GEARED talks to MUD HUT STUDIO resident engineer JAMIE MCEWEN, about how bands should approach recording professionally for the first time.

GEARED: When a band are preparing to go into the studio – perhaps for the first time – what should they have ready?

JAMIE MCEWEN: Essentially what they really need to do is learn to play to a click – it is absolutely vital, really, to sit down and be solid with their timing. Normally one of the biggest problems especially with new bands that come in is that they struggle time-wise. Another big thing that young bands don’t do is actually record themselves while they’re rehearsing and stuff. They kind of hear it from in-the-moment rather than hearing it back – that’s where a lot of song structure and ideas can be developed, or something cut out of a section or a rearrangement of the whole song.

Some bands, especially new bands, don’t actually hear themselves until they get into the studio. It’s leaving it a little late.

G: Does timing, and playing to a click-track, come back to musicians practising by themselves to a metronome?

JM: The drummer, particularly, without a doubt. They’re pretty inexpensive devices. Every musician should be able to play to a click, but also in rehearsal, they should find out what tempo they need for each song. There’s a big variance between playing it one tempo and another. You can uplift an entire song by simply getting the tempo right.

G: Should they also have an idea of what they want to sound like, and perhaps some reference CDs for the engineer to listen to?

JM: That’s one thing we actually do here, we like to sit down with the artist and have a talk to them. Bring in examples, and references of what they’re trying to aim for, or what they perceive themselves to be, which really important in regards to their end product. That actually gives us an idea of where they’re heading or what kind of sound – rather than trying to create the basis from the ground up.

G: What about general instrument upkeep?

JM: A big thing with the drummer is having their drum kit tuned properly. A lot of bands do actually forget that before they come into the studio. Normally the guitar and bass players will have fresh strings but drummers tend to have old skins from gigging. It’s sometimes a little frustrating having drums that are no sitting right or resonating wrong, as it can hinder the recording process quite a lot.

G: What should a band be mindful of when working with an engineer?

JM: The most important aspect when working with an engineer or producer is to really have an open mind and try not to get frustrated. New bands especially get frustrated because they are put on the spot, and it can be quite a daunting process – especially when they first come into the studio. So to really just have an open mind and try to unwind and relax and get into that artistic mode. Sometimes you’re not going to be able to hit that note or keep that time just there, and sometimes you just need to have a little bit of patience to be able to do it. The more you wind yourself up, the more prone you are to making mistakes.

G: When an engineer is mixing, is it best that the band leave him alone for a little while so he can get all the mechanical things done before fine-tuning later?

JM: Absolutely. It’s actually really good to get the nuts and bolts down, and really get things starting to flow. Then when the band come back, they’ve got fresh ears, they can hear what the engineer has effectively done, and then it’s easy to do minor changes at the end rather than trying to fight all along with band members.

G: What awesome toys does Mud Hut have that sets it apart from the other studios you’ve worked in?

JM: We use a hybrid studio, where we have a digital console, but in our front-end we use Neve pre-amps – one bank of 8 which is the 1073s [a legendary pre-amp], and another bank of 8 which is the 1084s [the Rolls Royce of pre-amps, a modern take on the 1073] – it’s the best that you can get. Most studios are lucking to have one or two really nice pre-amps; we have 16.

MUD HUT STUDIO is a purpose-built, state-of-the-art hybrid recording studio located at 3/66 Township Drive, Burleigh Heads. They have Neve pre-amps, Crane Song compressors, a Neve summing amp, a massive Digidesign Icon D command console, and a Pro Tools HD3 Accel core audio system. Check them out at www.mudhutstudio.com, email , or call (07) 5576 6203.

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