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How To Prepare For A Recording Session

Preparation is important in everything that you do. Every task will always seem easier if you prepare hard and get yourself ready for the task.

As a musician you need to know how to get prepared for recording sessions in order to have an easy recording process.

I’ve dealt with many artists and I can easily tell those that come prepared from those that simply walk in and hope for a killer performance.

It’s not easy to record well without preparation, especially, if you’re new to recording.

Therefore, let’s discuss how you should prepare for a recording session.

Give yourself a week

Most people make the mistake of writing a song today and wanting to record it the next day.

This is usually a bad move for a person new to making music. Only experienced musicians can pull this off easily.

If you’re a newbie, I advise you to give yourself a week to become acquainted with your song so you encounter less difficulty in recording.

Write your song

The best thing you can do is write out your song fully before you go on to record it.

Go through your lyrics and make changes wherever you’re uncomfortable.

This is important because it’s easy to recite and record lyrics that are easy for you.

Once you have your lyrics written and are comfortable with them.

You can go ahead and do other things to prep for that recoding session.

Sing or rap your lyrics as much as possible

It’s important to rehearse your lyrics as much as possible.

Writing is one thing and performing the lyrics is another thing. You need to be comfortable singing or rapping your lyrics.

Make backing vocal ideas

Backing vocals are usually neglected in writing, this is because most artists think of them and record them on the fly.

While this may work for a professional singer, it may not necessarily work for a newbie singer.

Which is why it’s wise to come up with backing vocal ideas and write them down if you can.

Record backings on your phone

Once you figure out your backing vocals and have them written. Record them on your phone so you can refer back to them when it’s time to record.

Rehearse, Rehearse and Rehearse more

This really goes without saying.

The more you rehearse the more comfortable you get with your song.

This will make it easy for you to record without running into much trouble.

Studio time costs money, so you’ll want to avoid going to record a song that you have not properly rehearsed because it may take you hours to finish.

Which will cost you more money.

Practice your breath control

Breath control is important in any form of music creation.

Its important to therefore practice your breathing before going to a recording session..

This way, you can re-tweak your lyrics in accordance with your breathing which will make it easy for you to perform and record well.

Memorize your lyrics

The more rehearse your lyrics the easier it will be for you to memorise them.

When you know your lyrics by heart, recording will be simpler and you can do a lot more with your voice.

You can add various nuances to improve your sound because you know the lyrics by heart.

So, make it a habit to learn and know your lyrics.

Practice with a beat

Getting prepared to go and record a session works best if you practice with the beat that you’ll record on.

Knowing the lyrics is almost worthless if you don’t have a beat to follow.

Which is why it’s good to get acquainted with the instrumental just as much as you get acquainted with your lyrics and song.

If you have access to the beat then go ahead and use it.

You’ll find recording a lot easier because you’ll simply be doing what you’ve practiced already.

Rest your vocals

I know I’ve put a lot of emphasis on practicing and rehearsing but one other point I should mention is that it’s important to rest your voice anf allow your vocal cords to rest.

It’s good to practice and rehearse a lot but just fit in some time for rest.

Notice your mistakes and fix them

As you practice your song, it’s also important to notice mistakes and fix them.

This will save you time when it’s time to record.

Fix your lyrics, fix your voice then keep on practicing your song until it’s time to record.

Sing out loud

When preparing for a recording session always sing out loud and maintain the vocal projection that you will need when recording.

Singing in your heart won’t help you in anyway.

Sing or rap out loud so you can hear your technique and easily spot what you can do better and what you can change.

It will be easier for you to record a song that you’ve practiced loudly than one you’ve practiced in a low tone, inside voice, kind of way.

How To Prepare For A Recording Session
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