Recording to a backing track : 4) exclusive instrumental

Sometimes you don't want to pay for a producer to make your instrumental, but you want to write your own song to an existing beat or song. You can find millions (yes millions!) of premade backing tracks that are not copies of existing songs all over the internet.

Soundclick, reverbnation, facebook, myspace are just some of the thousands of places you can find young talented producers who will make your music to order, or have a library of premade beats just waiting for you to put your mark on.

Prices vary from producer to producer. They can range from as little as $1.99 for a lease (joint ownership, you have the ability to record and release, but generally not sell) to $500-$1500 for exclusive rights (you can do whatever you like, nobody else can own the beat and you can make money off it.)

Remember, this is a business transaction and it is a minefield of legal loopholes. You may be trading and walking in to complex copyright situations involving several different jurisdictions. Make sure that whatever transaction you make you fully read the terms and conditions of use. The last thing you want is to make a record that sells millions, only to be sued by a disgruntled producer (or to be caught out because the producer used an uncleared sample!)

You also need to make sure that you get your track in high enough quality to actually be usable. We have had many artists come to the studio with tracks that we reject because they are too compressed, or just not good enough. Generally, if you've bought an mp3 then it's not good enough quality to be recording over.

Here's our advice :

1. ALWAYS read the terms and conditions when buying or leasing a beat, make sure you know what you're getting
2. Communicate a few times with the seller to sound out whether he/she is easy to do business with.
3. Make sure you are not liable for any samples that haven't been cleared.
4. Request at least a wav/aiff version of the song, if possible ask for "stems" of the track, this will give you flexibility when recording
5. Request an uncompressed/unmastered version Otherwise you limit the way the track can be mixed and mastered at the end.
6. Make sure you don't have tags on the track, these are the producers audio marks throughout the song. They will wreck your production if you're not careful
7. Remember to acknowledge the producer and send them a copy of the finished track. This will probably open the door to more work with him/her and may also expose you to future markets.

Learn more about recording to a backing track 

Recording to a backing track : 3) Create an instrumental from scratch

So you've got a great song in your head, but you've not got the first idea how to bring it to life! If only the song already existed...

At Flipside we have a big team of specialist producers who can help bring your reality to life. We've taken songs from a few lines, all the way through to finished production many times and in several genres. 

Check out this track (Real Love, by Sej Duble) which started as lyrics and a basic melody. 

Or how about James Herring.

The process goes like this :

1. Bring us what you have so far. Whether its a whole song, some lyrics, a chorus, a hook or a couple of whistled notes. We'll discuss with you where you want to go with it. Do you want to sing it? or get a pro singer to vocal it? Do you want an urban track? or is this a symphony orchestra track? We'll help you narrow down your direction.
2. We'll create a development plan which will take your concept to specialists in your chosen genre who will help you develop an honest approach to the song. It may involve a beat producer, a band, or a combination. We'll let you know a price and agree a timeline.
3. Together we'll produce your track in our professional facilities and when you're happy with the track we'll give it you as a CD

Because this is a bespoke service and requires a variety of different engineers and producers prices vary from project to project, so please get in touch for a quotation.

The Pros & Cons

Pros - 

• You hold all the copyright, it's a unique work
• Achieve the sound you have in your head
• You're making a product at releasable quality
• You get to work with a great team (this is also a potential con)

Cons -

• Can be much more expensive
• The process can take longer to get right, there's a lot more to tweak!
• You have to work and rely on more people (this is also a pro!)

Want to know more about recording to backing tracks?

Recording to a backing track : 2) The Accompanist

Sometimes you want the vibe and feel of your takes to sound natural, without all that over production. In this case you might use an accompanying musician (usually a pianist). It helps the listener to focus in on the voice without distraction. This is an approach typical for any kind of Voice demo for drama schools and vocal work.

If you're thinking about this approach it is preferable for you to find someone you know, have an existing working relationship with and can vibe off. This will all help for you to feel comfortable when in comes to laying your tracks down. An alternative is to let us find you an accompaniest. This will obviously cost you more, but we can assure quality and professionalism.

We reccomend you do the following :

1. Make sure you make time for a  few practises with the accompaniest so that you are both familiar and comfortable with the pieces, and so that you can communicate how you wish to individualise them.
2. Don't be afraid to speak your mind. You must instruct the accompaniest to perform the song as you hear it. It's your money, it's your time and everybody wants you to make the most of it.
3. Be prepared for "setup time" when you get to the studio. It's important that both the accompaniest and yourself are comfortable and have the right sound and volume. If not, the takes won't happen.
4. Consider a very basic demo recording (a phone is sufficient) from the practises so that you can both agree and remember anything that you decide. Or make copious notes! It will enable you to improve your recording technique and make sure you're happy with the format before you hit the record button!

The Pros & Cons

Pros - 

• Individual & Unique
• Can be freeform/looser timing
• Sounds natural and is great for Vocal demoes.

Cons -

• Slightly more expensive
• Need to have a good instrumentalist that you trust
• Setup time in the studio

move on to Recording to a backing track : 3) creating an instrumental

Recording to a backing track : 1) Buy premade

There are loads of great instrumentals of well known songs available. You can find them in a variety of places such as itunes (search for "karaoke" versions or "instrumentals") or direct from a maker. When we're comparing quality we often find that Ameritz are a good choice. But we reccomend you listen before you buy and don't accepts a backing track that is substandard. When choosing, we suggest you do the following ...

1. Check you've got the right version by the right artist!
2. Double check you've got the right version in the right key
3. Triple check you've got the right version making sure you haven't got a lead vocal, or backing vocal mix
4. Listen to the instruments, do they sound real? (lots of them don't and it's awful!)
5. Compare the instrumentals to the original as well as amongst themselves.
6. Do not accept a poor quality version. It will make you sound bad.
7. Is the track the same length as the original? (a couple of seconds difference is generally nothing to worry about)
8. Buy it well in advance of your session so that you can practise to it.

The Pros & Cons

Pros - 

• This is usually the cheapest way to work
• Often achieve a high quality sound
• People enjoy listening to covers, so you can reach an audience quickly.

Cons -

• You don't own the rights to the songs
• They're never quite as good as the original (unless it's an official instrumental)
• Everybody else can do the same, you're not individual.

Move on to - Recording to backing track : 2) Using an accompanist

Recent Clients

We've been busy over the last months. Too busy to update the blog!! (slap hand) So here's some images from the recent client list. Enjoy them, and join them! More blogging to come!

The Charmers, Debut Video

The Charmers - Midlands band.

We know you'll like these guys, who recorded with us a few months back, and went on to be featured on our Flipside Showcase event

you should check them out at http://www.facebook.com/TheCharmersBand

Flipside Recording Studios - Equipment list 2012

Computing and DSP

Desktop

Mac Pro desktop - 2 X 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xenon, 16GB,

Mac Pro desktop - 2.6 Quad-Core Intel, 7GB RAM,

Mac Pro desktop - Octo-Core Intel 3GHz, 16GB RAM

Laptop

MacBook Pro laptop, 2.8GHz Dual-Core Intel, 4GB RAM,

Macbook 13" Laptop, 2.0GHz Dual-Core Intel, 4GB RAM

DSP Cards

Universal Audio Quad DSP Card PCIe

Universal Audio Duo DSP Card PCIe

Operating System and Sequencers

 Mac OSX 10.7.3 Lion

Pro Tools 10

Logic Pro 9

Reason 4

Soundcard/clocking

Soundcard

Prism Sound Orpheus firewire

MOTU 828 MKII firewire

Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56

Avid Digidesign 003 firewire

Apogee Duet firewire

Word-clock

Apogee Big Ben

Control Surfaces

Euphonix MC Mix

Plug-ins

Includes all plug-ins bundles with Pro Tools 10 and Logic Pro 9.  All Plug-ins are fully licensed!

Equalisation

FabFilter Pro-Q

Waves Gold Bundle) HEQ, Renaissance EQ, VEQ3 & VEQ4, Q1-10,

UAD Pultec-Pro

Brainworx bx_digital V2

Abbey Road RS127 & RS135

PSP Neon

Voxengo LF Max Punch

Dynamics

FabFilter Bundle (Pro L, Pro C, Pro G)

Sonalksis Mastering Suite

Steven Slate FG-X

PSP Xenon

Waves Gold (Q10, Rcomp, HComp etc)

Kush Audio UBK-1

PSP Vintage Warmer

Classic Hardware Emulation

Universal Audio Classic Bundle (Pultec EQ, 1176 and LA2A, LA3A)

IK Multimedia TRackS Pultec, LA2A and 1176 Emulations
Waves V Comp

Tape/Console Emulation/Saturation

Steven Slate VCC (Virtual Console Collection)

Massey Tape Head

Softube Saturation

UAD Neve 88RS

Waves HLS – Helios Mixing Console

Waves MPX Master Tape

Satson Channel and Satson Bus

SoundToys Native Bundle (Decapitator, Devil-Loc Deluxe and Little Radiator)

Kilohearts Faturator

Reverb/Delay/Modulation/FX

Universal Audio RealVerb

SoundToys Native Bundle (EchoBoy, Crystallizer, FilterFreak, PhaseMistress)
Waves Gold Bundle (MetaFlange, Supertap etc)

UAD Boss CE-1, Roland Dimension D

Harmomic Exciter

Waves Maxx Bass

Amp Simulation
IK Multimedia Amplitube 3

Drum Replacement

Steven Slate Trigger

Drumagog 5 Ultimate

Pitch Correction
Melodyne 2 (includes DNA)

Stereo Tools

Flux Stereo Tool

Sonalksis Stereo Tool

SoundToys PanMan

Software Instruments

LA Scoring Strings

EWQL Symphonic Orchestra

EWQL Symphonic Choirs

EWQL Pianos

EWQL Stormdrum

EWQL Silk & RA – ethnic and world instrument collection

VSL Chamber Strings

Native Instruments Komplete 7 – including Kontakt, Reaktor, Massive, Absynth, Battery, Guitar Rig, FM8

Spectrasonics Omnisphere

NI’s Alicia’s Keys, Abbey Road Drums

Ocean Way Drums

Monitoring

Nearfields

2 X Unity Audio The Rock (2 pairs)

1 X Adam A7X

1 X Event 20/20

Sub-Woofer

Tannoy TS8 - Sub-Woofer

Grotboxes

Samson Media O-N-E 3a

Behringher Behritone C5A Speaker

Monitor Audio Bronze BR1 (Pair)

Headphones

1 X AKG K702

5 X Beyerdynamic DT100

2 X Sennheiser HD25 SP

1 X Sennheiser HD595

1 X Beyerdynamic DT250

2 X Bose Triport Headphones

1 X Sony MDR-7509HD

Monitor Controller

2 X Presonus Central Station w/remote

Outboard

Pre-amp

1 X Universal Audio 610 (Pre-amp and LA2A Style Compressor)

2 X Avalon 737 (Tube Pre-amp + Compressor)

1 X CLM DB8000s 8 Channel Mic Preamp

2 X Five Fish Audio SC1 MK3 Mic Preamps

Reverb/FX

1 X Lexicon 480L w/Remote (Reverb)

EQ

1 X Tfpro P9 Hardware Mastering EQ

Compressor

1 X Universal Audio 1176 (compressor)

1 X Ridge Farm Boiler (Stereo character compressor)

1 X Tfpro P8 “Edward The Compressor” (Stereo Optical Compressor)

1 X Aphex Aural exciter Type C

1 X FMR Rnc Compressor

1 X g-SSL (SSL G-series Style Bus Compressor)

Microphones

Dynamics

2 X AKG D112

2 X Audix D6

3 X Sennheiser e604

1 X Sennheiser MD421

1 X Shure SM7b

11 X Shure SM57

11 X Shure SM58

1 X EV PL44

1 X Home Made Sub Kic

1 X EV RE15

1 X EV RE18

Pencil Condensers

2 X Octavia MK012 Michael Joly Mod (Matched Pair)

4 X Rode NT5 (2 sets of matched pairs)

2 X Rode M3

2 X SE1

4 X AKG C1000

Large Diaphragm

1 X Violet Design The Globe

1 X AKG 414B XLS

2 X SE 4400 (matched pair)

2 X Audio Technica 4033

2 X Rode Nt1a

1 X Rode NT1a Michael Joly Mod

Tube

1 X Apex 460 Mod (Peluso Capsule)

Ribbon

2 X SE Voodoo VR1 Ribbon

1 X Apex 205 Ribbon Michael Joly Mod

1 X T-Bone Ribbon

Boundary

1 X Shure Beta 91

Instruments/Amplifiers/FX

Guitars

1 X Fender Telecaster Guitar

3 X Fender Stratocaster Guitar (American and 2 X Mexican)

1 X Hagstrom Super Swede electric guitar

1 X Patrick Eggle berlin Pro 22 Guitar

1 X Patrick Eggle berlin Pro 24 Guitar

1 X Rockwood Les Paul Copy

2 X Yamaha Bass Guitar

1 X Epiphone Les Paul Standard

1 X Cort G250 (Strat style)

1 X Crafter DE7 Electro-Acoustic

1 X Takamine SG series Electro-Acoustic

1 X Taylor 814ce acoustic

1 X Takemine EG330sc acoustic

Guitar Amps

1 X Marshall jcm800 (year 1986) 50w Head

1 X Laney TT100h 100w Head

1 X Blackstar Artisan 15w 1x12 combo

1 X Hughes and kettner CC412 4x12 Guitar Cab

1 X Marshall Vintage 1970s 2x12 Cab

1 X Marshall Mode 4 Head

1 X Marshall Mode 4 Straight and 4x12 Cab

1 X Blackstar Artisan 30 combo

1 X Blackstar Artisan 100 Head and 4x12 Cab

1 X Fender Prosonic 2x10

1 X Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier and 2x12 cab

Pedals

1 X Boss Super Chorus Pedal

1 X Boss Turbo Overdrive Pedal

1 X Boss GE1 Equiliser Pedal

1 X Boss RV3 Reverb Pedal

1 X Marshall Guvnor Pedal

1 X MXR Phase 90 Pedal

1 X Korg DTR-200 Tuner

1 X Dunlop Cry-Baby Wah

2 X Blackstar HT Dual

1 X HT Distort

1 X Blackstar HT Distort-X

1 X Blackstar HT Delay

1 X Blackstar HT Modulation

Keyboard/Synth

1 X M-Audio Pro Key 88

1 X Hammond Organ

1 X Yamaha P-90 Digital piano

1 X Roland Juno G Synth

1 X Novation Impulse 61

1 X Yamaha KX8

Drums

Yamaha Stage Custom Birch Drum Kit

22", 12", 13", 14", 16"

1 X Peral Snare Drum

Zildjian ZXT Cymbals

Various Percussion