How many hours should you book when recording, mixing and mastering vocals

TazzyOnline

Producer/Lyricist
FPs,

If I'm looking to record,mix and master my vocals in a professional studio with a sound engineer what is a good amount of time to book per song?

I know everyone is different but what would be the average time?
 
If you are a great singer or vocalist (rapper .. whatev) and don't have any trouble getting the sound you are looking for and walk into the session prepared and have a plan for how your going to lay down the vocals then I would only book 2 hours to lay down the vocals. You could even only book one hour for vocals but if you've never recorded in a studio before or don't have much experience in that setting I would book more than one hour because you might feel really rushed. The length of the mixing and mastering part is dependant on how fast the engineer works, so I'd ask them.
 
If you are a great singer or vocalist (rapper .. whatev) and don't have any trouble getting the sound you are looking for and walk into the session prepared and have a plan for how your going to lay down the vocals then I would only book 2 hours to lay down the vocals. You could even only book one hour for vocals but if you've never recorded in a studio before or don't have much experience in that setting I would book more than one hour because you might feel really rushed. The length of the mixing and mastering part is dependant on how fast the engineer works, so I'd ask them.

Thanks for the advice. I'll defo talk to the engineer first. I wouldn't think I'll have trouble laying down the vocals (rapper) but I guess extra time doesn't hurt especially for the first time
 
The biggest time saver is pre-production and rehearsal. As a rapper, you can certainly practice at home and make sure all the kinks in lyrics are worked out, your flow is nailed down, and all of your background vocals are planned out. Know how many double tracks, ad libs, impacts you'll be doing ahead of time and it will go much more smoothly in the session. 2 Hours could be good.

Mixing time will certain depend on different factors. You may not want to do this the same day. Leave time for editing and for the engineer to get creative. Mixing vocals on top of a pre-mixed instrumental will take less time than mixing from the full multi-track, but it is always preferable to give the mixer the full multi-track instrumental so you can work the vocals in the song and possible work with arrangement, mutes etc... So time really ranges for this.
 
The biggest time saver is pre-production and rehearsal. As a rapper, you can certainly practice at home and make sure all the kinks in lyrics are worked out, your flow is nailed down, and all of your background vocals are planned out. Know how many double tracks, ad libs, impacts you'll be doing ahead of time and it will go much more smoothly in the session. 2 Hours could be good.

Mixing time will certain depend on different factors. You may not want to do this the same day. Leave time for editing and for the engineer to get creative. Mixing vocals on top of a pre-mixed instrumental will take less time than mixing from the full multi-track, but it is always preferable to give the mixer the full multi-track instrumental so you can work the vocals in the song and possible work with arrangement, mutes etc... So time really ranges for this.

What would be the cons of online mixing ? Do you still get to give feedback to the engineer to change/explain things? Do you think for my first time I should be in the studio? I know one engineer told me I shouldn't be in the studio while their mixing as I will try to change things that may only sound a certain way temporary through the mixing stage.
 
I am obviously a fan of online mixing (this is what I do) and it works for many people as they send their track, let the engineer do his thing, and then have a series of back and forth emails/talks about what to change and tweak. You always have revision opportunities - different engineers have different policies. You can take your track out to different systems, sleep on it etc... The con of online mixing is sometimes people like to be in the same room with the engineer, hear the same thing they are hearing in their environment. Even if you're there, most of the mixing process may not need your direct input and could be boring for you until the end when it is ready to present, and then you can tweak immediately in the room.
 
what exactly are you mixing and mastering?? All I see in this thread is you're going to track vocals. You dont have anything to mix or master. Unless you do and haven't told us.
 
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1st off remove that term mastering from your vocabulary when it comes to the recording and mixing of a song unless both of the aforementioned processes have been completed and the SONG needs to be mastered in which you should hope the facility has a separate room dedicated to mastering to get this done. fyi Vocals and the mastering process do not go hand and hand. Mastering means one thing and one thing only and is to be done as the final process of production once all of the recording, editing and mixing has taken place for a song or group of songs.
 
Sorry I went on a rant and forgot to anwswer your question, how many hours you book is based on how seasoned of a recording artist you are in combination of how experienced the engineer is you will be working with. Be sure to rehearse your material so that it does not take you so much time to lay it down and that way you can spend more time dedicated to the mix and preparing it for mastering.
 
I think vmixengiener nailed it really. For an artist, when it comes to recording vocals it's all about preparation. Studio time costs money, and rehearsal time at home is free.

Make sure you know exactly what you want to record, and have all of the lyrics down cold. A good studio artist shouldn't need to read lyrics off a piece of paper, they should know them. That will save you loads of time in the studio!

2 Hours sounds like a reasonable amount of time... In reality though you haven't really given enough information as some others have pointed out. How long will it take? How long is a piece of string?

How long is the song? Is it two 16s of rap, or is it a 64... is the song 10 minutes long? Do you want it to sound live and vibey, or do you want it to be tight as hell?

I've recorded a lot of bars, and I can tell you that the time involved ranged from an hour for a whole song to weeks.

Worry about the recording for now, and if the engineer is half decent he should give you a rough mix listening copy to take home at the end anyway... Also make sure that you get all of the recorded vocal files to take home with you, maybe take a USB stick with you. Good luck.
 
Make sure you know the lyrics from the back of your head ✊��✊�� Before you ever book a session please
 
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