TSRB Podcast 055 - The Complete Step-By-Step System To Make A Killer Record As A Self-Recording Band

[00:00:00] Benedikt: [00:00:00] You won't have the fear of getting back just another amateur sounding product in the end, and it's a full, complete system, and it will enable you to capture exciting recordings and deliver pro quality mixed, ready files to your mixing engine. This is the self recording band podcast. The show where we help you make exciting records on your own wherever you are, DIY stuff.

Let's go.

Hello and welcome. Onto the self recording band podcast. I am your host Ben at the time, and I'm here with my friend and cohost Malcolm Owen flood. How are you, Malcolm? Hello? I'm 

Malcom: [00:00:37] great, man. It is exciting day. I got a pound on the radio today, so I love when that 

Benedikt: [00:00:43] happens. That's the best 

Malcom: [00:00:45] they send us. I mean, I say I got them on the radio.

I didn't, I mixed a song and it's on the radio. They did. 

Benedikt: [00:00:51] So tell me more about it. What 

Malcom: [00:00:53] happened? Like, uh, so shout out to band called wet future right there. Um, and yeah, I got to do the [00:01:00] mix and master for it. Uh, and that's awesome. Um, this song was produced down the road at a studio called silverside sound, which I'm sure I've mentioned on here before.

Um, and, and a good buddy of mine, Chris Erickson. Did the producing for it. So it was, I kind of like, uh, all my best friends were in a team and made the song, which is great. Um, but in a more relevant to this podcast, they just also released a new single, um, which isn't the one that's on the radio yet, but they recorded it themselves.

And there are listeners of this podcast. That's exciting. Yeah. Yeah. Like, uh, like the drummer Brett attic, um, he, he's always in contact with me with questions and stuff like that. And he's got like a little setup for his drums now. And Lucas, I think their guitars handled most of the other recording and, uh, Yeah, he's been crushing the podcast.

So I'm hoping that the radio station that picked them up will also give that song to spin because that would be like for sure, a self recording band students from the podcast, getting on the radio with their [00:02:00] work, which would be really cool. 

Benedikt: [00:02:01] That's actually pretty amazing. Like, is it some, is it like a local station or is it some bigger radio station 

Malcom: [00:02:08] or what?

I mean, it is local to us, but it is a big station. All it's like a reporting, um, uh, billboard station kind of thing. They're called 91, three, the zone. Um, they've got a great support network for local bands. So this is like a month feature for one band for, for the bandwidth feature. Um, and, uh, yeah, I remember when my band got it back when I.

Gigging actively. And they like, it actually was like a huge stepping stone in our career. So it can really be a launching platform 

Benedikt: [00:02:34] for sure. Congrats, man. That's, that's very, very exciting and it's so cool to see that this stuff can happen to bands to do it themselves. And I have no doubt that the self recording song can all a self recorded song can also make it to the radio.

So definitely it's so cool to see that happen. I've had, like, I don't know if they're actually listeners of this podcast, but I have had two self recording bands last year and this year as well. Get on the radio, uh, reaching for reality and [00:03:00] disorder, two bands from, I think they're actually from some sort of the same area in the U S which is like, they don't know each other.

They, after they've worked with me, they found out that they are both from like, from Ohio, I think somewhere in Ohio. Uh, and like, they, they were like starting to talk about. Touring together and everything, but they, they got to know each other through working with me and like, and both of them. Yeah, exactly.

And both of them made it on to like a local rock station. That's also got a pretty big listener base as well. So. Um, it's, it's exciting to see that this can happen these days with right. Bands as well. That's awesome. Definitely. So cool. Keep me up on that because I'd love to hear it. When this self recording a self recorded song, exit to the radio.

I'd love to, to talk about that again on the 

Malcom: [00:03:47] podcast. Definitely. I'll be keeping an eye out for it. 

Benedikt: [00:03:51] Awesome. So cool. Yeah. Um, other than that, You had a good weekend. I hope good week. 

Malcom: [00:03:58] Amazing. I got into Frisbee golf, [00:04:00] which I had no idea. It was so fun.

Benedikt: [00:04:05] I don't even know what that is. I can't imagine what it is, 

Malcom: [00:04:07] but yeah, it is like you're in the woods, like at least on this course. Um, maybe not, it's not like this for every everywhere, but uh, for this it's like, you're, it's a combination of like pretty rough terrain, hiking and throwing a Frisbee, trying to hit.

Targets. So it's like a course, like you go in order and, uh, yeah, you, you throw a Frisbee trying to nail this metal pole way far away. And like, wherever it lands is where you have to throw from. So it's like on the side of this cliff pretty much. So you're kind of hiking around, getting into sketchy situations, trying to throw a Frisbee.

It's really fun. That sounds like a ton of fun, actually. It's the kind of sport that you bring a backpack full of beer out for it. Yeah, totally. 

Benedikt: [00:04:52] Yeah. Absolutely. But that sounds like, 

Malcom: [00:04:56] yeah. 

Benedikt: [00:04:56] Great time. Yes. Cool. Just before [00:05:00] I forget, uh, to get back, um, to once again, on the, on the band that you were just talking about with the radio thing, can we, is there a, like a recording, a replay of the radio show or something out there that we can put in the show notes?

I will stream that or anything like that. 

Malcom: [00:05:16] I mean, you can definitely listen to the zone. Um, so 91.3 zone a is the radio station and they definitely have like a web app and stuff like that. So you can listen from anywhere in the world for sure. Um, great station if you like rock, um, it's, it's definitely a very killer station, so yeah, if you want that, I'm going to definitely, I know some of the DJs center, so I'm going to ask for.

Like a clip of their first play or something, you know? And it was like, 

Benedikt: [00:05:40] yeah, that's cool. That's awesome. And every link you have, like to the band or those songs, I'd like to put in the show notes, because if they are listeners of this podcast, they absolutely deserve a shout out in the show notes as well.

Malcom: [00:05:50] So definitely, definitely all. Yeah. I'll, I'll provide all that. So if you want to check them out, go to the show notes. 

Benedikt: [00:05:56] Awesome. Cool. Thank you. Yeah. All right now [00:06:00] onto today's episode, I think, which is also a pretty exciting one. And as I said before, I got to be completely honest. I was a little nervous about this because it's getting real.

So, um, This before we start, I want to say that this week, uh, the week, this episode airs is going to be the last week for you to be able to join the self recording band Academy waiting list. And after that I will close the waiting list and then we will launch the course. So the reason for that, and the reason for the whole waiting list thing.

And, uh, I, I said it a couple of times. That if you're on the waiting list, it's definitely, it's going to be worth being on that list. Let's let, let me say that. So, um, you want to be on that list if you're planning to get to jump on the, on the whole Academy thing and the reason why I do this and why I want to reward people on that list is a, there are a couple of people who've been on that list for very long, and I want to [00:07:00] just.

Reward them for being patient with me and being on that list and like being showing interest in what I do here and what I built you for bands and B, this course is not like a quick and easy fix thing. It's not like a couple of videos that you just burned through and then magically everything will sound better.

It requires work. It requires like dedication. It requires like, um, you need to put in a work, you need to. Watch watch the videos implement the things you're learning, but when you do it, you will see results. And I want to have people in there, like going through the course who will actually get results.

That's what this is all about. Like this course is. It's laid out in a way, and you will see that later in this episode, it's laid out in a way that it's easy to that it's manageable. It's easy to navigate, but still there's a lot inside of this course. And I want people in there who take it seriously. So if you put your name on that waiting list and raising your hand saying, I want to get in, I know that you're at least [00:08:00] excited about it and that you're taking the first step, um, towards like doing this.

So I really want to reward action takers here. I really want to reward people. Um, yeah, who want to get in early and who are excited about this? Because I want to see results in the end. This course has like, I've put so much work and energy and time into this course that like it being profitable or making anything like doing anything for me is like an afterthought at this point, because I would have to sell so many courses before it actually gets profitable.

At this point, I spent so many days and weeks and months on this, that my first goal here with this, or the most important thing here with this for me is to actually help people get results. And so, yeah, that's the whole. Thing. I want to say before we get into this episode. So it's a, yeah. More than anything.

I just want serious people in here that actually do the work, make great records with what I'm putting out there. Uh, and I I'm, I'm so excited to be, to finally be [00:09:00] launching this. So to answer this, if you want to get in early and get a special deal, um, sign up for the waiting list. It's the last week you can actually do that.

Yes, 

Malcom: [00:09:11] definitely do that. This is like everybody, uh, especially band folks have like set some kind of lofty goal. Like, especially when you're like early in your first band or something like we're going to record a full length album with vinyl and stuff. And it's like, that is a way bigger task than you envisioned.

And Benny did that with this course. Like I'm going to make a course to help bands learn how to record and. Themselves and you know, that'll be, that'll be easy. Right. And then when he realized it wasn't she kept going for like two years now. 

Benedikt: [00:09:43] Fair it's one year after, since I started building the actual course, but the idea was two years ago.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. The idea started two years, but end of February, 2020, 2020, I started the beta program and it said in the. [00:10:00] Like the outline or like the, the mail that I sent out to get people into better programs said, like, we're doing this within like six to eight weeks or something like that. And, uh, that was my plan, but I soon realized it's not going to happen and then COVID hit and all of that.

Um, but anyway, as you said, I kept going and it was hard and frustrating at times, but I I'm so convinced of this whole idea that I just. Put in the time and made it and yeah, it's exactly, as you said, like, you cannot imagine what it actually takes until you do jump into it and actually do it. And everyone kept telling me, you know, these I'm a bunch of, in a bunch of coaching programs or like online courses on how to actually build courses because I want to, I wanted to do it right.

So I'm big on education as well. When it comes to my own education and everyone kept telling me, start with a mini course, start with something achievable, start with one topic, you know, but I've had this plan of this Academy in mind and helping people from start to finish. And I just was stubborn and wanted to do [00:11:00] this and, but I pulled it up and now it's happening and that's super 

Malcom: [00:11:02] exciting.

It is exciting, man. Well done. Um, I think it is kind of becoming the idea of this course is like an extension of this podcast. I feel like this podcast is kind of a proof of concept that we're, we're a year into doing this podcast already, um, over and we still haven't gotten no shortage of stuff to talk about.

Um, at all, like it it's such a vast topic, so it explains why, of course, like this would take so long. Um, and that it also proves that people need this information and want it because of our listener base because of the people that keep listening every week and the growing number of people that are showing up to, to here.

Let's talk about this stuff. This course is definitely something that 

Benedikt: [00:11:43] people need. Yes, absolutely. I see it every day when I work on and that's the other thing I am still mixing full-time every day, which also adds to the difficulty here in building such a thing. Um, but I see like every day with my mixing clients, that people absolutely need a course like this, despite all the [00:12:00] information that's out there.

I mean, of course everything. It is on YouTube. I know of course everything is out there for free somewhere, but for some reason, people are still not able to find all the pieces of the puzzle and put them together and, um, extract what's really relevant for them. And what's not. And like, This whole complete system for DIY bands for self recording bands is a super important thing that I felt I had to put out into the world.

Also, there are a bunch of courses for engineers and producers and mixers out there. Of course, if, if your goal is to be a full-time mixer or whatever, and this is super well valuable, but a course specifically made for musicians who want to move the band forward and make the best possible record, but want to do it themselves.

I haven't seen something like that. That's this extensive and, um, in-depth and, um, tailored for the sort of, yeah. Uh, [00:13:00] band and musician that I really felt the need to do it. And I see it every day that it is necessary. 

Malcom: [00:13:07] Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm looking for our listeners. I'm looking at the outline of the course for the first time right now, and it is vast.

And I think it does draw to attention that the one thing that is missing from resources like YouTube and whatnot is the order of things. Um, and that is definitely in my experience. The thing that bands get wrong is they miss a core piece of the puzzle. And don't realize it until it's too late. Um, you know, like, like we've said a thousand times on here editing your drums before you start recording stuff on top of it, that gets missed all the time.

Um, and, and it, if you're just, you learn how to edit drums, it, doesn't tell you when to do it and why to do it and, and teach you that mindset. Um, so yeah, I think this course is just going to be so valuable for people. 

Benedikt: [00:13:52] Yeah, absolutely hope it is. And I'm convinced it is. So, um, without further ado, let me walk you [00:14:00] through the curriculum of the course real quick.

And before you, like, if you're not interested in buying the course before you leave us now, Maybe it's still give it a listen, still stick with us because this is going to be valuable for you as well. Because what I'm about to do is I'm gonna walk you through the whole process of like making a record the way I outlined it in the course, and there's going to be some nuggets and like, uh, things in there that will still be valuable for you.

And if you like grab a notepad and just make some notes on, I think it will help you get clarity. For your next project as well, even if you're not, if you don't end up buying the course or joining the Academy, I'm hearing this in order. And a couple of thoughts from us on this will be valuable for you, nonetheless.

I'm pretty convinced. Absolutely. All right. Let's jump into it. Okay. Let's jump into it. So, um, there is the main course part with the actual modules and lessons. So the course is divided into six modules. [00:15:00] And then there is, or seven, if you will, I'm going to get to this. But the six main modules and those are divided into lessons, and most of them are pretty, bite-sized small, like short videos.

The longer lessons are divided into like many videos, like sub lessons. So it looks like a lot if you look at it, but it's just so that it's digestible and it's like, you don't have to watch a bunch of like two-hour videos. So instead of that, you have like shorter ones. Um, there is a start here area where it's just, you don't have to know that right now.

I just want to tell you the value of this whole thing in this area is you'll find downloads. You'll find PDFs that go along, like worksheets that go along with. The, the actual modules, the video, so that you can implement, make notes. There are cheat sheets. There are PDFs with like detailed information on drum heads and sticks and picks and guitar strings, and like all, all that stuff.

That wood is hard to describe in a video that you just have to [00:16:00] read and like have lists of things. This is in additional PDFs. Then there are. As I said, worksheets, there is a couple of bonus downloads that you'll see once you join the Academy. So there's this download area. There is a community, for course, members that you can join and should shine.

So you can like, um, you have access to peers. You can go through the course together. You can ask questions. There are going to be. Coaching calls with me group, group coaching calls with me and the students. Those are going to be scheduled inside the community. You have access to me and ask questions. So the community is going to be very valuable.

Um, so that there is that, um, there's going to be some challenges and accountability in there that we were going to do once we started. Um, all of that, but now let's move on to the actual curriculum. The main part of the course, it all 

Malcom: [00:16:50] starts. I just want to draw attention. Cause I, I also like invest in my education a lot.

Um, like, like Benny we're both kind of addicted to it, [00:17:00] honestly. Um, so for sure, I want to drive home the point that through all of the courses I've taken. I think the community aspect of those courses has been the most valuable thing that's come out of it. Um, being able to ask questions through other people doing the same, like learning exercises as me.

Has led to something like the best situations in my life. Um, like actually me and Benny wouldn't know each other. If we hadn't both been investing in our education in a course together. It's true. Um, and did that podcasts wouldn't exist at least not yet. Um, so don't underestimate that and, and if you're not already in our, like our open Facebook community, um, that isn't just, for course members, you should totally get in that.

That's like a great jumping in point. If you want to see a community that's, uh, Inaction, but no, let's give a little bit the 

Benedikt: [00:17:49] content. Absolutely. Please jump in if you have any questions, because I know that stuff. Yeah. Inside out at this point and like, please, please interrupt me and ask questions because you're seeing it [00:18:00] for the first time.

And I'm kind of, to be honest, I'm kind of winging it today as well because Malcolm sort of pushed me to do this episode. I gotta be honest that I'm a little nervous about, about all this, because I don't want to make like a commercial episode on this course, but I think he's right. It's valuable to do this.

Um, but if you have any questions or ideas to make it even more valuable for people, please interrupt me and ask. 

Malcom: [00:18:22] Definitely. And yeah, just so people know we're we're, we are burning through this pretty quick, um, that like that, and that's intentional because we have other episodes we need to record.

That's the main reason. 

Benedikt: [00:18:34] Yeah. That's the reason also, we don't want to bore you with all the details. I mean, that was, that's what the course is for, but it's still going to be illegal. So 

Malcom: [00:18:41] we can't teach the course on a podcast. 

Benedikt: [00:18:43] Yes, exactly. Um, little, uh, thing on the community, the Facebook community that you already know, or hopefully know that already exists.

This is separate from the course. So this will always be free and it's a community that everyone can join. So if you go to the self recording [00:19:00] band.com/community, Uh, you can show up and join our free Facebook community. That's a great starting point as Malcolm said, but there's going to be another closed community just for course members, because they can ask each other questions and, and like, yeah.

Keep, keep each other accountable and all those cool things that come with a community attached to a product like this. So yeah, th that's jumping to the yeah. Actual curriculum. So the first module, this is something that I'm sure it's going to be. Surprising to some students, um, not to you because you're listening to this episode, but, uh, I know that it, that not many people expect such a module in a course, especially at the start.

And because this first module is not about anything tech related, it's not about actually recording. It's none of the things that you would expect the course like that to be this module is called the foundation. And, um, it says, do not skip this and for a reason, because this is about the vision.

Songwriting the big picture, [00:20:00] playing technique, um, distributing roles within the band, um, having a strategy, having a goals, um, breaking down the whole process. Um, there's a couple of questions to ask yourself. We talk about lyrics. We talk about music to support the lyrics. We talk about creating emotional impact without words.

So all those things, because. Uh, recording a mix master, whatever can only be as good as, as the song is. And like, I'd take a great song with a crappy production over a great production of a crappy song any day. So this is like the most important part and also great songs. Just sound better. They do great sound sound better.

It's it's just true. You, you can mix them more easily. It's like half the battle. So we focused on songwriting arrangement, big picture stuff here. Then also like technique and performance, because it's just so, so important drum technique, the way you hit your drums, um, the [00:21:00] balance between your shells and symbols, the way you pick a guitar with the right hand, um, your vocal technique, um, the way you prepare yourself for the session.

Even, even like health things or sleeping well before a session, stuff like that. That's also important that I've made an entire module with several lessons and sub videos. On this, it's the foundation for everything that comes after it. And if you work your way through that module, then you're going to be in a really good spot.

And everything else is actually the easy part compared to this. 

Malcom: [00:21:32] Yeah, you're, you're almost glossing over that. A little too quick. And I want to stop you there and say that, that technique thing is like, when you hire a world-class engineer, that's like what they're really doing. That's how they're making a difference is how they're coaching you into making your instrument sound better when you play it.

Um, so like that can not be. That's something that's not very taught very often either. Nobody talks about that. They talk about how cool this new distortion pedal is. But not that if you use it [00:22:00] flimsy little pick, it's going to sound bad. Like just so that stuff's going to make such a difference for how your record ends 

Benedikt: [00:22:08] up sounding.

Totally. Totally. Yeah. That's why they're so important. And I know that probably despite me, like saying, do not skip this, I I'm sure that a bunch of people will skip it because they want to get to the quote unquote fun part. But I promise you, if you do not skip this, if you make it through those videos and, um, if you read through those slides, you can download the slides that come with it.

If you do the homework here, um, you will be way much better off. Um, I just want to say that because I know some people are going to skip this and then wonder why things don't work out in the end, but like do not do this. Um, okay. So module number two is about the gear. Like the gear you really need and also how to get it out of the way, because it's not as important as many people think.

So we are talking about the hierarchy of recording [00:23:00] gear and also monitoring like headphones and speakers. We all, we talk about instruments, amps, and also tools, not only things that make noises, but things that you need to set up your stuff, you know, and like neat little studio helpers. And, um, I'm going to walk you through, I'm going to give you examples.

I'm giving examples of, of things. That you might need, depending on whatever it is that you're trying to do, um, how to pick the right stuff, how to know what's necessary. What's not necessary. There is PDFs along with that, there are gear guides along with that, um, that lists the most common choices or recommendations from me.

Um, we talk about like drum gear, guitar, and bass gear, virtual instruments tools, as I said, all that, the actual recording gear of course, and this whole module is not about like, um, Recording techniques or anything like that, but it's just like, literally about getting the gear, how to use the gear comes later.

So there's also less than unlike microphones and room [00:24:00] acoustic treatment. The interface and all that. Yeah. This, 

Malcom: [00:24:03] I get asked what I should buy all the time. Um, it's just if people trying to buy gear so they can record themselves, they don't know what to get. And I bet that this section alone will probably save you more money than the cost core and the course costs because cause you'll actually buy the right stuff and not have to end up buying it again a few months down the road.

When you realize you got something that's 

Benedikt: [00:24:24] not good for you, a hundred percent, this is worth it alone. I, I agree. Yeah. It's. Yeah, totally whatever it's like, what'd you say basically it's exactly that and it it's, it serves to, um, it's, it's there for two reasons. The first is what you just said, that it's going to save you money.

The second is that I just want to be clear that the gear is important. You need the right gear. So that, that way it is important, but it's not as important because you don't need all the gear and you don't need like. How to say this, um, it's better to invest in yourself and your skills and to [00:25:00] put in the time, uh, and get the things really that are really necessary than skipping the work and the time and buying like everything or thinking you can buy your way through to like an awesome recording.

That's not gonna happen. So that's, that's the reason this, this exists. And it's also clarifying a lot of things. Like I explained the different types of microphones and. Yeah, I boxes and like all that, because there's a lot of confusion out there also. So it's, it's a lot of education in there as well.

Definitely, definitely. Then we move on to pre production. We've said it before on this podcast, a bunch of times pre-production is. Super important. Um, you should not skip this as well. We have a whole episode of this podcast that that's, um, like, uh, what do we say? Uh, what, what did we call the episode? Sure.

But it's something along the lines of like you should, uh, I'm sure pre-production is in the title reproductions in the title and that you should not skip it because, uh, You miss out, if you [00:26:00] do, that's basically why we got it. Uh, and we talk about like the goal and, uh, of pre-production. And also this is the first time we talk about the recording setup, because this is the first time you're going to record something like when you do demos and pre production.

So here we're talking about. The pre-pro set up the basic signal flow, how to hook everything up, like all the things you bought in the previous module, how to put that together, how to configure your software, find a sound and workflow, uh, figuring out like monitor headphone mixes, learning your room, recording the first demos, analyzing those results, like that whole process, because while you're doing pre-pro and demos, you'll also get familiar with your equipment, with your.

The gear and we don't go into crazy detail here because this is just like, you should be able to get to something quickly. And like the creative side of things is still more important here at this point. So working on the songs, you're recording them. You're not spending so much time, [00:27:00] like on all the details, but like you, while you're doing this, you are getting more comfortable and you kind of.

Figuring some things out that will save your time leader, and then you get feedback on the pre-pro and you come up with a plan for the actual thing, and then you practice. And here's the first big break in the course, because at this point you have, you have your songs, you have the plan, the vision for the whole thing.

You, you know what you're trying to do. You have bought everything you need to do this. You've created the first demos. You've gotten feedback. Um, you have like a blueprint basically, or like a first prototype of the final thing. And now you need to come up with a plan of practice. 

Malcom: [00:27:40] Right? I so excited for people to reach this stage because if they've done all that earlier stuff, if they didn't skip module one, for example, um, And they record their pre-production demos.

They're going to be so blown away by how much better those demos are than anything they've done before. And they're just the demos. It's yeah, that'll be an exciting moment for people. I'm 

Benedikt: [00:27:58] sure. Yeah, I agree. [00:28:00] And what you'll find now is that once you, when we move on, uh, in the course, um, the videos actually get.

With the exception of a couple of example, videos, of course, those need to be sort of long and extensive, but the videos actually become shorter because the bulk of the work is done at this point. Like you have, you have, you haven't even noticed, but at this point you've done such a big part of the work already that the next videos are getting shorter and easier to consume.

And the actual recording process, once we, once we get to that is pretty self. Like, what's the word? Explain explanatory. Is that word? Yeah, because like, at this point you already know how things work. And that's where most or many courses or educational stuff out there starts, you know? And, and when we hit that point of the actual recording session, we've already done most of the work.

We don't start there. We do the work before. So the next model module is the actual recording set up, like getting ready to record the damn thing. Um, [00:29:00] and. Here. We start again, not with like the and gear. We start with the instruments, we're doing rum setup, drum, tuning, guitar, and bass setup. We choose. Then we choose the mix and place them.

And we compare a bunch of like different techniques and you have of course audio examples of different overhead techniques, different, uh, placements on guitar caps, um, all that stuff. There are of course, audio examples in there, but. This part of the course, like the actual audio it's in there, but it's like, uh, on purpose, not the focus because I can't do examples for every genre and every band out there.

And what I want to do is I want to give you the tools, the mindset, and like the methods to capture whatever is right for your project and to, to create the tones that are right for your project. I want to enable you to come up with the vision, to have a sound in your head and then do. What's necessary to make that come out of the [00:30:00] speakers.

So there are examples, of course, and this module with the mic choice in placement, I do a bunch of different, like, as I said, stereo, miking techniques, different close makes on guitars. And there's a whole bunch of that in there, but these are just examples for some specific situations that might or might not work for you.

So what I rather have is like people having the equipment and the mindset and the knowledge to do what's right for their projects. 

Malcom: [00:30:26] Hmm. So, yeah, it's this just really reinforcing that there isn't like a one size fits all making setup. Yeah. Right. Um, and that showing off different stereo making setups for example, is going to kind of show the, the audience, what.

Those differences actually translate too. Right. Um, then you can make decisions based on, you know, what you're hearing in your head. And also based on that demo you made in like, okay, we need this to sound bigger or more roomy, whatever you might want, write more wide. Maybe that's going to influence those decisions 

Benedikt: [00:30:59] you're making.

[00:31:00] Yeah, exactly. And like, same with the, um, with the guitar. For example, the guitar lesson, the guitar, making the guitar close mikes or cabs lesson. When you watch that lesson and listened to the examples there, the goal here is not to say, Oh, I like the SM 57 in that spot. So I'm going to do this. The, the goal is for you to.

To realize that, okay, if I go in that direction, the sound changes that way. If I go in that direction, the sound chains changes that way. So I need to find whatever's right for me and that combined the different things, but at least now, as Malcolm said, you know how these changes are to have gone affect your sound, your tone, but it's not meant to give you like a preset or something that you could just take and run with it.

You can try and it might work, but the goal here is to just give you the extremes and like, um, to show the changes that can happen and how that translates to, to the sound, to what comes out of the speakers. [00:32:00] But you should really. Take that knowledge and create something unique yourself. That's cool. Yeah.

Yeah. So yeah, Mike Joyce and placement. So we go through getting tones. Basically. We do like whatever you would do on a setup day before the actual recording session, we go through different overhead settings, close mic settings on drums, guitar, and bass caps. And we talk about guitar, the eyes we talk about amp Sims.

Um, like line outs and like the eye outs of amps and load boxes, all of these things, because there's a lot of confusion which signals you can actually record or should record. We talked about acoustic guitars guitars as well. Um, and yeah, we talk about vocals. This is sort of the hardest part here. Um, but you see that when you watch the videos, because vocals, it's just such a unique instrument because you are essentially the instrument that like Mike positions.

Don't really make sense. Not as much as with like guitar caps. There's no put the microphone here and this will happen because like [00:33:00] every, every mouth is different. Like one singer sings to the left and another singer sinks to the right or whatever. So you gotta to find that out for yourself. You just got to know what to do when you encounter a problem, what to do when you want to create a certain vibe.

So these things are in there and yeah, we, we also touched on like keys in additional. Production elements and percussion and stuff like that, but always keep in mind, it's a band thing. It's called the self recording band. So it's more about like rock bands and, um, in the broadest sense, but like band based music and not so much on like electronic music, so right.

Just keep that thing in mind. 

Malcom: [00:33:37] Yeah, well, there is no how to make an electronic sample. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It's pretty simple. Exactly. Exactly. 

Benedikt: [00:33:45] Yeah. This part. So we're still in module and before the actual recording setup, and then there is a whole lesson on MIDI drums, and we also touch briefly on medic guitars and bass, just mini programming overall, how [00:34:00] that works, how to get organic sounding drums.

Um, the, the, the, the workflow of the signal flow and what, how to program stuff, so that it sounds real. Uh, and then we move on to session, set up, gain staging and monitoring. So, yeah, like how do to make, to create the actual recording session in your computer and your software so that you can move intuitively and quickly.

And so that the actual session. When you start recording, we'll go as smoothly as possible. And the final lesson in this setup module is called vibe atmosphere and checklists, because once you got all the tones and you got all the, like you have the, the software working in a workflow and a template and Lake, you ready to go, don't forget to get everything you need for the session in terms of like, Supplies other than the recording gear, that's just important.

You want to make sure everyone's happy and relaxed and that the environment you're working in is like enjoyable and inspiring. You want to [00:35:00] create an atmosphere. You want to have checklists ready, so you don't run into problems. You want to have a plan B for certain problems. So you just want to make sure that besides all the technical and all the tone stuff that.

Yeah, nothing can stop you. And once you start the session, you just roll and you have like a flow going and everyone just excited about it. 

Malcom: [00:35:21] Absolutely. Absolutely. That's that's a great thing to have on there. Yeah. I just want to drive home that this really does cover like pretty well every. Instrument that you're probably going to encounter, you know, and even if it's like, you don't have horns on here.

Nope. They're going to have a pretty good idea of what to do after you've burned through these. Um, you're going to be armed with the decision making tools to get through that situation. If you need to get some horns on your track, see that mini or through Mike ended up. Right. Um, yeah. And, and the drum programming thing I think is really important.

For you and me, Benny. Yeah. We live in this world of working on, on digital audio workstations all the time. [00:36:00] So we're not really daunted by it. If we need to program something, we just like, okay, well we'll just have to go plop it in there. But when I talk to musicians who haven't done any of it, and I'm like, Oh, you should program the drums.

Cause you guys don't have access to a drummer or a studio or whatever. You know, that's a criteria that happens pretty often. It's like, okay, you might be better off just programming and they're terrified. Because they don't know how. Yeah. So like, I think that's going to be a really valuable lesson just to kind of eliminate how to do it.

And it's, you know, it's one of those things that is easier than it, you 

Benedikt: [00:36:30] would think. Yes, I agree. It's it was surprisingly easy to do that lesson. I thought of God, this is going to be a, such a long video and it's, it is kind of long, but I was kind of terrified of doing it because so many things came to my mind.

But once I started doing this video, I thought, like there's not so much to it. I like during the process, I started wondering if I really covered it all, but it's like, it's not as complicated once you understand, um, how it works actually like the [00:37:00] basic principles. And then it comes down of course, to the library you're using and all of that.

So there's always going to be variables in there depending on what you're using and what aesthetic you're going for. But, um, I think we were covering that pretty well in this video. Yeah. Cool. So, yeah, then, uh, module five is the actual recording session. And now this is, again, a surprising thing, I guess, for a lot of people going through the course, then.

These videos are pretty short and like, we're not talking about like actual tones or microphones or gear, or like anything of that, any more, because we've done, we've prepared ourselves. We've prepared the sessions. We know what tones we'll want. We want, we know how to get them. We did the soundcheck. So now.

Like we're rolling. And it's all about getting through the process and focusing on what matters most, again, the performance, the art, the energy, the vibe. So in this whole recording session module, number five, we start with talking about the psychology and [00:38:00] the distribution of roles. And I mean, That you should be again, we touched that in module one as well, but here I'm like doing it again to really, um, tell you how and emphasize how important it is to communicate well, how being bad at communication or ignoring the psychology part can totally ruin everything that's coming.

Now in the session that can totally ruin your results. Like you can have the best tones, you can have the best gear and everything. If you're just not good at communicating and you ruin the vibe and like you start arguing and like, no, one's excited anymore about the project. It's all worth nothing. So you, you really need to have a vibe going, you really need to know everyone's role in the process.

And. You cannot be afraid of making hard decisions. Sometimes, sometimes you might. Tell something, someone to leave the room, for example, or you need to tell someone to just [00:39:00] shut up because they are ruining the vibe of the session or like stuff like this can happen. And I'm kind of walking you through how to, um, talk about that before the actual session starts, how to get everyone on the same page and how to not run into those kinds of problems, because you don't want your session to be ruined, uh, through all the work you put in at this point.

Malcom: [00:39:17] Absolutely. Yeah. I just had like a pre-production conversation yesterday on the phone with a client and, uh, they gave me the heads up that one of the members. Really isn't great with the click track. And I said, okay, he's got a month. Like, I'm sure he can get it down in a month. If not, let him know that I have fired people before, like it's going to, we're going to get the job done.

So if he knows in advance, he's going to be fine with it. If I'm just like this isn't working, like how could he not be fine with that? Because he's had all that time and known this was coming kind of thing. So it's not personal. It's just like, okay. Where the job has to get done. Yeah, 

Benedikt: [00:39:50] absolutely.

Absolutely. And I mean, it's not like you like to do this. It's, you're feeling uncomfortable doing that probably, but of course, if it's gotta be done, it's gotta be done. [00:40:00] So, yep. 

Malcom: [00:40:01] And, and way better for me to get to like, send that message now, rather than when we're sitting there in the studio. 

Benedikt: [00:40:07] Right. Totally.

Yeah. So that's how this lesson starts, uh, this module. And then we actually get started with the recording session. So scratch tracks first, if you, you can use your pre-production, but you can, or you can like start recording, like quick live takes and use those as scratch strikes. Like I show different approaches, different techniques here, but it's just, I want to just, um, tell you about the importance of scratch tracks and how you can get them, how you can use them.

And then we move on to different approaches. Um, On how to like actually record the record. So we talk about the live recording scenario. We talk about doing drums and basic tracks first or together. We talk about overdubs. We talk about bass and rhythm tracks. We talk about leads about vocals, about background vocals, and all about like special effects, additional production since samples, all of [00:41:00] that.

And, um, w I'm going to show you how to. Move through those phases in like, first of all, I'm going to show you an order. That makes sense. And then I'm going to show you how to move through those phases in the most efficient and like fun and creative way. As I said, you already have the bulk of the work out of the way, basically at this point, but still there are some techniques and some tips and tricks that you can use to make those sessions go really, really smooth.

And, um, yeah, this is what this whole. Module is about the actual session. What happens during such a session? What can go wrong, how to best approach it. And that's it. Awesome. Love it. Yeah. And then we finish it off sort of with the module six, which is post pro everything that happens after the production, after the recording.

So we talk in editing like a little side note here. Part of the editing is happening earlier, as we said, like, drums should be edited before you move on. But like now we're talking to [00:42:00] editing. Exporting and file transfer, uh, cleaning up the session, consolidating takes, organizing everything, labeling files, exporting files.

And then now what, like what happens now? What what's next? Um, editing, mixing, mastering, finding the right engineers, the right team. If you outsource some of it, um, communicate how to communicate well, how to make everything efficient and not waste anyone's time, including your own. Um, like the revision process, how to go about that, what to expect here, um, master five, four minutes and versions with five goes where, so once you receive your stuff back from the people you work with, what do you actually do with that?

What files, which files should you request? If you don't get everything automatically, um, just know what to expect, what you need, how to communicate these things. Re-evaluate and adjust the release plan and schedule if necessary, because things might've changed throughout this whole process. So your initial [00:43:00] plan that you made in module one might need some adjustment at this point.

So think about that again and then do a final check. And here we go, you did it. That's module number six, and you're basically done. Awesome. 

Malcom: [00:43:14] Yeah. If you literally follow all those steps, you're going to have a super rad album or recording, whatever, you know, you decided to bite off. But absolutely 

Benedikt: [00:43:23] that is wicked.

I also want to say I set mixing mastering just to be clear here, like full disclosure. This is not a mixing course and not a mastering course. So I talk about what mixing is. And why you absolutely need this, but I also tell you why. I absolutely think that if your goal is to move your band forward and not become a mixer that you should outsource mixing, we've told you that on the podcast as well.

And if you want to mix the record yourself, this course is totally valuable as well. Just the mixing part of it is if I'm going to ever going to do that, it's going to be a separate course because we would just be too much in one thing for this course, it's. The [00:44:00] framework and the system that I recommend to self recording bands.

And that includes outsourcing mixing because I'm absolutely convinced that this is the way to go and that a self recording band without an really experienced engineer in the band, um, should not mix their own record. So that's why I am teaching it that way. And the mixing and mastering part of the course is about.

How to best approach this with external partners, how to outsource this, how to communicate, what to expect, how this all works, but it's not a mixing course. Just want to be clear 

Malcom: [00:44:35] here. Yep. Yeah, no, that's a good clarification. It couldn't be both. You can't don't know those at 

Benedikt: [00:44:40] the same time. No. And it's already, I'm already glad if people make it through this massive course here and like, Um, implement and everything.

I'm sure they will. And it's like manageable, as I said, but adding, mixing on top here, this would be like just too much for one thing. 

Malcom: [00:44:56] I think if you haven't ever recorded a [00:45:00] song, let alone an album or an AP, it's a, it's a huge undertaking much, much longer than you would think it is. Um, I did a single with a band called dead on, uh, A few months back loved how it turned out, but I alone put 70 hours into one song.

Yeah. Think about what they, their time writing it and like preparing for it and what they've got to do to release it now and stuff like that. Like it's still not out. So they're still working on that stuff, you know, like, um, this is a huge undertaking what you're trying to do and something like this is.

Was going to be so useful to like guide you through that process. It's like, you've got a roadmap now to get this thing done, which is really 

Benedikt: [00:45:40] valuable. Yes. Yes. I hope so. And um, yeah. And then module number seven. That's why I said like six modules or seven, depending on how you look at it. The system is basically done at this point, but module number seven is like a lesson, a video along a longer video with like actual audio examples.

So you're gonna, um, I'm going to pull up a [00:46:00] session with like different multitracks in different genres. And I'm just going to walk you through those recordings and tell you why I made certain decisions, why the tones are, what they are, why the arrangement is, what it is. And just so you see a real life application of all the things you've learned in the course.

So you can, you don't have to do that at the end. You can go to that module while you're in some module. Like you can do that whenever it's just like a reference, it's just. The result of everything I teach is in that module. Number seven. And it's not like super like tons of like big multidrug songs or whatever.

Again, it's like specific parts of specific songs and specific genres with certain arrangement to show you the things that are relevant and necessary. So it's also built in a way that it doesn't overwhelm you, but when you listen to those parts or songs and multitracks. If you watch this video, you get a clear idea of a lot of the [00:47:00] things that I was teaching in the course.

So for example, when I talk about guitar resonances or guitar sounds and how to place the mic. You only really know what I mean when you've listened to those examples and watch this video, because I'm going to show you what to listen for, why the guitars sound the way they sound. I'm focusing in on certain frequency, certain parts of the frequency spectrum, and like showing you.

What this nasty guitar resonance actually sounds like I'm showing you what the rumbles sounds like and why I got rid of it. I'm showing you why I chose a certain drum tone, a certain snare pitch, or like things like this. And so you get the tools, the knowledge and the mindset to do all that. And like the, it all comes together.

When you watch this video and listen to these songs and like analyze these multitracks. Because then you see an application of all of that, basically. Cool. Love it. Yeah. These are the multitracks and then there's, as I said, bonus material, like, [00:48:00] um, I can, I cannot say everything here because like there's some, some bonuses in there that, um, I'm really stoked to see you.

To see the reactions to this and like, uh, I always want to put more in the course than I actually promise to deliver. So just be excited for that. 

Malcom: [00:48:17] It's a small hint. Some of these bonus workshops include some good guests we've had on the show. Oh yeah. Yeah, exactly. They're amazing. And amazing. They should be their own courses.

Yeah, 

Benedikt: [00:48:30] exactly. There are sort of like mini courses on top of the actual course, just thrown in as a bonus. And I might actually package some of that stuff up at some point and maybe sell it as a mini course. So you get it included in the Academy for now, but it's really valuable stuff. Um, awesome. And then yeah, the production planner, uh, and stuff like that and yeah, downloadable things that help you navigate this whole course and help you get the results.

The community group coaching calls, all of that creates the system. [00:49:00] And to sum it up, I believe this is the complete proven step-by-step system to make a killer record in your practice room. And it will enable you to capture, to like capture exciting recordings and deliver pro quality mixed, ready files to your mixing engineer.

And you won't have the headache. You would have the endless back and forth anymore. Uh, you won't have the fear of getting back just another amateur sounding product in the end. It solves all those problems and it's a full, complete system. That's the whole goal behind this. And that's why it's such an extensive, like massive course.

It's got to be that way. It's what I think a lot of courses out there are missing and I wanted to put it all together. Yeah. 

Malcom: [00:49:42] Amazing. Yep. Love it. I, uh, yeah, I can't recommend to people that if you've been listening to this podcast, you're obviously interested in this topic in, in recording yourselves to a professional degree.

And I just really think that this there's no way you could go wrong [00:50:00] investing in yourself by taking this course. 

Benedikt: [00:50:02] Totally, absolutely think so. And I can, what I can already say is even if I can't reveal the pricing at this point, It's not gonna be like a major expense, especially if you're a band and you're like five people in the band.

I don't ask like everyone in the band to buy this course. Like you can buy it once for your band. Of course. Like I know that like five people in the band will not buy the course five times and that's totally fine. And if you break and if you divide the cost of the course through four or five people, it's really, really, really affordable.

And it's much cheaper than any sort of form of audio education. Of course, like this sort of stuff is like tens of thousands of dollars. If you go to like a university to study that stuff or like private schools or whatever. Um, so obviously much cheaper than that. It's probably more actionable and will it get you to the results faster even, um, then some of that stuff and it's like, and also the, the amount of money you will save.

[00:51:00] Because you're not buying gear that doesn't do anything for you as not come said is also a factor here. So. I think this is a steal actually. And I think it's really, it's going to be really affordable and, um, yeah. 

Malcom: [00:51:13] Yeah, it's affordable in the time. You'll be saved from not having to redo hard work, um, alone.

It's it's I don't actually know the exact price, but I can almost guarantee that it's cheaper than a single day in the studio with me. Like your, your options are learned through a course like this, or go and learn from somebody like myself. Um, By hiring me. And that's a much more expensive route.

Benedikt: [00:51:34] Absolutely. Absolutely. I don't like trying to do it yourself, buying a bunch of gears then getting frustrated because you don't get the results and then ending, like you end up. Hiring someone and going to the studio and redo it all again, like if you add all that together, it's like not even close. 

Malcom: [00:51:51] Yeah.

Yeah. This is a, this is a bargain. Yeah. All 

Benedikt: [00:51:55] right. Let's wrap it up. I mean, I hope, I hope this was still valuable for you guys. [00:52:00] Even if you're like, not end up buying the chorus. I hope you still got some clarity on the whole process. I think I hope you got to. Could take something away that will help you come up with your own plan or like structure your next project better.

And if you just keep listening to the show, you know, we always put, we always putting out valuable content for you. We'll always, we are always here to help you out. That will continue in the future. Of course, nothing will change. So if you just want the free education, absolutely fine. But if you want to take it to the next level, if you really want to take your next record production seriously.

I really, I really love to see you join the 

Malcom: [00:52:35] Academy. Yeah, definitely. If there's one thing to take away as actionable from this episode, other than by the scores is that, uh, pay attention to what we focused on in this process. We literally went through, step-by-step making a record and what did we care about in there?

And it, wasn't a bunch of talk about how to make up a snare drum, right? Like there's, there's, there's stuff that if you read [00:53:00] between the lines, you'll learn something from this episode. I think. 

Benedikt: [00:53:02] I hope so. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for sticking with us through this. Um, and I can't wait to see you in the, the Academy.

And remember this week, if you're listening to this episode right after it airs, let right after it goes live, um, you have a couple of days left to join the Academy waiting list, and then it's going to be closed. You can still get into the Academy, but. I really recommend getting on that list and like, I really am really rewarding action takers here.

So do it. Yeah. 

Malcom: [00:53:35] If you, even, if you don't think you're going to buy it, it's worth just signing up just to see what the 

deal 

Benedikt: [00:53:39] is. Yes, exactly. Awesome. Thank you for listening. See you next week. Bye.