Audio Engineering

The New World Of Music

Comments (15)
  1. Tim Morris says:

    Good motivational vid dude !

    1. Warren Huart says:

      Thanks @disqus_IaFexeW40q:disqus!! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren

  2. Spyderman says:

    I’m motivated and almost able to get back to the studio. (lots of factors kept me away for several months) and chomping at the bit having watched so many of your videos and hearing the truly amazing things the academy members are mixing. Thank you for inspiring me, and thank you for sharing so many tips and techniques. Keep on rocking!

    1. Warren Huart says:

      Hi @plap-disqus-2e65f2f2fdaf6c699b223c61b1b5ab89:disqus I wish you all the best my friend! Get back in there and create some great music! I am very happy to be able to help and it’s so wonderful that all of the Academy members here help each other out so much! Amazing! Creativity is King! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren

  3. Martin Weeks says:

    Thank you again Warren for your repetitive emphasis on Creativity, and commitment to quality and hard work.
    Some thoughts and some affirmations.

    1.) know what you want to do specifically. Are you strictly songwriter? Then think about how potential artists would hear the song. Or are you a performer? Are you a producer, or engineer. In this new musical world we may half to wear all the hats most of the time, but knowing your focus as to which one (or several) is your strongest suit makes all the other stuff easier to deal with.

    2.) You see…We are old. Not mentally or emotionally, but physically so like it or not, going on tour, slogging gear from one venue to another, all the late hours, and all the schmoozing with managers, customers, advertiser, liquor distributors etc. is just not a viable income stream for us.
    So we write, record, mix and publish. We love what we are doing, but I do not fool myself about my level of skills. I’m a good musician, but not a “Sting” or a Paul McCartney by any means. I know my limitations, and push to get better with each song we produce.

    3.) The Magic.
    What drives me more than any other one single thing, is the wonderful look of joy, and excitement I see in Linda’s eyes and her smile, when she sees me put together music for her lyrics.
    Linda is one of those persons who’s had a rough go of it through her life. A lot of her early dreams of being a missionary were dashed when she was very young. She first husband passed. She had to work in factories and Dept. Stores while taking care of her man during the illness that took him away from her.
    Bad relationships after that by bad men. She just had come to see herself as an invisible person with nothing really special.
    Till she heard what I could do musically with her poetry.
    She just shines from this.
    She has purpose and it’s a delight to watch her. She will wake up in the middle of the night and head to the living room, with dictionary, thesaurus, and often Bible by her side while she crafts every word, and phrase into cadence.
    She still looks at me like I’m crazy when I tell her that her words tell me what type of music to make…but it’s true.
    I read the poetry a few times through, quickly, then carefully. I might listen to some loops for a bit if I think I have an idea, or I will just pull out the guitar and start fooling around with chords.

    Then I will go into the bedroom, close the door and start recording. If I happen to use my harmonicas to do some phrasing, she will inevitably say “…are you using that???!!”
    Then I play back the arrangement of the music and she’s astonished.

    I just remind her that all great songs are the combination of the words and the music.

    The sparkle in her eyes make me work harder.

    Truth be told, yes we want royalties to be our retirement plan. But even if not…I’m always proud of her talents that she never realized till this golden age of the DAW and inexpensive interfaces and great mics. I’m alway proud of what we create. And of her creative poetic mind.
    Maybe an artist or a producer will hear our songs and like what we do. Maybe they will want to re record, or just replace my average vocals with their artist’s golden pipes… who knows. Maybe a TV Show will like something and want to discuss sync rights with us.

    But after all that “Biz Stuff” fades away, there’s still the songs that She and I created. They are published whether or not they earn money, they are out there.

    Only a few years back this could not be done. So I always remind her to count our blessings.

    Blessings like positive encouraging people like Warren Huart, Graham Cocrane, Pensado, Johnny Geib, and many others.

    A few years back meeting folks like yourselves would not have even been possible. You live in LA, Johnny Geib lives in Chicago, we live in Melbourne Florida.

    These are the adventures and magical things that happen to musicians, and none of us should ever forget that without that Magic Carpet we might all be working in factories, or Dept. Stores, or Call Centers our whole lives and never know these great people, or have these great adventures, both in our Hearts and Souls, and in our Earth Bound Lives.

    We thank you Warren for creating Produce Like A Pro and for never tiring of passing along good advice, great suggestions, and always keeping the positive going. Music Producing is a hard hard way to go. Lot’s of set backs…lots of frustration on all levels from our parents when we were young telling us to get a real job…to selfish people expecting everything to be free for the taking to the technical…but voices like yours keep the level balanced (pun intended!!) And that keeps us going…and happy making great music.

    You’all have a Bodacious Day Now!!

    Peace!

    Marty & Linda

    1. Warren Huart says:

      Wow @martin_weeks:disqus so many great points! I don;t know where to start other than to say I really appreciate you taking the time to share your insight!! Creativity is King! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren

  4. L Scott Knight says:

    This may be an over complex analogy but I think it could be said, if making music is a chess game then creativity IS King, but not the only piece in the game. So experience with the game produces more wins. You opponent is only those mitigating things in life, self doubt, ego, and acts of god. So perhaps experience, that which comes with practice, is Queen. Gear is probably the pawns. What might be the rest of the pieces?

    1. Warren Huart says:

      Hi @l_scott_knight:disqus that’s an amazing analogy my friend! You Rule Loren! Creativity is King! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren

  5. eX Cess says:

    Always a good reminder. Thanx for keeping us motivated 🙂 Especcially for those of us who struggle with self-doubt on a daily basis and keep wondering if and how we can get a set of clients decentenought to make a living out of this (although I need to say, in my case, I can’t giving up on playing in cover bands, both electric and acoustic, and go play live as much as I can!)

    1. Warren Huart says:

      Hi @plap-disqus-4734ba6f3de83d861c3176a6273cac6d:disqus I understand completely! I battle self doubt myself! Honestly the greatest artists did! When things come easily to someone they usually give up quickly! Communication is key!! Big studios rule! When we have full bands to record in a room! Creativity is King! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren

  6. aka says:

    Wazza, thanks for the motivation, but do remind everyone that music is a communal enlightenment process, (no I’m not into eastern mystics) Jamming friends are are great friend, playing in a band or with any other musician is a great way of self exploration in musical terms, and self belief. We just had a mid week holiday for a horse race (Melbourne Cup) Yes this is Oz we have holidays for any celebration, so we had a BBQ with guitars, harmonicas and Cajhon, got to meet neighbours (No Not the series the pohmies like) and discovered a singer next door, just from making a cochophany.
    Talk about doing it with what you have, I have just been enlightened that Djago Reihardt played a plastic guitar cause it was affordable.
    Check him out on The Tube you’ll be amazed what a guy with 3 fingers and a plastic guitar can do.

  7. MagicPowers says:

    I absolutely agree with your motto, Warren!
    Sometimes, Creativity and
    Perfectionism fight for attention! Heheh!
    Perfectionism will have you digging a perfectly half-spherical pit containing
    a tessalating sculpture of wood, while Creativity
    is igniting that fire and dancing freely.
    I’ve gained full respect for the traditional art of recording.
    Pre-production prior to getting ‘behind the wheel’.
    Level balance and panning first, before any track solo-ing.
    This heritage ethos is largely attributed to your interview videos, so many thanks Warren!

    I mixed this track on JBL Control One’s from a pawn
    shop, powered by a technics amp from a free house clearance:

    https://soundcloud.com/magic-powers/natures-tv
    It’s a free download 🙂

    Admittedly, I’ve made my life easier by upgrading a few things …but I still use Logic 8!
    I feel a bit wrong mentioning gadgetry on this particular thread, but I wholeheartedly recommend a DAW controller –
    I feel more connected to the song and get it sounding sweet more quickly, as I’m not obsessing over numbers.
    It takes a couple of hours to learn all the functions, but you’ll get that time back in 2 mixes and be less fatigued.
    (I went for the Icon Lite, which works with plug-ins too.)

    Play ’til your fingers bleed. Then play some more.

  8. aka says:

    Talk about using what you have, I produce an album for a lovely lady, she brought the roughs in on GARAGEBAND, it kept it on GB all the way
    44.1K, sounded fine.

  9. Bernd Holder says:

    Thanks a lot Warren! As I’m not a professional mixer I usually have very little time to make music. After 9 or 10 hours of working in my regular job creativity is often lacking in the evening. And this is where you enter the scene: you are encouraging me so much that I move on despite all the tiredness (admittedly, sometimes small steps but at least steps…). I really appreciate your mentorship work! Thanks again for being there for us. All the best!

  10. Chuck Sadosky says:

    Thanks again Warren. We’re artists, we always need motivation and just someone saying it’s OK. My studio is “humble” , but it works for me because I am the band and most of those who work in my studio are solo artists. I even shock myself with what I produce. I’m always impressed by the instruments that you use and I came to realize years ago that the price tag doesn’t always dictate the sound you get or the just plain comfort of the guitar or whatever. A number of times I’ve spent some hours in a store comparing sound, feel and playability and walk out with the $500 acoustic over the $2,500 because well, it sucked. Carry on my friend. I have three songs calling to me from the studio to complete. Peace.

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