The Basic Recording Process
Decide what music to record
Original or Cover tunes
If you are recording music that you have written, then all you have to do is decide which songs to record. If you are recording music written by others then you have a couple of things to consider:
Song rights
To record and release someone else’s music (that’s doing a “cover”) you need to purchase a “mechanical reproduction license”. These are easy to get – contact the artist’s publisher. Typically you pay a small amount per song per unit. For instance: if you record 3 songs by the latest star and you sell 500 CDs you may pay $0.10 x 3 songs x 500 = $150.00
To record and release someone else’s music (that’s doing a “cover”) you need to purchase a “mechanical reproduction license”. These are easy to get – contact the artist’s publisher. Typically you pay a small amount per song per unit. For instance: if you record 3 songs by the latest star and you sell 500 CDs you may pay $0.10 x 3 songs x 500 = $150.00
Getting the background music
You may need to locate sheet music for the song. If you cannot locate sheet music but you have a recording you can hire a musician to listen to the recording and reproduce it in the studio (which will typically cost more). Your studio can often help locate a musician suitable to do this.
You may be able to find a pre-recorded backing track without the lead vocal. Give this to your studio engineer to merge with your singing.
You may need to locate sheet music for the song. If you cannot locate sheet music but you have a recording you can hire a musician to listen to the recording and reproduce it in the studio (which will typically cost more). Your studio can often help locate a musician suitable to do this.
You may be able to find a pre-recorded backing track without the lead vocal. Give this to your studio engineer to merge with your singing.
