Pre-Production

In the music industry, Pre-Production is a process whereby a Virginia Beach recording studio
artist spends time creating and refining their musical ideas. The artist thus produces a song's demo
recording, or rough draft, in order to pre-establish the song's creative premise. A demo should have
the basic style of the song displayed. For example, by listening to the demo, a casual listener should
be able to tell if the song is country or pop. Also, the 'tone' of the song should be at least somewhat
developed, i.e. whether the song is an upbeat club song, or a heartbrea ballad. If this isn't clear, it
can be ironed out in pre-production, but as an artist, you should have a basic concept of what vibe
you are trying to create in your music. This planning, when taen seriously, reduces the time and
money spent in expensive studios.

The goal is to enter into the ma!or recording phase of production with the basic and most promising
ideas having been already established. "richouse #ecords speciali$es in pre-production for all
types of music. %e are a &irginia "each studio that helped thousands of artists with pre-production
for their pro!ects. %hen you schedule a pre-production meeting, we will help you plan out all the
finer details of your session. %e can plan out what instrumentation or recorded music you will use,
help you organi$e lyrics sheets, figure out song arrangements and much, much more.

PRE-PRODUCTION CHECKLIT
'onfirm the lyric is as strong as it can be, and the song concept is fully reali$ed and has
enough (weight) to engage listeners
'onfirm you are not ruining the singer)s brand or image by putting those words in the
singer)s mouth* +specially when it)s you*
'onfirm it is as effective as it can be made in terms of structure ,verse, pre-chorus, bridge,
double chorus, and so on-
'onfirm the ey is the best ey for the singer
'onfirm the tempo ,"./- and any swing factor ,time feel- compliments the song nicely.
0ou can even try different versions at different tempos, but pic the most liely first and
proceed with that. 0ou may find you won)t need other options after all. A good rule of
thumb is to use a fixed whole-number "./ at all times. 0ou need a really good musical
reason not to do this 1 it is limiting your options and maing wor unnecessarily not to
bother with a clic trac and a nown "./, whether it changes during the piece or not,
unless there will be no overdubs.
Thin about the sounds you want in each section. 2tart with sounds for the most powerful
song section, usually a chorus in the last third of a song.
Thin about an 3intro4 section 1 what will grab the listener)s attention and hold it5
Thin about an 3outro4 1 are you fading out or do you have a definite ending5 Fading
6uicly or slowly5
#unning time of the final record can matter to some fols. 7bviously, radio 89s aren't
gonna play twelve-minute songs.
.lan for a bridge or a breadown ,if you have either- that will tae listeners to a different
place than the other sections. 'ontrasts are are a big part of eeping people's attention.
%hatever is happening in your recording, contrasts of all inds will be a ey goal.
.lan for the dynamics of the music and the performances. :ave a vision for where things
will get loud and for how long, and where they will feel noticeably 6uieter. Tae us on a
better ride by nowing where the ride goes ahead of time.
;ocate any musicians you need for instruments you want to use but cannot play, and as
them if they want to participate. %e now a number of local musicians who can be sought
out for your songs*
2ettle on how any other musicians you use will be recompensed, and tae notes of contact
details and any wor planned for them or done by them
.lan for crediting musicians ,as them if and how they want to be credited for wor
performed-
<eep A;; your pre-production notes, communications ,email, I/, F" messages, old-
fashioned letters, etc- and other records for legal and accounting reasons. +specially eep
notes and receipts for monies spent or received.
/ae sure you have new strings on stringed instruments and that the strings have had an
hour or two of playing in. 'hange drumheads if your tone is too dull on real drums.
Tae a deep breath now that pre-production is done, and loo forward to a successful
recording session* =ood luc. It gets easier every time.

Recording tudio and Pre-production Consu!tations
In Virginia Beach" Chesapea#e" Nor$o!#" Ports%outh" V& and the greater Ha%pton Roads
area
'''()ric#houserecords*a(co%
+,-,./,0-1230 4or a Boo#ing(
Located &t ,310 Nth 5i!itar6 H'6" Nor$o!#"V &
Or e%ai! us at )ric#houserecords*a76ahoo(co%