At the Beginning of February, I had the chance to meet all members of The Reverie and discuss their upcoming recording session. Through these conversations, I was able gather some very useful information about the band that will help me make decisions in preparation for recording. I asked about the recording process for their first song in attempt to learn about any specific recording preferences the band has. I also was able to learn a lot about the sound they are after, and the different bands and artists that they draw inspiration from.

The first thing that I wanted to discuss with the band was their general instrumentation and the microphone needs for each player. The band consists of Kensie: Vocals and Keys, Peyton: Vocals and Guitar, Adam: Vocals, and Timmion: Drums. It was mentioned that Timmion typically plays on an electronic kit and will be bringing those, but expressed interest in using the kit available in the studio. The band currently has only recorded one song, and they recorded each part separately putting them together after the fact. I advocated for the idea of trying to record together to a multitrack, and suggested that the band come prepared to record as such. Since this is only the band’s second time recording, I have to make it a goal to be flexible and facilitate a productive session while not overcomplicating things.

Additionally, I asked for some demo recordings if they had them, as well as any bands or artists that influence their sound. The band was able to provide me with a demo recording of one of their songs entitled “Summer of 17”. This was the only song I was able to obtain a demo of, however they did share song titles for the other two songs they plan on recording. As for artist inspirations, The Reverie is influenced by The Backseat Lovers, Briston Maroney, and peach pit. No specific songs were mentioned, but I took responsibility to make a playlist with songs from each artist in order to get a feel for the sound that the band is after.

Since the band does not have a lot of prior studio experience and is open to trying different things, it gives me a lot of freedom to make different choices with use of pre amps, microphones, and outboard gear. It also puts a lot of pressure on me as the engineer, as I have to use my best judgement to make the right decisions for the band under a tight time frame. In preparation for recording this weekend, I have tasked myself with a few projects to keep myself organized. First, I plan on creating a rough input list that I can use to lay out my initial decisions of microphones, mic inputs, and pre-amps. I plan to put a good amount of research behind these decisions, looking back on past shootout assignments and doing some additional testing of my own. From this list, I plan to create a few templates in protools that I can easily import to the session of whatever song I’m recording. I want to account for the different needs of each song, and make sure I’m prepared to record both live and electronic drums. Finally, I would like to create logistics sheets for each session to lay out general time goals. This will provide framework to stay on track and keep things moving along. The coming blog entries will highlight these tasks and my process of completing them, as well as how they will help me in the future.