A recording studio is a place to record live music. Generally you will have written the music in advance and rehearsed the music. Most people who record music are looking to release it. No two recording studios are the same. However you can generally expect there to be a live room, in which the music is played and recorded. Then there is a mastering room, where the engineer will control how the music is recorded into computer software. No all music recording studios for hire come with an engineer but most do. The music engineer will have their own style of recording, including what equipment they prefer to use, how they position the microphones, and what software they use to mix the track. There are generally three steps when recording a song: recording, mixing and then mastering. Recording is the process of capturing the sound played by the musician. Mixing is the process of combining the recordings into a song which has depth, bringing forward or pushing back different sounds. Finally, songs are mastered, a process in which the song is compressed and adjusted to sound good across a range of music platforms and speakers.

There is a huge variety of professional music recording studios out there, each with different equipment, different approaches and in a different price bracket. At MusicWise the thing we are most interested in is the output of a music recording studio. How good is the work that they have produced? You can listen to the showreel of many of the recording studios on MusicWise. What styles does the studio specialise in? Have they worked with any reputable artists? All of this information is available on the MusicWise studio pages. You should also check whether the studio fees include an engineer, or whether they offer what is called Dry Hire, which is a studio without an engineer. Some artists like to do everything themselves, and simply use the studio to access their equipment. There is a vast range of equipment available at music recording studios, and you can see what equipment they have on their studio page on MusicWise.

The first step is to contact the recording studio that you want to hire and tell them about your project. Do you want to record one song, three songs, a whole album? Some studios will only work on projects of 3+ songs, so it?s best to be clear about this from the beginning. The studio will also be interested to understand what style of music you play, because this will give a sense of what will be required. You can share all of these details when you enquire on MusicWise. When you arrive at the recording studio you will get settled in and align on the process for the day. Although some studio engineers might take a less structured approach. Early on you will then set up your instruments, and then it?s down to you to record some gold!

Professional recording studios generally come with a music engineer included in the price. They will set up all of the microphones, record everything into the computer software they are using, mix the track, master the track and then send it to you. However you can use studios for individual services, just for recording, mixing or mastering. When you hire a studio without an engineer it is called ?Dry Hire?. Lots of artists prefer to get dry hire because they plan to mix and master the tracks themselves, so they do this to reduce the cost.

The price of a recording studio varies enormously depending on where it is located, the artists they have worked with before, any awards they may have won, the equipment they have and the services they offer. To give you a benchmark, a recording studio in London will cost ?350 per day on average. But don?t expect to record at Abbey Road for this price!

The equipment included at a sound studio is listed on every music recording studio page on MusicWise. The equipment details will likely include information about their console and monitoring, the microphones they have, their interface and conversion, which processing plugins they use, the type of preamps they have, and any instruments available to use at the studio.

Due to the price of recording at a studio there is often a strict cancellation policy, to protect the studio. It is best to check the cancellation policy of a studio by checking their studio page on MusicWise where it will be detailed. The cancellation policies differ between studios.

Many music recording studios work with a broad range of artists and styles, such as rock, pop, metal, hip hop, indie, jazz and classical. However it is common for studios to specialise in certain styles such as jazz and classical. Additionally, recording studios can become highly specialised, only working with metal bands for example. There are pluses and minuses to working with specialised studios. Many musicians like to work with a specialised studio because they have expertise in that specific genre, and they may have a signature style. Other artists prefer to work with broader studios because they can arrive at a more unique sound, informed by a wide range of styles and techniques.

Some recording studios do allow artists to book very short sessions however this is uncommon. Generally studios like to work for a minimum of one day on a project. The reason for this is that if they hire a studio out for one hour, this means they can?t use the studio for a whole day for another client. It is best to send an enquiry to a studio to give them a sense of the size of your project, and they will confirm whether they can work with you.

Mixing and mastering is distinct from recording. Mixing is the process of combining all of the elements to create a song. It is the equivalent of applying the paint to the canvas to create a beautiful composition with nice contrasts between light and dark, and a distinct style. Mixing is a specialised process and a highly skilled thing to do. Mastering is separate from mastering in that it ensures that a song will sound good across a wide range of speakers and platforms. Music engineers use very high quality monitor speakers in a music recording studio, and mastering ensures that a song also sounds good on a phone for example.