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By Thomas Gauger
Over the years as a former talent booking agent for the
William Morris Agency, working on Grammy nominated productions and having
been involved in countless recording sessions, I've been asked this question
quite often - "How do
I get a hold of great songs and how does so and so get that clear but punchy
radio sound?" While not every part of that question can be answered with
certainty, because luck and timing do play into the equation on the artistic
side, there are some absolutes that we should look at if you are asking a similar
question.
First off, clear and punchy radio play is not limited to a few in the industry,
nor do big dollars have to spent to obtain it, but there is a cost. You're
typically not going to get that sound by recording in your bedroom or basement
and then adding some software plugs to loudness maximize the heck out of it
- not going to happen. Great sounding song productions are the culmination
of great players, great recording technique and great mastering - of course
we are starting with a great song as are basis.
So where do you find that great song before you decide to record? I'm not
going to spend much time here, if you are really serious, you would of course
be looking at potential artist song placement at Broadjam.com, tip sheets,
which you can have delivered to your email, and then you can start contacting
great writers from those publishing houses, and then of course the myriad of
folks and websites online. The problem for most is not finding a good song,
but finding a great song. Like session players, good songs are a dime a dozen,
but truly great songs aren't as easy to locate. But once you've either written
those great songs or found them, you're ready for the next step.
You must find great players - seasoned players that know when to add color
to the sound and when to add space. Truly great musicians make your whole production
happen. And for the most part, I have a good idea of the direction of where
the song is going to go, but when the session players, great players, start
coming up with ideas, or play right outside the circle I had intended, most
of the time I let it fly as long as we're close to the mark, because great
players make hit songs and they play them and make them sound that way. Get
the best players that you know of and that you can afford.
Books are spent on recording technique, so we're not going to cover much territory
within this article. Only to say that again, recording in the basement usually
doesn't achieve the results that you want. Don't hear me wrong, great records
have been made on the fly, with little capital, and definitely in basements,
but for the average person who has average equipment in a facility that is
average, perhaps at best, probably isn't going to be making those great records
- let's just be honest. But if all you have is time, and it's not costing you
anything, then by all means, try recording in your particular space, and perhaps
over time, with enough reading and experience, you can achieve desirable results.
For most, here is where the train gets
derailed. Everybody touts that they can master, but the reality is, most
can not. Most do not have a clue as to how most radio is going to compress
the final sound, what frequencies need to be pulled back and how to create
a mix that sounds great on virtually any system. Why is that? They don't
have the know how and the equipment. Mastering is a very specialized area,
that requires a good deal of knowledge, software and hardware. While there's
no doubt, some excellent and affordable software out there, most still don't
really know how to manage it in such a way that they get that "wow" factor. I have a fairly broad background in the
music industry and work with a number of the big DAW and software folks, and
I can tell you from experience, get your album mastered correctly and you'll
be glad you did. The problem with most amateurs, is that they want to loudness
maximize to such an extent, that the dynamics are lost in the "wall of
sound" and many of their frequency ranges are pushed to such an extent,
that the mix is lost, is hard on the ears, and the engaging ups and downs,
the dynamics, of the song have been lost. That's the reality, so just keep
that in mind throughout the whole recording process.
As I end this particular article, I encourage you to think outside the box.
There have been some great albums recorded, in what would first appear as not
the greatest places to record, but they were able to overcome, because of great
technique and artistry. Obviously, your first move is to locate a great song
and then the rest follows. Don't hesitate to contact us with any questions
that you have, as we'll be glad to try and answer your questions and get you
on solid ground with your album recording.
Mr Gauger is the founder of Vocal Careers and is a Grammy nominated producer.
As a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency, Mr Gauger
is also a widely known TV writer with credits on major soaps as well as a music
supervisor and works with acts from America's Got Talent and X-Factor. His
articles can be viewed on 100s of websites. His website http://www.vocalcareers.com |
