YOUR FAVORITE PRODUCING TIP

[dcb]

lets share our favorite producing tips, shall we?
this is not about mixing, but about getting the best out of your artists.


let the band do a preproduction with programmed drums,
work on that song in your daw (on your own) and delete ALL the riffs and bad ideas, that stop the song from making sense to the listeners ear.
delete everything that distracts from the core idea of a song,
and make the best idea (hook) shine.

bands are mostly democratic - is all just a compromise,
letting the drummer play all the fills he wants to,
letting the lead guitar player play leads allll through the song,
letting the bass play triplets against straight 16ths on the kick...

so EVERYONES satisfied !

except :

the listener!

so its your job to make the band a monarchy (or should i say dictatorship?)- you are the king ;-) be super honest, and be radical.
and help the band to focus.


now you - GO!

 

[Ermz]

Don't ever give the band the benefit of the doubt. Assume they will fail at everything, and you will be prepared.

 

[Ola Englund]

best production tip I have to share:

NEVER record bands, ever. You'll have a better life...

 

[greyskull]

Sound at source.

 

[jeid]

Don't ever give the band the benefit of the doubt. Assume they will fail at everything, and you will be prepared.

best production tip I have to share:

NEVER record bands, ever. You'll have a better life...

Two best bits of advice in here! haha

 

[Agonal]

Encourage the musicians you are recording even if you don't enjoy their style or music. Confidence is everything to those on the other side of the producer's seat. If they have no confidence and you break their confidence expect to get poor takes. This can be tough if you are dealing with really un-experienced musicians but if you keep your cool and show compassion they will appreciate it.

 

[amarshism]

Move fast and be decisive. Don't be afraid to commit.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Communicate. If the communication between the band/artist and the producer/AE doesn't work the way it should, the end result will sound like shit in many ways. When there's a bond of understanding and respect between the two parties, shit's gonna rock the universe.

 

[Revson]

The "Save As" option is a gift for you to use liberally. You never know when or how hard those Jack and Cokes are going to hit you in the middle of an editing session, causing you to have to go back and redo everything the next day.

Also, don't drink on the job. Much.

 

[mmmb]

I guess a good tip for us producers and musicians alike is to leave the ego outside the control room.

 

[-Noodles-]

You're always right, even if that's not what the band are looking for.
Just know that the reason you're the mixer / rec eng is that you know how to deal with sound. Leave the guitar playing to the guitarists!

 

[MindMunch]

Advance payment
This will solve problems like:
1) Not being paid after the job is done;
2) Don´t have to run after the only band member that didn´t paid his share for whatever reason;
3) Bands will think twice before cancel an appointment or showing up late.

 

[ArthurD]

Advance payment
This will solve problems like:
1) Not being paid after the job is done;
2) Don´t have to run after the only band member that didn´t paid his share for whatever reason;
3) Bands will think twice before cancel an appointment or showing up late.

THAT!

 

[timislegend]

serve the goal of the music.

 

[Sickan]

Cut lowmids.

 

[MetalSound]

help the small egos in the band and keep the big ones down.

 

[ahjteam]

highpass fucking everything.

 

[AudioPhile777]

Cut lowmids.

highpass fucking everything.

This is probably the worst general advice for mixing, ever, because every mix is different..

On top of that, the OP stated the following:

this is not about mixing, but about getting the best out of your artists.

Just wanted to point that out.


The best piece of advice I have is to balance a comfortable, relaxing environment with a get-it-done work environment. Bitches be lazy sometimes, but they have to feel comfortable too... Provide an environment which inspires and helps the artist... if that fails, use autotune.

 

[B36arin]

Sound at source.

This really can't be emphasized enough.

Also, a great performance will sound awesome through a cheap mic, an average performance won't sound awesome through an U87. It's all about getting the musicians to play as well as possible, and if that means making slight sacrifices in "audio quality", so be it.

 

[jipchen]

I am a bit confused, isn't this thread supposed to be about "producing" as in.. what do you do if you're (also) the producer?
And not "producing" meaning tracking.. because most tips here are either for tracking, mixing or organization.