5 Things to Know About Online Recording and Session Musicians

Digital technologies and the internet have combined to birth a brand-new specialty within the broader music industry: online recording. Companies offering online recording and music production are popping up across the country. Most of them also operate physical studios staffed by reputable session musicians.

New York-based Supreme Tracks is one such studios. They say the online model allows them to offer professional quality production services at a lower cost and within a shorter time frame. They and their competitors are gradually helping more and more musicians turn their works into marketable products.

If this intrigues you, here are five things to know about online recording and session musicians:

1. What Online Recording Is Not

First and foremost, it is important to know what online recording is not. It is not a scenario in which you plug an instrument into a computer, get online, and play while someone in a remote location records you. Such a scenario would not lend itself well to high quality music production.

2. What It Is

So what is online recording? It is an environment in which a company like Supreme Tracks offers clients all the standard music recording and production services facilitated by online collaboration. Instead of everyone involved in a project having to meet at a physical studio in New York, each person can contribute their part online.

3. Session Musicians Are Part of the Deal

In the online recording environment, session musicians are almost always part of the deal. If you were a composer working with Supreme Tracks to produce music you hoped to pitch to a TV studio, they would provide the session musicians.

Some of the musicians might live locally, making it possible for them to go right to the studio to record their parts. Others might record remotely, then send their parts to the studio where they are added in. Either way, you don’t have to go to the trouble of auditioning and hiring session musicians on your own.

4. Services Are Offered À La Carte

Under the online recording studio model, services are usually offered on an à la carte basis. Maybe you are looking for a full suite of services covering everything from arranging to recording and post-production. All you do is compose the original piece and then turn it over to your producer.

Meanwhile, the same studio might work with an accomplished band that is putting together a project but is lacking one or two musicians. The studio’s session musicians record the necessary parts and that’s that. The band incorporates those parts into its project.

5. Work Gets Done Faster

One of the most attractive benefits of online recording is that the work tends to get done faster. Having to assemble everyone in one place requires managing logistics. It can take months to get a project done simply because travel and schedules are so difficult to synchronize.

Online recording encourages contributors to collaborate online. It allows producers to select musicians, technicians, etc. Who can begin working on a project within a reasonable amount of time. In the end, it is possible to get things done in a matter of weeks rather than months.

There is a lot more to online recording and session musicians than this post was able to discuss. Needless to say, the online model has taken the music world by storm. Between digital technology and the internet, online recording has changed the way music is produced. It has streamlined production, increased efficiency, and reduced costs across the board. That is a big plus for artists hoping to get their music professionally produced.