Done the latest project...

Beware world, an all girl band named Jezibelle just finished recording 4 songs at Powersound Studios and the songs are smokin'.

I spent yesterday finishing the mixes up and I'm disappointed I don't have any more songs to record with them - it was a very fun and relaxed environment in the studio.

And I have to give props to Phil Anderson at Powersound Studios for having such a kick ass studio. As a home studio guy I haven't always been able to justify the expense of "studio" recording vs "home" recording. For the most part if I'm recording my own stuff, home is sufficient. Especially if I'm using drum samples and loops, then I don't need the studio.

But I was very impressed with 3 things that I just can't do at home that I gotta share. (Some of it is sound geek speak).

1. The drum room. Sooooooo sweet. If I record drums in my basement, I have to work quite a bit in post to get a fake room sound that is pleasing and not too boxy. At Powersound, it's just a nice hardwood floor with dampeners and bafflers in strategic places, and it feel like all you have to do is point the mics and go. Not that I haven't had success at home, but Powersound is just so much easier it's not even funny. One of the best drum rooms I've heard.

2. The work flow/tracking ability. I simply can't track drums, bass, and guitar simultaneously with enough amp separation and the members being able to all see eachother at home. Well, now that I think about it, I could, but it's not as easy as the way Powersound has it set up. The workflow was just so easy it's not even funny. We tracked 4 songs in 3 days and never had any hiccups or "Oh we can't do that" moments.

3. Monitoring/mixing. At home, I can't EQ going to tape. Meaning, when I record the drums, they are too loud and not isolated enough for me to actually hear them coming from my speakers enough to add bass or treble or make any EQ decisions. I can record for a bit, then EQ a bit on the mixer/preamps, then record after tweaking, but it's a long process so I just record everything flat and EQ when I mix. At Powersound, the control room is isolated from the drum room very well, so I can EQ my drum sounds as needed, or any loud sound for that matter, before recording. So when everything is tracked, it's already that much closer to being a finished mix. As for mixing, Powersound has the V8's. And a sub. When you mix, you get to crank it loud. I can't really do that at home quite yet.

What I can do at home though is spend hours writing and recording without it costing me a dime. The songs I've recorded at home are getting on the radio quite easily, so there isn't the great home vs studio divide there used to be.

The thing I would recommend to anyone who wants better results is to track drums in a proper drum room first, then export it to your home setup and track the rest there. Then at least your base is solid and everything you add you only need one mic/good preamp for anyway so why not make it where you are most comfortable.

The other thing I'll add is I know there are good sounding drum rooms that aren't in studios - a person should spend the time finding either a larger room in your house (not a room with a low ceiling), or use churches, halls, or other environments that can add personality to their recordings. If you are lucky enough to have a good drum room in your house, I'm jealous!