When you ready a song for production, there are definite things that your producer is probably looking for. Producers exist, of course, to serve you, especially if you are hiring them to produce your record. With that said, there are definitely things you can do to make his or her life easier. In engaging producer Jeff McCullough for our we went through a definite education process. Here is some of what we learned:
What Your Producer Wants You to Know
1) Leave space in the song. If you are primarily a singer/songwriter, you have words and melodies to work with to paint your picture. The producer, however, has a whole palette of additional tools to help you tell your song’s story. He has additional instrumental elements, background vocals, rhythm elements to add. He want’s to lay down a rhythmic ‘pocket’ for the vocals to work in. He can add these things if you have space in your song. Try to be spare with your lyrics to allow the music to fit around them. Try to think about where instrumental hooks, transitions, intros/outros might fit in.
2) Give your producer an idea what you are thinking for the production. Many producers are thrilled if you give them an idea what you might want the final product to sound like. The best way to do this is to select some similar professionally recorded songs as ideas. This doesn’t mean you are copying someone else’s production, it means you are helping provide a vision. Find a song or songs that sound something like what you want your song to sound like. Be prepared to tell him how you might hear your song in that vein. Be flexible – he will contribute ideas of his own, but a vision is a good thing.
3) Don’t give your producer an amateur production of your song. Unless you really have an idea of a sound and can make a good production of all the parts yourself, your producer would rather have a simple vocal/guitar or vocal/keyboard demo of the song. This will enable him to hear the essence of your song, and to think through a production. On the other hand, if you give him full instrumentation, he will not know how much of the instrumentation is ‘must have’ and how much leeway he has. You want his imagination to be able to enhance your project.
4) Try to boil your song choices down to those with the best melodies. A producer can take a great melody and make it shine. On the other hand, a poor melody can be made to sound decent, but will be a chore for the producer. Producers want pure, memorable melodies they can build around. A good melody will spawn easy harmony parts in the mind of instrumentalists and vocalists. So try to work with your best melodies and craft songs around that.
5) Work on the song details. Count syllables. Get your rhyming and song structure into place. Give the producer something what will not require a lot of work before he can get to the production phase. A song that you have worked hard on will make your producer’s work that much easier, and will enable you to spend precious budget making it great, rather than making it acceptable.
6) Give your producer choices. If you have a catalog of songs you are considering, let him listen to as many as he has time for that you think are good candidates. If you have written alternate parts (bridges, pre-choruses, etc) provide these to him. Giving a palette of choices to your producer will help them craft a project that will work well together, and will sound its best.
These are some tips that a producer wants you to know. But there are also some things your producer will not readily tell you, but which you should consider anyway.
What Your Producer Won’t Tell You
1) You are not God’s gift to songwriting. A producer will of course encourage you and will want to produce your song. He knows you are an artist and have an ego, and he will need to make sure that part of you is happy. But your producer definitely ‘hears it all’ and he knows strong songwriting talent when he hears it. Your producer may not think you are the best raw talent since McCartney or Dylan, but he will be happy to work with you. If you accept that you are a work in progress and are willing to work at it, both you and your producer will be happier.
2) You or your band’s talent is not the best he has ever worked with. Of course you may be a great talent. But your producer works with great talent all the time. He probably knows studio musicians and others who can do a great song and match your song perfectly. So, if you are interested in your song sounding its best (and you are not making a studio album for yourself or your band that requires you all to play the parts), consider letting him use his professionals where appropriate.
The bottom line is – your producer is a professional. He has a lot to add to the equation, and you are doing both him and yourself a favor when you make it possible for him to do just that. So try to follow these ground rules when working with him or her, and you will have a positive experience.
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