I recently forwarded three songs to a list of publishers who have agreed to listen to songs that I screen. One of the publishers responded, “This song is very well written and commercial. But I’ve already got this kind of stuff by the dozens. Seems that most writers are all caught… Read more...
When it comes to prepping our masters for public consumption, the tendency is to focus on the obvious issues—the sound of the lead vocal, the timbre of the drums, an errant guitar chord. However, addressing some of the smaller things, be it talking between vocal takes, stick clicks during the fade,… Read more...
I was recently asked how the tools and techniques I teach today differ from those I have taught in the past. Have I noticed any recent changes in successful songs and in the processes of writing them? I looked back over the thirty years that I have been teaching songwriting, and… Read more...
Donovan is a songwriter for the ages. Releasing his first single, “Catch the Wind,” in 1965, the aspiring, 18-year-old Scottish folk troubadour swiftly defined himself as a prolific writer, welding elements of traditional acoustic folk music with groundbreaking elements of pop, rock, jazz, classical and the burgeoning psychedelia of the Sixties.… Read more...
Whether it’s switching microphones or switching off reverb, one thing I try to do is avoid using the same recording mechanics from song to song. This is particularly true of mixing—if the tendency is to have nearly identical ingredients in the same spot on every track, your album is likely to…well,… Read more...
In the earliest days of recording, there was essentially one way to ensure you left the studio with a good product—you came in and performed flawlessly. If there was even a minor miscue along the way, you and everyone else on the session would need to start all over again. With… Read more...
If we were collaborating on a song and I suggested that one particular line of lyric – and the melody that accompanies it – be repeated eighteen times, would you think that would be entirely too repetitive to be successful? How about if, in the same song, I insisted that an… Read more...
Since, in my experience, the songwriting journey is a never-ending process of learning your craft, I thought it was time for adding a few more things that I’ve learned as a songwriter since my last article on the subject. So much of a career as a songwriter is about… Read more...
Audio mixing can be defined as the process of combining individual tracks from a multitrack recording into a finished product. It includes determining the volume and adding effects such as reverb, delay, compression, and equalization to each track. In stereo and surround sound recordings, mixing also includes placing each track in… Read more...
For the vast majority of us who don’t reside in a soundproof living space, those increasingly spiffy effects samples that come included in most recording packages these days have been a godsend, allowing us to get professional tone out of a pint-sized box. So seductive are some of these plugins and… Read more...
