Uploaded February 2019 | Updated September 2026, 32 minutes ago
Here are three money-saving / time-saving techniques for the recording studio most musicians don't think of.
Time is money! Especially in the recording studio!
There are a lot of ways to prepare yourself and your band so you're ready for the stressful environment of a recording studio. Here are three ways most musicians don't think of.
Three Ways to Save Money in the Recording Studio
If you like this video, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing! We post new content every week.
Plus, visit outerloopcoaching.com for Mike Mowery's Free E-Book - the Music Management Primer. Download it today!
First, rehearse everything!
I don't mean rehearse all your music. I mean rehearse EVERYTHING. Rehearse setting up your equipment efficiently. Rehearse replacing strings and drumheads, plugging in pedals and racks. If you're a drummer, rehearse playing to a click-track. It's a very different experience if you haven't done so before! If you're a singer, practice singing in isolation with recorded versions of the songs. Singing with the live band behind you is very different from singing in an isolation room to pre-recorded music, which most recording studios are going to use. Listen back to yourself. What you hear recorded might be very different to what you THINK you sound like when singing live.
Second, get your studio agreement in advance!
Make sure you and the recording studio have a clear understanding of each other's expectations before you arrive. Find out how many engineers you are paying for and what time you are expected to arrive and leave. Some recording studios are prepared to keep their doors open for you until you get the right sound, but not all of them. Know in advance how many hours you're getting and when those hours are happening.
Find out what instruments the studio has available for you to use. Confirm they aren't going to be charging you extra. Some studios have acquired collections of incredible instruments and the engineers are used to getting the best sounds out of them. Know in advance what they have and consider finding similar among friends or local instrument shops so you can rehearse on them. The rehearsal isn't just about getting used to playing on a new instrument, but seeking the best sounds for the recording. (For more on this, check out our blog article on Four Things Your Demo Can Do For You!)
Make sure there is an agreement for you to own and take home your recording stems when you leave the studio. Stems are the isolated tracks of the recording which you can then use for remixes, live backing tracks, intro and outro music for concerts, bonus material for fans during the album rollout, and much more.
Third, plan with backups in mind!
You can't expect the unexpected, but you can plan for some things that are inevitable. You want to keep people focused and present in the studio so plan to have your studio sessions catered (by friends or fans). Or, bring in groceries every day so noone is leaving the studio to go get lunch or dinner. Murphy's law states when they are needed they won't be there and no quick trip to the local Burger King is actually... quick. Keep everyone in the womb of the studio as much as you can. Make allowances for time to decompress and clear the mind. And make sure everyone is well fed. Noone likes a hangry drummer!
Here are three money-saving / time-saving techniques for the recording studio most musicians don't think of.
Time is money! Especially in the recording studio!
There are a lot of ways to prepare yourself and your band so you're ready for the stressful environment of a recording studio. Here are three ways most musicians don't think of.
Three Ways to Save Money in the Recording Studio
If you like this video, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing! We post new content every week.
Plus, visit outerloopcoaching.com for Mike Mowery's Free E-Book - the Music Management Primer. Download it today!
First, rehearse everything!
I don't mean rehearse all your music. I mean rehearse EVERYTHING. Rehearse setting up your equipment efficiently. Rehearse replacing strings and drumheads, plugging in pedals and racks. If you're a drummer, rehearse playing to a click-track. It's a very different experience if you haven't done so before! If you're a singer, practice singing in isolation with recorded versions of the songs. Singing with the live band behind you is very different from singing in an isolation room to pre-recorded music, which most recording studios are going to use. Listen back to yourself. What you hear recorded might be very different to what you THINK you sound like when singing live.
Second, get your studio agreement in advance!
Make sure you and the recording studio have a clear understanding of each other's expectations before you arrive. Find out how many engineers you are paying for and what time you are expected to arrive and leave. Some recording studios are prepared to keep their doors open for you until you get the right sound, but not all of them. Know in advance how many hours you're getting and when those hours are happening.
Find out what instruments the studio has available for you to use. Confirm they aren't going to be charging you extra. Some studios have acquired collections of incredible instruments and the engineers are used to getting the best sounds out of them. Know in advance what they have and consider finding similar among friends or local instrument shops so you can rehearse on them. The rehearsal isn't just about getting used to playing on a new instrument, but seeking the best sounds for the recording. (For more on this, check out our blog article on Four Things Your Demo Can Do For You!)
Make sure there is an agreement for you to own and take home your recording stems when you leave the studio. Stems are the isolated tracks of the recording which you can then use for remixes, live backing tracks, intro and outro music for concerts, bonus material for fans during the album rollout, and much more.
Third, plan with backups in mind!
You can't expect the unexpected, but you can plan for some things that are inevitable. You want to keep people focused and present in the studio so plan to have your studio sessions catered (by friends or fans). Or, bring in groceries every day so noone is leaving the studio to go get lunch or dinner. Murphy's law states when they are needed they won't be there and no quick trip to the local Burger King is actually... quick. Keep everyone in the womb of the studio as much as you can. Make allowances for time to decompress and clear the mind. And make sure everyone is well fed. Noone likes a hangry drummer!
![How to Release Your Music Independently on Social Media [UPDATED FOR 2019]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KPxnoqhI2cI/mqdefault.jpg "How to Release Your Music Independently on Social Media [UPDATED FOR 2019]
SPREADSHEET ALERT! Paul walks you through exactly how Outerloop releases music on social media during a release rollout.
LIKE and SUBSCRIBE and COMMENT BELOW!
Have you ever tried to release your music and it landed with... crickets?!?
One of the most powerful aspects of social media is how YOU control the message. You control the content and the timing. You control whether its a video or a graphic or text or text with a link.
Take advantage of this power! Use social media to generate excitement and anticipation in your fans so they will talk about you and, even more importantly, generate the momentum you need for a productive album cycle.
I say this over and over again. RESPECT YOUR MUSIC.
Release it the right way, with the right effort. A shoddy, unplanned release rollout is disrespecting your own art. Put the effort into getting your music into the hands of as many people as possible. Get it into their ears! Into their minds!
Dont fear the spreadsheet - USE IT to plan your release rollout RIGHT
This weeks video shows you how to plan your next full-length album release rollout. But dont get scared of the Google Sheet or Excel program used here. If youre allergic to spreadsheets, use a whiteboard or posterboard (use pencil!) instead.
This is a VERY high overview of how to plan your social media posts for your release rollout. If you want to see how this is REALLY done, in incredible detail, so you can be ASSURED you are releasing your music the right way, check out Release It Right.
If youre frustrated by how to release your music, youre not doing it right
Imagine trying to sit down and figure out how to play a complicated song you just heard off Spotify. Maybe you have a talent for figuring this stuff out. I once road managed for a guy who wrote the tablature for one of the big guitar magazines. I can promise you, there arent very many people with an ear for it like THAT guy. He was one of a kind.
For the rest of us, sitting down with the tablature is much easier. We just need to play the right notes at the right times and - bam. It aint perfect, but its a hell of a lot closer than what we could have done in the same amount of time without the tab.
Why not do the same with a release rollout?
If you like the video above and want to know more, we built Release It Right to be like tablature for a release rollout. Stop putting a Twitter post up here and a Facebook post there. An Instagram video on occassion and then... nothing. Just follow the steps in RiR and youll have a killer release week. Every time.")
