listening honestly to their own music. Many truly believe they're CD is Grammy worthy. But in the last four years on the road I've accumulated about three hundred indie CDs, handed to me at shows, and listened to almost all of them, and NONE of them were close to the production quality coming out of Nashville. I truly believe some of those CDs could have been amazing if they'd taken their time putting together the right songs and the right team.

For those of you trying to get a label deal with a recorded demo my advice is much simpler. Don't record a fully produced record. I don't sign people to record deals, but I do know that bad production can distract from great songs - indie or not. And often times the bad indie CDs I'm handed became bad when a local guy wanting to make some money with his studio makes a "deal" with an indie artist and a lot of bad production choices circa 1982. It's next to impossible to hear the potential of an artist through Petra guitar squeals and Toto keyboards.

So because great producers can be hard to find and can mess things up I encourage indies to make a live disc when creating something for label folks who are really more interested in the artist than the production anyway. The live recording is a better representation of the whole you. And for that reason much scarier to make. If you don't sound good live you just don't sound good. And you won't get a deal - and shouldn't.

But if you are good at what you do then you have nothing to hide. Show the label who you really are. Labels are almost NEVER going to put your indie recorded disc on a store shelf with their logo on it. They'll almost always choose the songs from it they like, ask you to write more and better, and then send you back into the studio to record an entire CD of old and new material with a skilled producer and engineer. Rarely does it happen differently. So what labels seem to be most interested in hearing on a demo are the basics: voice, expression, musicianship, song-writing skills etc. So why not remove what they'll redo in time anyway and just give them more you - more of what they want.

And the bonus to this approach is....IT'S CHEAP and often FREE! All you need is a club, school, or church with a soundboard and a geeky friend with a hard drive recorder or something of the same quality - something recording multiple tracks digitally. Mic' the crowd and everything on stage well and do your show. Do a couple shows that way to give yourself more options. Then all you have to hire is a mix guy. This is CRUCIAL. The good thing is mix guys don't care if you're signed or not, if you pay. So look at your favorite CCM recordings for mix engineer names, go on-line to the Nashville white pages, search and dial. That easy. If time is not of the essence you'll get a better price for waiting your turn. "I need it in three months" will more than likely get you a better deal than "I need it next weekend."

One last tip on the live recording. Keep it simple. If you're a solo artist then consider recording you solo. Nothing's more powerful than a song standing on it's own. Johnny Cash taught us that didn't he? Why dress up the live recording with a full band? A band won't make you express better, stay on pitch better, or write better. And those are the things that matter most.

Last thing. What makes a recorded project great (live or studio) is not just sonics. Songs matter. And labels and publishers really are better in general at helping writers craft great songs. If you're indie you don't have that irreplaceable tool in your arsenal but you do have a mp3 collection. Listen to it. It's your teacher. When I first started writing in Nashville a publisher held up a CD and said "If you want to wrote a hit song the rules are right here."

He's still right. Don't rip off or copy but learn. CDs will teach you what a chorus is and how it's different in function from a verse, how long verses should be in relation to choruses, what a bridge is, how to use imagery and rhyme, what a musical hook and lyrical hook is etc. The rules are right there and if you learn them well you can write great songs. And great songs can shine through mediocre recordings and grab the hearts and minds of your audience and even turn the heads of label suits. But great songs recorded well is the goal so, to summarize, find a producer with a track record of making music you like, take your time making music with him while communicating clearly who you are musically, and don't let production (live or studio) come before or in get in the way of well written songs.

Hope all that helps more than hurts.

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