Pro Studio Live Country Pop Recording Session TUTORiAL

Take a seat and watch a professional studio recording from beginning to end. This is an 8 hour session, condensed into 2 hours packed with techniques, effective teamwork and great musicianship by the band Ottopilot. This is a reality TV style show, all the interactions are natural, and in essence, what you would expect in a real session. The song being worked on is called “I like the sound of that”, and you can find the mix deconstruction of this same song taught by Daniel Robert Ford in our archives.

Brian Scheuble is the engineer in this session, and you will get to see exactly what his role is in the recording process and how he gives the band the tools they need to make the best use of their time in the studio. Brian will go through session planning, mic placement, recording techniques, troubleshooting and more! You will get to see a band that actively participates during every step of the recording session as they guide each other to achieve their sound. If you are planning on handling full band recording sessions, or want to familiarize yourself with what an effectively run studio session looks like, this is a real world example.

Episode 1. Full band recording set-up Meet Brian Scheuble and the members of the band Ottopilot. Brian spends the time to get a proper setup for a full band recording. This includes getting great sounds, achieving isolation between instruments, making sure everyone is comfortable and can see each other and hear each other.

Episode 2. The meat and potatoes In this episode you will see the band Ottopilot work out their parts to create full takes of their new song “I like the sound of that”. The first 5 minutes are final adjustments and setup before the band gets to record. Then it’s all about how a band works together and how the engineer facilitates a collaborative flow in the session. After recording various good takes, the band sits with Brian to make a “comp” of the best performances.

Episode 3. Bass and electric guitar The setup for bass and guitar is already explained on episode 1, the focus is now on capturing performance. Chad, the bass player lays down some key parts over his live performance. Aaron re-records rhythm guitar, adds a guitar solo and other embellishments.

Episode 4. Tracking vocals Watch Brandon, the main singer in Ottopilot, track vocals. The band works together to figure out how to get the best vocals takes. After the lead vocal is recorded, they work on harmonies. As a viewer, you get to see what an effective teamwork interaction is like at a recording studio. At the end, Brian and the band find the best takes and “comp” them into one track.

We want to acknowledge and thank Pacific Records and the band Ottopilot for giving us permission to use this content in our website.

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