Preparing your song for…

Recording

  1. Send over any demos or ideas you have

  2. Create a playlist of 3-5 songs that have the vibe, feel & sonic palette you want your music to have.

  3. Practice! Practice and warm up on your instrument in the run up to your session. Don’t stress about nailing particular parts focus more on technique and timing. Practicing with a click is great preparation for recording. Try practicing with a click that randomly drops out every few beats to help build your inner feeling of timing. Time Guru is a useful app for this. If you play in a band try get as much practice in a rehearsal space before your session as possible, even just a few hours can make for a tighter “groovier” recording.

  4. Relax. Recording can be stressful and preparing for it can be a nervous affair but fear not! Knockwood is a relaxed environment built by friends to make music in. The goal is to be creative, make great music and have fun. If you have any questions or accessibility requirements don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Mixing

  1. Listen through your song(s) and make sure you’re happy with the arrangement.

  2. Send over a mix you’ve done yourself. Not looking for perfection just a reference point for where you want things to sit in the mix.

  3. Balance the gain on each track so that the level is on average around -12db with the peaks going no higher than -6db.

  4. Number and label each track. Order should be as follows:

    Drums, Percussion, Bass, Rhythm Keys, Lead Keys, Rhythm Guitars, Lead Guitars, Effects/Samples, Backing Vocals, Lead vocals. If you have tracks that don’t fit into these categories just put them with whatever feels nearest. Don’t worry too much it just makes it easier to stuck into the mix!

  5. When bouncing multi-tracks for mixing please bounce tracks with proper labelling to save time during the mix session. Please also bounce a copy of the tracks without any processing (such as distortion, delay, reverb, EQ or Compression) , this gives the best flexibility and options to use all the studios nice analog gear! Please put the files without processing in a separate folder from the other multi-tracks. It is also helpful to include the bpm of the song.

  6. As always, if you have any questions or need help preparing the files just send an email and I’ll be happy to help!