Lol I'm on a kick today. Sonics And attention to detail keep cropping up in rob cavallo stuff.

https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb11/articles/classic-tracks-0211.htm

Thanks for posting this, Kyle.

I actually found the first section before the 8 minute mark to be more valuable - at least to me right now - I thought it was both insightful and appropriate to a project I'm involved in right now as a producer/engineer.

I would never think to step out - or even see myself as being - on the same pedestal as someone like Cavallo, or any of the big name platinum level producers we've come to know, but, there are similarities on all levels of the business, in terms of what it's like to produce.

I think that "producer" is a term that is perhaps thrown around a bit too easy these days... those who actually have produced an artist's full album know what I'm talking about - it can be very difficult. You've got to focus everything you have on making that artist/band sound as good as they possibly can, to coax out the last ounce of available passion and creativity, and then to put it all together into one cohesive form... and that's not always an easy thing to do - in fact, it hardly ever is - especially if you are engineering and producing at the same time, which is so often the case with the types of projects that most low-level producers like myself are doing.

You have to have a sense about the artist that you are working with - what they are, who they are, what they do, and the best way to bring all of that out....and, just as importantly, you have to be honest with yourself, and ask yourself if you are really the best person to produce that artist.
I've engineered many projects over the years, as most of us here have, but I don't believe that I could have actually produced the majority of those acts. Some were great enough as a band that they didn't really need a producer, others were just too far off my radar screen style-wise, and yet there were others that I knew weren't going to want my advice.

You have to feel connected to it, almost in a way to where you feel just as connected to the music as the artist does. And, you have to feel as though you have something to contribute, too. On top of all of that, you have to schedule and coral all the people involved - session players, band members - and you have to be able to act as liaison between the artist and mastering facility, as well as with the record company, too - if there is one involved...and, doing all of that while desperately trying to keep the budget in the black. Much of the time it can be like trying to get dogs to march in a parade, and all in step at the same time. LOL

It's often very challenging - and rewarding. I've learned a lot in this past year.

Having actually done it, I can tell you that it's much easier to refer to yourself as a "producer" ..... than it is to actually be one. ;)

FWIW

d.