The Bizz with the Buzz:'Ear It Is Mate by:Stoney Cannon

The Biz with the Buzz: 'Ear It is Mate...


So I know it's been a while since our last get-together kiddies and by now you should have, in addition to a smoking hot band, a choice visual representation of your group for promotional purposes. You and your band buds have marked your spot in time with a great photo usable for any promotional opportunity that may come your way including ink press PLUS you've created a cool bio that's somehow short and to the point yet chock full of information on your soon-to-be drawing band! You've even managed to take all of that, toss in an easy to decipher logo and spread it across the interwebs just in case a prospective booker or journalist prefers to fetch your info online. It's all there. Right? Hmmm...seems that something might be missing. You have all the tools to get those first "in the trenches" gigs but you're already thinking ahead...thinking about the bigger clubs, festivals, county fairs, even maybe submitting to try and get a spot during a music conference or one of those online battle of the bands contests that are sponsored by some beer or liquor company. You're thinking - "well dang we need to record that next modern rock hit that we have in our musical arsenal!" You've got a nifty batch of original tunes. You have a need to get 'em out to the world and make ears bleed! You think your bands' tunes are bad ass enough to rock faces off? Well...OK...so what are ya gonna do about it?




Over the years young up and coming bands have taken many routes to record their material. In the sixties you had reel to reel recorders, seventies saw the arrival of cassette tape decks, the eighties took those up a notch with inexpensive 4-track cassette recorders, the nineties upped the anti by taking the technology and going digital and of course all along bands could simply fork out some cash and venture into a recording studio. By the time Y2K hit just about any musician with a good computer and a bit of software could track their next opus in the comfort of their own bedroom, garage, kitchen, even bathroom. The dawn of this period unfortunately also led to some of the most God-awful recordings being hoisted on indie music scenes all across the globe ever. Now any yahoo who just happened to have a slew of clueless friends blowing constant smoke up their ass could take that new found false bravado and record and put out 5-star recordings based on the best buddy rating system. Too bad other rating systems usually gave these same recordings a "suck" rating. Hey I know, it's tough. Quality recording on a shoe-string budget can be tough, but there are ways to make do in the beginning.




Before you are quick to decide that you can be the next Mutt Lange over night because Santa brought you a new PC and cheap recording software for Christmas...don't. Ask around. The good part about the D.I.Y. (do it yourself) PC recording revolution is that for every 100 wannabe's, there are at least a couple of bedroom engineers who have figured out how to make above-average recordings. Chances are, you find one of these guys and you can get a decent demo for a low price, heck maybe even free. Further investigation could turn up some underground studios, places that record top notch stuff but don't really push the fact that they record. These places, like say Sector 7G, offer up great prices in the $15 - $30 per hour range and for those who are good at pre-planning, further discounts for reserved blocks of recording time. An underground studio that charges low rates will always be a better bet over an actual fully functional studio offering similar rates. The part-time studio will be able to relate with your love of music while the big studio probably will just see you as a chance to make some change between their big money commercial jingle accounts. More studio equipment and a snazzy room is great but nothing beats an engineer that is sincerely interested in what you are trying to get on tape. These cool dudes are usually found at the smaller studios. Heck, why do you think the Jam Room in Columbia, SC is so popular? Great rates (the punk rock special is a long-time Jam Room fave) and guys that will go militant to get your band a cool recording.




So, you're ready to commit that first real original masterpiece to tape...so you can spam the interwebs with it...well good luck and good hunting!




Here are a few great options to look into:

"Bat Cave Productions" in Evans Ga 706-830-3537

"Sector 7 G" in Augusta Ga nick7g@gmail.com

"The Jam Room" Columbia SC


http://www.jamroomstudio.com


You can check out more about Stoney at http://www.lokalloudness.com

and at

http://www.confederationofloudness.com