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| There are a number of issues and problems that we deal with and solve when producing music. Our interests, priorities and outlook on production are divided into 3 parts in order of significance, and it is always our aim that each of these areas are realized in their entirety with the finest possible outcome. Overall, we take the perspective of the listener in our production process. We consider someone who hears the music and band for the first time; a fan already familiar with the band, their live shows and previous recordings; the critics; and the fans who listen to the recordings over and over again. The Song The main thing that appeals to the listener is the song. A song is a combination of musical ideas, riffs, hooks, rhythms, melodies and lyrics. Produced properly they provide a meaningful experience. For us the goal is to make sure all the musical ideas are comprehensible, working together to make the whole greater than the sum of the individual parts. To achieve this, there are a number of issues that we address. The arrangement or structure - making sure sections of the song are orderly for maximum effect, i.e. parts don't go on too long and lose the listeners interest, etc. The instrumentation - sometimes mistakenly called arrangement, but we mean the instruments that are playing each section, whether vocal parts are required over instrumental sections, and so forth. Writing - if there are weaknesses in the song, we give the musicians inspiration and creative space to rewrite, revamp and improve parts that are detrimental to the song. In practice, this means paying close attention to the overall song and the detailed components of it, and getting a good impression of the bands message and expression (in musical terms, not necessarily lyrical). The song should have emotional power, transport the listener. It is vital to have the skill to draw out exactly what the song is meant to accomplish from the earliest stages in the production process. The Performance After the song, the listener latches on to the individual performances and cohesion of the performances. Instrumentation has to be played (or programmed and sequenced if appropriate) by the individual musicians. Each part must be played correctly, but also the groove, tightness and feel of each part is vital. A melody or riff is rarely just a sequence of notes, usually it is a communication with sentiment behind it, built-in when it was written. It is vital that the musicians manage to recreate the sentiment to its best - in some cases performing beyond how it has been played before in order to realize the full potential of the songwriters idea. The producers job is to recognize when guidance and encouragement are needed, being assertive enough to tell the musician constructively! As well as making sure that the musicians are excelling in their craft, the song (finished product) must be held in mind at all times, because the performance must also make space for the other musical parts. Songs often contain tiny ideas and hooks, which can easily be lost if not produced appropriately, so the producer must always listen for these and make sure they are intelligently incorporated for optimum effect. Most of the music we produce is multitracked, each part is recorded separately rather than live. So the other aspect that must be ensured is that the result still sounds live, as if the musicians are interacting together organically. To get great performances, the musician must be comfortable and focused. To aid this, we make sure that they have great monitor mix, an inspiring sound of their own, and the right relaxed environment to record in. The Sound Often you can hear only a few seconds of out of the middle of a new song on the radio and think, 'this is great, what or who is it?' There are 2 reasons for this - first, sufficient attention has been paid to thperformance so that every note is loaded with recognizable emotion. Secondly, the overall sound has been crafted to relae te to the listener in the appropriate manner for the song and band. As we stated earlier, a great song can transport you to a new place, and part of this atmosphere is created by the sound. The sound of an instrument affects how inteligible the musical part is, how clearly you can hear the performance of the player. It contains the character of the voice. It is also vital to bare in mind the whole, how the sounds of the different instruments compliment each other, how the sounds will work together for the song. To create detailed and interesting sound, we firmly believe in getting great voice at the source, which is a combination of good instruments, proper tuning and set-up; great performance (for with any instrument the timbre and tone is created by the musician), excellent sound engineering, top quality microphones, pre-amps, recording equipment and recording techniques. Although we have done numerous 'rescue mixes' of poorer quality recorded material from other production studios (and we can get a very satisfying end result), we can't put in the detail that wasn't there to start with. A great mix is a matter of balancing the instruments and subtly compressing and/or EQ'ing to make sure the instruments make room for each other to create a 'sonic image' that has the appropriate power to envelop the listener while maintaining space to let the overall performance breathe. The Conclusion All of this is taken into account when we produce. Depending on the band, we may work 'behind the scenes' (doing what needs to be done, letting the musicians focus on playing and doing what they do best) while guiding the performers and acting on the principals described. In other instances we work on the production with them, getting their personal input and guiding them through the production process. We take an 'if it aint broke, don't fix it' approach. We don't want to interfere with your vision just for the sake of change or stroking our own collective 'ego'. We don't want to change your band into something you're not. We simply act as an intensifier, bringing out what is already there and assuring your band's greatness and strengths can be heard at their best. |
