Your First Nashville Session
How to play nice with the Big Boys
By: Jimi Heath Whitelaw
So, you've written a ton of songs. Found some that you like.
Rewritten those few. Recorded worktapes..re-recorded worktapes.
Got opinions from professionals, rewrote the songs again, made more
worktapes, etc,etc and NOW you are finally ready to record REAL
NASHVILLE DEMOS of your songs. Woohoo!
So there's basically two ways you are going to go about this:
1. You will come to Nashville and book your own session.
2. You will do a "mail in" demo.
If you are coming to Nashville (or already live here) and you are
about to embark upon your first Nashville Session, congrats! It's
a lot of fun. But before you head into the studio, let's go over a
few things first.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN PRE-PRODUCTION
1. You will speak with or meet with the studio manager.
2. You may bring in a worktape for the song(s).
3. You will pick out a session vocalist.
4. The vocalist will be given a worktape of the song and will let the
studio know what Key they will need it to be in to accommodate the vocal.
5. The studio will schedule a tracking day, a vocal tracking day, an
overdub day (sometimes they do it on the same day as the vocal, but not
always) and also a mixing time.
WHAT TO EXPECT ON THE DAY OF TRACKING
First of all, your song will be instrumentally tracked (overdubs and
vocals come later)
1. A typical Nashville session is 3 hours long. They usually record
about 5 songs per session, so if you aren't recording 5 songs, there
will most likely be more than one songwriter there recording, so you
wont be the only person booked for that session. If you've booked out
the session for your music alone, you will be the only client in there.
2. When you get to the studio, you will meet with the studio manager as
well as the "session leader" for the day. (The session
leader leads the rest of the player during the session).
3. The session leader will sit down with you and ask you to play/sing
them the song. While you are doing this he/she will "chart" your
song in the Nashville Number System so that the rest of the players in
the session can play along. He/she will probably also ask you how
you hear the song (ie: in the style of Keith Urban, etc)
4. Once your song is charted they will make photocopies of the chart and pass it out to the other players. Then you will play/sing your song to the group of players so they will get a feel for tempo, how you interpret the song, etc.
5. Then the big moment, TRACKING! (This is my favorite part).
You will be asked to go in a vocal booth and sing the "scratch" while
they track the music). Don't worry if you can't sing, they don't
care. But they NEED you to sing the scratch so that the music
flows well with your vision. This will also give you, the writer,
a better feel for tempo, etc so that you can let the players know if
something sounds off or whatever so they can make adjustments.
6. BE SURE to thank each musician for their time. I personally go
and shake each of their hands and sincerely thank them. Just
remember, people work better when they enjoy the people they are working
with.
SOME TRACKING TIPS
It's okay to: Let the musicians know if you don't like a
particular lick they are playing, the the tempo is off or if something
just doesn't feel right.
It's NOT okay to: Be rude to the musicians.
It's okay to: Be excited about your song!
It's NOT okay to: Ask the players/studio people, etc if they think your
song is a "hit"!
It's Okay: To stay on top of things.
It's NOT Okay to: Micromanage. Don't go in with a lot of specifics
in the music, it disables the players creativity. Let it flow
naturally and they will come up with some amazing stuff for your song.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN TRACKING VOCALS (VOX)
1. The vocalist will sing the song top to bottom a few times and then
IF you need to you can go punch in some lines that may have awkward
phrasing, etc.
2. In most cases you can ask the vocalist to add harmonies (though
sometimes this may cost more). If you already have the harmony
parts picked out you can tell them to the vocalist or you can let them
feel it out themselves.
3. Thank the vocalist for their time and effort.
*Note: Don't micromanage the vocalist, many times if you let them feel the
song out, they will make it better than you what you heard in your head.
When you do a MAIL IN demo, that means you won't be traveling to
Nashville to be there for the recording of your song. Bearing this
in mind, you have to be EXTRA CAUTIOUS about who you use. I
personally use NASHVILLE
DEMO STUDIO they are reputable, uses A-list players and are affordable.
Regardless of who you use, the process SHOULD work like this:
1. You get in touch with a Nashville Studio.
2. You send a worktape to the studio and describe what sound you are
looking for.
3. The studio quotes you a price for the demo(s).
4. You pay for the demo.
5. The demo is recorded and mailed to you.
Here is a short list of RED FLAGS that would make me question the studio's reputation:
1. They ask for publishing. -Remember, this is a studio, there
job is to record music, not publish music.
2. They use samples and loops instead of real instruments, ie: drum
machines, , etc. *If you are doing a pop song, it may
be called for, but don't use a fake drum if you are recording stone cold
country songs, it sounds cheap.
3. The studio is not in Nashville. Like it or not, Nashville players (musicians) have the ability to create a NASHVILLE SOUND that is very rarely duplicated outside of Nashville. Even I can easily spot an LA or NY country demo.
4. ONE GUY is playing all of the instruments. Honestly, in a Nashville session, part of the magic is that you have a group of musicians playing at the same time, like a live band. The result is a well gelled, cohesive groove that you just cant duplicate when stacking track after track with just one person.
5. They don't use union players. Nothing reeks green more than a bunch of inexperienced musicians hacking out your song.
Bottom line with Mail-In Demos? ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU SPEND MONEY. Nothing sucks more than having to pay twice to re-record a demo that sounds like crap.
Just ONE more Jimi-Tip before we close... when you mix, make sure the vocal is up high in the mix. Publishers, etc want to be able to hear the lyric WITHOUT reading along to a lyric sheet.