Tech Sessions #2
Vocals
As a producer, by far the hardest thing that this head needed to get around was the fine art of getting a good…no scratch that…a great vocal take out of a performer who is not exactly on his or her game.
Coming in a lot of us think it's all about a hot beat and blazing track and then get a rude awakening the first time we are knee-deep in the inevitable artist freak-out. If it hasn't happened to you yet, don't worry it will.
Since everyone is different so are the freak-outs. You've got your garden variety temper tantrums that get real nasty because somebody is slamming down those crispy new $200 headphones that you just got. Then you have the polar-opposite sulking freakouts that bring a silence so uneasy you'd think the control room was Bill Clinton's bedroom the day the Monica scandal broke.
In the middle is the most typical, and for me, the one I hate to see the most: pure frustration. The other two are easy because they usually signal the end of the day for one reason or another or they usually pass after a short break.
Pure frustration demands that you have to walk through exactly what is keeping the artist from taking themselves where they need to go. Seriouslym whether you know it or not, a good producer is instinctively a shrink by nature who can listen to a major list of problems without making a person feel like what they are saying doesn't matter.
Everybody has life situations that tend to cast a real good or really bad look on someone's attitude when they get in the booth. A trick I have learned is in situations, where we're working on more than a couple of tracks with someone, is to have every Pro Tools session available that we have on that artist.
I'll never forget a deadline day that was all about getting a club track done in a very short amount of time. The only problem was that a very serious situation had gone down with a homeboy of the artist just before he got to the studio.
Understandably dude was not in the mood to represent a good time so we flipped it up and switched gears to a really dark track that he had always liked but had never been able to finish writing to.
In one take, we got the foundation for three verses and the hook. In three more takes, everything was stacked, ad-libs, the whole nine. The grand total was 14 minutes and after he was done…we got our club track and that only took another 45 minutes.
It was all about finding out where he needed to go to get into his zone and then it was on. Really that's all it's ever about. We all love those days where shit just goes right. Just record and go; those happen to.
It's a fine line. Knowing when to push, when to back off, when to listen, when to inspire and when to go home. There's a million and one reasons as to why things can hit a wall. Its up to you to figure out how to climb over it.
Glover is one half of the Atlanta, GA based production squad The Audio Assassins which are founding members of The Elements. You can find them both at Audioassassins.com and theelementsinc.com
Message Glover with your studio drama and how you resolved it
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The 2-Way
Replies: 6
posted by: OSK / DJ Ohsokool @ 05/26/04: 10:10 AM EST
Producers with a ear can inspire the potential artist(s) to breath life into a track, and vice versa.
The real work begins when yall leave that studio - satisfied with months of sweat,arguments, and sleepness nights - trynna get what yall created heard by the masses.
;)
posted by: Audio Assassin @ 05/26/04: 12:12 PM EST
agreed OSK and we thank you for your help on getting one of the situations described above heard...
posted by: Nathan Thomas @ 05/26/04: 04:04 PM EST
(aka-Johnny Neumatic)
I am total agreeance with your feature on "vocality" Brother Glover...I can't even put into words how disgusting it feels to be in the booth for more than an hour on one song...once you have been spoiled enough to have recorded more than 3 songs in one take on seperate occasions...it's kinda hard to take that el...
continued success..
posted by: Ben Rebel @ 05/26/04: 07:07 PM EST
Artist sometime forget that to be up on your craft you got to be UP on your craft Samething goes for us producers its a team effort in getting good production out of a song Hooks Verses creativity has to come from both sides
posted by: Larry Love @ 05/27/04: 09:09 AM EST
Word up, Audio.
One of the htings thta singers tend not to do is communicate their preferences to the producer. Case in point... more of me, lees music... or in my case, less of me, more music... matter of fact... just turn me all the way down.
YOU getting the performance out of the vocalist is soooo important, bruh. I appreciate when I have someone listening who won't settle for a technically good take, but goes in for the feeling: blood and guts every time.
Peace.
posted by: Audio Assassin @ 05/27/04: 12:12 PM EST
Thanks Larry...
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