First off, the studios that you are contacting that are giving you that response are probably project studios that do not have the capability to record a full sized band all at once, therefore they have to record you part by part.

As far as saying that no-one can sing without Autotune well pardon my french but that's bullshite. I just did a whole CD of 12 songs, no autotune was used on my voice and the funny thing is I'm getting compliments on how in tune my voice sounds. However it is true that there are a lot of singers that are a) not that good, b) too damn lazy to sing in tune.

4 hours per song isn't a bad estimate based upon mult-tracking a song and on how well the "average" musician knows their material. Can a song be done in less time? Yes. But that's an exception and usually it takes longer.

$2,500 for 12 songs is actually really damn cheap. Even for no bells and whistles. It takes a lot of work to get your clean, natural sound. Don't forget you're also paying for the rent on the room, the cost of the equipment and hopefully the engineer's experience.

It really sounds like you haven't found the right studio for what you want. I will say, you get what you pay for. But don't go somewhere just for the price. Find a studio with an engineer that understands what YOU want, and a studio that can handle the amount of inputs you need.

Food for thought.

Jody

Jody Whitesides
A Funky Audio Lap Dance For Your Ears!
www.jodywhitesides.com