Music Production in Kent

A recording studio offers a place for an artist to record their music. If an artist is a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, sound designer, engineer, producer and mixing engineer then a recording studio can be an absolute weapon. There are artists who work like this…Bon Iver and Prince come to mind. However for those among us who are but mortals (during my artist career I was very much a mortal) the recording studio is only as useful as the person who is there to drive it e.g. the producer. A great producer can work magic. They can provide a songwriting soundboard and partner, they can weave sonic brilliance and bring ideas to life, and they can provide an often much needed mentor like support to an artist looking to create.

A home studio consists of a home, plus a means to record. This could look like an i-pad in an Airbnb or a fully equipped tracking space in a barn. Really a home studio is your own space that you make work for what you want to achieve creatively. My Kent recording studio is a place that has been calibrated to my day to day requirements and work flow.

Music producers find talent in the most obvious and strangest places. Music producers come across artists on Spotify, Instagram and by hearing them on the radio. They also get recommendations from managers, labels, and other artists. Sometimes they come from friends and family networks. Producers have met artists when they’re both at the height of their career and unknown producers and artists have made incredible work together with no real experience or expertise. Really it's a case of just putting yourself out there and in front of talented people.

This is relatively straightforward; ability, networking and personality. You’ll need to be technically excellent and able to turn your hand to near enough anything at the drop of a plectrum. You will need to build a good reputation within the industry and maintain a close relationship with artists, managers and labels. You will need to be a ‘good hang,’ e.g. you will need to be someone who people want to have around, someone who brings a good and positive energy without being overbearing or dominant. However, like becoming a Formula One driver (needs to be very intelligent, fearless, quite small) there aren't many people who meet all the criteria!

What are the rules as an artist in the studio! Well well. There are no specific rules, the studio is what you want it to be and a good producer should allow (within reason) allow whatever moods, behaviours or expectations the artist needs to bring to the room. Having said that there are a few guidelines that I think can be useful conditions to help a session along. The first and obvious one is for the artist to be organised. Lyrics learned or printed out, demos labelled in a folder and Logic sessions on a hard drive and ready to go. From a collaborative point of view the biggest struggle I have as producer is when artists criticise my thoughts and ideas (fine) but then without offering any of their own in place (leads to a dead end.) I would say this really applies to all creative pursuits. It takes energy and optimism and bravery to put ideas out there and nothing closes down a session like someone saying no too much. Absolutely say no, but try to follow it with “I was thinking instead we could try x,y or z.”

Over the years recording studios have changed from large, expensive, hot, buildings into sometimes just a laptop/i-pad and an interface. They have shrunk in cost and size unimaginably over the last 70 years. At the same time the challenges, output and intended outcome are largely the same…to create music which people will enjoy. The spaces I worked at in London were generally quite compromised in terms of noise coming in from other studio spaces or traffic etc. Conversely I have found that having a Kent recording studio has really allowed me a lot more focus and peace and quiet from which to create.

So to become a pop music producer you are going to need a computer and some software. I would suggest buying a used Macbook Pro with decent ram and storage. You will also need some software. I would suggest Logic Pro and a decent pair of headphones. With these three items you can start making pop music. There are some great online courses as well as one million slightly dodgy youtube videos to get into which will teach you the basics. With a bit of time at this stage you’ll be making some decent beats and some backing tracks. From here you will then need to learn how to work with artists, record vocals, mix and create music that's actually relevant and interesting and enjoyable. However, all the tools are there! I lived and worked in London for a long time which was definitely beneficial in terms of getting lots of experience working with different. Now as a producer working from a Kent based recording studio I have the luxury of having artists come to me.

To take your music production to the next level I would suggest working with someone who is more experienced than you are. Making music is usually best when it's a team sport. I would suggest that two days learning from someone could be more useful than two months of re-jigging what you already have.

So in terms of how many songs per session this varies genre by genre and what your recording process is entails. Some rappers can put down several vocal ideas in a day whilst a major label album might take a year to make. However I typically suggest two sessions per track. This would mean one session to look at the song itself, do some pre-production and get the song working (day one is also to build out the basics of the production.) This then leaves a minute for the new ideas to sink in. Day two is then for recording vocals, editing vocals, additional production and mixing. There is no one size fits all, but this works for me!

What is my number one struggle as a Music Producer…I think that’s the balancing act of the various roles and jobs that require my attention. I need to find artists, speak to them and book them in and work with them in the studio. I also need to build and maintain a website and social media presence etc. I like to work on my own skills and sounds and improve at what I’m doing. There’s also invoicing to do and songs to register on PRS. There’s always mix notes and requests for files from previous projects. Basically the part where I’m working with artists in the studio, the fun instagrammable bit is only really half of the whole picture.