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How to record your tracks for your project
Once you've selected up to 7 producers to work on your project (and we've selected a few ourselves), you will need to record and upload the basic tracks for your song so that these producers can start their sketches.
These tracks should each be recorded separately (vocals separate from guitar/piano/ect) and to a steady beat/click/metronome. These tracks don't necessarily need to be a perfect performance, as you may still decide to re-record these tracks again after picking your selected producer. For an even more in depth explantation of how to record your tracks for your project, see below.
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how it's done
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how it's done
1. Choose your recording method
A. Use your own recording software and a decent mic. Even your smart phone can capture quality recordings if you can find a quiet spot.
B. Enlist the help of a friend to record you with their home recording equipment.
C. Find a home studio engineer near you using our directory of home studio engineers who can record your tracks for you at reasonable rates.
home recording gear
friend or local studio
ItyDity Home Studio Engineer
2. Record your tracks
A. Make sure your accompanying instrument is in tune. If you don’t already have a tuner, get one. There are a number of free tuning apps you can get for your phone. This is not to say you must use “standard tuning”, just that your guitar or other instrument should be in tune.
B. Record your track to a click track, metronome, or drum loop, set to your choice of BPM (Beats Per Minute) to match the desire tempo of your song. Now and then there are songs that are exceptions to this rule and sound better recorded without a steady tempo and where playing to a click would actually take away from the authenticity of the song, however as a general rule, if you want to make it feasible for producers to do the best with your song, the tracks should record to something set and steady.
C. If possible, record your vocal/s and accompanying instrument on different tracks. This is not a requirement but if you have the capability, this will give the producer maximum flexibility. So if you have home recording software (Garageband, Protools, ect) or a multi-track recorder you can A) record live but with 1 channel for your voice and 1 channel for your accompanying instrument or B) if you’re comfortable, record each part one at a time - first your instrument on it's own, then your vocal/s tracks on their own.
If you do end up recording separate tracks, it’s very important that when you upload them to ItyDity they start at the same point so that the timing lines up when they are played together. Don’t make the producer guess or have to take extra time to sync up your parts. Also, make sure you include a “mixed” version - where both (or all) of the parts are put together into a stereo file. This will be used as an additional reference for producers to go by.
3. Upload your song file
An mp3 is fine if you don’t intend to use any of these initially recorded tracks in the final mix of your song. But, if you do plan on keeping these initial recordings as the final recordings and do not plan to or are not sure if you will re-record them later, then you should export and upload your tracks as a higher quality file like a WAV or AIFF.
OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER
Your initial recordings can be re-recorded later, once you pick your winner
In the end, remember that these tracks may not be the used in the final production. The standard practice is that first you'll record the tracks as outlined above, second you'll receive rough draft proposals from producers, third you'll pick your selected producer and the two of you will continue to communicate to craft your song to perfection, and then fourth and finally you'll re-record your vocals and maybe even your instrumentation over the the newly produced track whether with you selected producer if they're local, with your own gear if your confident in your gear/abilities, or with a local engineer from our directory as outlined above.
In fact, in most cases - not all - a lead vocal recorded towards the end of the process is going to fit into the song better because at that point you'll most likely be feeling the song more now that it's fully produced and your vocal performance will reflect that.
If you already have ideas for additional instrumentation, let producers know
If you know that you hear certain additional instruments throughout your song, but you aren't able to play those instruments yourself, by all means let producers know! The simplest way to do this is to write it out in the description section when launching your project and just be as descriptive as possible. For example, if you know exactly where you'd like to hear a certain instrument in your song, you can even write that you'd like drums to come in at 1 minute and 20 seconds, or horns to come in during the second chorus, ect.
Don't stress out
In the end, don’t stress about this part. Perfection is not expected in these initial recordings/tracks and producers are not judging you. Any good producer is going to be able to determine the potential of your song by even the rawest of recordings. That’s one of the most important parts of their job. So remember to have fun and enjoy this step towards making great music!