Audio Recording

You are reading this post because you are dreaming to become a record producer. Let me help you attain your goal by providing some practical tips. Bear in mind that being proficient in all the technical aspects of recording, mixing and mastering process is also very important. But technical skills however is an added advantage but NOT required if you would like to become a recording producer.

What is required is that you should be able to transform an ordinary raw demo of the song (provided by the songwriter or the artist) into a great sounding music using production elements (unique drum sequence, cool guitar solos, great bass rhythms, nicely performed vocals, etc.) by utilizing the entire member of your team (recording engineers, mixing engineers, mastering engineers and your artist). For example if you listen to your favourite song in the radio and you love the guitar intro, vocals, drum section etc. It is not solely because of the artist, guitarist or drummer. This is only one side of the equation. The real reason is that the recording producer is GREAT! It is because the producer will be the one that decides and approves the artist performance while recording in the studio. If the producer does not like the resulting sound coming from the guitars, it will not become the best take that would be included in the final mix. The producer will ensure that all the arrangements (which are production elements) added to the song sound very nice. Be thankful to the record producer because he/she really the biggest factor why song you hear in the radio and everywhere sounds great.
Aside from working with the song on how to make it sound great, you should be comfortable working with several artists and help them reach their full potential. You should have the talent of spotting the strength of your artist and using them to create the best sound from their instruments. All you need really is an open and critical ear. By listening to your artist performance, you will decide whether it sounds good or not. If not, ask for another arrangement until you are satisfied before recording it.

Easy Steps to become a Recording Producer

Now for the most exciting part, how do you start to become a record producer?

1.)Start with any artist that writes their own original songs. Decide on a genre you love (whether rock, jazz or country, etc.)Of course before contacting them, you should like that song you are planning to produce. It could be your neighbours’ band or classmates in college. Tell them that you want to produce their best song in the manner it would sound as professional as possible or broadcast ready. Many would say “yes” because their demo does not sound nice and broadcast ready. Tell them that you are willing to finance the project, more on this later on.

2.)Politely ask them to provide some demo tapes of their recording, if they do not have some demo tapes, ask them to play live during their practice. You can record the live performance of the song in your own recorder (handheld cassette is enough).

3.)Study the song. Like the favourite song you hear in the radio, assess what is lacking with their song and what can you add so that it will further improve in quality and marketability aspect. It can be another intro, drum sequence, change in tempo, change in style or even change in melody! You can do anything just to further improve the song. You can even re-arrange it and add your own melodies to further improve the song hook. In this case, you are contributing the song writing aspect of that song and you could claim some ownership in the song copyright (more details later on)

4.)Meet with them again during their band session and introduce your changes. Let the band practice the changes. They should love it! If the remarks from the band have been very positive because it helps improve their song, offer them to record the song finally in the professional studio. Of course, you should be financing the recording and you will be claiming the sound recording copyright ownership. Some bands have money and you can share the expenses with them and also the ownership of the sound recording copyright. Details of the legal aspects will be provided later.

5.)Since you are the producer, you will be booking with your desired recording studio in advance and research for good recording, mixing and mastering engineers that can work on your song. Use the Internet and get some feedbacks on them. Make sure you know the engineer is great and that you have listen to some of the previous works.

6.)During the recording session, you are the boss. The band should perform the entire song according to your production plan and the changes you have incorporated to make the song sounds very nice.

7.)After recording, you will forward the tracks to the mixing engineer. Sit together with the mixing engineer during the entire session and assess the results as if you are listening to your favourite song in the radio. Make sure you love the resulting mix down and should pass your quality standard.

8.)You can then submit the mix to the mastering engineer to make the recording of the song broadcast ready. Keep all masters of the song. This includes the high resolution digital master in 24-bit/96KHz and the CD audio master provided by the mastering engineer. Store this in a safe place.

The Legal Aspects of a Record Producer

There are two copyrightable entities in music:
a.) Copyright of the song
b.) Copyright of the sound recording

If you are contributing to the betterment of the song, you should be included as one of the songwriters. Negotiate with the rest of the song writer (which could be members of the band) and apply for a copyright that includes your name as one of the authors. You need to agree with the rest of the song writers regarding the % that you contribute. For example if you only contribute a small portion in the chorus to improve the hook, you could be claiming only 20% of the song copyright ownership. Put this in writing and make sure it has been used during the copyright application.

If you are financing the entire recording, negotiate with the band that you would be claiming the sound recording copyright ownership. Put this in writing during the sound recording copyright application and make sure you are the author or creator. If there are other financial contributors; the percentage of ownership might depend on the amount they contribute.

Marketing as a Record Producer

If you are the owner of the sound recording copyright of the artist/band official best song; you should grant permission to them to use the recording you create during their gig and all of their promotions. This includes both offline and online promotions (such as in the Internet, Facebook Page, Sound Cloud, MySpace, Reverb Nation, etc.). Make sure they credit the song production to you, like:

“This is our great song” – produced by Mr. John Doe

Also let them acknowledge the name of the recording, mixing and mastering engineer. It is why you will see the following credits in most albums:

Recorded by: Mr. John X
Mixed by: Mr. John Y
Mastered by: Mr. John Z

In this way, if people love the band song very much they will start to appreciate your work because you are the recording producer. In your bio, make sure to list the names of the artist you have worked with. Do not forget to give your artist your contact number or calling card. It is because some interested parties would like to work with you via those previous artists you are working with.

As time goes by, you earn recognition for some very nice recording projects and that recording labels would be willing to hire you to produce their artist album or single projects. This is also the opportunity where you can earn big time. The lesson is to never stop loving your job as a producer and find artist in your neighbourhood to produce. Help them to create the best recording out of their best song and let the artist and their PR team never stop marketing it. When the band or their song becomes a success, you will become a success also.