Pre-production is the preparatory work done before recording or full production. You try out the song’s structure, key, tempo, arrangement, performance and sounds to settle on the direction of the finished piece.
What to check in pre-production
Make a demo and check the song’s length, a comfortable key to sing in, the chord progression, the rhythm and the instrumentation. Finding the problems before the main session reduces the decisions you have to make on the day.
Relationship to rehearsal
While a rehearsal is practice to lock the performance together for a show or a recording, pre-production is the stage where you work out how the song itself is written and finished.
Further reading
A concrete walkthrough is in What Is Pre-production? (Japanese). For preparation that includes drum recording, see How Do You Record Drums in Pre-production? (Japanese).
