Alex Coleman Kime — What Does a Music Producer Do?
A Music Producer’s job is to manage you through the process of creating a song or record. With expansive knowledge and experience in audio engineering, audio mixing, writing and the actual costs associated with making a record, a music producer can set you and your music on a way to reach your real sonic potential. Alex Coleman Kime from the United States of America, as an audio producer, tends towards a natural production method that highlights the original goals.
Pre-production
The process will begin with pre-production. This is a series of meetings to discuss what you are trying to achieve musically and career-wise as well as going through all the material for your project in great detail.
Every project is unique and has its own set of challenges and processes. These challenges and characteristics should be identified in pre-production so we can select the correct process to achieve your goals. Once this has been established a realistic budget can be established. With the budget out of the way, there should be few surprises and the creative work of making a record can be carried out in a relaxed productive environment.
Some of the topics to be covered in pre-production are:
Song Key
Song Arrangement
Target Audience
Review Lyrics
Budget
Musicians that will be needed
The environment of the recording process
Song Key
The best key for your song is a crucial decision. There are several factors to consider. If there is a vocal is this the best key for the vocalist? Is this the best key for the instrumentation? Just because you sat at the piano and wrote the song in F major does not mean that is the best key for the other instruments or vocalist. This needs to be looked at.
Song Arrangement
Song form is a very important element of good songwriting. A producer will help you decide whether your song is in its strongest state or if choruses and verses need to be modified.
Usually, a band will write a song and perform it many times before they record it. Quite often you have heard the song so many times in that form that you can’t hear it any other way. A song producer is a fresh set of experienced and trained ears. He might be able to hear your song in a way that you had not thought of. A good music producer will not alter a song for the sake of change but only in the best interest of the song.
Target Audience
Understanding whom you want to buy your record is another crucial subject. A good producer like Alex Coleman Kime should understand the style of music you are making and know how to attain and recreate the musical properties that are characteristic to that style. The overall sound that is inherent to a style is very important when reaching a target audience.
Review Lyrics
Having an experienced music producer go through your lyrics in pre-production is another key element. Depending on the style of music you are creating, lyrics might be a key component. Having another set of experienced ears can help make sure you are phrasing and conveying your message in the strongest, most musical way possible.
Budget
A big part of creating a record is budget planning. The recording process is very expensive and can get out of control without proper planning. It is part of the music producers job to understand the time and resources needed to complete your project. The proper amount of time and money will need to be assessed in pre-production and then allocate to each phase of the recording process. The music producer can then keep your project running on a pre-discussed time frame and financial frame through the course of your project.
Recording projects are notorious for going over budget. This does not need to be the status quo. With proper planning and time spent in pre-production, a good music producer can keep your project on time, on budget and extra expenses to a minimum.
Musicians that will be Needed
A good music producer will have a good network of artists in a number of styles that they work with. It takes years to build the relationships of a good working network of experienced musicians. With a good producer, you will have this available to you. He will also be able to easily work with the musicians in your band. He will understand and speak the language of music as well as have a working technical knowledge of all instruments. A good producer will also realize that you need the right professional for the right style and make sure this aspect is in place.
The environment of the Recording Process
Most successful music producers have a background in audio engineering, performance and songwriting. They will understand the importance of having the right equipment and the right environment to create a relaxed, productive atmosphere for the artist.
A professional recording studio usually has a large selection of studio microphones, pre-amps, studio software, hardware, outboard gear, professional recording equipment as well as a selection of instruments and sound producing gear. This usually creates an ideal environment for the recording process.
