In this article Dom Morley argues the case for pre-production, what it is and why we should still be doing it.

What Is Pre-production? It’s a thing of the past, that’s what it is! Preproduction is something that you had to do when studios were expensive places and time in them was limited. You did preproduction in a rehearsal room with your band, so you could walk into an expensive studio and be ready to go. Now that everyone has DAW software on their own computers - or even on their phones - it’s not necessary anymore. The proverbial ‘studio clock’ is no longer ticking. 

Well yes, but also no. 

While all of that is correct, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for preproduction in the modern world. The need to be fully rehearsed-up so that you can be in and out of a studio quickly is less important these days but being prepared for your session still has massive advantages. If we break down what decisions were made in preproduction, we can see if they are still relevant and useful today. 

What key / what tempo?

The question of what key the song should be in is primarily based around the singer. With the full melody already written (or else you wouldn’t even be in the preproduction phase yet) the band can try the song out in a few different keys and see which one allows the singer to give his or her best performance. Tempo is similar - although a certain tempo will probably be in mind from the very conception of a song, nailing down exactly what the best tempo should be for the best performances (or even if a recording should be done to a click at all) can all be tried out and experimented with. 

Still relevant?

Absolutely. Whilst you can change both the tempo and pitch of your song after you’ve started recording within your DAW, sound quality will almost always suffer as a result. Unless you are operating entirely with soft synths and MIDI - as well as using no samples at all - a change in either of these parameters will require audio files to be stretched, squeezed or tuned. A loss in quality unfortunately comes with these processes, and if it’s across a lot of tracks or a long time then the loss is more obvious. On top of that, the playing and musicianship will be led by the tempo of the track. Change this and (unless you intend to re-record the instruments) the whole thing can start to sound unnatural. Nailing down the pitch and tempo before you start will save you time and ensure a far better quality of recording. 

What Is The Arrangement?

When everything was recorded to tape it was a real pain to change the arrangement of a song - especially for the engineer who had to cut the tape up! All the sections were worked out in preproduction - and ideally the track had been gigged a little too, in order to get a sense of an audience’s reaction to various permutations of the arrangement. 

Still relevant?

I think so. Obviously, these days cut and paste are your friend and changing the arrangement of a song is actually easier than the recording of it. This freedom is one of the reasons I definitely don’t long for the days of recording to tape to return - it’s a creative godsend. Having said that, I still think the arrangement should be worked out beforehand as much as possible, and for two reasons. The first is that a half-decent musician will perform differently as the song progresses. Choruses will likely get stronger as we go along, the second verse could well be busier than the first, and so on. These subtle changes don’t happen if the structure isn’t laid out and decided upon before recording starts.

The other reason is efficiency. If you can continue to change the arrangement even as you’re mixing, then the chances are you will. This is a feature of the abundance of modern life, and is variously called ‘overchoice’, ‘decision paralysis’, the ‘paradox of choice’ and so on. More options slow you down. I actually know one musician who writes and arranges in one DAW and then mixes in another. If he wants to change something when he’s mixing then he needs to go back to the other DAW, change the part and re-transfer. This may seem overly elaborate, but it keeps him efficient and productive - and anything you can do to push those two parameters is a good thing. 

Enforced Simplicity

Another aspect of the traditional preproduction process was to run through all the potential songs to pick which ones to record. This could be with a full band, or a just a singer with a guitar or piano. The huge advantage of this set-up was that the songs were being presented in a simple way, with no elaborate effects or production work. In this format it’s much easier to tell which songs are strong and ready to go, and which still need more time and more work. 

Still relevant?

Probably more so than ever before. Now that you can put together a very professional sounding backing track with relative speed and ease (I realise the word ‘relative’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting here - I mean relative to going into an expensive studio and recording it all with musicians) means it’s easier to get carried away with a track that sounds good in terms of production, but is actually lacking in terms of melody and structure. Deciding on which songs are worth pursuing purely on the basis of the quality of the song is something that will never go out of style.

It can be time consuming and it’s not the most glamorous or exciting part of making music but putting some effort into preproduction can not only make you more efficient in the long run - it can also get you better results in your recordings. And for that reason alone, it’s got to be worth trying.

More Recording Resources From Dom Morley

Dom is the founder of the Mix Consultancy, a zero risk (money back guarantee) way to get notes on your tracks to help improve the sound. Whether you're an artist who likes to mix all their own work, a composer putting together a pitch on a limited budget, or an engineer who wants a discreet second opinion before sending a mix off to a client - we're here to help.

“I just completed a mix with the help of Dom Morley & The Mix Consultancy. The mix we turned over was qualitatively better than the one I would have gone with on my own.

It's been said that "a mix is never done, it's just abandoned", but the truth is, you *really* do feel a sense of completion and closure having worked with Dom because you know in your heart that you did everything you possibly could to get the best result possible for the client.

The beauty behind the process is that not only do you get a better mix for your client, but Dom's advice contains all kinds of gold that you can borrow and deploy in future mixes.”

Geoff Manchester

From engineering tips to production advice, EQ and compression basics to mix specifics, we’ll give you the information and guidance that you need to take your mixes to the next level. Find out more here

In addition to the one-to-one advice Dom has produced some excellent online courses;

• Everything You Need To Know About Recording Vocals
  Preproduction, DAW set-up, preparing the studio, psychology, equipment. Literally everything you need to know.

• Mixing 101

  This is a short, free, mini-course on the four things that you really need to know in order to get great mixes, and the four things that you really don't!