Off the Record - May Edition

It never sounds as good as the demo.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’ve been in this game long enough, you’ve come to realise it.

Why is that? Shouldn’t everything sound better once you’ve mastered playing your parts? Once you’ve recorded them in an expensive studio?
It should, yes. But if it were that simple, record making would be much easier.

What’s it all about, then?

As you know, making a record involves a lot of science. Engineering obeys many laws, of physics, electrics and acoustics. But of course, we need artistic skills as well. Can’t do one without the other.

A record leaning too much on the scientific side will be boring to listen to. The opposite is also true. Take a gorgeous set of songs, performed by the best musicians in the world. If no one knows how to operate the gear, the result won’t be very pleasant, even for the average Joe.

That much is obvious. So, it’s 50/50, right?

Well, more or less. There’s a third bit. It can get quite frustrating at times, as it’s hard to tell how much it weighs in. Could be a few percents. Could be a whole third. What is it then?

Magic.

That’s right. That’s what it’s all about: capturing the magic. And it’s a hell of a lot harder than it looks.

If only it could happen once you’ve setup all the vintage mics in a beautiful live room…
Sometimes it does, don’t get me wrong. And the more experienced you are, the higher the chance of it happening.
But it’s still a bet.

We don’t talk about it much. It’s kind of an untold agreement in the studio world. Don’t talk about the magic.
You have to hope it will be there. Believe it will show up and transform the track.

Quincy Jones used to say: “Let’s leave space for God to come into the room”. While I’m not religious, I get his point. We just use different names for it.

And while you cannot make it happen, you can do everything in your power to make it easier to materialise. By removing friction.

That’s why you set up early. That’s why everything needs to be working before anyone gets there. That’s why you brew coffee and tea and get snacks.

That’s why you take care of the singer and musicians like they are the most important persons in the room. Because guess what?

They are.

But then again, what do I know…

Shut Up

This Just In

Lately, I’ve had a lot of fun layering various instruments on a wide range of projects. It’s like adding a splash of colour to songs that are missing just a little something.

Since it’s quite different than producing from scratch, it’s time to introduce a new offer:

- one flat fee (per song or project)

- up to three instruments per song (e.g. sax + guitar + clarinet)

- no midi; everything played by yours truly (or one of my talented mates)

Keep me busy and indoors as the temperature rises, and I’ll cut you a sweet deal:

25% off for the Off the Record cats!

Reply to this email for more info & let’s add your project to my summer calendar!

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”

Ernest Hemingway, 1950

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