Regular Price $69 Sale Price $39.99

Video / Session 1 (Total run time 2:47:17)

Analyzing the demo/arrangement: 00.00
Miking: 31:18
First run-throughs: 1:41:00
Running the track down: 2:25.00

Video / Session 2 (Total run time 3:25:05)

Routining and recording the tracking session: 00:00
Repairs: 1:38:25
Recording acoustic guitar: 1:49:45
Recording vocals: 2:27:55
Recording the guitar solo: 3:01:19

Video / Session 3 (Total run time 2:59:06)

Overdubs: Tambourine:
Overdubs: Keyboards:
Session Q&A:
Tuning vocals / comping guitar:
Mixing:

This is a completely different experience from your typical ‘cooking show’ instructional video, where everything goes quickly and smoothly and it seems to take a matter of minutes to settle on the perfect arrangement, choose the right mics, place them, apply EQ, and then capture the perfect sounds and take. Life just isn’t like that and the value of being able to sit back and soak up the twists and turns of an actual recording session is that you’ll be able to relate with and truly learn from what it takes for even professionals to create ‘magic in the studio.’ Truth is it’s not magic, it’s knowing what you’re doing and applying hard work.

In Session 1, see how Alan takes a rough iPhone demo and pares it down into the beginnings of a commercially viable arrangement. Watch in real time how Alan mics drums and hear his running commentary on chosen mics and mic positioning. Discover how Alan elegantly integrates his DAW and the Neve 5088 board to get the best analog sounds with fader control whilst still preserving the full power of ProTools and plug-ins. See how Alan pays equal attention to sounds, parts and performances. This is truly a master class in production.

In Session 2 things start to get a bit more serious. The arrangement gets really dialed in and tightened up. Finally, the band gets a good take - aside from one or two slips that need a quick repair. Overdubs start with acoustic guitar and then it’s straight into vocals as James Durbin could only be at the session for this first day. James' vocals are just astounding. Session 2 concludes with a used-to-be-obligatory-but-now-all-too-rare guitar solo.

The final session that took place on the second day of recording completes the overdubs with tambourine and keyboard strings and percussion. Before pre-mixing, engineer Noah Bruskin goes over some of the processes and plug-ins that were used on the tracking session and overdubs. Although James’ vocals were unreal they were, actually, ‘real,’ and one note needed a bit of tuning in Melodyne. Yay, he’s human after all! A quick comp of the the guitar solo follows and then it’s straight into the mix.

We make no apology for the length of this video record. We could have sliced and diced into a TMZ-style 5 or 10 mins but then it would bear absolutely no resemblance to a real recording session. Fun to watch maybe but you’d learn nothing. Here, you have more than 9 hours to sit back and let the recording process wash over you and soak in. Priceless nuggets of information are dotted throughout but it’s the full scale of the recording that will be the most helpful. Recording takes time.

Price: $69.95

Producer: Alan Parsons
Engineer: Alan Parsons / Noah Bruskin
ProTools: Noah Bruskin
Songrwriters: Julian Colbeck & James Durbin
Song: Give ‘Em My Love
Vocals: James Durbin
Keyboards: Tom Brooks
Drums: Danny Thompson
Bass: Guy Erez
Guitar: Jeff Marshall