This is a new venture for me. I've been friends with people in the music industry for as long as I have been breathing, (although I'm sure I wasn't aware of it at the time), (mostly). When I was small, er, young, that means, not when I was skinny.. that was a later time in life... when I was a youthling, I was part of Boston's Summerthing. Boston Parks and Recreation, (MDC is actually what they called it), had a program that gave inner-city kids a full-on, head spinning always interactive, always "groovy", (it was the 60's, and no I'm not old), taste of what life in the arts was.
Because of it, I got to meet Buffy Saint-Marie, right around the time she was doing Sesame Street. There was the woman who sang, "My Street Begins at My House". I was even taken to a musicians home in Nantasket Beach that was both an experience with swimming, and an experience with learning world instruments, from three musicians who I later learned were part of Ravi Shankir's bands. I read Bob Dylan's Tarantula when other kids were reading Little House on the Prairie. My friend Johnny had an older brother named Paul in a band called Ma, Pa, and Joe, (Mark, Paul and Joseph were in the band- the wit was something I liked), and he would show me guitar chords that I never knew before- like G and C.
When I was in 5th grade and learning guitar for "reals", I picked up Neil Young song books, as well as Queen's books-- knowing full well that Brian May was in his own astrophysical plane, and if I could get all of Neil's songs down, then I could someday sing back-up for James Taylor or play with, (ready?), Three Dog Night. Later I would work with and hang out with Harry and Tom Chapin when Harry was doing The Cotton Patch Gospel, (named Something's Brewin' In Gainsville, then later renamed), and Livingston Taylor also was kind enough to teach me a few chords I didn't know when I had my guitar in the guard box at the TV station I did security for... back then security meant, wearing a uniform and keeping the drunks at their desks, rather than in their cars. Okay, so the point is, I was around a lot of recording artists, all encouraging me to sing and write, and several who I actually let HEAR my songs, including an un prepared Geraldine Fitzgerald when I auditioned as a replacement for Andrea McArdle in Three Penny Opera. ("How did you think to write a song that sounded like it was from the 1920's?" she asked. I told her that I had sung many songs like "Three Little Fishies", "K-k-k-katy", and a few other ditties with my 'big sister', she smiled and screamed "Next!" I'm fairly certain she thought I was from some cult family that had bred children for decades.) (I did get a call back, and the amazing Maryann Plunkett got the role, easily.)
In college, Bryan Carey was the first producer I worked with. He had me sing his songs in a portastudio, in a small closet, on a rainy day, and it made me so happy. Later I got to work with Doug Wray, who was in a very 80's band, and we did some tunes on the brand new Apple 2G's in the comp lab. This guy Zig, somehow didn't believe I had a four octave range, called me from a hallway, handed me sheet music, and told me, "Okay Sing!", with this other girl who had already heard the music, already had rehearsed it, and had been in the studio with him for hours before she even met me. What was I supposed to sing? He tells me harmony, which wasn't even on the sheet of music I had.. I had no idea what he wanted from me, felt very bushwacked, and to this day think he was a prick for being so unprofessional in order to prove me wrong. (Well, Zig, turns out that I have a five octave range, and the professors at San Francisco State always admired me for it... so up yours, twat.) Even the recording engineer told me it was a prick move. I realized from that moment on, a producer needed to be a partner with the singer/band and not a hired hand to hopefully get what you want.
So this decade is the one that puts me in the professional recording world again. I am writing more, and better than ever, and even though I am unable to hold instruments well anymore, I can still sing. I'm using vocal coaches, and they're even surprised at how well things are going there. (Menopause my ass.) Music doesn't die, and no reason why I should stop because I have reached an over 40 age. One time around, one chance at living, so I got to live. And, to live well, you have to work well, and to work well, you need a producer who gets who you are. FINALLY I found one.
I took part of an independent music festival online, through IndieConnect.com. It's worth it. I learned so much. I discovered a production company through the event, and they are run by one terrific person who I met via email. We chatted back and forth about previous recordings I did, and he picked out the EXACT issues I wanted fixed without me telling him what they were in advance. THIS is a good producer. He or she would need to know how to read me as a person, how to read my music as I want it heard, and hear how I've done things in the past and know what I was happy or not happy with. He passed the test with flying colors, and they aren't bruises.
There have been others, some who have wanted to sound like Rush, like the bass player/recording engineer I knew in New Mexico. But what I like about Watt's Audio, is that Zach is already listening to me, without trying to change or veer what I want to do into any direction other than what the music itself is leading the sound towards. I hope that makes sense to some of you. I had some great producers when I did voice over work who were like this. They could hear in my tone when I wasn't feeling that well, or if I had some mood that needed to change.. ("Say grouch, could you pretend the chocolate is in the coffee?" one of my favorites.) So far, in just a few conversations, he knows what I really am trying to accomplish. And it's a comfortable feeling talking to someone who gets what you want.
My suggestions if you are thinking of using a producer, is first of all, think of the relationship as a partnership-- you're both leading towards of the goal of making great music for great reasons, whatever those reasons are.
Then make sure you both have a clear idea what the goals are to be. Do you want to sing for a demo? Are you looking to sell your songs to TV? Are you writing music for web videos?
Are you prepared to work together on a contract that states, how much s/he will be paid for studio work or will there be a partnership in songwriting/publishing or both? If you find a company that says something like, "We'll record your demo for $800!" or "Get your EP done for $1200!" That ends up being the 'starting ' price.. they're never like that in real life. If you get a car, and you are told "ONLY $450 a month!" you know that won't be true.. why would you think that it's true on a strange ad for a recording studio session with someone you haven't even met yet? Contracts matter, and YES get it in writing, or prepare to be able to offer compensation somehow for the actual use of studio, and to learn from each other. Get a clue from an entertainment law sight as to why this is important.
Before you hire a producer, listen to the music he or she has done in the past, or listen to the bands they work with. If the bands sound good.. even if it's music you're not into- if the quality of the recordings are good, you'll have a better chance of sounding good, as well. Make sure it's more than one recording. Sometimes a band can do their own recordings and use a producer to just punch up sound. That's great, but if you want to make the recordings from scratch- ensure you're listening to another band who started from scratch so you get the full idea of the work done.
Get references. When I was checking out Watt's Audio, I read what others wrote about the producer, and I read about what other production companies, other recording artists, and what other peers have said about the company. In my case, the one thing that sent up the happy fireworks was "he really cared about our sound". To me, that was the most important thing to hear. For you, it may be about how the producer works with brass, or how they work with multitracking or how they work with singers. Be sure what you read is what you know will bring YOU the best recordings you can have. I talked with people at the conference who had spoken with Zach and people he had worked with, and they all had the same thing to say, "He's a nice guy who won't screw you over." And that also was a key thing I'm looking for in a production house.
Looking forward to sharing more tracks with you, and hopefully a new album in a while. Let's see where this Waste Band goes with Watt's.
Because of it, I got to meet Buffy Saint-Marie, right around the time she was doing Sesame Street. There was the woman who sang, "My Street Begins at My House". I was even taken to a musicians home in Nantasket Beach that was both an experience with swimming, and an experience with learning world instruments, from three musicians who I later learned were part of Ravi Shankir's bands. I read Bob Dylan's Tarantula when other kids were reading Little House on the Prairie. My friend Johnny had an older brother named Paul in a band called Ma, Pa, and Joe, (Mark, Paul and Joseph were in the band- the wit was something I liked), and he would show me guitar chords that I never knew before- like G and C.
When I was in 5th grade and learning guitar for "reals", I picked up Neil Young song books, as well as Queen's books-- knowing full well that Brian May was in his own astrophysical plane, and if I could get all of Neil's songs down, then I could someday sing back-up for James Taylor or play with, (ready?), Three Dog Night. Later I would work with and hang out with Harry and Tom Chapin when Harry was doing The Cotton Patch Gospel, (named Something's Brewin' In Gainsville, then later renamed), and Livingston Taylor also was kind enough to teach me a few chords I didn't know when I had my guitar in the guard box at the TV station I did security for... back then security meant, wearing a uniform and keeping the drunks at their desks, rather than in their cars. Okay, so the point is, I was around a lot of recording artists, all encouraging me to sing and write, and several who I actually let HEAR my songs, including an un prepared Geraldine Fitzgerald when I auditioned as a replacement for Andrea McArdle in Three Penny Opera. ("How did you think to write a song that sounded like it was from the 1920's?" she asked. I told her that I had sung many songs like "Three Little Fishies", "K-k-k-katy", and a few other ditties with my 'big sister', she smiled and screamed "Next!" I'm fairly certain she thought I was from some cult family that had bred children for decades.) (I did get a call back, and the amazing Maryann Plunkett got the role, easily.)
In college, Bryan Carey was the first producer I worked with. He had me sing his songs in a portastudio, in a small closet, on a rainy day, and it made me so happy. Later I got to work with Doug Wray, who was in a very 80's band, and we did some tunes on the brand new Apple 2G's in the comp lab. This guy Zig, somehow didn't believe I had a four octave range, called me from a hallway, handed me sheet music, and told me, "Okay Sing!", with this other girl who had already heard the music, already had rehearsed it, and had been in the studio with him for hours before she even met me. What was I supposed to sing? He tells me harmony, which wasn't even on the sheet of music I had.. I had no idea what he wanted from me, felt very bushwacked, and to this day think he was a prick for being so unprofessional in order to prove me wrong. (Well, Zig, turns out that I have a five octave range, and the professors at San Francisco State always admired me for it... so up yours, twat.) Even the recording engineer told me it was a prick move. I realized from that moment on, a producer needed to be a partner with the singer/band and not a hired hand to hopefully get what you want.
So this decade is the one that puts me in the professional recording world again. I am writing more, and better than ever, and even though I am unable to hold instruments well anymore, I can still sing. I'm using vocal coaches, and they're even surprised at how well things are going there. (Menopause my ass.) Music doesn't die, and no reason why I should stop because I have reached an over 40 age. One time around, one chance at living, so I got to live. And, to live well, you have to work well, and to work well, you need a producer who gets who you are. FINALLY I found one.
I took part of an independent music festival online, through IndieConnect.com. It's worth it. I learned so much. I discovered a production company through the event, and they are run by one terrific person who I met via email. We chatted back and forth about previous recordings I did, and he picked out the EXACT issues I wanted fixed without me telling him what they were in advance. THIS is a good producer. He or she would need to know how to read me as a person, how to read my music as I want it heard, and hear how I've done things in the past and know what I was happy or not happy with. He passed the test with flying colors, and they aren't bruises.
There have been others, some who have wanted to sound like Rush, like the bass player/recording engineer I knew in New Mexico. But what I like about Watt's Audio, is that Zach is already listening to me, without trying to change or veer what I want to do into any direction other than what the music itself is leading the sound towards. I hope that makes sense to some of you. I had some great producers when I did voice over work who were like this. They could hear in my tone when I wasn't feeling that well, or if I had some mood that needed to change.. ("Say grouch, could you pretend the chocolate is in the coffee?" one of my favorites.) So far, in just a few conversations, he knows what I really am trying to accomplish. And it's a comfortable feeling talking to someone who gets what you want.
My suggestions if you are thinking of using a producer, is first of all, think of the relationship as a partnership-- you're both leading towards of the goal of making great music for great reasons, whatever those reasons are.
Then make sure you both have a clear idea what the goals are to be. Do you want to sing for a demo? Are you looking to sell your songs to TV? Are you writing music for web videos?
Are you prepared to work together on a contract that states, how much s/he will be paid for studio work or will there be a partnership in songwriting/publishing or both? If you find a company that says something like, "We'll record your demo for $800!" or "Get your EP done for $1200!" That ends up being the 'starting ' price.. they're never like that in real life. If you get a car, and you are told "ONLY $450 a month!" you know that won't be true.. why would you think that it's true on a strange ad for a recording studio session with someone you haven't even met yet? Contracts matter, and YES get it in writing, or prepare to be able to offer compensation somehow for the actual use of studio, and to learn from each other. Get a clue from an entertainment law sight as to why this is important.
Before you hire a producer, listen to the music he or she has done in the past, or listen to the bands they work with. If the bands sound good.. even if it's music you're not into- if the quality of the recordings are good, you'll have a better chance of sounding good, as well. Make sure it's more than one recording. Sometimes a band can do their own recordings and use a producer to just punch up sound. That's great, but if you want to make the recordings from scratch- ensure you're listening to another band who started from scratch so you get the full idea of the work done.
Get references. When I was checking out Watt's Audio, I read what others wrote about the producer, and I read about what other production companies, other recording artists, and what other peers have said about the company. In my case, the one thing that sent up the happy fireworks was "he really cared about our sound". To me, that was the most important thing to hear. For you, it may be about how the producer works with brass, or how they work with multitracking or how they work with singers. Be sure what you read is what you know will bring YOU the best recordings you can have. I talked with people at the conference who had spoken with Zach and people he had worked with, and they all had the same thing to say, "He's a nice guy who won't screw you over." And that also was a key thing I'm looking for in a production house.
Looking forward to sharing more tracks with you, and hopefully a new album in a while. Let's see where this Waste Band goes with Watt's.
