3 Strategies for Self-Recording Artists to Stay Sane

I’m willing to bet with quite a bit of confidence that you have experienced this frustrating situation:

You’re working on a song that needs a certain part, maybe it’s an instrument, or maybe it’s a vocal. And you’re alone, so you decide to play both the role of engineer and performer.

And at some point, you get frustrated with the process of getting the sound just right, or frustrated by how long it’s taking, or frustrated by the fact that you can’t seem to be satisfied with the part you’re playing or singing (even though they’re probably great) and you just keep doing the same takes over and over and over.

I was talking about this phenomenon with an artist friend of mine recently. It seems like things go WAY faster and easier when there are at least two people working on music together, and the responsibilities are divided.

I’ve started to call this "Self-Recording Bias." My theory is this:

When you record yourself, your bias tells you that what you played is worse than it actually is.

99% of people (myself included) do not have the mental capacity to think simultaneously:

• Do I like the way I’m performing this?

• Am I making any mistakes?

• What section of the song is coming up next?

• Am I staying in time?

• Am I still in tune?

• How does this microphone sound?

• Did I place the mic correctly?

• Are my levels okay?

• Do I need to adjust anything in the DAW?

• What are other people going to think about what I’m playing or how it sounds?

I could go on and on, and sometimes the spiral goes much deeper for me.

Here are three sure-fire ways to fight this frustrating mindset and get back to inspiration and fun.

1. Have someone else record you.

Work with another human being in the room who can carry some of the mental load.

That might mean hiring a professional engineer, or it might mean asking a friend to just hit record and watch levels for you so you can focus on the song. This is the #1 way to combat Self-Recording Bias because you’re no longer recording yourself!

2. Have someone else play the part. ​

Hire a musician who can focus on playing while you focus on the sound of what’s being played in the context of your project.

3. Set limitations.

Maybe you don’t know anyone who you can reliably collaborate with. If you have to work alone, try to eliminate the infinite number of possible outcomes to help narrow your thinking.

That might look like deciding on a reasonable but challenging amount of time. Set a timer and say to yourself, “I’m going to sing this chorus for 10 minutes, choose the best take, and move on.”

Or it might look like committing to a certain number of tracks, or only using certain plugins, or some other form of software limitation.

Whatever idea you come up with, it’s important to focus your thinking to keep from spiraling.

I LOVE engineering for other artists and producers. Sometimes I’ll even work with an artist on only one instrument, like tracking just drums or vocals. Sometimes I even do this work for clients who are in other parts of the world!

If you want to be able to focus on just playing your music and you’d like to leave the technical side of things to someone else, reach out to me and let’s talk.

Happy music making!

3 Qualities of the Best Music Producers and How To Avoid Hiring Bad Ones

I’ve had two conversations in the last three weeks with friends who have horror stories about choosing the wrong producer.

In one story, my friend Jacob (not his real name) hired someone who came highly recommended only to find out that his ideas were being steamrolled by this person.

Literally, the producer did not give Jacob or his ideas the time of day and mostly ignored him.

Luckily, they hadn’t gotten very far into the process when my friend had to endure the awkward experience of cutting ties and asking for his deposit back. It turned out that what Jacob actually needed was an engineer who was on board with Jacob’s ideas, and he is now self-producing some amazing music.

In the other horror story, my friend Laura (again, not her real name) was feeling completely left out of the process of making her album.

At every step, Laura’s producer was making decisions without her involvement by working at night, and then bullying/gaslighting her into accepting his ideas. She told me “This guy has some huge credits, so I just kept telling myself that it would sound good and I would eventually come around to liking it,” but by the time the project was finished, Laura hated it and she'll never release it.

She considers it an expensive lesson in being careful who she hires.

Choosing a producer is so hard.

It’s like buying a used car that you don’t get to test drive. And sometimes it can end up being a very expensive mistake.

The truth is that there's no such thing as a perfect music producer. We all have our flaws and our biases that we're battling. But that's great news, because you don't need to find the perfect producer. You just need one that is open-minded enough to get on your wavelength and skilled enough to carry that vision to fruition.

If you’re an artist thinking about hiring a producer, ask yourself if they have these qualities:

1. Collaboration. Do they consider themself a small but valuable part of your process, or do they give you the feeling that they are the star of the show? Do they welcome feedback and constructive criticism? A good producer will catch your vision, inspire you to stretch it, respect your ideas, and collaborate with you instead of trying to force their own vision into your music.

2. Communication. Do they express themselves in a way that you understand? More importantly, do you get the feeling that you are seen and heard when you speak to them? Do you feel emotionally safe bringing your ideas to the table? A good producer speaks your language and won’t talk over you or ignore your questions and ideas.

3. Compatibility. Overall, do you feel that you can trust this person with your art? Do they have a work ethic that aligns with yours? What does your gut tell you? You’re going to be spending a lot of time with this person, so make sure you get along well!

At the end of the day, there are two basic steps to making a great record:

1. Hire a producer you trust.

2. Trust your producer.

Easier said than done, but it can be done.

If you have any horror stories of your own and you’re willing to share, comment and let me know.

How to make your music sound 10x more professional

When I was starting out producing, I would get really frustrated by the quality of the music I was making.

It didn’t measure up to the sound of the songs I was trying to reference. So I decided that I needed to get better at editing (which turned out NOT to be true) and better at mixing (which was actually true, but not as important as I thought).

So I did that! I became very excellent at editing my audio using beat detective, elastic audio, and a bunch of other methods. For better or worse, I was editing the life out of my tracks and making them “perfect.”

But it didn’t help that much. Even as my mixes improved, I felt like the music I was making was still flat, lifeless, and boring.

And then I hired some professional musicians.

Up until that point I was either playing everything myself or hiring my closest friends to play on the records I was making. And I love those people dearly, but music was a hobby for most of them. I did this because I thought I couldn’t afford to hire pros.

Once I started using musicians who played on sessions full time, the quality of my work was basically 10x overnight, and I realized that I couldn’t afford NOT to use pros anymore.

I learned that not only did they come up with better parts to play than I did, but they executed them better, with better tone, and in less time than it took my friends. AND they performed in a way that I didn’t have to edit their takes later which saved me a ton of time on the back end.

Did they charge me more? Absolutely. But here’s what you GAIN by allocating more of your production budget toward pro musicians:

• They work faster, so you get more done in less time during the session.

• They’re proficient at their instruments and need less coaching.

• They have professional attitudes and respond well to feedback and collaboration.

• They come up with better parts for the song.

• They are typically better at playing in tune.

• They invest more money in their gear, and they don’t compromise on the sound quality of their instruments.

• They have better rhythm which means you don’t have to spend time editing the timing of their parts later.

Professional musicians are more expensive, yes, but they elevate the quality of your productions in a way that editing or mixing literally cannot do.

I would rather hear a terrible mix of amazing musicians than a 💫super amazing💫 mix of mediocre musicians.

If you don’t know any pro musicians, ask around for references! Or hire a producer to help you with this part - Knowing the right musicians for the right project is one of the most important skills a producer has.

You can also use websites like soundbetter or airgigs to find players who work remotely, thought that can be hit or miss in my experience.

However you do it, hire professional musicians. I promise this will make a huge difference in your work.

7 Things Music Producers Should Be Doing In Pre-Production

Not everyone spends time on pre-production, and I generally think that’s a mistake. If you’re a producer, I’m talking to you. If you’re an artist, forward this to your producer :)

I had a conversation with an artist last week who told me that his producer didn’t do pre-production at all, and it made him feel like his song was just “ran through the producer’s machine.”

Pre-production gives the artist a chance to be seen and heard before we turn the microphones on, and skimping on that time is a recipe for misunderstanding and frustration.

I love it because there are no rules and no restraints at this point. We get to dream up ideas for songs, experiment with tempo and arrangement, and talk about the way we want everything to feel. And ultimately that’s going to make the song better.

Try these things in your next pre-production session:

1. Ask the artist why they wrote this song. When they tell you why they wrote it, do not speak. Ask the artist to play the song for you, and don’t record it. Just listen. Pay attention to how you’re feeling during every measure of the song.

2. Chart the song as you listen, so that you have a written road map that you can make notes on and refer back to. I use the Nashville Number system, but you can use anything you like as long it denotes the sections of the song.

3. Ask the artist how they felt when they wrote it. How do they want the listener to feel when they hear it? List out all the emotions you discuss. Try to be as emotionally descriptive as possible.

4. Discuss any changes or ideas you have about the arrangement of the song, referring back to the notes you took. Approach this discussion with curiosity and humility. For example, “I wonder how it would feel if we added an instrumental moment,” or “do you think the song would still work if we removed one of these five choruses?”

5. Try the song in a different key or a different tempo, just to try it. Oftentimes, changing the tempo one or two beats per minute will make a big difference in the way a song makes you feel. If two clicks faster feels good, try two more. Keep going until you’ve reached the limit of what feels good, and then come down as needed.

6. Try playing the song together with a different instrument, like piano instead of guitar, or vice versa. How does that affect the way it makes you feel?

7. Record a “scratch” instrument and a “scratch” vocal when you feel good about the plan. You can replace these with the “real” recordings later. But make sure you record it well — sometimes the scratch vocal is incredible and needs to be the final vocal. “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera uses the scratch vocal, as do many of Adele’s early hits.