BOOKING HOURS

Exeter is open any hours that you would like to record. Mainly 10-12 hour blocks or 5 - 7 hour blocks, the hours can be early mornings, afternoons, late nights, overnights, you name it. If you would like to do less time than that, email me and we could talk about what you'd like to do. I'm not a stickler about time and have no problem staying later for a band if we are in the middle of finishing up. The best thing to do is to let me know of a date everyone can come in, and I will let you know if that date is open or not, rather than asking what dates I have available.

SEPARATE TRACKING 

This way has been the most popular attack when coming in to record. For instance, if your band consists of drums, bass, two guitars, and vocals, everything is done together, yet tracked separately. We start out by focusing on the drums, with anyone that you'd like playing in the headphones together with the drummer. This gives us the opportunity to focus on getting the best drums tones, and a performance that everyone is happy with. All the other tracks that the drummer is hearing are called Scratch Tracks. Scratch Tracks are done so that everyone can play along as a band or to a click track while focusing on one instrument at a time, ensuring that the song feels right for everyone. We always keep the scratch track for reference, but it's a track that's always thrown out at the end. After the drummer has all his parts down, we move on to bass, once again focusing on good tones and performance. Then the same thing happens for guitars, and vocals, and so on. I feel this is the best way to make sure that everything is tight and that every instrument sounds the best it could sound. Also, when you break down everyone's parts one by one, new ideas always seem to pop up thus improving what you are working on.

PRE PRODUCTION 

Pre production is a big part of the recording process that should be taken into consideration every time you enter the studio. Pre production can consist of a half day, a full day, or more(obviously depending on your budget), of live recording, where we set up the whole band live, and lay down all the songs you have planned for the recording. This gives us the opportunity to catch mistakes before they happen, to hear exactly what everyone is doing for each part, and to brainstorm any ideas that you might have to make the song as good as it can be. I highly suggest this process along with separate tracking to be considered when doing a serious record. If pre production is not in your budget, it's always something that a band should try to do before coming into the studio in some way, even if it's on your own. 

LIVE TRACKING 

This is a great time saver and a great way to bring out the live feel of your band. The whole band could set up together, or you can choose to do certain instruments after, and lay down everyone's parts at the same time. This is really popular for bands that want a raw feel to their recordings, or for bands that are on a tight budget, yet still want to get a good amount of songs done. First, we start out by setting up everyone's equipment in separate rooms. Then we make sure everyone is happy with their tones, checking out each instrument one by one. Lastly, we get the best headphone mix that we can get for everyone, and away we go. Not as productive as separate tracking, but still a good way to make a great sounding record. 

ADDITIONAL TRACKING 

If you'd like to track over something you've started already, like vocals, keys, or any other extras you might have in mind, that is no problem at all. Contact me and we can talk about transferring your project to Exeter! 

MIXING

There is nothing better than hearing everything come to life when mixing a project. It's usually a good idea to plan mixing on a day when we aren't tracking anything, that way, we could hear everything fresh. From any type of effects, levels, or eqs you have in mind, along with everything I have to do to make the project the best it can be, we can work together to make sure everyone is happy with the final mix down. The hours for mixing usually depend on the amount of songs you are recording, but I always try to mix as we go along to save time for the final mix day. If you have a project you tracked somewhere else that you would like mixed, that is no problem at all. Contact me and we could discuss the different ways of transferring your project to Exeter.