Janek,

I remember you saying that part of what got you into the scene was doing recording sessions as an engineer/producer, and that you did it with fairly limited hardware. I've been doing the producing thing for a couple years, and am just about to upgrade my gear. My questions are, what gear were you using when you started producing people? What kinds of projects did you choose to produce and why? Also, on the economic side, how did you structure payment/how much did you decide to charge (since I'm really not sure where I should start on that as an independent musician with a limited project studio)?

On an unrelated note, I decided to take your advice and start transcribing. WOW. It opened up quite a bit for me, and new ideas are coming through.

- Ian

Ian,

when i first started out I had a G3 Mac with a 233mhtz CPU. I had no pre amps, sound card, or mixing board. The first album I did was using the mini-jack input. Super ghetto.

I didn't (and I don't think people really do in the beginning) have a choice as to what I wanted to take and what I wanted to turn down in the beginning. I was fortunate to get a big break early and work on an album that shifted a considerable about of units. That led to some other nice work to get me into a position where I can pick and choose what I do.

It's very hard to produce music that you're not really into, but in the beginning you need some resume builders. I've produced Gospel, smooth Jazz, Rock, Pop, R&B, Jazz, Singer/Song writer, Eastern European, Country .... all kinds of music. I try and do as much stuff as I can, cos I'm always learning from every session I do. And also with every studio I go to. That can lead to working with new engineers with different ideas about tracking and mixing etc. always ask questions, try not to be a pain in thass about it, but always have your ears and eyes open as much as poossible.

I know more about mics, pre amps, mixing consoles, monitors etc.. than I ever thought I would. be concious of what sounds good for vocals, stell string guitars, nylon strings guitars, harmonica.... everything you can. I write down notes on every session and keep a log of what worked and what didn't. I'm very fortunate to work in New York City in some of the greatest studios in the world. Avatar, Hit Factory (when it was still open) cutting room, magic shop, bennet, Sound on Sound, Right Track, Quad..... the list is really great. What I love about all these studios is their gear list... out of control. Mics like you don't see anywhere else. So i make a lot of notes about these mics on each session and try get a consistent sound happening through my productions.

As far as what to charge for sessions.... it's always a client by client basis. I generally won't do a one song production for less than $1000. That's generally for an unsigned artist for an EP or demp situation. and if it's someone signed to an indie label I'll do it for $1000 per song with a deal on the points. Maybe take 3 points depending on the label, artists deal etc...

for major label stuff of an instrumental nature it's normally about $3500 per track and a percentage of sales, publishing, points etc.

Then you get into writing, producing, arranging on and playing on songs for artists who have a deal, or have a big budget.

I won't go to the studio as a bass player for less than $1000 per day as a sideman, just to play on a record. And then for production on something like that can range from maybe $4000 per song upwards. When you look at a producer like Kanye West, he's charging $400,000 per song. The neptunes (Pharrell and Chad) just sold a song (and by song, I mean a drum beat with a bass line and some chords...) to NAS for $1,000,000. I'm nowhere near that level of artist, and as predominently being a bass player I'm not sure I ever will be at that level. But a good, mid level producer, with some nice credits can earn up to $15,000 a song, maybe more sometimes. That's for R&B, pop, rock etc...

I will of course do stuff for way less than the fees I listed above, but it will normally be for people I know very well, or music I really want to work on nomatter what the budget is.

You can certainaly charge more if you have top of the line gear. If you can offer a client a C12 ro a U42 with a Manley, Avalon or some other high end pre, then you'll be able to command more bread for the session.

I have a crew of people that I work with in NYC exclusively for all my productions. I have a tracking engineer, Mixing engineer, mastering engineer, and a group of musicians that are my "A" band of first calls cats for the studio. I can make large productions happen as well as small trio albums. I write strings and horns a lot and have plenty of connections for tracking stuff like that for good prices. All of these connections and info are a great help when taking on a production. Someone seeing my ability to connect them with everything they need without them making a 100 phone calls and maybe getting the wrong studio or engineer, is very attractive to a client.

I think that's about it. If I missed anything, or there's anything else you want me to talk about, let me know.

Easy,

Janek

Thanks Janek. Some really interesting stuff there.

One point to clarify though: was that $1000 figure based on what you charge now, or what you did when you started out with the old Mac?

Thanks,
- Ian

when I first started out, I would pretty much do stuff for what people wanted to pay me. Trying not be taken advantage of too much, but definitely wanting to do the work nomatter what, and build my resume.

Ah, yet another question!

After tracking is done, do you usually have the band/artist hang around for the mixing? Do bands/artists even typically care if they are present for mixing? I'm sure bands put together for a single session don't really care that much, but original bands that are tight-knit and write all their material are probably way different in what they want from an engineer/producer, eh?

Thanks!

That is some very very interesting information. I had no idea that was how the industry worked. Thanks for the great post Janek!

Snarf:

yeah, that's pretty much it.

I hate it when singers are around for a complete mix session because there's normally a good reason why they've hired me. And that's cos they don't have the ears to go through an edit, mix and master on their own. There is so much to get through in a mix session that needs complete focus and attention to detail and the fewer people that are present the better.

Session musicians that I hire for record dates are rarely present for the mix. Although when I did my record Tim Miller and Elliot Mason both new a lot about the recording and mixing of their particular sounds, and it was very helpful to have them come through to the mix session for an hour or so to make sure we got their sound right. In fact on my mix session there was me and the engineer, Elliot and Tim for a while, and also the designer finishing the artwork on my laptop as we mixed the record. it all went to mastered two days later and then went to be pressed the next day. That was an extreme situation as far as schedule goes, and normally I like to take my time on a mix for an artist,and try and do as much without them there as possible. There's so much to go through with the drums, bass, keys, guitar etc... and the singer normally only cares about the vocal sound and the overall band sound. So getting everything in the ballpark before the artist hears it is great. Then you can make minor adjustments here and there.

For mastering sessions I rarely take an artist to the session. There are some mastering engineers that just won't allow anyone in the room while the session is running. So that's pretty much a closed thing.

Easy,


Janek

Not sure if this is appropriate, but I was wondering if you could recommend......

----your favorite recording you produced

----your favorite recording that you were on

----your funkiest recording

Cause I am gonna go get them.....

Well that's a tough one......

I really like this album that I just got done producing By Jake Owen. It's not out yet, but his myspace page is http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=17384301


I didn't produce the tracks that are up there right now, they're from an older record. But his upcoming release will be the one we just did. It was a really fun mix of vocals, jazz, writing, horns. lots of nice stuff on this new album. And I also played a low A (tuned my E string all the way down) on one track which was killing.

I had a lot of fun producing these two records as well:

Bob Reynolds - Can't Wait for Perfect - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=27525328

Patrick Cornelius - Lucid Dream - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=27887792

both of the pages have tracks from the albums I produced, and the CD's are available from the site too. I was the producer on these records, but didn't play. I hired two different incredible acoustic players for these dates. Sean Conolly, and Rueben Rogers.

Some of my favorite playing (as far as I remember) is on albums that were cut in 2004, but have yet to be released. I played on about 40 albums that year alone and only about 5 of them have been released by the labels. It can take quite a while for that side of the process to occur.

I have no idea about the funkiest. It will probably end up being a couple of gospel records that are due out in the end of this year. That's some heavy pocket stuff. There is one gospel record that I played and produced three trax on.

It's called "focus" and you can check it out on the artist's website at http://www.agape-musicworks.com/briss/store.html

There's a cool songer/songwriter who's record I played on, and also played in her band for a while too.

www.kellybuchanan.com

there's the weather report tribute album - "mysterious voyages" where I produced, arranged and played on a track. I got Scott Kinsey for that one, was wicked. I did Scarlet woman. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0nv1z8ha5yvj

Some stuff there to check out I guess. There will be a ton more stuff coming out this year that has been in the can for a while. As well as a new album that I'm working on that will feature Steve Jordan and Wayne Krantz. I'll be working on Mike Stern's next album next year, and I'm producing two more jazz records in Oct for two artists in NYC. Lots of stuff going on.

Easy,

Janek