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By Clifford Goldmacher
Working as a producer for the last ten years, I've recorded
with all kinds of artists from "fresh off the boat" newbies to
artists whose experience in the world of music doubles or even triples my
own. In every case, my role as a producer stays essentially the same. It's
that role that I'm going to describe in this article.
What Is A Producer?
The best way I know to describe what a producer does
comes in the form of this analogy: A producer is to a recording as a
director is to a film. When it comes to making a film, the buck essentially
stops with the director. It's the director who steers the ship working
with everyone from the technical editors to the actors in order to achieve
his or her overall vision of the movie. It is exactly that way with a
producer when it comes to making a recording.
Not only must the producer
have the experience to work with the studio engineer (often possessing
the technical expertise to engineer the project themselves) but the musical
understanding to help the artist with everything from song choice, structure
and arrangement to the all-important vocal performances that are vital
in giving a recording its personality. In short, a producer provides
the experience and necessary perspective to guide a recording from start
to finish. |
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Producer Backgrounds
Producers can come from a variety of backgrounds. I'm listing the four most
common and what each brings to the process, but, typically, producers have
experience in more than one of these areas.
1.The Songwriter - Since at it's essence, a recording is dependent on the
quality of the song, the songwriter/producer is heavily involved in the song
selection process. Not only does this type of producer have experience in knowing
what does and doesn't work when it comes to pre-existing songs, but often this
producer will co-write songs with the artist for a given project.
2.The Musician - Here, it's often an instrumental and music theory background
that gives this type of producer their experience. They have first hand knowledge
when it comes to working with musicians and knowing what instrumental approach
will work best in a given situation.
3.The Engineer - In this case, the producer's primary experience comes from
actual recording (i.e., placing microphones on drum kits, recording vocals
and mixing albums). By becoming an expert in the nuts and bolts of the recording
process, an engineer/producer can make the recording process a smooth one for
the artist.
4.The Music Fan - This is someone who lives and breathes
music and has the instincts to guide artists and session musicians through
the recording process without necessarily having had the "hands on" experience
of being a songwriter, musician or engineer themselves. They often bring
great perspective to a situation where being too close to any one part of
the process might compromise the overall recording.
What Do Producers Do?
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As I've mentioned, producers can be involved
in many different aspects of a recording. Some producers are very "hands
off" acting mostly as the voice of experience and perspective for
artists who already have a fairly clear idea of who they are and where
they're headed. On the other end of the spectrum are the producers who
are involved in every element of the recording from co-writing the songs,
to engineering to playing one or even all of the instruments.
In some,
but certainly not all of these cases, the resulting recordings have such
a distinctive sound that the producer becomes as associated with the
recording as the artist themselves. For the record, no one way takes
precedence over any other for producing a recording. The only measure
of a producer that matters is whether or not the resulting recording
is satisfying to everyone involved. As most producers operate somewhere
in between minimal and complete involvement, here are the main areas
where most producers do their work. |
1.Pre-production - This includes working with the artist to decide if the
songs are as good as they can be and, ultimately, which songs would work best
as a group for an album release. It also includes deciding on the overall sound
of a recording which involves deciding which session musicians/instruments
would be best suited to achieve the sound and feel of a particular song.
2.Instrumental Recording/Arrangement
- At this point, the producer works with the assembled musicians and helps
direct their performances in the studio in order to achieve a cohesive sound
for the recording.
3.Vocals - Finally, because the typical music listener responds first to the
voice of the singer, one of the most important roles of the producer is working
with the vocalist to help them give their best, most sincere performance of
their material. It is extremely difficult for even the most experienced vocalists
to have any perspective on their performance while it's happening. For this
reason, a producer is the voice of reason and experience who knows how to encourage
a vocalist to do one more vocal pass or helps them realize that it would be
better to take a break and come back to fight another day.
How Do I Find A Producer?
For those who are new to the process of recording, whether it's an album project
or even a song demo, it is unclear where to look to find a producer for your
project. Generally speaking, word of mouth in your music community serves as
the best, most organic way to find a producer right for your project. Another
effective way to find a producer, particularly if you're interested in doing
a whole recording project, would be to look at the liner notes on some of your
favorite independent CD projects made in the city where you plan to record.
Often, those producers are available for hire and it's just a matter of getting
their contact information which the artists themselves usually have. Finally,
there's no rule that says you can't contact a well-known/successful producer
whose work you admire. Maybe they will be too busy or too expensive to work
with, but you never know and if you're respectful in your request there's no
reason not to try.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, it's a good working relationship and the trust between
artist and producer that makes for the best results. So, be sure that you not
only like a producer's work but feel comfortable working with them as well.
You'll be spending a lot of time with this person and trusting them with your
art, so make sure that you feel like the producer you choose is willing to
give you and your music the attention necessary to get a great recording.
Good luck!
Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, session musician, engineer, author
and owner of recording studios in Nashville, TN and Sonoma, CA. His company,
http://www.NashvilleStudioLive.com, provides songwriters outside of Nashville
with virtual access to Nashville's best session musicians and singers for their
songwriting demos.
You can download a FREE sample of Cliff's
eBook "The Songwriter's Guide
To Recording Professional Demos" by going to http://www.EducatedSongwriter.com/ebook.
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