Captured at 2015 Premios Latinos BMI
As a lyricist, I’m always on the lookout in my own writing for what I would call “lazy language.” What I mean by this is a part of a lyric that feels clichéd. The problem, specifically, is that we’re only given a certain number of lines of lyric to convey the… Read more...
When I started teaching workshops for aspiring recording artists and songwriters more than 30 years ago, signing with a major record label was the only way for artists to reach a wide audience. Without a major label to provide distribution to record stores, radio promotion, and financing for videos, most unsigned… Read more...
When I critique songs at my workshops, I always begin by asking the writers to share their intention for their song. For example, a song might be intended solely for self-expression or catharsis. Another song might be written by a performing songwriter to include on their own recording project, while another… Read more...
Like most of my engineering peers, early on I endeavored to fill my home studio with as many different types of microphones as my budget would allow, from lovely old Sennheisers to the more workmanlike family of Shure dynamics. Eventually my insatiable appetite for guitars meant selling off many of these… Read more...
When I critique songs in my BMI Songwriting Workshops, I often hear melodies with a range (the interval between its lowest and the highest notes) limited to one octave or less. When I ask the writers to share their intentions for these songs, they sometimes respond, “My goal is to have… Read more...
If you’re looking to take a break from the studio routine, you might consider bringing your songs and recording equipment to a suitable music venue in order to capture the spontaneous energy of a live gig. Naturally, there are all kinds of challenges when attempting to cut band tracks in real… Read more...
When trying to compose a new song and nothing is happening right away, occasionally I find it helpful to conjure a particular artist, genre or era, and use that as the basis for crafting something original. For instance, I might think of a riff that hints at early-‘80s techno pop, and,… Read more...
Having run a professional recording studio as an engineer and producer for close to thirty years, the process of taking a songwriter’s rough recording to a finished master is second nature to me. However, I’m well aware that for songwriters getting ready to demo one of their songs for the first… Read more...
It takes a certain kind of personality to excel at tricky recording maneuvers while simultaneously working with an equally tricky recording artist. Perhaps it’s for that reason alone that I admittedly never sought full-time studio operator status, choosing instead to track guests on a case-by-case basis. But even in a limited… Read more...
For genres like pop, hip-hop, R&B, and EDM/dance music, in most instances, the backing track is created before the words and vocal melody. The track consists of essentially all the music that will accompany the vocal and typically includes drums and percussion, keyboards, and bass. Live guitars or computer generated guitar… Read more...
