If your really serious about making a great album and aren’t looking to just enjoy the process of making it yourself then it’s well worth considering working with professionals. Professional engineers, producers and musicians have so many things to offer a project it’s almost impossible to go into them all now. Using a professional engineer in a proper studio will not only mean the technical skills have been honed over years worth of recording but the equipment and the acoustics will probably be far better than what you could put together yourself.

A good producer can really inject a new burst of life and inspiration into a project and help you see faults or weaknesses in songs that you’ve been performing the same way for years. Likewise professional session musicians can offer up ideas on harmony and feel or sometimes just play sometime better and tighter which can be the difference between a track sounding amateurish or professional and slick. The downside to this approach is obviously the cost. Most professionals will work something out for your budget if they’re into the material and so it’s worth asking around and seeing what they can do for you.

The most important thing is finding the right people for the project; there are nightmare stories out there of over bearing producers or insane session players simply wrecking really quite promising projects by the sheer weight of their unfortunate personalities. Another pitfall is learning to book the right musicians for the right sessions, for example just because he’s a great jazz guitarist doesn’t mean that you can stick him through a fuzz box and he’ll sound awesome on a rock record.

Some more tips.

1. When looking for people to work with it is always best to get a personal recommendation, try and find bands or musicians you know who have recorded a project you love and find out who was involved.
2. If you don’t have a personal connection then just start going through some album covers of artists and musicians that you love and see who worked on them. Try and be realistic, because Rick Rubin worked on a record you love doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily want to work on yours (unless you’ve got a serious budget that is!) Check out other local acts and indie artists work and see if they are working with people who may be interested in working with you. Do some research, send out some emails and see what leads come up.
3. Do a Google search or use either the Musicweek Directory or the Showcase Directory to check out what recording studios are nearby and then just go and visit them. Find out who’s been recording there recently and if your into the finished result.
4. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT! Decide beforehand on what sort of budget you want to spend and work out with the professionals your working with if that’s realistic. If working with a studio, check if the quote includes materials like CDRs and backup tapes and if VAT is included. Then get an agreement on paper that states the terms of the contract before the session starts. If your working with anyone who is putting input into the creative process then discuss if their fee will ‘buy out’ all their rights or if any royalties will be due on release, either way get it down on paper how much and how they will be paid. If working with a producer or musician discuss if they will be making any contributions to the song writing and if they will require being credited or if they will want a share of the publishing. This all isn’t necessarily because people are out to scam you, it’s just that sometimes people can have different expectations which are good to discuss before you start working.