Nothing gets more acclaim and adulation in music these days than the title of “Producer.” It’s so coveted that in rap sessions anyone who comes up with the slightest idea or even a minute fader move demands a credit as “Producer”. Producing is probably the most misunderstood role in the recording process. Some think a producer is the idea man, the one who comes to the session with every musical phrase worked out in his mind and the artist performs in servitude to his vision. Others think he is there to be a yes man to everything the artist says or does, providing an eternal positive response to the number one question heard in studios around the world, “What do you think?”

This is my fourth attempt to define and write what a producer does. Though I know one when I see one, it’s hard to quantify exactly what they do and how they do it. It’s complicated because producer styles are so varied, ranging from polar extremes, from those who hardly do anything at all to those who are Hitler-esque in their domination of the session. Some are schooled arrangers who read and write music prolifically while others can barely write the language they speak. How do you quantify this, especially when every artist has a different take on what a producer does as well? Maybe it isn’t what they do or how they do it, but their responsibilities that define them.

I was watching the news some time ago and there was a story about a mayor who was trying to ban fast food from his obviously obese town. Well, not ban exactly but have a “fast food tax”. The reporter asked him to define fast food, trying to catch him in a faulty definition of calories verses nutritional value or something like that. The mayor calmly replied, “Fast food is when you have to pay for it before you eat it.” Brilliant. He defined it, not by what the food is, but by how it’s purchased.

As I thought about this, it hit me. A producer is the person in the session with the final decision on song selection. That’s it. Simple. Song selection leads, in turn, to arrangement, which leads to the performance. This is the Holy Trinity of the producer’s responsibilities: song, arrangement and performance. If you, as the artist, are not allowing the “Producer” this ultimate decision then maybe you are actually producing and that person you are paying is along for the ride. Maybe you will allow their input on the arrangement or performance, but that’s not a producer with a capital “P.” Obviously there is a bit of trust that has to happen here. My favorite analogy is “the artist is the tightrope walker and the producer is the rope.”  Do you trust your producer’s judgment (or talent) that much?

Established producers gain this kind of trust quickly with an artist, especially if the producer is well known and the artist isn’t. Everyone understands that the producer will pull the artist up to his level. This is why record labels have favorite producers they like to work with. That, and the fact they can deliver an acceptable product on time and on budget. It also doesn’t hurt if there’s a hit or two in there as well.

But what if you are not with a label yet and can’t afford to hire a ‘big gun’ producer? Like most artists, you either try to self-produce, or hire, or persuade a local producer-engineer-studio-owner-type to produce you. First, if you can’t find a producer that you can trust explicitly to turn over the song selection (be honest here), arrangement and performance, then maybe you should self-produce. But before you get too excited about that prospect, be forewarned. Can any artist successfully be his or her own producer? Probably ‘no’ if the goal is a great record. Probably ‘yes’ if you just want to get through the process and have a CD. There are very few artists who can successfully produce themselves. Almost all the projects of self-produced artists are below par in my opinion. Sorry, but it’s true. It seems in a collaborative art form like modern music, you need the additional honest opinions, guidance and input from others who can ‘hear’ the big picture.

I recently bought a CD from a band that really inspired me as a teenager. Though this band hasn’t been together for many years, they decided to get back together to release an album and tour. I bought the album without hesitation. I took it into my studio and listened to it. This may be the worst album I’ve heard in quite some time. Produced by a member of the band, he failed at all three of my major producer responsibility points with terrible song selection, average performances and dated, flat arrangements. See, you can still have a hit by failing at any two of my points, but not all three.

In popular music, the producer can take on a role like that of the film director. It’s his vision and micro-managed. He’s calling the shots. The artist is subservient to him. Song selection is under his control (he probably re-wrote some or most of the tunes –mo money!); arrangement is under his control (cut and paste–whoo hoo!) and performance as well, even if the artist can’t really do it (AutoTune, Beat Detective, Sound Replacer, etc.). Of course this example is an extreme one but kind of typical for a ‘pop princess’ or ‘alt rock’ type album. Beware of hack producers like this.

Most of the time a producer is somewhere between the extremes I’ve written about where there is a comfortable fit with the producer’s personality and the artist’s. One thing I’ve observed is the more talented the artist the less domineering the producer has to be. The less talented the artist the more the producer dictates. Oh, and a producer will bring the same organizational skills that he has in his own life to your sessions. The main thing a producer does, believe it or not, is make sure the record gets done.

Now, here’s the part where I may get hate mail. If you enlist the services of a producer whose responsibility is to make you sound like your favorite artist (read ‘radio ready’), what you are looking for is a “re-producer”. It takes very little skill to deconstruct a genre and reconstruct it with your parts. Kiss goodbye every chance of coming up with something new or possibly becoming “the next big thing.” You will sound like everyone else in your genre and a few years from now you will hate your music from this period. But, if that is your goal, it will be easily obtained. I’ve written about all the ‘art’ stuff but session scheduling and budgeting are part of the job as well, but few artists want a producer that “really knows how to schedule!” I wish a producer’s role could be as exactly defined as, let’s say, the piano tuner. We all know what he does; tunes the piano, nothing more, nothing less. But the producer in modern music has to be part psychologist, part boss, part servant, part accountant, part authority, part anarchist, part musician, part fan, part honest friend and part liar.

Setting up and mic’ing drums in the studio can be a depressing experience if things don’t go well. Here are a few pointers on how to prep your kit for the studio.

First, a great live kit may not make a great studio kit. Most drummers have one kit which they have refined for live shows. This includes head choices that may not work in a studio environment. If you plan on using your live kit for the studio, before you buy heads, check the shells for cracks or breaks. Check the hardware for rattles and buzzes. If the shells are damaged there is no use bringing them to the studio. I  had a session where the bass drum shell was cracked on the bottom. The roadie had dropped the drum somehow and failed to fess up about it. The drum couldn’t be tuned and buzzed with each hit. I replaced it and two of the toms that were suspect. Something seriously bad happened to this kit. When checking the shells, don’t do it in your living room with the CD player blasting away. You need a quiet room, not too live, and a couple of towels. With the heads on, just hold the drum and hit it. Listen closely for hums, buzzes and rattles. If you hear something, try to isolate the source. Could it be loose screws inside the drum? On vintage drums, the plys may come unglued over time or the wrap can become unglued. These buzzes can be very hard to find. For live shows it may be fine but the studio is a super quiet environment; you will hear flaws. Newer drums have excellent shells so this is not as problematic. The lug casings in older drums may ring. This is caused by the spring inside vibrating sympathetically with the shell and is easily fixed by removing the casing and filling it with cotton. Again, modern lug casings usually have this problem solved.

If the drum passes the stick hit test, get your felt bass drum beater and hit the shell while again holding the drum. This low frequency impact may reveal other noises that a head hit won’t reveal. If you have successfully found that all your drums are mechanically sound, then it’s time to buy heads. If  you can’t isolate the problem, then you may need to borrow or rent a kit. Check to see if the studio has a kit but beware; make sure they know drums.

When you get heads, get bottom heads as well. Even though you don’t hit them they still go ‘dead”. Just consider this studio prep as an annual overhaul and cleaning. Don’t talk yourself out of bottom heads. When you strip the drums of their heads, carefully check the bearing edges for damage. The drum should be round (duh!), the bearings straight without chips or dents and flat. You can check this by placing the drum on a glass table. Place a light inside and if you see light escape, the bearing edges aren’t perfectly flat. If they need repair, don’t attempt to do this yourself. Get the drum to an experienced drum tech.

So the drums have passed all inspections, found to be perfect and now it’s time to put the heads on. Head type and tuning I’ll leave to another post, but one thing I want to discuss is seating. Head seating allows the head and the bearing edge to ‘seat’ properly against one another. To do this properly, put the head on, thumb tighten, then put the drum on the floor with the towel under it (protect those bearing edges) and press as hard as you can down on the center of the drum. I’ve heard of some standing on the drum. Don’t worry, the head won’t pull loose from the rim. All the cracking you hear is just glue snapping. Next, crank the head tight. Press hard again. Since you are doing this the night before your session (you are, aren’t you?) don’t tune the drum yet, you can do that at the studio.

Sometimes irregular bearing edges can be helped by a light rubbing with surfboard wax. Nothing heavy, just a light touch to make a better seal with the head.

Next, check stands and hardware for rattles. Sometimes, when the tubes are not fully extended, they rattle when the cymbal is hit. Make sure you have all the felts. Any mechanical noise you hear will be huge when close mic’ed. Check the pedals and oil if squeaky. If you use a cage, borrow enough stands to separate the cymbals from the drums. Sympathetic vibrations will just make extraneous noises. Cages are fine live, problematic in the studio. I also don’t like stands that hold both drums and cymbals. They are great for live, but in the studio one stand per instrument.

Check your cymbals too. Hairline cracks are sometimes difficult to see in the grooves. If the cymbal doesn’t have a pure tone, check them carefully. Some feel that dirty cymbals darken them and make a desirable tone. Others feel clean cymbals are clear with clean overtones. There is no right or wrong here.

Now, the beater. Most drummers want a huge, powerful, low-sounding kick with plenty of attack and rich lows. So they have a 22” or 24” kick with the latest “power-head-deadening-gimmick” drumhead and a thin, plastic girly-beater. These same drummers detest plastic-tipped drumsticks but readily will use a plastic beater on the one drum that needs to be the biggest sounding in the kit (or world, they hope). Swap that silly beater with a hard felt or wooden beater and, kaboom, there’s a kick. And guess what? Wooden beater equals big lows and sharp attack…a lot less EQ needed in the mix. What? You can’t play double bass with those heavy beaters? Come on. Be a man. Grow up and get some chops.

1968 Ludwig Kit mic'd for session

Here are a few things I have learned in my 35+ years of doing this…

1. It’s the singer’s band. It doesn’t really matter if you own the PA, it’s the singer’s band.
2. Sometimes you’re the pigeon, sometimes you’re the statue.
3. In the studio, sometimes smaller is bigger.
4. An engineer (or producer) will bring the same organizational skills to your session as they bring to their own life.
5. At any given time there is a pimpled-faced thirteen year old who can play better than you.
6. There is always a Yoko.
7. The world is run by “C” students. (thanks, Joe. T.)
8. Get your guitar’s intonation checked before the session (by a pro) and borrow the best guitar you can as a back up. Sessions will grind to a halt if not.
9. Poor instrument tuning or intonation will turn your Master Recording into a DEMO.
10. Incredible performance and feel can turn your DEMO into a Master Recording.
11. The least heard phrase in Nashville, “Have you seen the banjo player’s new Mercedes.”
12. Least heard phrase in Orlando, “Lou Pearlman gave us a great deal!”
13. A relative, usually Mama, finances most studios these days.
14. Monitoring is everything. Make sure your monitoring system costs more than your DAW.
15. If you can’t afford to use new tape, you shouldn’t be in business. (I don’t know what the modern equivalent is yet)
16. Those who “can” do. Those who “can’t,” teach. (This is an old one I’ve always heard.)
17. Church musicians are never as good as they proclaim.
18. Be nice to everybody because you’ll see the same folks on your way up and on your way down.
19. Avoid stereotypes: not every African American can play drums or has rhythm.
20. Expensive instruments do make a difference.
21. People who post a lot on forums read magazines more than they work.
22. In music, timing is the whole ball of wax.
23. People who have great rote memory skills can be incredibly stupid.
24. Learn something new everyday.
25. Work out your publishing arrangements (as a band) before you come into the studio.
26. The goal in the music business is to not hate anyone when you’re done. (or have them hate you)
27. Don’t believe anyone at Guitar Center.
28. There is more to modern music than a kick drum. (especially live)
29. Look at an old sailor before you get that tattoo.
30. Every children’s song sounds like The Ballad of Davy Crockett.
31. The low end is the hardest thing to get right.
32. Change bottom heads too.
33. If you can’t stand plastic-tipped drumsticks why do you like plastic beaters?
34. Credits cost you nothing. Give them away liberally.
35. Put two recording engineers in a room and you’ll have three opinions.
36. When recording there are no rules, only principles.
37. There’s no competition in pure art.
38. The need for a domineering producer is directly proportional to your lack of talent.
39. Engineers who have ‘tone’ in their description (such as ‘The Tone King” or Tone Miester”, etc. etc.) usually don’t get it (tone).
40. You save money and time when you hire studio musicians.
41. Yellow is the new red.

Euphonix Console

There was a time when mastering was a back-room affair. It was a thankless job and rarely credited. Heck, even the engineer and producer were rarely credited. So how did mastering become the coveted, high profile position we revere today?

The answer: digital audio. You see, before the availability of cheap digital gear, music recording was a costly proposition that needed very expensive gear. There were fewer studios around and the best engineers filled the top positions (usually). These were real pros with apprentice-learned skills.

Today, in a digital world, studio gear is cheap and readily available. Studios are everywhere. (see my blog on “What is a Studio”) And talent? Well, without the filter of extreme competition for a few available positions, anyone with a couple of thousand dollars can get a DAW up and running. Couple this proliferation with the current trend of “Lo-Fi” sounds and production techniques and now you need a serious technician to make something listen-able out of these messes we call “final mixes”. I always find it amusing when reading an article about the production of an album and the artist/engineer/producer talks about his radical production or mixing technique. I wish magazines would have a sidebar where the mastering engineer reveals the extreme measures it took just to make the mixes work. Of course it would be like getting your surgeon to say something bad about your family physician…it ain’t gonna happen. After all, it’s the reason mastering engineers are so busy these days and why some are approaching cult status. I’ve had bands in my studio on the first day of tracking debating who should master.

In the end this is a good thing I guess. Another set of ears and fresh perspective is always helpful. And in today’s world of hyper compressed releases the mastering engineer is the “keeper of the gate” so to speak and can transform the album to meet today’s release standards. I would say the biggest mistake of many people mixing modern records is the pressure to make each song loud at the mix stage. In trying to match the loudness of a mastered release (the CD of who the band wants to sound like!?), all the life and punch of a recording is forever gone. Mix the most open sounding, dynamic record you can and let the mastering engineer earn his pay.

Dr. Z Carmen Ghia

OK, if you’re a guitar player and don’t know these basics, then you deserve Amp Farm™.  This is the foundation on how to get and develop your tone.

First, always turn on the power switch and wait for about a minute before switching the standby on. This allows the tubes to heat up a little which will extend their life. Reverse the process to shut down. Never turn an amp on without a load (speakers) or you may damage the output transformer and power tubes. Always match the impedance of the amp with the speaker cabinet.

Basic reasons that guitar amps sound different.

OK, the main reason is the tubes! Distilled down, it’s basically an American sound, like Fender™, or the British sound, like Marshall™. Of course it’s not quite this simple, so stay with me. 6L6 (or 5881’s) are the classic American sound. They sound crunchy, sweet and crisp with a bell-like ‘chime’. This tube has great mid-range tones and distorts very naturally. In contrast, EL34 (or 6Ca7, KT77) are the classic sound of Marshall™ or HiWatt™ amps. They distort easily with a very recognizable bite, compression and crunch. The 6550 is a US tube for domestic Marshalls™ from the 70’s through the 80’s. A little punchier than the EL34’s. Think Ampeg SVT™ tubes. To contrast, 6V6’s are smoother than 6L6’s. They are pushed into distortion easily and have great tone. These are usually found in low power amps. Finally, EL84’s (or 6BQ5) are a British answer to 6V6’s. These tubes distort readily, especially in Class A circuits, with rich, complex harmonic saturation. Think Vox AC-30™.

Speaking of Class A, or AB circuits, it’s not as much as a factor as you would think when it comes to guitar amps. In Class A circuits, one power tube handles all 360 degrees of the output waveform. Class AB divides the waveform into halves (180 degrees each) with one tube (or set) handling the ‘push’ and another handling the ‘pull’. Class A is somewhat less efficient so it may sound ‘juicier’ or more ‘tube’ sounding. Class AB, because the work is shared, is tighter sounding with higher headroom.

Speakers, modern or vintage?

Now, let’s add another set of variables, the speakers. Does size matter? Well, this is rock and roll! Of course size matters!…a, ahem, well, it doesn’t really. Size really has an effect on the attack and response time, not so much on the tone. The time between the pluck of the string and the tone from the speaker is relative to the size. A 10” speaker is very quick and articulate. A 15” speaker is not as articulate with less of an attack. The 12” is somewhat in the middle and therefore is the most common size for guitar cabinets.

Vintage speakers, or low power speakers, usually have a power rating up to 30 watts. American Jensen™ 15 to 30 watt speakers with Alnico magnets have a ‘bell-like’ high end, very open midrange though slightly ‘boxy’, and sometimes ‘farting-out’ on the low end. To contrast, British Celestions™ with Alnico ring magnets sound rich and sweet, very musical midrange tones, nice highs but not a tremendous low end. The ceramic magnet “greenbacks’ are the classic British speaker with plenty of warmth, though gritty and edgy. There isn’t much low end, but when enclosed in a closed-back cabinet it has plenty of ‘oomph’.

Modern speakers, or high power speakers, can obviously handle more power. JBL™’s have a rounded midrange, just a bit of an edge, and sometimes piercing highs. EV™’s are muscular, very balanced and aggressive. They are a little “Hi-Fi” sounding. Celestions™ and Eminence™ have speakers with similar characteristics.

Once you decide upon the basic characteristic of the speaker, then the type of cabinet and cabinet material further enhance the sound. An open back cabinet will further accent the highs. The tone can be broad, quite realistic and very well rounded and transparent. The low end is attenuated just a bit. Open backs appear to be louder because of the omni directional characteristics of the open back. This also makes the cabinets full-throated, gritty and edgy. A closed back cabinet will have a tighter, fuller low end. It will sound more directional with slightly attenuated highs and a ‘spongy’ midrange.

A cabinet with a single speaker will be more focused, while multiple speakers will be slightly blurred due to the natural phase cancellation between the drivers. If the cabinets are made of Pine, or any other solid wood, they will be more resonate, plywood not so much, and MDF stiff and less musical. The final variable is wiring. Wired in series, the speakers will run looser and sound more raw and open. Wired in parallel, the speakers will exhibit a slightly tighter response with a smoother break-up.

Well, that’s it. This is only the beginning for your quest for amp tone. From this Chinese menu you should be able to imagine the sound necessary to fulfill the arrangement, pick and choose the possible tone combinations, add your knowledge of guitars, pick-ups and string choices and what their cumulative effect will be on the amp. I’ll add my knowledge of microphone choice and placement and room acoustics and you end up with killer guitar tones.

Manley Reference Cardiod

“I have a studio now!” is the common cry from most folks after purchasing their recording set-up from the local Banjo Mart. Well, do you really have a studio?

For song writing demos, band demos for bookings, etc., your home set-up may be just fine. But when it comes to commercial releases, you may need some help. The marketplace today is very crowded and it takes an extraordinary record to stand out. Except for the abundantly equipped project studio, a professional studio offers the extra effort most projects need.

A couple of definitions first. A computer with a sound card is not a studio. A ’studio’ is a ’system’ that incorporates acoustical spaces with audio recording equipment and all the support mechanisms that allow complicated systems to work together effortlessly with the musician(s). Does this describe your space accurately? If so, you have an enormous investment in both time and money! The fact is, when digital workstation technology was in it’s early stages, the allure to many was the dream of not needing a large studio anymore. That meant less space to lease, less investment for equipment and a lot more accuracy in both editing and recording. You could compete against “the big guys” with a lot less investment. I know because that’s how I started. You can do incredible work “in the box” given adequate support gear, talent and, drum roll please cause this is the big one, “time”.

But… the big records are still being made in real studios.

A real studio…

• has been designed by a recognized studio designer
• doesn’t let the noise you’re making out nor the outside noise in
• you can record and mix with the air conditioning running and not hear it or record it
• contains more gear than you need, all working and accessible
• all gear is properly installed, grounded and balanced
• usually has a large format console and extensive monitoring capability
• the monitoring system costs way more than the DAW system
• has a knowledgeable staff in many musical forms
• a legal, licensed, tax paying business entity.

A project studio is…

• a studio where the gear set-up is not flexible and usually permanently patched to accommodate one person’s style
• the only acoustic treatment is surface mounted, off-the-shelf solutions, usually devised and implemented by the owner
• no expense has been made to quiet the HVAC system, sometimes requiring a shut-down when recording with open mics
• never quite has the gear you need
• the owner is usually knowledgeable in one musical genre
• “We don’t need no stinkin’ console”
• the DAW is the most expensive system in the place
• a mix of pro and semi-pro gear and usually a mix of pro and semi-pro levels
• usually a sole proprietorship flying below the legal radar.

So, when deciding to book a “studio” to start or complete your project, analyze your needs carefully and book the appropriate space.