REHEARSE: There can never be enough rehearsals prior to recording. Studio time is expensive and is not the place to hone the song.
SET BUDGET: Establish how much money you want to spend and gear your studio time to this. Weigh up the cost / quality issues to get the balance acceptable to you.
MORE REHEARSAL: One of the key ways to keep your project costs down!
TRACKING: Each instrument and voice is recorded onto separate recording tracks either in one take or several. Mistakes and intonation issues are corrected by "dropping-in" corretions
MIXING: Listening with the studio monitors the individual tracks are blended and panned (located in stereo image) to give the final track mix. Effects and any digital correction is made here.
MASTERING: The mix is passed through mastering tools to give the punch and clarity needed in today's music. The overall levels and sound of the individual CD tracks are normalized here.
ARTWORK: Dont forget to have someone work on the CD artwork so this is ready at the same time as the final CD master.
DUPLICATION: The CD master (DAO-mastered) is sent off to the duplication companies along with the artwork. This usually take 2-4 weeks.
