Recording with us

Hadfield Audio is a location audio recording company run by Kyle Macdonald (producer) and Richard Apperley (engineer). We specialise in both organ and choral recordings for release on CD, as well as the recording of live concerts for archival, broadcast or album release.

Organism is a specialist church and chamber music label for audio recordings (CD and digital) as well as printed music and books. Audio recordings released on the label are primarily, but not exclusively, produced by Hadfield Audio.

Recording an album for release on either CD or as a digital download is a complicated process, and we have the knowledge and experience to help guide you through this. We believe firmly that this needs to be a collaborative exercise between Hadfield Audio / Organism and the artist(s) involved. The information below will help guide you through any decisions that need to be made. If you have further questions please contact Richard or Kyle using the contact page on this site.

Recording with Hadfield Audio

Venue
Permission to record in a venue, and access for practice, exploratory work and the recording itself is the responsibility of the artist. Many venues will charge for use of the space, and this cost needs to be met by the artist.

Repertoire
While repertoire naturally needs to be at the discretion of the artist, any choices will need to be discussed to make sure there is no conflict with another ongoing recording, and to ensure that the disc will be well balanced.

Recording dates
Dates to record depend on a number of factors – the availability of the venue, performer and engineer/producer as well as external factors such as other known events in the area.

Time scale
Recording and post-production is a process that should not be rushed. A typical timeline is:

• Recording sessions: three evenings, up to five hours each (including breaks)
• Editing: one – two weeks, depending on the complexity of the work
• Post production: two – three weeks, again depending on the complexity of the work
• Final review: one week
• Design: two – three weeks. This ideally should begin before recording commences
• Disc replication: two weeks

Careful planning is required to ensure the work is completed in a timely manner, and it is vital that the artist is well rehearsed prior to recording. Nerves will have an impact on even the most experienced performer, but adequate preparation will help this to be a minor issue. A well prepared performance will allow the sessions to run more smoothly, and will minimise the amount of editing to be done.

Producer
The producer has oversight of all aspects of the project, and plays a key role during the recording sessions themselves. The producer and artist will have a collaborative relationship, and it is the producer's responsibility to ensure that the best possible performance is recorded. This will include feedback on all aspects of performance, and it can be quite a stimulating experience for the performer. It is advisable that time is allowed in the weeks leading up to the sessions for the artist and performer to meet and look at aspects of the music together. The producer also has final say on all aspects of editing and post-production.

Engineer
The engineer is responsible for all technical aspects of the recording, including sourcing of equipment, set-up, recording, editing and post-production. During the sessions themselves the producer is listening to musical aspects, whilst the engineer is listening to the sound itself, including monitoring external noises.

Post-production and final review
This is the final stage of preparing the audio for release, and involves a lot of time and skill to ensure the recording sounds as natural as possible, and replays well on a number of different devices. The engineer and producer will work together in the first instance to produce a working master, which will then be discussed with the artist. Time will be spent listening to the recording at a number of locations with the artist to ensure that both parties are happy with the finished product. Once this has occurred, a final master will given to the artist which needs to be thoroughly checked. After this, a production master can be prepared, which includes all coding necessary for retail and broadcast.

Releasing Recordings with Organism

Design
Organism can provide design for all releases. Organism will create all artwork and liner note layout which is then rendered by Amstore (the company we use to replicate CDs). This rendering will incur an additional cost, depending on the complexity of the design. This cost will be included in your invoice from Amstore.

In order for the project to run smoothly it is highly desirable that this process is started well before recording commences. The information we require is:

• title of disc
• names, biography and photograph of performer(s)
• programme notes
• any specific requests for cover art / photographs

If the artist desires we are happy to work with other designers throughout this process.

All aspects of cover art and design is of key importance to Organism, and as such we retain final control over the look of the CD.

Replication
Once a production master and finalised artwork has been prepared, responsibility is passed onto the artist for replication of the disc. We use Amstore to replicate discs released on the Organism label. There are a number of options available, and we are happy to discuss these with you. These include both plastic and cardboard jewel cases, replication or duplication of the disc, number of pages in the CD booklet and the option to self assemble the finished product. It is advisable to contact them early to arrange a quote and to book the work in early to ensure it progresses smoothly, and we can help guide you through this process.

Barcodes and ISRC codes
Barcodes are essential for retail outlets, and barcodes can be purchased from Amstore at little cost. This cost is the responsibility of the artist. ISRC codes are codes digitally encoded into the recording, and allow for tracking of digital sales and broadcasts. There is no cost involved with allocating these codes, and Hadfield Audio have the facility to allocate these.

Royalties
Royalties need to be paid for any work recorded that is not in the public domain – this includes not only the work itself, but the edition used for performance. Royalty payments are made through APRA (Australasian Performing Rights Association) – please email licencenz@apra.com.au for further details about this. We are happy to help you through this process, but it will be the responsibility of the artist to meet any royalty payments.

Distribution
Distribution of the finished disc for both sale and review is the responsibility of the artist. There is potential to have the discs distributed nationwide through Ode Records, released on iTunes as a digital download and to have the disc available for sale on the artists website. All discs released on the Organism label are made available for sale through the organism website.