In an ideal world you'd get all your players, (who are enthusiastic about your project, of course!) together to rehearse prior to the session. Then,they would all come in and play live. Good studios have isolation booths for drummers and vocalists, although if you're on a budget you may not have access to all these amenities. Try to at least get your "basic tracks", ie drums, bass and guitar/keyboards down on one take for maximum interaction. This way the track will feel good. An alternative, if you don't happen to have a band at your beck and call, is to have your preliminary tracks done at home with MIDI equipment and have your drummer and/or bass player play with a click along with your tracks. A click track is both a good and bad thing. It makes it easier when it's time to do overdubs, but it can lead to dull and mechanical performances. The upside is, you will have total isolation between overdubbed tracks, which allows for more flexibility in the editing and mix stages.

If you're doing most everything live and if the players' time is good, you don't really need a click. Go for the gusto! Most bands do a lot of overdubbing; it has been my experience that a click is invaluable for most pop music. Experienced players can make the music breathe while playing to a click, but something is lost.

Rule #3:

Getting the right players for a song is like casting a movie: just because someone is a great actor doesn't necessarily mean they're right for the part!

Think of yourself as a director and each song as a movie. In order to get the results you want, you need a pool of "actors", people whose strengths and weaknesses are known to you. You may even choose to write, as Duke Ellington did, for a particular player. This is the best way to get the kind of performance you want.

Of course, if you already have a band this is irrelevant. Presumably you are playing the kind of music that you do well. But if you're working on your own or your project requires different ensembles for each song, you may need to hire a different "band" for each tune.

Still, no matter how carefully you may hand pick your players, problems can arise. For example: you want your friend Charlie to play drums on your record. You've played with him live for years, so he seems like a logical choice. Then you get him into the studio and find that he is inexperienced in recording or that he chokes due to nervousness. His playing is nconsistent. His snare hits don't sound uniform when they should, or his time is a bit dodgy. Sorry, you're out $500 bucks with a bunch of useless drum tracks!. Sometimes you can't know these things until the moment of truth. And recordings do have a way of telling the truth. And the truth is not always pretty. And the truth can be quite costly. So, pick your playerse wisely.

Rule #4:

Be organized. Make sure all charts are clear and that all players get them in advance

While we're on the subject, headphone mixes are critical for getting the best performance possible out of your player(s). If they can't hear themselves and everyone else they're playing with, their performance will most certainly suffer. This really can't be emphasized enough. Take the time to make everyone happy with their headphone mix!

Rule #5:

Don't be bullied! If you don't like what you're hearing let the player know. Don't allow an impatient engineer or anyone in the control room to tell you what to do!

There will be people with their own agendas: an engineer who is a would-be producer. A player who thinks he knows more about how your song should sound than you do!. A friend who's hanging around making ridiculous suggestions. In most cases you should ignore these suggestions, well intentioned as they might be. However, if someone has a creative solution to a musical problem and it is the right thing, please take it to heart! Don't be so rigid as to not allow for a fortuitous mistake or an off the cuff suggestion that just happens to be brilliant!

Rule #6:

Don't forget to work with a graphic designer while your finishing your project. Otherwise you might be waiting for artwork while sitting on a finished master.

Make sure you have selected a graphics designer you can communicate with. They tend to be sensitive lot, as most artists are. It's important that you talk with other people who have worked with the designer, as your in initial interview may not reveal possible problems with regards to the character of your working relationship. Can they take direction? Do they finish their work in a timely manner? Find out how many revisions are included in the contract. Will there be hidden costs? These are the kinds of questions you need to ask past clients.

After you have decided upon a graphic designer, don't leave the design to the last minute. You must follow up and keeps tabs on the progress of your cover. Make sure you get any text or photos to the designer as soon as possible. Stay on top of it or you will be holding onto a finished master without any finished cover art. This happens all too often.