Are you a producer?

Most people think of music or record producers as the people that stand in the control room of the studio with their arms crossed, nodding their head either in approval or disapproval.  These type of producers are more of the managerial type, keeping the band on schedule and/or budget.  Others know producers as “beat makers”.  While the beat makers are legitimately producing musical content, they are by no means a record producer.  Their producing ends at the beat.

There are a huge number of people touting themselves as producers these days.  They believe that because they have a Mac with some beat software on it that they are a real producer.  If, instead, they take that software, write music with it, and then put a vocalist and instruments to it, they are on the right track.  If they’re just cranking out beats all day, they are not a producer.  Let me say that again.  Because you make beats does not make you a producer.  The beat is not what makes the song.  It’s the hook.  The melody line.  The intonation of the vocals.  And so much more.

For instance, take any pop song and remove the vocal track.  Listen to the beat.  It might keep your interest for 20 seconds, if you’re lucky.  After that, it’s boring.  So, again, if you want to be a producer, start producing music from start to finish.

What do they do?

A real record producer takes musical content, the vocal artist, and/or musicians and orchestrates it all into a finished, polished song. This might mean pushing the vocalist to get the perfect performance.  Other times it means actually helping the band write the songs.  Producers have a high level of creative input when it comes to the recording process.   They are, in essence, a part of the band.  They impart a particular influence on the finished album that otherwise would not have been there.  Some producers will even play instruments on some of the recordings on the album.  Many record and music producers are selected by bands and labels because of their individual influences, sounds, and styles.  Often times, the producer will work with a band for multiple albums because of the trust they’ve built, along with the workflow that has been established.  Everyone operates differently when writing music and recording it.  Every band, every producer, and every engineer.  When you’ve found a producer and/or engineer that really works well with you, don’t let them get away!  In short, a producer does whatever is needed to make the song what it needs and wants to be.

Does my band need a producer?

When you get a producer in the studio, you need to be well practiced and ready to record.  The studio is not the place to finish writing your songs as a band.  It is the place, however, to bring in a producer and have them give you feedback on your music.  While you’re recording and listening back to the tracks, a producer will make suggestions on ways to improve the song.  That producer is an invaluable set of ears that will be able to tell you if your music is attractive to the end listener.  What they do is act as an unbiased third party.  A producer has your music’s best interest in mind, not the guitar player or the vocalist.  Keep that in mind.  When your producer tells you to do a track over or change the pronunciation of a word, don’t get bent out of shape; just do it.  They want the music to be just as good as you want it to be.  They aren’t attached to the song emotionally like you might be, allowing them to see and hear things that you’re missing.

If you’re recording an album, whether an EP or full length, consider hiring a producer.  It is an expense you may not have planned on, but you’ll be happy you used one.  Even if you believe your music to be the best set of songs on planet Earth, you will do your music a great disservice by not have a professional creative mind and set of ears on the other side of the glass.   You may think that you have your songs nailed.  You just might.  It never hurts, however, to have another professional listen in and give constructive criticism.  All of the greats have had equally great producers; why wouldn’t you?

1. Passionate artists

There are plenty of artists in today’s arena.  Some are great, some are good, some are mediocre, and lots are horrible.  Will the groups in the charts today still be producing hits in 20 years?  If they are passionate musicians, singers, and songwriters, they stand a much better chance.  That doesn’t mean that all passionate artists will succeed, or that the guys that could care less won’t make loads of cash.  The passion a person possesses is simply one key element in their chances of a successful record and career.

2. Ideas that transcend

There are a million topics to write songs about.  Some get used more than others, such as love, breakups, dogs, cars, the club, patriotism, politics, and more.  To have a successful song or record, write about ideas that people can relate to whether they are 15 years old or 50.  When they listen to it in high school they form a connection with the song; it meant something to them at that point in their life.  30 years later when they hear it, they go right back to high school.  Here are some examples of songs that have done this:

- Dream On by Aerosmith

-Hold My Hand by Hootie and the Blowfish

- Let’s Get It Started by The Black Eyed Peas

And here are some examples of songs that will probably not bring back memories:

- Because I Got High by Afroman (though I guess that might take some people back to high school)

– Voodoo by Godsmack

– Breaking the Habit by Linkin Park

3. Quality team members

At the end of the day, you need people around you that care about your music as much as you do.  People that help market you to fans, use their contacts to help get you on shows with bigger acts, and above all, people that don’t lie or cheat you.  The music business can be extremely cut throat.  You may never fully know what angle someone is using or why.  If you and your team have earned each other’s trust, you should have no problem running your business.  It’s a matter of ensuring that you stay focused on your goals as an artist and track your progress.

4. Create a niche

Forget finding a niche.  Make one for yourself.  You are creating music.  It is art that you have developed, nurtured, and brought to life.  Do not waste your time copying someone else’s ideas or sound.  I promise that you will fail in the end if you copy.  Be yourself and create something that nobody else is.  They’re probably too busy copying someone else.  Take advantage of today’s diversity and run with it.

If everyone on your team understands the direction you want to go and you’re incorporating the above points, it should be smooth sailing.  Just don’t forget to practice.  As usual, thanks for reading.  I’d love to hear your feedback. Leave a comment and retweet this post!Tweet

Cheers,

Josh

Do I take my budget and go to a real recording studio or use the cash to buy my own recording gear and have my friends help?

Recording studios are closing more and more often these days.  The reason?  Artists don’t have the money to spend $125 per hour and make a full-length album.  But they do have enough money to buy enough gear for a 16 channel rig.

So is the “bang for your buck” tradeoff worth not having your album recorded in a proper studio?  Here are some things to consider:

• The acoustics of your friends living room are not equal to those of a recording studio designed by Lawrence P. Swist, no matter how much egg crate you staple to the walls.
• You can buy a set of monitors for cheap, but they won’t reproduce all the frequencies that you need to hear while mixing. And they’ll be affected by the acoustics of the room that you’re in. (See above)
• While your laptop is great for Facebook and email, that Dell or HP machine is not designed to handle 11 tracks of simultaneous recording while playing back the other 27 MIDI tracks in your next #1 pop song.
• Not all microphones are created equal.  Believe it or not, you usually get what you pay for.
• You little sister is great at singing along with the radio, but she is not a studio vocalist.  She can’t even read music for that matter.
• You can watch YouTube videos for ways to tie a tie, but not so much for how to mic a drum kit or acoustic guitar.  It’s all about experience and actually hearing the placement of the mic.
• Studios have people with highly trained ears and technical abilities.

Audio engineers and producers are in these roles because we have the ability to take your idea and performance, capture it with the highest sonic integrity, and then help interpret that into a final mix.  We do this day in and day out.  We go to bed thinking about the best way to EQ the kick drum so that it’s not competing with the bass guitar track.  Believe it or not, the EQ we do on instruments changes from song to song, from band to band.  So please don’t call me asking for “settings” so you can really make your song slam.  I can hear it, and I know how to manipulate the sound.

At the end of the day, home recordings are home recordings.  If you’ve read about bands that have self produced their albums in their home, chances are that: 1. They brought in an engineer to do the entire project, or 2. One of the band members is also a legitimate audio engineer.

If you don’t know how to change your oil you probably wouldn’t risk swapping out a transmission on your own.

So why then would you risk harming the overall quality of your art that you’ve invested so much of your time and energy in?  Make it the best it can be.  Call the professionals.  You can reach me here.

If you’re not even sure where to start when it comes to parallel compression on drum tracks or microphone placement to get some natural reverb on your vocals, you need to book some session time at a studio.  Give me a call.

So far, I’ve found this event to be rather hit or miss.  Some of the workshops have been very watered down with just enough flash and tech talk to get the standard hobbyist interested in buying some new gear.  The Producers Forum, on the other hand, was a panel of Geoff Daking, Fab Dupont, Ross Hogarth, Dusty Wakeman, and Mitch Gallagher.  They went into how they became producers and what all that means to them individually.  They hit on topics such as running a session effectively and how to accomodate artists on a budget.  As a producer/engineer myself, it was great to hear these industry veterans reiterate a school of thought that I already subscribe to.

Things such as:

- Just because you “make beats” does not make you a producer. There is so much more to producing than most people realize.

- Software and hardware are not what make you a good engineer and/or producer. Knowing how to get a particular performance and sound out of an artist is what sets the best apart from the good.

- Avoid mixing with a timestamp. For example, the snare reverb of the 80′s.

- Try to create an environment for the artist. Sometimes this means doing the tracking sessions out of their home town.

These are some points I have always thought to be true.  I realized at an early age that there were people making music and putting food on the table at the same time.  But I knew that if it were easy, everyone would be doing it (and it seems now as though everyone is trying).  I knew that you had to have an ear for the entire process and be able to communicate with all different kinds of people.

This can be a huge downfall for some engineers.  They could care less about the comfort level of the artist.  They just want the person to play so they can record and edit it.  If you can’t effectively communicate with an artist and make them feel at home and comfortable, you will not get the best possible performance out of them.  This ability is what makes a good producer/engineer a great one.

There is a lot that goes into being a successful and appreciated audio engineer and producer.  Always remember that you are never done learning.

So, if you’re looking to get into the audio industry and are not quite sure if it’s for you, shoot me an email.  Or drop by the studio during a session.  And you can always come out to GearFest 2011 next year at Sweetwater.

Thanks for reading another slightly random post!

Cheers,

Josh Walker

Sweetwater Sound recently held a Pro Tools demonstration of the new Eleven Rack.  The event was graciously hosted by the Chicago Recording Company, a beautiful and full-featured recording and post-production studio on the east side of Chicago.

I started out learning how to engineer on Acid (in my barracks room while in the Army), then Pro Tools, Logic, and now am chief engineer at a studio in northern Indiana using Cubase 5.  I got very quick with Pro Tools, but then when it came time to purchase interfacing, Logic became more and more attractive.  I’ve learned many different editing suites on both the Windows and Mac OSX platforms.

When it comes to audio editing software, here’s what I say:

Audio software is like a car; show me where the gas pedal and steering wheel are and I’m good to go.

My personal computer is a Macbook Pro.  I have an iPhone.  I believe that Apple makes great products.  But if another company makes a product that is better, I will prefer to use it.  Believe it or not, I am not a “fan boy”.  It just so happens that Apple puts serious research and effort into their products before releasing them.  They design products for professionals, creatives, and specific niches.

I went to an Apple Logic conference in Chicago last fall where they introduced a lot of the new features including the new Pedal Board and Amp Designer features.  I have Logic Pro on my Macbook Pro and have used it for various projects.  It is pretty impressive.  I have no qualms using it for studio or live recording situations.

The Eleven Rack by Pro Tools is virtually identical to the Pedal Board in Logic.  However,the actual processing power is contained in the rack unit itself, where as Logic’s Pedal Board and Amp Designer are powered by the host CPU.  The benefit to this is that you can really develop some great guitar sounds without detracting from your computers power.  The downside is that you’re using a CPU to develop guitar tones and not an amp.  I would rather use the real deal, whether amp or outboard, any day of the week over a plugin.  However, the Eleven Rack is very powerful and useful for studios and musicians that want efficient, accurate, and cost effective options for their money.

I know this was a slightly random post, but felt like writing tonight.  Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Josh Walker

On that note, Sweetwater is once again producing their annual GearFest 2010 event where they will be giving away $75,000 in gear.  This is a two day festival/conference where audio professionals and musicians alike will benefit.  There are workshops, a musicians flea market, live performances, tours, and more.  It is being held on Friday June 25th (noon-7pm EST) and Saturday June 26th (9am-5pm EST).

If you’re an artist, songwriter, recording engineer, band, producer, or involved in the music industry, it is a great place to find new gear and meet some new people in the industry.  After all, it’s all about who you know, right?  You never know either; you just might walk away with a new project studio setup!

I was born in the early 80′s, which means I was witness to a huge swing in the music pendulum come the early 90′s.  In the 80′s, we had Twisted Sister, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, Guns N’ Roses,   10,000 Maniacs, AC/DC, and plenty more.  And it was cool…in its time. If I had to describe the late part of the decade in one word, I would say: Reverb.  (Obviously that’s not the only difference; here I use “reverb” to describe the extravagant amounts of unnecessary delay and reverb along with hair metal guitar solos and tight leather outfits.)

Then came the 90′s, which introduced us to Soundgarden.  Stone Temple Pilots.  Nirvana.  Korn. Pearl Jam.  Sepultura.  Beck.  Rage Against the Machine.  Radiohead.  And many, many more.  Stripped down alternative rock.  Music with some raw emotion to it.  Lyrics that pushed the envelope in a different direction.  Each decade has its own artists that do this.  And we can appreciate them all accordingly.  I have to admit, though, that I am glad to have experienced the 90′s at the time that I did.  I was  a 13 year-old, keeping a blank tape in my deck so that when Bulls On Parade just happened to get airtime, I could hit record (and miss the first 7 seconds of the song on every recorded attempt).  This music was stuff that I could relate to.  Along with thousands of other kids, we threw out the music that our parents listened to (I must insert here that I was one of the exceptions: I did listen to my dad’s music.  He turned me on to White Zombie, Johhny Lang, B.B. King, and a lot more).  We found a new genre of music–music that we could identify with and hold on to.  Music that our parents wouldn’t understand.

Fast forward to 1999.  We start seeing another shift in the music trends.  You start hearing less and less alternative rock on the Top 40.  2001 we start seeing the emergence of “emo” music.  2006.  The bands still have long hair, but now they use straighteners to manage it.  Similar to the perms of the 80′s, only straighter.  2010 and it seems as though Pearl Jam should almost be on the classic rock station (I feel so old!).

One of the big reasons I was pursuing a career in the music industry was because of the music that I loved and was influenced by.  However, once I started getting into the industry, I realized that “my” music was not popular anymore.  Could I truly enjoy myself working in an industry where the music just wasn’t my thing?  Upon more reflection, I started realizing that the music industry and its trends are, for the most part, cyclical.  Sure, I was discouraged going into the industry because I was seeing more and more mediocre talent “making it” while the truly talented musicians were left in the dust because they didn’t have the look or the marketability.  It’s become much more about image than it is about the creativity and talent.  The record labels decide what they think we will like and then create a group or solo artist to fit the bill.  Autotune is hugely popular as an “effect” instead of the original intention of minor and transparent pitch correction for the occasional vocal error.  (On a side note, I am for the most part disgusted by the blatant abuse of Autotune and the masses of people jumping on the band wagon)

Had I been born a decade earlier, I would have been saying the same thing about the reverb-drenched vocals and snare drums of the late 80′s.  Thinking that music was in a downward spiral.  Then, just a few years later, the garage bands that had been getting the door slammed in their face time and again finally got some recognition.  They got it from the kids that were tired of listening to music that was all starting to sound the same.  They listened to music that was stripped down and real.  Minimalistic in a sense.

This is where we are headed.  A revolution where the real talented groups will take the helm and lead us into another decade of truly great music that will remind us why we listen to music in the first place.  I tell artists and bands that I work with to avoid the overuse of Autotune.  Invest in vocal lessons.  Practice.  The music of the next decade is going to be a stark contrast to what is on the radio today.  People will get tired of it and listen to something else.  If you are a musician, play what you want, not what you think people want to hear.  Your time will come.

1: How does music affect a person?

Music is just as powerful as smells, sights, and the sensation of touch.  I might even go so far as to say that music is more powerful than the other senses in terms of emotions.  It has the ability to affect our mood  When we have emotional ties to a situation, our brain will associate whatever we were listening to with that emotion. This is why certain songs conjure up feelings of sadness (a song that was on the radio when your girlfriend broke up with you or when your dog died), feelings of happiness (the very next song you heard when you found out that you got first place in something), or just simple reminiscing (songs that you used to listen to when you were younger or lived in a different place).  Music also has the ability to affect us in conjunction with our sense of sight.  If you’re watching a movie, music plays just as important a role as what you’re seeing on screen. It helps take you up and bring you down with the mood of the actors. It can evoke feelings of sadness that the actors are feeling or make you anxious along with them.  Or it helps build suspense and puts you on the edge of your seat. The sounds attached to the screen are powerful tools that build dynamics and ensure that your emotions are going in the direction the filmmakers intended.  Music is powerful!

2: What are some brief issues when downloading music illegally?

By “sharing” files and then propagating those to even more people (without paying), you are literally stealing from the artists, labels, and management companies. Sure, nobody wants the major labels to make any more money than they already are without justly compensating their artists, but the bottom line is that it’s stealing. Period. The artists don’t always make much money as it is, but by using online services (or even swapping external hard drives), we are cheapening the music. We are saying to the artists that their music isn’t worth our 99 cents. We pay $1.50 for a bottle of water, but we won’t pay $1 for a song that we really, truly appreciate? There is something very wrong with this. Pay for the music you consume. Get rid of the illegal music that you’ve traded online or borrowed other peoples CDs. It’s hard, but it’s the right thing to do. If you were a painter, you wouldn’t paint for free and pass out your artwork to thousands of people without expecting even $1 for it. Come on, people. You’d hate it if it happened to you, yet it happens every day. Do something about it.  Don’t help the industry crumble even more; the major labels are taking care of that.  We need to help compensate the artists with what they deserve so that after the industry has evolved into its next form, the artists will still be there.

3: Do we spend too much time listening to music?

I don’t believe so. You can listen to music while driving, working, studying, working out, sleeping, and eating. It helps to pass the time, and often encourages creative thought. At the same time, music can be mathematical and highly structured.  This is one reason that so many people in so many different walks of life appreciate it.  It’s a common bond between us.  It helps break the ice in conversation.  But with all things, one can consume too much.  It becomes too much when we replace conversation with human beings with music.

These are my quick thoughts on the three questions my friend presented me.  I hope they spark some interest in you as they did me!

Cheers,

Josh Walker

To start off, this particular album is titled “Live at Eddie’s Attic”, where the album was recorded during a live performance.  The Civil Wars consist of Joy Williams and John Paul White, both successful independent of each other as musicians.  The majority of their music is acoustic guitar and vocals, with the occasional piano.  They have a very basic and almost simple sounding foundation built around John’s acoustic guitar.  If you enjoy listening to Over the Rhine, you’ll probably like The Civil Wars.  If you’d like to listen to the tracks, you can go to NoiseTrade.com or The Civil Wars MySpace page and click on the album cover to download if for free.

Overall, the sound is somewhat folky with a little country or americana influence at times.  The opening track has a haunting feel to it vocally.  The sweeping harmonies are one of the things that first stood along with the tracks not being over produced or polished.  They really do a good job letting their talent show through without the assistance of more instruments or programming.

One of the bigger tracks on this album is the single titled “Poison & Wine”.  This track was also featured on Grey’s Anatomy, episode 609, “New History”.  It starts out with a simple strumming acoustic and backing piano, while Joy and John go back and forth lyrically before joining together for a great sounding harmony at the hook of the song.  The way they interact in this track really helps to portray the tension of the song. After that, it continues to build and return to that original hook.  You can check out the official music video for “Poison & Wine” on YouTube.  The album version of the song has more dynamics to it as they include some subtle snare and kick drum in the background of the track to help add to its old-time feel.  There is a huge, boomy kick drum that along with the snare sound miles away.

Another interesting track from their live album is “No Ordinary Love”.  It’s a bit more driving than the other tracks on the album.  The slightly quicker tempo and the harmonies and  vocals help give the listener a sense of angst or suspense.  Joy’s voice is well suited for pairing with John’s vocals and guitar.  Neither of them would stand on their own in this genre quite as well as they do together.  Joy Williams does great on piano and vocals alone, and John can certainly write and perform solo acoustically, but their pairing lends an almost palpable stress and tension between the two that makes it even more interesting to listen to.  Their work together feels and sounds real and true.  Not like a pre-packaged product for sale.

These two artists are obviously capable of a nice range of style inside of the acoustic genre.  I’d be interested to see them perform live with a full band.  Check out the links below to find out more about The Civil Wars and listen to their music.  Don’t forget to go to NoiseTrade.com and download the live album for free (or by paying whatever you feel).

The Civil Wars MySpace

The Civil Wars Facebook page

The Civil Wars on Twitter

The Civil Wars on YouTube

Thanks for reading.  I’m enjoying listening to some new music and getting to know some new artists.  Looking forward to the coming weeks of this review series.

Cheers,

Josh Walker

And all of that was done without the aid of digital technology.  Without computers, external hard discs, or A/D converters.  Their music was created using the same kind of recording studios using the same guitars, drums, and microphones as today.  But when it was recorded, it was done so using analog 2″ tape (if it was 24 tracks, that is).  It was done so using tube mic preamps, and FET compressors.  The music didn’t have the huge dynamic range (soncially speaking) that we do with today’s digital capability, but it had warmth.  Punch.  Energy.  Love.  AKA tape compression.

Tape compression occurs when you try to force a high amount of signal onto a strip of tape.  The magnetic response of the tape is to do everything it can to allow for this, even if that means compressing some of the magnetic flux to the edges of the tape.  This is more often than not present in the lower frequency instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, kick drums, and floor toms.

That last paragraph may have been over some peoples heads.  But this isn’t: tape compression gives a track that “warm” sound we all love and remember from our favorite artists.

Everybody is going digital these days.  The funny thing is that we’re also creating software plugins dedicated to emulating that tape compression that we thought we’d get rid of by switching to the digital realm.  So, while digital gear and software definitely have their place, we can’t forget our roots.  The analog sound.  One way you can revisit this is to put on an album.  For those of you reaching for your iPod or CD carrying case, I meant record album.  As in vinyl.  Or go to a garage sale and pick up a $5 tape player and pop in your old favorites.  Sure, you’ll get the tape hiss and fuzz that you forgot existed since listening to your iPod, but you’ll be taken back to a time when music had a little more love in it.  It wasn’t quite as sterile as it can be today.  And our digital music can often times be of worse sound quality than the old tapes and records; have you listened to an MP3 lately?  We’ve replaced tape compression with the digital compression of data.

Which is worse?  I’ll let you decide.  For me though, nothing beats putting on a vinyl record of Elton John and just losing myself in an era gone by.

Thanks for reading.  Till next time, cheers.

Josh Walker