BrentDomann
Has a Dedicated Member.
I'm curious. What about their history or recording techniques draws your attention?
If you could work with a big-time producer, who would it be and why?
- Thread starter BrentDomann
- Start date
jonny deep
Disappointing Member
This has probably been discussed to death round here already, but is this always the case? I have John Leckie in mind in particular who was instrumental in creating The Bends by Radiohead (back when they were good) - I see his role as sort of being the interface between the band & their songs/sound and the recording machine. Without him, it probably wouldn't have happened (as far as I recall from interviews, anyway). Further, in this case at least, the mix starts with the producer whose aim (in the paraphrased words of Leckie) is to have the recording 90% of the way to the finished product just with a 'faders up' mix by the time it reaches the mix engineer.
That's just my opinion. Most people will disagree with me. I think the modern role of "producer" is a joke. Back in the glory days, producers were innovative and unique and knowledgeable. Not so much now. He's a figurehead and a mouthpiece and totally unnecessary IMO. Recording Engineer - useful. Mixing engineer - useful. Mastering engineer - useful. Producer? He's just there getting paid to tell the actually creative people what to do.
jonny deep
Disappointing Member
I've been watching Nashville recently and it seems that the modern producer does all the recording and engineering in his bedroom while drunk.
R
RAMI
Guest
Steven Speilberg. I'm sure he could put a decent video together for me.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
While I wouldn't call the role a joke, I do lean more in this direction myself. It's not helped by the confusion surrounding the role. Even back in the glory days there were different kinds of producers ranging from Andrew Oldham and Kit Lambert that were managers of their bands and had never entered a studio before their bands did to Guy Stevens who was an ideas man to George Martin who was an A&R man that could adapt to Phil Spector who was as hands on as you could get to Denny Cordell who happily delegated stuff to Tony Visconti to Jimmy Page who thought in terms of being part of the band to Mickie Most who went out and found songs for his acts......
Some artists loved their producers and felt they could never have achieved what they did without them {Paul McCartney about George Martin}. But others felt that they were a hinderence that often held them back {Jimmy Page about Mickie most}. The funny thing is that sometimes, you'd get the opposing views of the same producer {for instance, while Roger Waters of Pink Floyd viewed Norman Smith as a square who got in the way and tried to make a psychedelic band poppy, Phil May of the Pretty Things regarded him as virtually the 6th member of the band that enabled them to realize their psychedelic visions onto record} and even funnier, you'd sometimes get those opposing views from members of the same band. Many have gone on record as saying all they really needed was a sympathetic engineer.
While I think some of Norman Smith's editing left much to be desired, I haven't come across any producer that I think was a bad one. So the nebulous answer would be "all of them."
But I've been spoiled by home recording and the notion of having a producer has not sat well with me since the fantasies of my teens. Once I noticed that Jimmy Page helped write Led Zeppelin songs, played the guitars and produced the albums, any ideas of falling into the hands of a producer were expunged from my head. From 17 or so, I wanted to do all that myself. Whether I'm crap at it or not is irrelevant to me. I wanted to do it myself. I still do.
I love their stories though. I will probably forever be charmed by how they got interested in sound recording, how they got into the industry, the people they worked with, the challenges they encountered, how they progressed etc. I have great admiration and respect for the different producers across the ages, the well known and the unheard of.
I guess I'm like one of those old ladies that loves reading about those dashing, rebellious Hollywood actors......but doesn't want them in the house.
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
The producers that have been around awhile and have worked on many projects, and especially the ones who are/were also engineers and/or musicians themsleves.....would certianly provide plenty of great info and opportunities to learn from, even if they just stand there and talk to you and nothing more.
There's a bunch of them I would love to spend at least one studio session with, and certainly an entire recording project.
To name a few....
Danial Lanios
Alan Parsons
Steve Lillywhite
Nile Rodgers
Butch Vig
Bill Szymczyk
Steve Albini
Geroge Martin
Quincy Jones
T-Bone Burnett
Phil Spector (if he ever gets out of jail)
There's a bunch of them I would love to spend at least one studio session with, and certainly an entire recording project.
To name a few....
Danial Lanios
Alan Parsons
Steve Lillywhite
Nile Rodgers
Butch Vig
Bill Szymczyk
Steve Albini
Geroge Martin
Quincy Jones
T-Bone Burnett
Phil Spector (if he ever gets out of jail
)I think I'd say none. I mean I'd love to meet George Martin and I have about a million questions for him.
But I have fun doing my own thing my own way. I don't want someone telling me to change the way I play or sing something, or change my guitar tone, or change a lyric, or add a saxophone. I like making those calls myself. If I actually had the experience of working with a top-notch producer maybe I'd change my mind. But right now, I'd say none.
But I have fun doing my own thing my own way. I don't want someone telling me to change the way I play or sing something, or change my guitar tone, or change a lyric, or add a saxophone. I like making those calls myself. If I actually had the experience of working with a top-notch producer maybe I'd change my mind. But right now, I'd say none.
BroKen_H
Re-member
Howard Benson stands out to me. I like the way he makes different bands sound different. From Kelly Clarkson to Motorhead. My 2nd favorite Thrid Day album "Revelation" (1st fave goes to Wire which was produced by someone I've never heard of). P.O.D., Daughtry, Red, Flyleaf, Art of Dying, Rascal Flatts. And it's not about the bands, but about how they sound with Howard's production. There's a spark, a live feel that many albums lack...
DM60
Well-known member
I met and had I guy I worked with show case for Rick Rubin. He is supposed to be "the guy". But, I will be honest, I have to agree with Greg (I hate to, but there it is), today a producers role is limited. Especially for mature artists. Maybe kids coming up that they are trying to break, but for the other 99% of us, I think we pretty much know what sound we want.
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
I don't think it's always about that....about a producer forcing you to change your sound just for the sake of change.
People assume that a producer is just there to make you sound different, and make you record in ways that you don't like.
Maybe back in the day when Record companies called every shot, and they would force a producer on some new artist(s), and it didn't always gel.
It's not really like that, and hasn't been for a long time in most cases. Artists WANT producers....and they hire them, so the producer is working for the artists in many cases.
Actually, any decent producer will do just the opposite of beating artists over the head....they will simply be there to suggest the alternative when it's needed…to see and hear things that the artist can't because he is too close to his music.
Lots of established artists prefer working with a producer (when you would think they already know what they want).....it's because they don't want the same thing over and over. It's about not getting too stale, and having a fresh perspective.
Anyway....if producers weren't in demand and many making a good living....they wouldn't exist, yet the better ones get plenty of work. The amount of experience and knowledge that they would bring to a production would be worth the occasional disagreement about direction…and really, sometimes the best productions come from that, from some friction, like they way it is sometimes within a band.
R
RAMI
Guest
Yeah, fuck. We've been through this very recently. Not again, please.
Well...all you do is keep repeating that they are sham....so I'm here to balance out the perspective.
That's fair. I'm not trying to stop you from bleating on and on about it. I'm also not trying to convince anyone to agree with me. I'll leave that for you.
R
RAMI
Guest
Well, there was that guy in the park that told me he was a producer....but that's too painful for me to talk about right now....