Ken On Earth - Part I
I've been hired by New York City indie rockers "Man On Earth" to produce their next EP (5 songs). I mixed an album for Man On Earth a couple years ago, which received critical acclaim, and three songs from Man On Earth's last two releases were included in a widely distributed indie film and soundtrack. The soundtrack album was downloaded 30,000 times, that'll get you some exposure and help build a fan base.
Anyway. I'll back up briefly. My involvement in this new project started with a trip to see the band play several of their new songs live in a club in New York City. After seeing the show, I felt we needed some pre-production time to really hammer out arrangements and try different approaches to some of the songs (i am a HUGE believer in pre-production especially for bands). I asked the band to have one full rehearsal without me to try an implement some of my suggested changes before i sat in on a rehearsal. Their following rehearsal i attended and they began playing me some of the reworked material which we all dug into even deeper and came up with 5 really strong songs over 2 pre-production sessions.
We're trying to schedule the first recording days for next week. I'll be blogging about it as the project evolves. On a side note, I've worked with a ton of bands in my career. I have found from experience that the bands most open to trying new ideas and arrangements have gone on to be the most successful. As i offered my insights to Man On Earth saying "you guys write and perform as a rock band. Your home is the rehearsal room and the stage. My home is the studio. Its my job every day to pick apart songs and find the best way to represent that song to the public, whether i am mixing, producing, recording, writing, or performing as a session musician, this is what i do 7 days a week. Bands might spend 7 days a year in the studio, i spend well over 300 days a year in the studio. There's no comparison." That doesnt mean at all that bands arent capable of coming up with amazing ideas and amazing arrangement, they often do so completely on their own. Its when as a band or artist, you shut yourself off from the "possibility" that your way may not be the best way, that i personally think ALOT of careers have suffered. And often the most challenging job of a producer is to know when to leave well enough alone, and / or when to stop tweeking. I also think one of the hardest jobs of a producer is to always make sure that when you make changes to a song, that those changes are still representative of the overall vision of the band. An overexagerrated example of this would be "Make sure you arent making a pop rock band sound like the Backstreet Boys, or making a street rapper sound like a popstar".
My own personal approach to production is not to stamp my "sound" onto a project, but help the artist find their sound, help the artist be the best representation of themselves. If you listen to some of my productions you'll understand what i'm talking about. Small Town Sleeper does not sound like Noah Levi (both on my main page under "LISTEN" if you want to hear what i mean, i produced both), Man On Earth does not sound like anything else i've produced. I also don't produce a rapper like E-dro to sound like a rapper like Sullee, and vice versa. I try to give each a production approach that works best for them.
In hip hop for example, sometimes i can pick out a Kanye production, but i would have NEVER guessed that Ludacris "Stand Up" was a Kanye production, or Alicia Keys "You Dont Know My Name", but they ere both him. Just Blaze never ceases to amaze me at his ability to change up production. Listen to Fabolous "Breathe", then Freeway's "Flipside", then Usher's "Throwback", then Lenny Kravitz "Storm", then Jay Z's "PSA" etc......... Its all Just Blaze, and all very different production approach. Hell, I thought Just Blaze made Lenny Kravitz sound more like Lenny Kravitz than Lenny made himself sound when we did "Storm".
Anyway, some guys have their "Sound", and are sought out because of it. Some of these guys are my favorite producers, such as John Shanks. I prefer for myself to take each artist and each project and try to deliver the best possible representation of that artist. and on that note, I'm mixing a Sullee song right now featuring Claudette from City High, and I'd better get back to it. This song could be a hit.
-Ken
Anyway. I'll back up briefly. My involvement in this new project started with a trip to see the band play several of their new songs live in a club in New York City. After seeing the show, I felt we needed some pre-production time to really hammer out arrangements and try different approaches to some of the songs (i am a HUGE believer in pre-production especially for bands). I asked the band to have one full rehearsal without me to try an implement some of my suggested changes before i sat in on a rehearsal. Their following rehearsal i attended and they began playing me some of the reworked material which we all dug into even deeper and came up with 5 really strong songs over 2 pre-production sessions.
We're trying to schedule the first recording days for next week. I'll be blogging about it as the project evolves. On a side note, I've worked with a ton of bands in my career. I have found from experience that the bands most open to trying new ideas and arrangements have gone on to be the most successful. As i offered my insights to Man On Earth saying "you guys write and perform as a rock band. Your home is the rehearsal room and the stage. My home is the studio. Its my job every day to pick apart songs and find the best way to represent that song to the public, whether i am mixing, producing, recording, writing, or performing as a session musician, this is what i do 7 days a week. Bands might spend 7 days a year in the studio, i spend well over 300 days a year in the studio. There's no comparison." That doesnt mean at all that bands arent capable of coming up with amazing ideas and amazing arrangement, they often do so completely on their own. Its when as a band or artist, you shut yourself off from the "possibility" that your way may not be the best way, that i personally think ALOT of careers have suffered. And often the most challenging job of a producer is to know when to leave well enough alone, and / or when to stop tweeking. I also think one of the hardest jobs of a producer is to always make sure that when you make changes to a song, that those changes are still representative of the overall vision of the band. An overexagerrated example of this would be "Make sure you arent making a pop rock band sound like the Backstreet Boys, or making a street rapper sound like a popstar".
My own personal approach to production is not to stamp my "sound" onto a project, but help the artist find their sound, help the artist be the best representation of themselves. If you listen to some of my productions you'll understand what i'm talking about. Small Town Sleeper does not sound like Noah Levi (both on my main page under "LISTEN" if you want to hear what i mean, i produced both), Man On Earth does not sound like anything else i've produced. I also don't produce a rapper like E-dro to sound like a rapper like Sullee, and vice versa. I try to give each a production approach that works best for them.
In hip hop for example, sometimes i can pick out a Kanye production, but i would have NEVER guessed that Ludacris "Stand Up" was a Kanye production, or Alicia Keys "You Dont Know My Name", but they ere both him. Just Blaze never ceases to amaze me at his ability to change up production. Listen to Fabolous "Breathe", then Freeway's "Flipside", then Usher's "Throwback", then Lenny Kravitz "Storm", then Jay Z's "PSA" etc......... Its all Just Blaze, and all very different production approach. Hell, I thought Just Blaze made Lenny Kravitz sound more like Lenny Kravitz than Lenny made himself sound when we did "Storm".
Anyway, some guys have their "Sound", and are sought out because of it. Some of these guys are my favorite producers, such as John Shanks. I prefer for myself to take each artist and each project and try to deliver the best possible representation of that artist. and on that note, I'm mixing a Sullee song right now featuring Claudette from City High, and I'd better get back to it. This song could be a hit.
-Ken
posted by Protools Mixing at 1:49 AM
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