I've been travelling the world capturing music in many countries for a number of years now. Recording in Indonesia (with engineer Suny Lyons), Peru, Egypt, and Korea has been exhilarating, but behind every great recording from a distant locale, there are a series of cultural, monetary, locational, and session negotiations that made the tracking possible. There are plenty of occasions where I've bumped into some fantastic sounds and started recording; but once you go from capturing these performances to making full records, everything involves a degree of working out the details. This article can give you some quick orientation about finding the players, setting up a location, negotiating, and getting the session to a point of pressing record with confidence. I've made hundreds of recordings that have bypassed one, or all, of these steps with spontaneous sessions that've turned out amazing. But if you're going to record in another country, this article can help you cut to the chase. This isn't a technical read. I'll leave deciding what gear to bring up to you; rather consider this a cultural guide regarding leaning on the subtleties of negotiating.
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LANDING
Let's say you've landed in a foreign country, don't know the language, and you and your gear have made it to a cheap hotel. When you're tracking down sounds in other countries, the right amount of flexibility and perseverance is always key. Having a clear idea of what you're looking for is always a good plan, along with the understanding that you'll come across dozens of other cool things in the process. If you don't know anybody where you've landed, make your way to instrument shops, performance schools (many countries have these), go see live performances, and find where the street musicians hang out. If you don't speak the language, be sure to get five phrases under your belt and hit the streets with a photo (of a musician playing a locally popular instrument) that you can show people and ask, "Where can I hear this?" Having an interest in the music of the region will have most people taking a shine to you, and they will frequently want to help you out. It's amazing how everyone is related to music, in one way or another. Start there. The other thing to keep in mind is that players usually know of each other (out of competition or respect), which is so fantastic. If you come across a wonderful player, ask him or her who the best player is in another style that you're interested in recording. Chances are they know how to put you in touch. It can take days, or weeks, to track down great players, but sometimes with a quick phone call you can be recording a master the next day. The flipside to this is: if you act like a jerk, everyone is going to know about it very quickly.
Calling legends out of retirement to record a few tracks is not beyond possibility, especially if you have a master player vouching for you and some evidence that you can record them to sound great. We were able to record two of the most iconic voices of Java, Euis Komariah and Idjah Hadidjah (widely recognized for their recordings for the Nonesuch label) within hours of recording a fellow musician, after he called them raving about how good things were sounding. Many people, even the locals, have long forgotten about some classic singers and players, and they may be more open to a professionally run session than you might think.
MONEY
On numerous occasions the mutual excitement between you and the players involved keeps money from entering the picture. This happens all the time; it's wonderful, so ride the wave and have a great time recording. Be sure to show plenty of gratitude along the way. However, when you're dealing with semi-professionals and professionals, money often comes into play. You can usually count on one person to act as a "manager" to discuss money. This takes a little getting used to and can be tricky because the manager is most likely getting a cut, but having a manager in the mix is frequently the case and you have to respect it. This person is commonly the husband, wife, friend, or possibly even one of the players in the group, and usually has the role of negotiating and coordinating the recording. You can't blame the musicians for not wanting to get into a back and forth over the price of their craft. Even if everyone is present in the same room (often the case), don't be surprised if you're dealing with the players through someone else until they get to know you better. All this is especially true in Asia, where they like to keep conflict low. The key is in keeping everyone's integrity intact, at all times.
Having someone local giving you advice or communicating with the manager can work very well, but it's important that your genuine appreciation and interest for the music doesn't get lost in the exchange. Coupling statements of possible costs with your appreciation of their craft is always a good idea, and if it can't work for you or them financially, don't let that stop you from communicating how much you respect their work. A number of times I couldn't afford to pay what was asked initially, even after negotiating; but because we had a good exchange I later heard from the artists, and they wanted to record for a price I could afford.
The best thing you can do is get a rough idea of what performances cost, taking into account that you'll be distributing it in some way, and then agree on an amount that makes sense within that culture. (This has even taken the form of canned food; I'm serious!) Negotiating is always part of making it happen and it's expected, but if you pay too much you'll quickly be known as the guy that pays a lot for performances, and you'll have trouble staying within your budget. Usually half of the payment up front is standard, seeing as they may have to pay other musicians to perform with them. It is also very important to clarify whether this includes transportation and meals. If that's not clear, you should plan on absorbing those minimal costs. Nothing lavish is ever expected for either, and sharing a cheap meal on the street goes a long way towards a general feeling of "we're a team making something pretty bad ass." A simple one-page release form that includes the date, location, players' names, payment amount, and the percentage of any future royalties will keep things professional.
If you're in remote villages or tribal areas, you'll be dealing with either a village or tribe leader about permission to record (especially with rituals and the like), as well as regarding anything financial. It's a good idea to have a similar transparency with the whole village, if you can. When more people know about your interest in making a recording, the leader is much less likely to drive an unmanageable price. More importantly, it helps ensure some of the money will actually make it to the musicians involved. Chances are the entire village will want to make it happen — it can be quite a lively event, as well as a chance for the musicians to be recognized within the community. When you play it right, it's a win-win for everyone.
Keep sensitive when recording religious ceremonies. If things get too complicated logistically or financially, your best bet is to take a pass on recording while letting them know you want to record the music they perform. It's not uncommon for folks to arrange a special session or ceremonial performance just for you. While in Bali in 2001, recording on a Marrantz cassette unit, I had 30 cremation gamelan players tell me to wait 'til after the ceremony so they could put on a "special show" — one where they knew it would sound better. They were definitely right. When Suny and I went back in 2006, it was their idea to work the same way again, and record in the same place.
If people ask you how much your equipment costs (and they will), you may want to reveal a low used price or what it's worth now — not what you originally paid for it. Not because it may increase the chances of someone stealing it, but because it might blow their mind and put an unnecessary distance between you and the performers. It can also plant an idea that you have more money than you do. Keep it honest, but never boast. People living in places where money is scarce are always doing math, and with a few key amounts (your hotel, the plane ticket, and how much gear costs) they can easily calculate how much you're willing to spend, or at least what they think you could spend. Little do they know that you probably spent almost everything you have just getting there with your body and gear intact. But keep in mind that you were able to afford to get there, which is more traveling or spending money than many locals can even imagine. At the end of the day, you're likely in a privileged position. To claim that you're "broke like them" is way off base. You're operating within a budget, but keeping everyone's integrity intact and maintaining excitement about the recording always makes for the best sessions. Coming up with a meaningful amount of money that makes sense within that particular culture may take a little work, but it has to be done, and it makes for the best long-term outcome.
RECORD
Bargaining is alive and well in many areas around the globe. Sometimes you'll be bargaining cash, but other times something equally as precious; time. If it means you need to spend a few extra days in a location just to make a recording happen properly, then that's what it is.
If you've communicated your abilities and sincerity about making a quality recording, the musicians will likely care as much as you do about everything sounding great. That being said, there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes time to press record.
One of the main goals is finding a recording space where background sounds are quiet enough. Many times this can be much harder than it seems. If people tell you they know of a "very quiet place," you should definitely go check it out yourself beforehand. In developing countries, and especially in rural areas, buildings are structured to breathe, so the sounds flow in and out of them. Silence means different things to us engineers, and it definitely means something different to hypersensitive microphones (if you've ever heard a mosquito in a gained up condenser, you know what I mean). Getting everyone to understand how sensitive microphones are is one of the keys to getting great takes. Even the most experienced players have no idea that shifting their weight on a creaky floor translates audibly into a microphone. Having them listen back to what has been captured can be the best way for some musicians to hear what needs to change. Many times I've appealed to the women that were involved with the recording, as they often understood the sensitivity of the recording environment more than their (sometimes ego-inflated) counterparts.
If you find a good space you can work out of, having musicians come to you can work out well. The flipside to this is that people perform better in familiar spaces, so if you can swing a practice session in before getting takes, this will help immensely. In the performers' regular environments, the two main culprits of extraneous sounds I've encountered have been motorbikes and chickens; luckily both settle down significantly at night. If you can coordinate the sessions in the evening, you'll most likely reduce your amount of squeaks, squawks, and squeals that decorate your recordings when you least want them to. Many times this works out because performers usually play in the evenings anyway.
Once you've got the space, you have to get everyone into the rhythm of getting great takes. Again, letting them hear themselves after a take or two can be a wonderful and revealing process for everyone. This may be a rare chance for them to document their craft with a quality recording. Capturing a couple takes of a song is always a good idea; many times the song you want to record is one they haven't played in years, so often a take or two can make a significant difference.
You may arrange to record only a couple of musicians, but they might show up with their entire families (sometimes ten or more people) who want to be there for what is a special event for everyone. This is common in rural areas where often nothing else is happening that night. In that case, it's a quick lesson to everyone about how sensitive microphones can be!
If there is information you want to communicate to your future listeners about the song, I recommend writing it down for each song right after a set. Getting as much information about the songs, as well as the performers, at that moment is always your best option. Retroactively trying to figure out what the song titles are, what they translate to, and other particular information (tuning, style etc.) can be very difficult, if not impossible. One thing I would have done differently would've been to hire a photographer to take photos and videos while we were working. It is way too much to keep track of in addition to getting things negotiated, set up, and sounding good, all while focusing on takes, getting song info, and to getting some damn photos. Trust me — do this!
Always keep recording, even at times when it's sounding imperfect or you think it's not going to work out. It often sounds a bit better than you're imagining. When recording in Java, there were a few times where Suny and I were super sensitive to anything too far out of tune. We thought a recording wasn't going to work out because if this, and interrupting the flow of their performance wasn't an option. Luckily Suny kept recording though everything, and there were magical takes where we thought there were none. Yes, this happens.
When recording in Java, Suny and I made it a policy to get a "take two" as often as possible. Outside of religious ceremonies, almost every performer we came across got in the rhythm of doing a "take two." After a couple songs and before you know it, you'll just hold a couple of fingers up and everyone is on the same page. "It's time for take two."
HIT THE ROAD
If you're considering the rewarding work of recording around the world, I hope these pointers will help you get to work smoothly. Best of luck!
