Record production is a very long process involving many curves and turns during each phase. Though having many turns, it is still very linear. This said, we need somewhere to start and more importantly something to start with. This is where the stage called tracking comes in. Tracking is arguably the most important and technically the first stage or production. Tracking is also typically the longest stage of production.

 

At the most basic level, tracking is just getting things recorded either to magnetic tape or to files on a hard disk in multitrack format being recorded anywhere from 4 to 64 tracks at a time. On a much higher level, tracking involves getting the best performance and the best sound from every instrument printed in the best quality possible on the formats mentioned earlier. Many factors need to be taken into consideration when tracking such as room size, console, converters, microphones, instrument backline, session musicians (if any), outboard processing and much more. Tracking commonly ends up being the most costly component in the recording process. The largest component to our packages when we give a clump quote is the tracking budget. This is due to studio rental cost, equipment rental costs, producer and engineer fees, etc.

 

During a tracking phase with Lydian Studios, we usually use the first day or two to record tracks of the band playing everything together to get an idea and lay down a basic template and from that we begin overdubs. It is always preferred to record to a metronome seeing as it makes production significantly more streamlined. With this in mind we recommend that you rehearse to a metronome as much as possible before deciding to book your record. From that point, we take a single day or week block to focus on getting takes from a specific instrument. Usually beginning with rhythmic instruments and moving towards the melodic accents by the end of tracking. Sometimes two or more instruments will be recorded at a time to maximize efficiency. A good example of this would be guitar and drums, vocals and bass, horn section, etc.

 

Seeing as each artist and situation is different this process is sometimes modified greatly to get the best out of each artist. Sometimes due to scheduling, deadlines, budget or preference we simply set up each instrument to be as isolated as possible and record everything “live off the floor”. There are some examples of this in our Samples section. Once all the tracking has been completed and you as well as our production team are satisfied with the material captured, we move on to editing.

 

Editing consists of cleaning up all of the tracks, deleting space in the tracks and creating a composite playlist or lane. Compositing is a common process that involves taking the best components of each take and combining them in sequence to create one great take. This can only be done if recorded to a metronome. This is one of the reasons why we insist recording to a metronome for synchronization. Sometimes this is not necessary if there is one flawless take. Seeing as we are all human, this tends to be a rare circumstance. However we definitely take advantage should an anomaly present itself.

 

As mentioned earlier, Lydian Studios combines 3 stages of record production known as tracking, editing and overdubbing into one to simplify production for our customers and make the process much easier. Lydian Studios takes advantage of all the fine facilities Ottawa and the surrounding region has to offer and we will use the studio that your project would most benefit from. These facilities include our main pre-prod and overdub studio in Ottawa-south, Pebble Studios, Audio Valley Studios, Blue Bear Sound and Bova Sound. Seeing as each project is different in so many ways, it is impossible to place a static rate on most of the recording process so we urge you to contact us to discuss your project and to get a quote.