OtterSong Records

Music Production Services - Technical Information

Here's the process:

1. You send us an mp3 or CD of your song, along with an idea of how you envision the mix. Of course, we'd all like to be original, but it helps if you say "I want it to sound like X song by Y artist. (see below for recording software)
2. You also send an mp3 of each track (vocal, guitar, piano, kazoo).
3. We take your ideas and separate tracks and create a quick demo.
4. We send you an mp3 of the demo via yousendit.com (very secure).
5. You send us a WAV or AIF (44khz 16-bit stereo, uncompressed) file of the separate tracks via yousendit.com.
6. You review the demo, provide input, and we tweak (within reason) until you like it. We also substitute the separate mp3 tracks in our multi-track system with your CD-quality WAV/AIF files.
7. We send you an mp3 of the final mix via yousendit.com and a CD of the final mix.
8. You hit the big time and give us production credit. *
9. We all get big houses and big cars and get on MTV. *

* okay, your results may vary. ;)

Does it work?

Sure. We recently used this approach with several artists, including our own Garden Hose Universe (www.gardenhoseuniverse.com), Celeste Terrell (www.celesteterrell.com) and Carmela Barbé (www.carmela-barbe.com). We're working with other artists that are anonymous right now, but will be hitting the airwaves and charts soon!

What do we charge?

Well, we have very reasonable rates that are negotiated when we create your demo. Each song is different and requires a varied level of production, so we can't quote a standard rate. We ask for a "Produced by" credit on your CD packaging and credit for an instruments played by our musicians. We also ask for a small percentage of profit sharing (also negotiated before going into full production).

What Recording Software should I use?

There are so many decent applications available at a very reasonable cost. Here are some options:

Windows

• Adobe Audition (was Cool Edit Pro)
• Cakewalk Music Creator
• Cakewalk Guitar Tracks Pro
• Cakewalk SONAR Home Studio
• Magix Music Maker
• Sony Sound Forge
• Sony Acid Music Studio

Mac

• Garage Band
• Adobe Audition
• Wave Editor

Recording Vocals and Instruments

The key is to get a very clean recording of the separate tracks so we can work with them separately when we work in the multi-track environment. So, it's important isolate the voice from other instruments. Here are some tips:

Vocals. The vocal recording will be the final recording, which we will touch up with compression and other effects. Any "pro" mic will do, but the rule of thumb is to use as good of a microphone as you can afford. It's also useful to record as many takes as possible, then pick the top 3 or 4 and send those to us. We'll use the best parts of all takes to make a composite, final vocal. Other takes can be use as "background" or doubled vocals.

Instruments. Instrument tracks should be simple - guitar or/and piano. After all, you're asking us to provide "the band". We'll use our best judgment and your suggestions to put the whole arrangement together.

Drum tracks. You can use a simple drum loop or drum pattern to keep time for your track. We'll replace it with more realistic drums and percussion elements in the final arrangement. Just include the drum track as a separate file.

Sending individual tracks. We use Steinberg Cubase and Adobe Audition for our multi-track environment. No need to send us tracks in a special format. Just WAV or AIF is fine (CD quality, 44khz, 16-bit, stereo, uncompressed). It's important to send us a separate WAV or AIF file of each track. All of the software programs we've suggested above provide a multi-track recording environment. To output a separate WAV for each track (vocal, instrument 1, instrument 2, drum), each program differs, but all have a way to mixdown and a way to mute tracks. Simple mute all tracks (or solo the desired track) and do a mixdown. You now have a WAV of that track. Do the same for all tracks. It's important to mixdown from the multi-track environment so that all tracks start at the same place and have the same timing.

Okay. If this all seems too complex, don't worry. You'll get it. Check out the help files for the recording software. Or, if you can't find the answer, let us know and we'll help where we can.