A few years ago, my teacher Bethany Beardslee Winham said to me: “Don’t spend a lot of effort creating these new concert programs unless you’re planning to record them. Recording is your legacy.”
If anyone should know, it’s she. One of the pre-eminent lyric sopranos of the 20th century, she probably gave more premiere performances than any other singer of her time by introducing important new works from the likes of Berg and Webern. Her own discography ranges from Scarlatti to Debussy, Schumann to Schoenberg.
Back in the Days of Vinyl, if you wanted to be thus immortalized, you or your agent had to persuade a record company of the merits of your singing, your concept for a recording, and the marketability of both you and your idea. If, like a fairy tale hero, you passed all those tests and were signed for a project, you were heir to the kingdom: the label paid every penny from creating the master to arranging those special displays in stores, taking your career up another notch as an RCA or Nonesuch Recording Artist.
That formula still holds true for The Few. But even The Few are becoming fewer and their options more limited. One A&R [Artist & Repertoire] executive recently confided that, after disappointing sales on one opera star’s recent art song CD, they weren’t planning any new art song projects. The increasing democratization of the recording industry, with the parallel rise of music distribution through networks and the web, have reversed the former good news/bad news for lesser-known classical singers. Now a musician who, by choice or necessity, is working outside the top levels of the mainstream box, can make a recording and have it heard worldwide. But you need funds, drive, organization, and persistence.
Most of us have created promotional demos. This article is not about that. Nor is it about marketing a full-length CD, a topic already covered in CS. It’s about how to create that recording intended for commercial release: how to be your own Executive Producer.
Having executive-produced two solo CDs, one in the late ‘90s for Parnassus Records, the other to be released this month on Albany, I’ve learned the easy and the hard ways. Here’s a roadmap, with some pitfalls marked. Many aspects are interdependent—program and budget, for instance—so the map is more circular than linear. You need to keep the whole picture in your consciousness, while taking one step at a time.
Your Program
Start with music you have a passion for and sing exceptionally well.
Ask yourself: does the world need or want this CD? You may perform Strauss’s Vier Letzte Lieder to a fare-thee-well, but with so many versions by world-renowned singers, who will your market be? Think along the lines of a new twist on old repertoire, or contemporary music you believe deserves a wider audience, or a compelling theme program perhaps based on a recital you’ve already done. Investigate what is already out there.
Then ask yourself what you can afford. Fiscal elements are described throughout this article. Ultimately, you’ll be dealing with expenses in five figures unless you marry an audio engineer. But you can raise a lot of that money. Let’s begin with the prospective program. How many musicians are involved? Ascertain their fees. (Tip: Spending a little more on top players will save mucho dinero later.) Instrumentalists are accustomed to being paid by the service. But if you’re outside a major metro area with a cadre of regular collaborators, they might be willing to trade services for eventual copies of the CD and the exposure. Some might even contribute toward expenses if it will help their own careers.
Ask others about your idea: teachers, coaches, managers, recording industry contacts. Research small labels whose catalogues are a good match for your idea. Wangle an intro to the A&R person and ask if they might be interested. No one’s advice is infallible or a replacement for your own judgment. But experts who know your work can help you custom-shape the program to a niche all its own, even to a label’s wish list.
Early on make sure you obtain recording rights, not only to issue the music but to print the text in the booklet. Ever wonder why there are so many Blake and Dickinson song settings? The poems aren’t just great—they’re in the public domain! If it is copyrighted text, also obtain a copy of the composer’s written permission to set it. This is not an empty formality. I could play you a lovely track we created for my latest CD that may finally see the light of day in 2019 when the poem’s copyright expires. But even then, if this is the first recording of the music, you must get written permission from the copyright holder (usually the composer or publisher) to record it. No permission is needed for later versions. But for all pieces, you or your label will owe royalties to any copyright holders based on the number of records made or sold.
Perform that repertoire! Play with the program order to see what works best. Use the piano/vocal reduction of a chamber piece when the full ensemble isn’t available. For large-scale works, schedule a recording soon after a performance while your ensemble is fine-tuned.
Personnel
In addition to musicians you need an engineer and producer. Producer? You bet. Do not scrimp on hiring a producer.
You can be your own executive producer—create and hold the vision, organize the project, raise funds, supervise the budget, hire musicians and production staff, shop for a label or form your own—but you must have a producer in the booth, whose ears and judgment you trust.
Your producer is your best friend for the duration of this project. Your job in the studio is to sing as beautifully and expressively as you possibly can. You can’t do that with one ear cocked for the results. The engineer will be busy with controls and listening for sonic properties. You need a producer to ensure that the finished product reflects your artistic vision and everyone’s best work.
Your producer helps you refine program elements and recommends personnel. Your producer will have that keen set of ears, listening to every note and nuance hitting the microphones; and will know and follow the score, telling you measures 11-22 still need another take because this time you (or the flugelhorn) were a hair flat or a sixteenth ahead.
Beyond making sure everything you technically need to get “into the can” actually gets there, your producer should ask questions like: “What’s your intention for that phrase? How do you want it to feel?” Your producer will tell you if a moment isn’t working and may have creative suggestions your teacher never thought of for bringing it off. The producer can tell, before you hear your own tiredness, that it’s time to wrap. During mixing and editing, your producer will have essential input on the merits of different takes, ideal balances, subtle sonic differences between sessions, and the relative presence of different musical voices. And your producer speaks “engineeringese.”
Choose someone who appreciates and understands your voice and artistry, with experience in the genre you’re recording. My regular producer, Baikida Carroll, is best known in the jazz world, but with his extensive experience composing classical-style music for theater, and his amazing ears and calm presence, he’s been exactly the right person for me. I started my most recent CD without him, due to limited funds. It was a false economy. What a difference in the results, once he was on board!
Harmony is crucial, and not just in the music. The studio is a pressure cooker, especially for you with your talent, money, and career on the line. Both producer and engineer should be people you can stand “simmering” together with for long days at a time. If the producer recommends an engineer who’s familiar with the type of music you’re doing (an expert in acoustic music can be fine; a classical Grammy is not required), it implies good chemistry, too.
Costs depend partly on your location. Producers usually quote either a project or a day rate and will estimate the number of days required. The rate for an engineer and studio ranges from $30 to over $100/hour. For the recording phase, figure an average of one hour per song to record art songs with piano accompaniment. Despite variations in length and the number of takes it will require, I’ve discovered that’s how it tends to average out. Allow time for microphone setup, sound checks, and occasional glitches. And don’t plan on recording longer than about four hours per session. Not only will you be tired, so will your engineer and producer. Schedule a “bumper” (extra) session or two. You can cancel if you don’t need them.
Venue
If you’re doing piano-accompanied music, pick a studio with a fine instrument. You can record “on location,” using mobile equipment, but your engineer can’t control external noise sources or potential piano issues. You can also rent a piano. I was loaned a wonderful Steinway by a local concert series for my first record and only had to pay for moving it to the studio. But that constrained my recording period to how long I could keep the piano there. My first CD, of music by Otto Luening and Robert Starer, was recorded in a whirlwind two weeks. A cold would have knocked that plan flat.
For my latest CD—music by and with Hudson Valley composers—I used a studio with its own fine Steinway. That continuity became important when the progress of sessions—not to mention my life—was interrupted three times within three years by freak car accidents, attendant whiplash injuries, orthopedic surgeries, and vocal and emotional fallout. Five years later, my one-year project was done. (This may be an extreme example of the need for persistence mentioned earlier.) Keep the elements as simple and controllable as you can just in case Murphy and his Law pay a visit.
What About a Live Recording?
Concert recording has spontaneity, excitement, as well as audience noise, and is generally lower in cost. Studio recording provides acoustical control and the freedom to fix or re-do problem spots. A sad truism: the shift in the way people now experience most music—recordings, not concerts—has raised the bar on flubs, intonation, and sonic quality to an expectation of near-perfection. Unless you can record at least two performances in the same hall, to inter-cut during editing, you probably won’t end up with commercial-grade raw material. But if you’re doing a one-night-only of those Strauss songs with an orchestra that’s paying you to sing with them, do look into permission and costs to get that concert recorded—along with the dress rehearsal. While there’s a significant acoustical difference between an empty hall and a full one, your engineer can make some electronic compensations.
Recording Session Decisions for You and Your Two New Best Friends
Record “concert style” or in separate booths?
I prefer having everyone in the same room for eye, ear, and intuitive contact. Recording in separate booths is a learned technique. Listening through headphones can affect intonation as well as blunt your timing, and recording can take longer because the ensemble effect is harder to achieve. On the other hand, separate booths allow more options during mixing and editing to pull out each person’s best performances. With a “concert style” setup, there’s always bleed-through from one mike to another, so your edit-mix options are more complex and limited.
Analog or digital?
Everything ultimately becomes digital. But on my Luening/Starer CD, we recorded on 3-inch analog tape, then transferred the material to digital for editing, mixing, and mastering. I’ve always liked analog’s sense of the “floor” under the music. The recording phase was pricier—but wait! Digital recording picks up many sounds that analog smoothes over. When your engineer has to spend time minimizing every little spit bubble you didn’t know you had in your mouth while holding those perfect vowels, the two modes become more cost-comparable. Keep in mind, however, that not every studio does analog recording anymore.
Microphone selection and placement
Your engineer may hit immediately on the right combination of mikes, but you should listen to test playbacks and try a couple of voice microphones when you do the initial setup. Since you’ll be doing this CD over numerous sessions, a smart engineer takes Polaroids of the positioning for next time.
Studio, Phase 2: In the Booth
What exactly are editing, mixing, and mastering? Editing is the process of choosing and seamlessly assembling portions from each take of a song that make the best complete version. Mixing is the adjustment of sounds relative to each other in the edited track: more cello here, voice there, reducing extraneous noises. Mastering is the mysterious end process, often sent out to a specialized company, that includes setting tracks’ ideal spacing and volume, and imparting that “new-record sheen” via programs that can even out, compress and enhance the sound.
Here’s the biggest budget and scheduling surprise: for editing and mixing, plan on at least twice the studio time you allowed for recording.
Should you participate in this phase? I do. My producer, engineer, and I have great working chemistry, and I love the whole studio process. Plus I’m the one who knows what color I intended here, what consonant or vowel timing is needed there But often just the producer and engineer do the editing and mixing, referring questions and results to the client at each stage.
It is crucial that you listen to your raw takes thoroughly before you go into the editing booth. Create a “roadmap” with your producer for each track showing which sections to use from which takes, plus alternatives in case an edit isn’t feasible. Don’t figure this out from scratch on engineering time.
Which leads us to: How are you going to pay for this, besides your own freelance pocket?
Budgeting
The subject merits an article all its own, but here are some tips.
Create a simple spreadsheet of expected outlays and income. This will not only help you revise your budget easily when elements change, it will be part of a professional-looking package for grant applications. If people are donating services, put their normal cost in the expense column and the value of their contribution under income. It shows prospective foundations that you’ve met certain expenses.
Decide what you can afford to spend personally. Schedule new work sessions as funds become available.
Investigate grants. Look for national ones that fit your subject matter, and regional/local sources. Visit the Foundation Center in Manhattan or a satellite office near you.
Secure matching funds. Many large corporations have programs matching employee contributions to non-profits. Line up a fiscal sponsor that has Federal 501(c)3 status. NYFA, the New York Foundation for the Arts, is one example, but any non-profit you know could serve to channel the contributions. Typically, fiscal sponsors charge 5-10% of the money that passes through, paying project bills out of the remainder.
Work through your personal contacts. Peruse donor lists of local arts organizations. Do you know any of these people? Better yet, do they know your work? You now can offer tax-deductibility for contributions! Create a pre-release subscription plan for friends and family to buy their autographed copies in advance. Announce that you’ll thank $100-and-over donors in the booklet.
Commercial Label, or Self-publishing?
Here’s the bottom line on a complex subject: Even though sales through one’s own imprint are pure profit, and outlets like Amazon and CD Baby make internet distribution available to individuals, seek out a label if you want your CD in stores and to be taken as seriously as possible. The prestige, distribution network, and know-how of labels counts for a lot, not to mention saving you a year of grassroots marketing. Most “boutique labels”—smaller ones with a particular catalog focus—work on what once was considered the “vanity press” model: you provide the master, plus $3000-$5000 for post-production costs (design, duplication, marketing). It’s not vanity anymore; it’s the state of the industry. You’ll receive a contracted number of disks free and can buy more at their artist rate. Ask prospective labels what they’re doing about single-track download sales, one of the waves of the future.
If you issue the CD on your own, use a post-production firm that offers a package deal from booklet design through shrink-wrapping. Disk Makers gets high industry marks for quality and timeliness. They also do mastering, postcards and posters, and provide your $750 bar code free.
Either way you decide to bring your baby out into the world, you’ve been collecting biographies and photos of your fellow musicians, taking candids at sessions, writing program notes and checking translations, right? Now that you’ve put it all together, savor the moment of handing it over for completion, and start planning your release party!
