The Art Of Music Production

by Richard James Burgess

Overview

The most comprehensive guide to the elusive art of record production ever published, including tips on how to start, how to deal with artists, record companies and lawyers and how to get rich. A witty and entertaining read.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857122025
Publisher:	Omnibus Press
Publication date:	01/07/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	324
File size:	3 MB

Table of Contents

	Introduction	xi
1	What Kind Of Producer Do You Want To Be?	1
a)	All-Singing-All-Dancing-King-Of-The-Hill	1
b)	Sidekick	6
c)	Collaborator	8
d)	Merlin The Magician	9
e)	Other Ways Of Categorising Producers	13
2	How Do You Get Started?	15
a)	What Are The Ways In?	15
i	The Musician Or Artist?	15
ii	The Audio Engineer...	20
iii	The Songwriter	26
iv	The DJ Producers...	28
v	The Self Taught Home Studio Hobbyist	31
vi	The Finding A New Act Routine	33
vii	The Who-The-Hell-Knows-How-They-Got-Started Route	35
b)	OK - So You Want To Be A Record Producer - What Next?	35
c)	Are Qualifications A Help Or A Hindrance?	38
d)	So Exactly How Much Technical Knowledge Do You Need?	43
e)	How Much Musical Knowledge Do You Need?	47
f)	What If You Have Neither Musical Nor Technical Skills?	49
g)	The Door's Open, The Foot's In, Now What?	50
3	What's The Job Description?	52
a)	We Are Not Worthy	60
b)	Who Takes Care Of The Administration And Paperwork?	68
c)	Managing The Session From Day To Day	69
i	Pre-production	69
ii	Recording The Live Band	72
iii	Recording An Orchestra Or Big Band	75
iv	Overdubbing Live Musicians	76
v	The Computer-Based Session	77
vi	The Vocals	78
vii	Which Method Makes A Better Record - Live, Overdubbed Or Computer?	83
d)	What Are 'They' Going To Expect Of You?	86
i	The Artist?	86
ii	The Record Company?	89
iii	The Artist's Manager?	90
4	Will They Still Love You Tomorrow?	91
a)	What Is Your Working Life Expectancy?	91
b)	How's Your Health?	92
c)	What Keeps A&R People Coming Right Back To You?	94
i	If You're Hot	94
ii	If You're Not Quite There Yet	95
iii	If You Were Recently Hot	96
iv	When The Night's Closing In	96
v	What Prevents Them From Coming Back To You?	99
vi	How Else Can You Get Work?	100
vii	What's The Best Way To Handle The Show Reel/Resume/CV Tap Dance?	100
5	Producer Managers	103
a)	To Have A Manager Or Not To Have A Manager?	103
b)	Do They Earn Their Percentage?	105
i	Is She Just Fielding Calls Or Is She Out There Pitching For You?	105
ii	How Do You Avoid Getting Ripped Off By Your Manager?	107
iii	Does He Siphon Off Some Of Your Work To Other Producers In The Stable?	107
d)	How Do You Define 'Best Manager' For You?	113
e)	How Can You Find Such A Person - If They Even Exist?	114
f)	How Do You Persuade Them To Take You On?	114
6	How Do You Deal With The Artist, The Record Company And The Artist's Manager?	117
a)	What Should Your Relationship With The Artist Be?	117
i	Best Friends?	117
ii	Able To Fit In?	118
iii	Hang After Hours, Between Albums, Party-Hearty and Laugh At The Jokes?	118
iv	Somewhat Aloof?	119
v	Professional?	119
vi	How Do You Tell Them Something Is Not Working?	119
b)	Where Does Your Responsibility Lie?	120
i	To The Artist?	120
ii	To The Record Company?	123
iii	To Yourself?	124
iv	To The Project?	125
c)	What About The Drug And Alcohol Connection?	126
i	Should You Be Bathroom Buddies?	126
ii	Is It OK If It Is Outside Of Working Hours?	128
iii	What Do You Do If The Artist Does And You Don't?	128
d)	What Do You Do When The Artist Freaks?	129
e)	What Do You Do When The Record Company Freaks?	130
f)	What Do You Do When The Artist's Manager Is A Freak?	134
7	Lawyers	135
a)	How Much Will They Cost You?	136
b)	How Much Should You Depend On Them?	137
c)	How Much Do You Really Need Them?	138
d)	What Happens When They Get It Wrong?	138
e)	What Tricks Do They Get Up To?	139
f)	And That's Just Your Lawyer. How Much Damage Can The Other Guy Do?	140
8	Difficulties And Pitfalls	143
a)	Studio Nightmares	143
b)	Serious Differences Of Opinion	143
c)	The Endless Album	144
d)	Lack Of Vision	144
e)	Micro-Vision	145
f)	Panic Stations	146
i	The Singer Can't Sing In Tune/Time	146
ii	The Band Can't Play In Tune/Time	147
iii	One Of The Musicians Is Screwing Up Every Take	150
iv	You're Calmly Cruising Up To The End Of The Album, Bang On Budget, And The Artist Decides Half Of It Is Crap	152
v	The A&R Person Hates The Mixes: Stay Calm And Survive	153
g)	What Makes It Seem Like Hard Work?	155
h)	How Much Loyalty Can You Expect Within The Business?	156
i	From The Artist?	156
ii	From The A&R Person?	158
iii	Final Word On Loyalty	159
i)	First Girlfriend Syndrome	160
9	Success And Money	162
a)	How Much Can You Make?	162
b)	Where Else Does The Money Come From?	165
c)	Do Producers Earn Their Percentage?	168
d)	How Can You Increase Your Chances Of Success?	173
e)	What Is The Secret Of Longevity?	174
f)	Hitting The Jackpot	175
10	What Are The Timeless Ingredients In A Hit Record?	180
a)	The Label	180
b)	The Song	181
c)	The Vocal	182
d)	The Arrangement	182
e)	The Performance	185
f)	The Engineering	186
g)	How Important Is The Mix Really?	187
h)	Timeliness	187
i)	The Heart	187
j)	Are These Rules To Which There Are Exceptions?	189
11	Frequently Asked Questions	191
a)	How Much Can You Learn, How Much Is Natural Ability?	191
b)	How Do You Pick The Right Project?	192
c)	Do Producers Have Their Own Sound?	192
d)	Should You Get Involved In The Song Writing?	193
e)	New Versus Established Artists?	195
f)	What About The All-Important Credits?	196
i	Executive Producer	196
ii	Album Producer	197
iii	Producer	198
iv	Co-producer	198
v	Associate Producer	198
vi	Additional Production By	198
vii	Multiple Producer Credits	199
viii	Recorded By	200
ix	Engineered By	200
x	Mixed By	200
xi	Remixed By Or Remix Produced By	200
xii	Programmed By	201
xiii	Edits By	201
g)	What Are The Best Moments?	202
h)	Why Are There So Few Female Record Producers?	202
i)	Can You Successfully Genre Hop?	207
i	Advantages And Disadvantages	207
ii	Who Has Done It?	209
j)	How Do You Deal With...	209
i	Post-Purchase Dissonance More Commonly Known As 'Buyer's Remorse'?	209
ii	Post-Partum Depression?	210
k)	What Happens When The Fat Lady Sings?	211
i	How Do You Know When It's Over?	211
ii	Where Do Old Producers Go?	212
iii	Should You Start Making Plans And When?	213
l)	Why Do People Want To Produce Records?	214
m)	Why Do People Want To Make Records At All?	214
n)	Do You Know When You Have Produced A Smash?	215
o)	What Is Demo-Itis?	216
p)	What Kind Of Person Becomes A Producer?	219
q)	How Do Producers Feel About Remixers?	221
r)	What's The Remixer's Point Of View?	223
s)	What's The A&R Person's Point Of View?	224
t)	What Is The 'Sophomore Slump'?	225
12	Working Outside The Mainstream?	228
a)	Classical	228
b)	Jazz	229
c)	Country	231
d)	Traditional, Folk, Roots And World Music	233
e)	Children's Music	241
f)	Regional Producers	246
13	Technology Rules: Will the Internet Kill the Video Star?	248
a)	Has Technology Made Studio Life Easier?	248
b)	The Revolution Will Be Digitised: Where Is It All Going?	252
c)	What Does This Mean To The Professional Record Producer?	256
d)	Why Will We Even Need Labels In The Future?	268
e)	Charts	270
f)	Will Record Producers Survive The Revolution?	274
14	The Final Cut	277
15	Featured interview with legendary producer Arif Mardin	279
	Glossary	288