What is good studio etiquette during a recording session?

Why does studio etiquette matter so much?

A recording session is a small room full of people trying to catch one good performance, usually against the clock. Most of what gets called studio etiquette exists to protect that performance and that time, not to make anyone feel like a guest in a museum.

The band that leaves happiest is rarely the most talented one in the building. It is the one that showed up ready, kept the room calm and let the singer hear themselves think. The habits below are the ones session players and engineers learn early, and they work just as well for a band booking its first day.

What time should we get to the studio?

Get there early. Session musicians are taught to arrive half an hour before the downbeat, and a band with a van full of gear needs that time more than they do. Loading in, finding a place for the cases and getting everyone's headphones comfortable all take longer than people expect.

Ask on the booking call how load-in works and whether your block starts when the doors open or when the first note is played. Knowing that ahead of time saves the most awkward conversation of the day.

Who is in charge during a recording session?

One person runs the session, and everyone else lets them. Usually that is the producer, sometimes it is the engineer or the artist, but there should be exactly one voice saying "rolling", "let's do another" and "that's the one".

Notes still matter. Give them to that person between takes rather than calling out over the talkback while a player is trying to focus. If two people in the band want opposite things, settle it with each other in the lounge, not through the player in the booth.

Opinions are welcome when they help. A sentence that starts with "it sounds like" another artist can land as a compliment or an insult depending on the artist, so describe what you hear instead: faster, darker, less busy.

How quiet does everyone need to be in a studio?

Quiet whenever the red light is on, and quiet in the control room while takes are being judged. Microphones in the live room are sensitive enough to hear a conversation through a door, and a singer listening back to a take needs to hear the take, not a debate about dinner.

Turn phones off, not just to silent. A phone buzzing on a music stand ends up on the recording, and a phone in someone's hand between takes pulls their head out of the song. The lounge is the place for calls, catching up and scrolling.

If you are not playing on the next song, the lounge is also the best seat in the house for staying out of the way.

Can we bring friends to the studio?

Ask first, and keep the list short. Every extra person in the control room is another opinion, another conversation and another body between the engineer and the speakers. Some performers play better with a friend in the room, and that is worth saying when you book.

Partners, managers and photographers are all reasonable guests when they have a reason to be there. A party is better saved for the release show.

How should we treat the studio's gear?

Ask before you move anything. A microphone that has been nudged an inch changes the sound of everything recorded after it, and nobody may notice until the mix. The same goes for amp settings, the console and the headphone boxes: if something needs to change, say so and let the engineer change it.

Keep drinks off the console and away from amps and keyboards. Treat house instruments the way you would want your own treated.

Bring your own gear in labelled cases and keep track of it. Anything you bring is your responsibility while it is here, which is what the liability terms on the studio policies page describe in legal language.

What should we do at the end of a session?

The last half hour decides whether the next session starts smoothly, so do not spend it all packing.

1. Ask what happens to the session files and in what format you will receive them. You should leave with your own copy rather than relying on anybody else's drive.
2. Write down what is left to do: which songs need vocals, which parts need fixing, what you want to hear on the rough mixes.
3. Pack your gear, check the booths for cables, capos and lyric sheets, and leave the room the way you found it.
4. Thank the people who worked on your record. It is a small room and a long career.