Talk about a trial by fire....

So I have recorded about 8 tracks of my own solo stuff with full instrumentation, then about 14 songs with my current band, a 3-4 acoustic guitar/vocal songs. I just last week launched the website for my studio, a facebook page, craigslist add, and passed out some business cards at a few gigs to other bands.  I am wanting to start recording music for other musicians and make a little cash to put into more gear.
 
   I get a call today from an old friend and former bandmate who's current band (hardcore metal) is doing well and I had heard they have been recording their new record with big time producer Matt Laplant (he has recently produced Sevendust & Skindred among others).   The record is almost done (Matt will apparently be mastering it on sunday) but the band decided there is one more song they want on this record but funds are starting to run low on the recordings budget...  They saw my posts on facebook, went to the site and like the sounds of what I have done and would like me to record this song for them next week.   haha!   I mean I am up for whatever challenge comes my way and will take it on with all that I have got, but having my song production on the same record in between songs he has done is kinda like.... If my friends thought I was funny so I decided to give stand up comedy a try and then landed a spot between say Ron White & Larry the cable guy for my debut gig.
NO PRESSURE AT ALL!
  
   Anyhow, I told him right off the bat that I need at least 2-3 of the songs they just did with Matt and a couple days to analyze them prior to tracking this song so I can make sure we get as close as possible to the sounds, Eq balances, and stereo image.   I am really looking forward to this now and I can't wait to see how I stack up!
 
Any tips?  Now is definately a time that I could use them!

Robby has it right and so do you. Simply use their tracks as reference and even A/B yours and theirs (for sonic compatibility).

At least that's what I would do, but I'm not sure I have the skills either.

No tips Chuck, that's all out of my league at the moment.  Pretty cool though.  You will do great.

Way to go Chuck,
Excited to see you grow with this!!!
Look forward to the updates.
You have a great outlook on things and will do just fine, who knows, ya might teach them something as well.  Everyone is different in someway which isnt a bad thing 

Best Wishes

What would be cool is if Matt allowed you to study one of the actual project files so you could see how he panned, EQ'd, compressed, etc. the tracks.  That would be a great learning experience.  If it were me I'd pay money for that, but he may be very protective over his secrets, as he has every right to be.

Have fun Chuck!

best regards,
mike

I would take a finished mix of their best song and import it into a track in the new project. That would give you a handy reference to compare/analyze with a quick click of the solo button. Throw an instance of SPAN on it, and another on your master. Put both into Mastering mode, which is slower and better-suited for a broader overview. 

Don't bother with actual EQ-matching; that'll likely just waste time. All you're trying to do is avoid gross differences, such as a mix that's clearly bass-heavy compared to the other finished tracks.

Should be loads of fun, as well as a learning experience, not to mention a great credential. It appears you're quite concerned about the mix and how well it will fit with the other tracks, and based on what I've seen/heard from you on this forum, I'm betting you'll do just fine.

Equally important to your mixing skills, in my opinion, will be your people skills during this process. Ask any successful engineer/producer, and you'll find they are masters at managing time and the varied personalities/situations you'll encounter while recording. 

Creating an environment and atmosphere for the musicians that allows their best performances to come through will make the mixing process much easier and more rewarding for all involved.

Oh yeah, and keep Danny's number on speed dial!

@Chuck and Danny:  This thread has become a favorite just because of what ideas you guys have put together here.

BTW...Danny...your video looks good with you picking away so fast. lol! Is that the only video you actually have up or am I missing something here?

I would not even want to listen to the other songs at first. Just do YOUR best and get a great sound...they might get you to re do the whole album! Any way, I agree with Dave about the EQ, the Mastering engineer will deal with that. Mastering is all about blending the album to one sound, of course you don't want to be to far off the mark. Good luck, hope all is good.

Danny Danzi

 .... So you just may surprise yourself here Chuck. Just do what you do the best that you can brother. 
 
At any rate, I wish you the best of luck with this. I got faith in you man! :)

As do I.
They have called on you because of what they believe you can bring to the table.
Have faith in yourself, and trust your instinct.
I always told my kids you can do anything if you set your mind to it.
Don't sweat the pressure. Just stay focused, and do it.
You can do this.

trimph1


@Chuck and Danny:  This thread has become a favorite just because of what ideas you guys have put together here.

BTW...Danny...your video looks good with you picking away so fast. lol! Is that the only video you actually have up or am I missing something here?

Aww man you're too kind, thanks trimph. Glad you enjoyed the thread. I'm anxious to see how Chuck does with this. He's more than capable of kicking butt on this...it all depends on what he gets faced with when the recording takes place. I want to see how much he's learned from us working together on his project. I have the feeling he won't need my sorry @ss like he once did as he has a pretty good grasp on this stuff now. :)
 
As for the video's, (Chuck forgive me for corrupting the thread) contrary to what people may think, I actually don't exploit much of that stuff for two reasons really.
 
1. I'm quite shy. I hate cameras and live video and have a bunch of hidden vids on my you tube channel that haven't been shared. I just do little tests of things, post them to you tube and get sick to my stomach when I see and hear myself so into the "private archives" they go. LOL! There's only one vid on my channel which is probably the one you're talking about.
 
2. I have a horrible problem with severe suckage live. I can sit here in my studio or in my little man cave and play all sorts of stuff while having a conversation with you at the same time. Record me doing it and something disgusting happens. I just seem to get so nervous, I blank out. It's something I've been dealing with since 1996. I got in a dirt bike accident that left me unconscious for 30 minutes...and I have a little memory loss from it as well as severe vertigo for the rest of my life due to a permanently damaged inner ear. I hear fine, I just have the balance of a new born pony some days.
 
I can be so well rehearsed in my playing that I don't have to think about what I'm playing and will play it perfectly every time. Put me on a stage and I just seem to lose my way and either improvise or...make a fool of myself. There's not a single live vid I've done where I've felt happy. Actually wait..there is one but it was a test video and it didn't look too good. LOL!
 
But if you ARE curious to see a few of my blunders, my nic on you tube is MAJICHANDS. There are several live video's from something that will show up as "Guitar War Meetup". We used to have a meetup for a website called guitar war every year in Georgia. So most of the videos you'll see come from my visits there from like 2004 to 2008 I believe. Quite a few great players that you'll enjoy better than me because they know how to play and don't choke live.
 
I'm also in a Van Halen tribute band called Skeleton Crew. Quite a few horrible videos of me sucking it up floating around the net as well as on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/skeletoncrewnj and a few on you tube. Just try not to think too low of me after you see some of these....they are quite bad I'm afraid. And I don't drink or do any drugs...I'm just the King of Choke live. :( Thanks again.
 
-Danny

Well the 1st session was last night and went pretty well.    I set up a couple 57's on the guitar cabs, recorded the midi from the drums, sent the audio from v drums to my PA for monitoring, had a couple 58's up to catch scratch vocals going into the PA and then from an Aux on the PA board to a channel to record them.
They nailed down a great performance (drum wise) of the song on the 3rd take.  We wen't back and started tracking the other instruments after that.  In 3 hours we got the Keeper drum take, 1 clean guitar down (2 layers), and 2 distorted guitars (with 2 layers each) and a scratch vocal.  I was pretty happy with that.
The next session we'll get the bass and vocals down and I think we should be good.

   Then I sat around after they left and spent about an hour and 45 min slip editing to clean up the guitar tracks, playing sround with a rough panning scheme, tweaking some drum eq's, and setting up the additional buses I think I'll need/want for additional processing.  Then I got a good roughed in mix going of all that we have down so far.  Cool tune, cool band.  That was fun.  More updates to come!

Yeah, thank god that didn't happen!  I am still running producer 8.5.3 and I am constantly reminding myself to HIT SAVE!!!  Just in case.  
   Yes, the band seemed very happy actually, we were relaxed joking around and had a good time.  They were already making comments like "well when we come back next time to do a full lenth...."  So that was cool to hear.   Yeah one of them called me after they left the session to say how excited they were and that he thought it sounded great.  Which suprised me frankly because they have been working in a much bigger/better studio and I hadn't touched a single EQ yet or installed a single plug on the project so...?  I guess I'll take that as a compliment on my mic placements?  haha

My thinking ia why try to make it sound the same, you want it to be the stand out track on the ALBUM. Shoot at mediocrity you will get mediocrity. I don't care if it is produced by Abbey Road. Your sound is UNIQUE! (that's why they came to you in the first place...(thinking now)

So do what you know how to do, would be my advice!