Making a beat is easy, but getting a few songwriters, vocalists, and engineers in a room to cut a record isn’t a walk in a park. There are a multitude of personalities that all have equal say and want to be heard. The goal of a producer is to make the best record. So how does someone manage a room full of big personalities to focus on doing one thing? Here’s the truth, you get out of the way.
Back when my team were working on some tv sync opportunities we were tasked with cutting 13 records to pitch to the music director of that show. We were under a bit of a time crunch as they were already filming the next season and giving music to the editors. The records had to be great, phenomenal, and undeniable. Each songwriter in that studio has a career and successes of their own and relied on me and my partner Rivers to guide this ship in the right direction. The first couple of sessions felt more like a baby realizing that he/she has legs and figuring out what to do with them. We started creating concepts and laying down ideas. However, something just wasn’t clicking. The music dynamically checked all the boxes. Short intro, catchy pre chorus, even catchier hook and then a verse. As I shift through the shows soundtrack from the previous seasons I felt like we were overthinking this. The show felt more like Boi-1da than David Foster. On the 4th session something happened. All three songwriters were trading ideas and building a song. I, for some reason, decided not to say anything. Within 15 minutes we had our first record that was completely fire.
On the train ride home I kept thinking, “what made this session so much better than the others?” Was it just a magical moment, was it the right preset, or was I missing something. Then I remembered. Oh yeah, I didn’t say shit. The next session I did the same thing. During the next session one songwriter brought in an idea, another built on top of that with cadences, and then other filled in the gaps with adlibs and lyrics. Again, 15 minutes and we had an even stronger record. After the vocalists left, one heading to a movie premier, I began premixing the vocals and handling the arrangement. I kept running the session over and over in my head trying to figure out if I had any purpose to be in the room. (Yes, while I was mixing and arranging the vocals.) Then it hit me. Oh, that’s right we did bring in 3 songwriters to help create the records. So, let them create.
I’ve taken this same approach when it comes to producing records for other artists. Some would agree that this is not the proper approach as artists need direction and I agree. However, you give an artist a destination and trust their intution to get there. My logic has always been that when you hire someone to do a job, you let them do it. You judge the result, never the process. Even when it comes to vocal production my input is pretty moderate as I allow the singer to find the cadences. If they’re flat, I address it but if they are feeling their way through I’ll let them.
In close, the next time you have a session and you’re directing that ship to the next destination try trusting your crew (artist and engineer) to follow your lead without you micromanaging them. You’d be surprised at how talented the two can be when left to their own vices. Does this always work? Absolutely not, but you did reach out to those individuals to get a record done for a reason.
So get out of the way.
