When to book a studio

Many people record in home studios and budget setups. While big studios are a luxury that is out of reach for many, there are always affordable studios that can maximize your time and effort over working at home.

Technology has come a long way, and for a lot of projects, big studios just aren't required anymore. However they can often make the entire project be completed much faster and more efficiently, and save money in the long run.

Especially with rock music or anytime there is a drum kit involved. Drums are tricky to record, they are very loud, and sound best in a decent sized room that is acoustically treated. Booking a studio for a day and knocking out all the drum tracks for the record will often be the best option for a project on a budget. Then the rest of the project can be done at a small or home studio.

I have done projects where everything was finished and the record didn't sound very good because they had done everything in a tiny home studio, including drums. We went to a big studio (the one above actually) and recut the drums. We kept everything else and because the drums suddenly sounded great, everything did.

Maybe it's because my first instrument is drums, but I feel that the sound of the drums can make or break the record. For some reason the drums are the one thing you can't cheat with. Bad drums ruin everything, the song doesn't have any sort of solid foundation to stand on without good drums.