PRODUCTION

Production in itself seems simple enough until you actually try to produce a recording. It requires many skills that aren’t that obvious. Keeping everyone happy and feeling comfortable during the pressure of the recording process, takes experience in many areas. (Music, psychology, public relations, baby sitting and much more). Making sure the train doesn’t veer off the tracks while keeping an eye on the money being spent, and getting the “best performances” from everyone involved, takes a lot of experience and confidence. It makes sense that there should always be an open and fair exchange of ideas from everyone involved, but someone has to make choices along the way to keep the whole thing moving forward. Otherwise it can go around in circles endlessly.

I’ve known many people who, after spending loads of money, are totally disappointed with the results. This usually happens because a few bad choices (which could have been avoided) were made early on. Trying to produce yourself is sure to leave you unhappy and riddled with anxiety when it’s all said and done. Very few people have been successful at this. Everyone needs some guidance during a recording. That person has to be someone you believe in and trust; someone that understands what your personal vision is, and is there to help you achieve it.
Another mistake is often made by hiring the wrong people to work with because of personal pressure and loyalties. If your friends haven’t been in a studio before, (or even have limited experience) you can waste a lot of time getting, at best, mediocre results. You should always hire people because of the quality of their ideas and the creativity they bring to the table. Someone who has only been in a studio twice in their life can’t have the same depth of ideas or problem solving capability as a person who does it all the time. When you’re going in the studio to record your own project, it’s a bit like building your “dream house”. I’ve fixed a few small plumbing and wiring problems around my own house but would anyone hire me to build their “dream house”? NO! It would be a disaster. Choosing the “right” people to work with should be your hardest decision, after that, “they” make the rest of the process easier.

As I said earlier it’s the quality of ideas that make all the difference at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter what kind of reverb is used on the drums or whether you record them on Pro Tools or two inch analog tape. It’s all about the depth of ideas that are generated by the people you work with. Musical taste is something that only develops over a long period of time and involves making lots of mistakes along the way. Most (actually all) “indie” projects have a limited budget at best. Therefor you need to be efficient with the time you have in the studio. That’s why it’s best to work with experienced people that already have the “problem solving skills” needed to successfully complete a recording.

As the artist/songwriter, you don’t need to know what type of compression or “eq” to use on the acoustic guitar, or even how to write charts for the musicians. Let someone else make those decisions and concentrate on your singing or writing, that’s the most important part of this whole thing. It is, after all, the singer’s record.

As I said earlier, “you always want to hear the money you spend on the speakers”. That means whatever your recording budget is, most of it should be spent “making the music better” as opposed to fixing problems that should never have been there in the first place. You should never keep “six guitar solos” or “four takes” of a song because you can’t make up your mind which is better at the time. Working with someone that can help you make those decisions along the way, allows you to put most of your resources into recording the project properly the first time. If you keep multiple takes of everything, it can take forever to sort all this stuff out when you start to mix. It’s great for the studio, but not for the independent artist with a limited budget. Digital recording systems like “Pro Tools” can make it easy to fall into this kind of trap. (Because of all the available tracks) It’s ultimately up to the artist and producer to make those choices during the recording, regardless of the format you’re using to record. I do know from my own experience as a producer and a sideman that it’s always best to make choices along the way, commit to your ideas at the time and move on.