This time, I introduce you my concept and the structure of my production's schedule with which I prepare every of my studio recordings. Such plans make a smooth course possible and inform all involved people at an early stage. Thanks to the schedule, every team member and the musicians are aware of the details of the individual days. Moreover, the engineer and the studio owner are informed about what equipment will probably be used during the recording which is a real time saver later in the studio.
Structure & Content
Using the example of my last recording, we will go through all the different elements of my common recording plan. If you missed the article about the instrumental recording with the German indie-pop band "von Berg", feel free to read this first so you are more familiar with the actual situation.
1 Contact Details - Musicians
These are very important for the production team if there are additional questions about the used equipment or just to remind them with a quick call to bring everything necessary with them to the studio.
2 Location
3 Rooms
In this example the studio has different studios but only one recording room, so no additional information was needed here.
4 Contact Details - Production Team
5 Production Schedule
Do not forget to plan enough breaks so the team can relax a bit and recover its energy.
6 Studio Equipment
I also added additional relevant information regarding the technical aspect of the recording. In this example, I already specified the overhead technique of the drum microphones and mentioned that we will place the guitar amp in a different room than the live recording room.
7 Miscellaneous
Dispatch
Once the full plan is completed, I usually send it to all team members, musicians and the studio owner via e-mail 1 to 3 weeks before the first recording day. In addition to the production schedule's PDF, I also attach ical event files of each day to the mail. Finalise your mail with a nice motivating text and ensure that you have included your contact details for possible queries. Done! ;)