The idea for Songbird Recording was an inspired accident.
A man walks into a brewery…
I was at a friend’s birthday party at an open mic night at Headworks Brewing in the small town of Enumclaw, Washington. There were a mix of pros and amateurs who played. Some performed only covers, while some crooned their own songs out to the universe. Some had probably recorded their original songs or covers before, and some had never even tried recording, let alone releasing an album.
When our turn came around, my buddies and I got up and played a few songs. Afterward, as we listened to the other performers, a thought occurred to me. What if there was a recording/mixing/mastering service that exclusively catered to folks like this? Gears started turning in the ol’ noggin.
While imbibing an IPA, I did a bit of “market research” by talking to as many people as I could who performed that night. It turned out they all loved the idea.
My key takeaways from those conversations were the following:
- Anyone with a microphone and a computer can record their own songs or albums these days, but not everyone wants to deal with that. Not everyone knows how to record, mix and master their songs to commercial standards, or has the interest and patience to learn how–even if it is “just guitar and voice”.
- Recording in “real” commercial studios (while it can be an amazing experience) can also be quite cost prohibitive for a “living room” singer/songwriter who just wants to capture guitar and voice, or keys and voice–or for a solo cover musician who simply wants to record a few high-quality guitar and voice cover songs with which to get more gigs.
- Many performers at open mics are brand new to recording, and would love a reasonably-priced introduction and someone to patiently guide them through the process.
- Some newer singer/songwriters would dig not only recording and releasing their songs, but also having some production, writing, and/or arranging input from an experienced songwriter/producer/engineer–as long as they could afford it.
So, I thought to myself…
This might just work!
Okay, so is a studio or service that specializes in capturing/mixing/mastering stripped down performances, multi-tracked or live (but making them sound great for a much cheaper than a commercial studio since it would never involve huge productions or full bands) some revolutionary idea? Probably not.