PRODUCER - The producer may be the most misunderstood position in the entire Gospel Project family. In fact, many artists fail to see the need for a producer at all. After all, the budget is tight and every penny counts. One less person to pay could make things go a lot smoother. Besides, who knows more about your music than you - so you decide to skip the producer and do it yourself. That's a bit like failing to see the need for an experienced guide on a jungle expedition. It's easy to feel that since you have seen pictures of the jungle, seen movies about the jungle, even spent several hours at the zoo you are more than qualified to take you and the rest of your group to the other side. It's not until the trail splits in five different directions, some going south, some north and some going who knows where that you realize someone with a little more experience in this particular terrain would come in pretty handy. By then, of course, it's too late and every one gets eaten by alligators.
The job of the producer is to have an objective (remember this word, objective - we'll come back to it shortly), an objective vision of the entire project from front to back including everything in between. There are a lot of decisions to make early on in the process and the producer offers experience that enables him to guide the artist in making these decisions. There are songs to choose, a studio to choose, an engineer to choose, players to choose, where to mix, where to master, where to manufacturer, etc., etc., and etc. An experienced producer has covered this terrain many times with many artists and has a great deal of insight to share - but not if he is never hired.
Now, back to the word objective. Perhaps the most valuable quality of the experienced producer is his ability to be objective. It is the job of the producer to inform the artist they do not have the range to sing all of the songs they have chosen; or, the studio of a friend of theirs does not have the capability to record at a radio-ready standard; or, the harmony parts they have been working on for six months are all wrong and need to be changed. These are serious things that may only be caught and pointed out by an experienced, objective producer. The reason these things would be brought out at all is to ensure the quality of the finished product, which, after all, is what the whole thing is about. After all, it's much easier for an objective third party to critique and give guidance.
One of my most fearful moments as a producer centered on a group's picture for their front cover. They were so proud when they brought it to me I almost let it go, but I just couldn't. They had hired me to do a job, produce objectively, and that was what I was going to do. So, I took a deep breath and pointed out that the picture they had chosen was not up to par with the album they had recorded. They had decided to cut a corner on photography and asked a friend to take the pictures. I pointed out that the picture is the first thing their listeners would see. They owed it to them and themselves to offer a product that was as professional visually as it was audibly. The group went into the other room to talk. I assumed they were fighting over who would have the privilege of throwing me out the door. Instead, they came back and told me how grateful they were to me for pointing it out. They said they had been so intent on saving a few dollars that they had lost sight of what the picture meant to the project overall. They thanked me for being there to keep the entire project in perspective. That, among other things, is what a producer does. I'm still glad they didn't throw me out the door.
WARNING - A real producer is not there to tell you what you want to hear. It is not his job to stroke your ego and make you feel good. We are back to the word objective. A professional producer will make you better by making certain that you stay within the parameters of your strengths. If you can't pull off a song vocally, a good producer will tell you. If your vision for your project is totally unreachable because of your budget, a good producer will tell you. Listen! Listen! Listen!
ALTERNATIVE - It has become an accepted alternative these days to hire a producer for just the vocals on a project. This usually works out well. The group gets the benefit of an objective ear and expert guidance on vocal day(s) and the budget doesn't get slammed. However, if it can be arranged, I believe hiring an experienced producer from beginning to end is the way to go.
Author: Daniel Riley
| Author's Website: http://www.goldminerecordingstudios.com
Written: 09/15/2003
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Category: Monthly ArticlesRecording Tips and Tools
Comments: 2
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Another great article. Thanks so much for taking the time to share this great information with us.
This is a great article with wonderful advice. I know a part time group that self produced their own album. It turned out awful. And they spent a small fortune to make it. It took a whole year for them to finish it. For the next album they hired a well know Southern Gospel producer, who produced a good project, in just a few weeks, for almost half the cost they spent on their self produced album.
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