An Introduction to Studio

To those of you who have written your chords, rehearsed your raps, and want to make the leap to indie stardom:

From the other side of the mixing desk, hello. WKCO happily presents Talkback, a series of DIY recording and production tutorials designed to help you mix your band’s E.P., secure your track’s place on the Spotify “Hyperpop” playlist, or put out that Christmas-themed trap mixtape. Over the next few months, the WKCO blog will roll out articles and videos to teach you how to record, produce, mix, master, and publish your music completely independently, from rough idea to streamable track. 

The availability of professional audio software and equipment has allowed musicians to craft their sound without the bureaucratic oversight of record companies or exclusive expense of top-notch recording studios. Brockhampton produced and recorded their Billboard-charting Saturation trilogy in the collective’s house in South Central, Los Angeles. When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? was recorded entirely in the house Billie Eilish grew up in with her brother Finneas (though it was released by a major label). JPEGMAFIA frequently talks about the significance of his DIY approach and the importance of owning your music rather than selling it to a record label (more on that later in the series). While examples of number one records made entirely in someone’s bedroom may not be incredibly common, many musicians have used their DIY engineering skills as a way to break into the mainstream. At the same time, others have used their status as industry veterans to take a more DIY approach later in their careers, like Fiona Apple on her latest record Fetch the Bolt Cutters. Regardless of your motivation to learn how to Do-It-Yourself, we applaud your effort. 

Each week we will publish a new article on a particular aspect of the production process. Starting with basic introductions to the tools at your disposal, we will guide you through the best gear to use for your project and how to creatively use what you already own to fill in the gaps. From there, we will explain how to synthesize your best recordings into a final arrangement, walk you through creating a clean and clear mix, mastering your track to perfection, and finally how you can release it. As this series unfolds, we want to know what will be the most useful content to share with you. We will pay attention to your comments on the articles and adjust the way we approach the series based on your feedback. Be vocal! If you aren’t getting the help you need, we want to fix it. We are hoping that this series will spin out into several others based on what you all want to see. A beatmaking series? A folk-punk songwriting manifesto? We’re itching to nerd out with you so tell us what you want to learn and we’ll help you get the hi-hats rolling, the bass thumping, and heads bopping. Now get your favorite pen, pull all the blue light out of your screen, and let’s get into it. 

With care,

Talkback