Editor's Note: This is the first of a two-part article by jazz singer Barbara Adamson on the trials and tribulations of recording her first CD.

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When I finally felt ready to make my first record, I wasn't prepared for what a powerful process I was undertaking and what changes it would bring to my spirit, my life and my music. The two years since I began the project have been, in a word, amazing. I have learned a lot and made some costly mistakes. Hopefully sharing my experiences and thoughts will help other new artists.

Making and releasing your first record can and should be a life-altering experience. It is your first permanent creative statement to the jazz community and to the world at large. The act of deciding to make a record is an act of taking yourself totally seriously as an artist. It should be the ultimate expression of you as a musician and as a human being. It is also one of the most important tools in building a career and being taken seriously as a recording artist. It is your calling card to the professional world of critics and bookers. It is a beginning.

Now, get out your checkbook. Is the balance at least $20,000? Good. If not, you can follow the advice of esteemed San Francisco pianist Mark Levine: "How to pay for a new CD? I have two financial backers: Mr. Visa and Mr. MasterCard."

Phase 1: Planning

Before you even talk to a producer or engineer, start thinking about what you want to do with your project. Think about the entire record as a body of work. Study how other records are constructed and what makes them successful. Pay attention to the order of songs, the arrangements, the key signatures, the players, the length of songs and the times between them, the number of songs with solos, and so on.

Develop your material long before you are in the studio. Try a lot of material and try it on gigs or in clinics. If you couldn't cut the tracks live and have them sound close to the way you want them, you will spend a lot more time completing your project. (The least expensive way to make a record is direct to 2-track, which essentially is a live studio recording and not recommended for a vocal record.)

If you don't know much about the recording process, read books and visit a recording studio session. The more experience and knowledge you have about the recording process, the more successful you will be.

If you've never been recorded, get some experience rehearsing on a mike with headphones. Four-track tape recorders are really inexpensive and are a fantastic tool for the planning and rehearsing stages. Record and listen carefully to your sound, pitch, phrasing and technique. If you go into the studio unprepared, you will spend a LOT of extra money.

Picking a Producer

Picking your producer is one of the most important decisions you will make. Producers have varying amounts of power over projects, depending on what your agreement is. He or she should be someone you can work with very closely, under stress. The recording studio can get quite intense. Your producer should have lots of experience, and ideally you should share a similar creative vision. Some producers also double as engineers, which is something to consider if funds are tight.

When taking on projects for unknown artists, producers will generally want cold hard cash rather than "points," which is an agreement to share percentage points of the project's profit. Whether you pay your producer hourly or a flat fee for the project is negotiable.

I felt very strongly about co-producing my project because I had substantial experience in the studio, I had specific ideas about how the record should sound, and I wanted total control over my vocals. Did I mention that I'm stubborn?

Music Planning

Most artists will involve the producer in the planning and arranging stages. Quite often producers are musicians themselves, with strong musical ideas. Especially on your first record, an experienced producer can be an invaluable guide to the recording process and the scene.

It is essential to develop more material than you think you might need. There can be a number of reasons why a piece ultimately will not make it onto the final project.

There are LOTS of ways to approach the music. Some records are lightly rehearsed and more spontaneous; others have very complex arrangements and instrumentation. Some artists record with the same musicians they gig with, others hire an entirely different and usually higher-profile group. Either way, you need to have charts for all the players and the engineer and be extremely well rehearsed. Be absolutely certain that you have the correct published lyrics for the songs you plan on recording.

Because of my lack of a psychology degree and my word-count limit, I won't go into politics between players.

Budget Planning

Generally I have found that even the most carefully planned budgets usually run over by at least 25 percent. Plan to pay for a producer, arranger, session musicians (plus rehearsals), engineer, studio rental, tapes and CDRs, food and drinks during sessions, mixing, mastering, mechanical licenses, packaging (including a photo shoot), liner notes, manufacturing, and promotion. If you hire big-name artists you will also cover their travel and lodging. Expect everything in the studio to take longer than anticipated. And don't forget to save a substantial part of your budget for promotion. A common mistake is to run out of money before the record is released.

Phase 2: Rehearsing

How much to rehearse will depend on how complex your arrangements are and how well prepared you are for your players. If possible, get copies of your arrangements to the players in advance of the rehearsals. Run your rehearsals efficiently and document any changes that are made. Record EVERY rehearsal and study it. Ultimately you want to avoid rehearsing in the studio when your money is flying out the window.

Phase 3: In the Studio

Booking a studio can be done on an hourly basis, or you can "lock out" the room for a period of time, usually in 24 hour segments. The advantage of locking out a studio is huge if you expect to spend more than one day recording. Setting up for sessions takes a substantial amount of time, and you don't want to do it more than once.

Consult with your producer and/or engineer about whether you want to record in an analog or digital format. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. I chose to record using ADAT, which is a digital tape format, primarily because analog tape is extremely expensive. I was very happy with the results. I was also able to save money by buying the tape before the sessions instead of from the studio.

Generally speaking, for both physical and energetic reasons, players will not want to play more than 6 hours a day. Ideally the vibe in the studio should be relaxed but professional, with a pinch of party. OK, maybe a pound of party. Personally, I felt like it was my wedding, and I made sure there was plenty of Brie and Merlot.

Our approach was to record each tune 3 or four times with vocals, horns, and bass, in separate isolation booths. Because we had the studio locked out, we had the luxury of listening to solos for player feedback. (Pass the Merlot.) We chose the best instrumental takes, and if I wasn't happy with the vocal, I would resing the rough spots later in an overdub session.

One thing to consider is having horn players play solos as overdubs. Even in the best studios, the horn sound will bleed through to other tracks, so you may find yourself with a great instrumental take and one solo that needs some work. Though having all the music live is much more exciting and spontaneous, once you've committed to having the horns play simultaneously with the combo, making changes to horn solos in the mix will be problematic. I found that vocals bled through onto other tracks from players' headphones as well, so re-singing a tune with entirely different phrasing at a later session may also be problematic.

Next: Evaluating, Mixing and Mastering Your Session...

Barbara Adamson released her first recording, "Now is the Time," to critical acclaim in February, 2000, and has consulted with other vocal artists on their recording projects.