What is a common mistake you made when you first started? I made many! However it was listening and learning from amazing people that really helped me overcome and learn from my mistakes! The people that really stand out for me, are Paul Gilbert, his generosity and talent knows no bounds and he played a huge part in me believing in myself and Jeff Jampol, his counsel was absolutely huge for me!! If there's one take away for me, it's the memory of those things! I know these points I've said many, many times before, in many other videos, however I have to hear them again and again! None of us are perfect and although the points might be simple and be common sense that doesn't mean I don't need to be constantly reminded myself! Have a marvellous time recording, mixing and mastering!
When I was a kid and first started, I didn't always ensure that drummers had their kits properly tuned. Gain staging was also a bit of an issue at times until I found a properly working console with pre-amps that I liked.
Not saying NO. That can apply to many sides of the music industry. That said, when I was younger and ready to play every gig, with ALL the bands, you need to be honest with your expectations. Do you really want to drive 500 miles hauling a drum set, 2 of your cheap band mates over miles of mountains to play last at a club where everyone left, for no payment? To add, I blew the head gasket in my recently purchased vehicle on that trip. After that I refused to use my vehicle to transport other bandmates and there gear. The whining never stopped. If you have cash for drugs, alcohol and strip clubs, you can get a license and a vehicle.
After hearing this, I'm so glad this is just a hobby for me. That being said, many of your points are true in many other professions as well. Professionalism is professionalism regardless of the industry.
Dam dude, th I s be the cold hard truth. I have experienced some of what you spoke of. I think one of my biggest frustrations was a promoter I worked for. I was stage manager, drum tech and baby sitter for a metal fest in Oregon. First one I basically volunteered, knowing the promoter had a contract with the club for $$$$ amount. Plus the headlining bands. 18 hour days on a Friday and Saturday. First one was a success. He tipped me a little cash. He got himself a new pa system. Second fest, bigger club, bigger bands. I was told I would make $$$ for the same work. I made $$, he bought himself a expensive new fender bass head and a custom b.c. rich bass. 3rd fest, bigger and better. This time I was upfront about my expectations. And if they were not met he could find someone else ( to add I was taking time off my day job ). Suddenly I was making$$$ a day, meals were comped and I was given credit on the fest officialy. He still made bank and treated himself to new gear, which is fair. Bottom line, you need to get paid for the work you do. Strangely enough, I moved from Oregon and that festival is no more.
I'm a freelance programmer for more than 20 years and your first 9 points - at least - are true for almost any kind of service. I can subscribe to all of them without hesitation. My weakest point when it comes to music is overmixing and overproducing, combined with the latest possible point in time to commit. Close to your last point and hard for me to let go.
Hi Peter, thanks for saying that! Agreed! These are very obvious points, sometimes we just have to reiterate them! I hear you, it's very hard for me to let go sometimes!!
#11 Seeking Perfection is probably my biggest problem. In the early days of recording real instruments to tape I was never entirely happy with all the tiny errors. When Cubase and sound modules came along later I was finally able to achieve the quantised perfection I desired. Then it slowly dawned on me that there was no life in the music, no dynamics, no feel. Perfection killed the vibe. Since then I've been trying to "unlearn" perfection, to go back to my imperfect roots and try to resist the temptation to fix every tiny fault. There is a certain magic in a real performance with feeling and rough edges. It can be hard to decide what really needs fixing and what should be left as it is.
The wonderful Mary Spender has a saying that I love: "Done is better than perfect." I agree with this philosophy. I work on a project tweaking, re-doing, punching in where it really wasn't necessary etc. driving myself nuts over things nobody will hear in a mix and leaving things undun because I am looking for "perfection" instead of just a good overall mix. Done is better than perfect.
Great tips Warren! My tip, the word "exactly" is your friend.... What EXACTLY do you like about this song you are influenced by? What EXACTLY do you hope to achieve with this recording? EXACTLY what will you be paying me and when EXACTLY should I expect to receive it? What EXACTLY do you mean by "more open" or "warmer" or "groovier" or (insert ambiguous sound reference here)? What EXACTLY will be my responsibilities and credits on this recording?
Warren. Your experience and knowledge is only matched by your level of humility. It is a rare and unique combination and I believe a key reason for your success.
This is amazing Warren! Can you show us an example for the contract your lawyer made? I dont know what i have to put correctly. Thank you, you are amazing!
Warren Huart is the most nice guy I ever saw on this kind of videos in RU-vid. Although so many ppl ask him questions, he always do his best and try to answer as much as he can. No one else does it like that.
26:01 The servant's heart. There is no greater lesson in life than that. Staying within the confines of music for the moment: The artist or band serves the song. The music serves the listener (even if you're both the artist and the sole listener). The engineer and producer serve the artist. The record company serves the artist and the listener. The listener serves the artist and the people they share the music with. etc. etc. If we approach everything we do with that understanding, the rewards are beyond measure. I love how much Warren emphasizes the need to be humble and strive for excellence and integrity in his videos. Now to point the finger where it belongs, I have to work on it every day. Learning this lesson all starts with me. It's not something I've conquered by any means.
Like I said on IG, this video is SO important. Sure we all make mistakes and poor decisions but SO MUCH unprofessionalism in the industry might be avoided if people took these lessons to heart. Sending this to all my producer/engineer friends.
About the backend, getting paid before handing over the final mix... what about the multi-tracks? Example: Client owes you $2000, but they have have the multi-tracks and find somebody to mix them for $500. They keep putting you off, saying they're broke, but in reality has blown you off?
Two points that stood out to me. When is was 16 my music teacher took me to a "real" studio and the engineer told the key is learn as many instruments as you can A. you may need to lay a trak B. You know what it should sound like. 2nd. I always called my self a over paid button pusher, under paid baby sitter, I feel off my chair on the "Therapist" comment.
Warren is a true gentlemen in this ego music bussiness. You learn and concentrate on music instead on who's cool etc. Love the show. Hope it goes on forever.
Lots of great knowledge.Thank you! One almost needs a psychology degree to navigate the extreme dysfunction one sees in order to have a successful career in the music industry.
These are all great tips. So many things that should seem obvious are necessary to reiterate in this day and age, where common sense isn't so common. Thank you for putting this out there. There's a reason I watch your channel more than anything else out there.
absolutely priceless advice and tips from someone who has "been there and done that" in almost any situation relating to sound and audio...gonna have to rewatch this one every few weeks for a while to absorb more that my noggin will recall from one viewing the old adage "treat others as you wish to be treated" goes a long way in many situations ive been involved in many thanks as always for your sage advice and your time
#3 is very similar to one of Dale Carnegie's points in "How to Win Friends and Influence People". He says that you should replace "but" with "and" when pointing out mistakes. Similar to this video, instead of saying, "I like how you sang this part here, BUT the rest sucks," you could say, "You sang this part really well, AND I think the rest of the song can sound great if you do it the same way." So if you catch yourself saying, "BUT" then stop, and realize how negative you're being, and then find a way to be positive instead. This is such a great channel. I only just discovered it a few days ago, but I have absolutely learned tons from it!
#11 - File Pass! It's a file sharing service like Dropbox but allows Wav files to be streamed from the app but the download is behind a paywall, so they can't download it without paying
I have watched this video 3 times and your a MONSTER !!!! Your ability to see the big picture is probably what makes you a great producer .Your ability to integrate makes you a totally cool person . Your ability to clearly and instructively share this with others make you AWSOME !!!!!
The Verve did clear that sample but Allen Klein (yes, him again) decided that they used too much of it and went in for the kill. He demanded rights to the full song or Urban Hymns could end up being pulled out of the shops. Jagger and Richards returned the rights to Ashcroft earlier this year. The awful thing is that it's a sample of an orchestral cover of The Last Time, and actually sounds nothing like that song. I think Andrew Loog Oldham owned the original masters of the sample and was looking for a slice of the cake too. Very messy. Oh great video. My 1st production end up being credited to someone else (the artist) so I learned very quickly with that. It's very hard to take.
Love this video, as it really highlights things I’ve wondered about, especially in the departments of maintaining relationships and when not to raise a stink. One question I’d ask tho, is in regards to not always having an opinion. When do you draw the line, as an engineer, of when and when not to have an opinion? If things are crunching into a channel horribly, or someone’s thirteen beats off time, obviously you’d speak up, I’d think. However, say a part is very noticeably clashing with the song, or a gang vocal is running as smoothly as a derailed locomotive. Do you pipe up and suggest a change, or accept that you were simply hired to put what they gave you to tape?
Not sure if this is a “when I first started” thing, but I’m pretty guilty of over-analyzing a mix to death. Seems like half the time I send the first or second mix, it’s approved even though I was just looking for feedback. Also, the “getting paid” part. Been plenty guilty of handing stuff off for approval only to never hear from them again. I’ve since started using a demo dither plugin that dips out the track randomly. Haven’t had any issues since. Cheers!
Hi Sean McCarney the lessons I’ve learned from working for years in music, plus talking with guys like Bob Clearmountain for instance, is not to be too precious!!
Great vid Warren im getting started, doing all my recording for free to build a portfolio and getting my name out there. Only in my free time and only one song. If you want more, you pay. Only question I have: is that basic one page contract anywhere? a pdf or word doc would help a lot of us out
Hi David, I highly recommend finding something that fulfils your needs, unfortunately there is no one size fits all contract for each individual person! I would get that one personal one made that suits you then modify it for each person!
As an artist, this video is going to be a prerequisite for any producer with whom I work, hands down! (Full disclosure: In the producer role, I’ve definitely made some of these mistakes, and I shall learn too!)
That "does not solo" tracks is huge and still tough for me for whatever reason. Having those incredible accurate tools in your hands (all those fancy EQs) make you feel you need to do exactly that. And then I see Bob Clearmountain or even Al Schmitt saying: "If I want another sound, I change the position the mic". And who are we to disagree those gentlemen?
There’s lots of great life advice here, that’s brilliant. To me what’s extra brilliant, is that you mention when applicable, “I made X mistake.” I love that. It really makes your points even more important. Thanks for sharing!
Definitely great advice on empowering the artist with the compliments. Constructive criticism is best as a "sandwich." Say what you like up front, what can be improved in the middle, and then reiterate again what you like.
Hello Warren, are you also familiar with Classical solo piano mixing/mastering? They all say, don’t do anything to Classical piano solo recordings because classical-music recordings generally follow original-sound supremacism. However these days I often listen to solo piano albums which are obviously, at least mastered. Their peaks are 0.0db. But of course, it’s not just normalization. So, What would you do to classical solo piano, to maximize the volume? What kind of mastering technique would you implement? Thanks, Leiki
One mistake I avoid like the plague is "taking on a job that doesn't inspire me". I always like to get a demo from the artist. After listening to it, if I don't get inspired or think I can be of help, I don't take the gig. There is nothing worse than recording something that you don't like, hearing it over and over and/or not having enthusiasm for it. It doesn't serve the artist or yourself to feel that way. It just leads to hard feelings, tarnished reputations and even worse, a bad sounding record. Just take the jobs that you think will work for you. Yeah, it's hard to pass up a paying gig, but your sanity is worth more.
Most of the guitar solos I create for new songs I've written or other people songs are off the cuff. A special magic happens with these solos, then when I want to perform them in the future I have to learn them again and they end up very polished yet lack that barely able to do what I do magic that happens the first time. I try to get as close to the original as possible but it's still polished and sometimes homogenized.🎸
I can fairly say, that I have some experience in the music industry. This is invaluable advice. I’ve made several of these mistakes over the years, myself. Wish I hadn’t obviously. Take this advice, Warren is offering here.
That last tip was the best, in my opinion. Guilty as charged, sometimes, I'm afraid to admit. I'll def keep that in mind from now on. You give new meaning to the old saying, "the devil is in the detail."
My experience... 3 years ago I was hired to engineer an album. The girl had a producer and some musicians. She was a singer songwriter. In that moment, if she asked me to be the producer I would say no, because I did not believe I was capable to do that. After the first meetings the producer and the musicians disappeared. I listened the songs and I had a couple of ideas, and I said to me, I have to do it. The songs were amazing and he was an incredible artist. She knew nothing about music composition, but she was awesome. I helped her although I only will be paid for engineering, and this was my best project. Maybe it is also now. And last week I started other amazing project with her. I really think that in that project the money was not the best I won.
Warren, Next question for next FAQ friday. We all know plugins from nowadays have some analog modeling built in and all that , plus we have some other plugins that specializes in adding even and odd harmonics alone ....Heres my 2 questions. How much is TOO MUCH harmonic distortion when dealing with this kind of mixing mentality? How can we tell we are going overboard using it?
Hi. I am not a professional but make music as a hobby. Have never had any proper training but after listening to you today I understood quite a few things that I was doubtful about. And honestly this is not the first time. I’ve gained and learnt a lot from your videos. Thanks a lot.
great video and advice warren I forgot just how much you enjoy doing this crazy music thing excellent tips all and they apply to life in general wouldnt it be great if everyone followed just half of these tips,,, cheers!
I have been watching hours of you videos for weeks now and this one just hit me really hard. You're doing amazing work and it's immensely helpful. I really appreciate it.
No tips I can think of adding right now, but that last one really hit home. So many times I've gone to revisit something and perfect it, only to destroy the exact character I loved (Especially with over-soloing of tracks) Thanks so much for making this, and all the rest, of your videos. Some amazing information, thanks for sharing!
Producing an artists vision is a powerful position to be in. Scary to think you could take it in a less than positive direction. I am happy I only produce for my own music. Mistakes I have made affect only my life.
Excellent shows lately, Warren! Roger Manning, JJP and BOB FREAKING CLEARMOUNTAIN! And many others of course. Thanks so much for all the wisdom bombs. Too many to count. Keep up the fantastic work!!
Thank you for this video. I come to this from the artist side, Agood solid contract is amust, Good comunication skills are esential. The most importent thing for me as an artist was to know that my producer really cares about my music. Knowing that made me trust him that his choices are for the right reasons, not cutting corners and doing what needs to be done even if i didnt like it or understood everything. Trust is the most importent thing.
Great advice! #11 in a way I knew it, but you gave it an amazing explanation. Perfection vs. clarity! It is to understand, that the particular imperfection is actually a thing that speaks. It makes the listener understand something that "perfection" cannot translate.
Warren, another great video! Maybe a 12th mistake is not discussing and communicating how you like to work with - let's say - a band in the studio. Some "golden rules" of behaviour. For example: you don't want bandmembers to move your faders and pushing the buttons on the desk, 7 people attending the mixing process, what about friends coming to visit the session, etc. Pro's know (I hope) how to behave, but I think a producer sometimes work with lesser experienced people/bands.
Man, thank you 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗼𝗼𝗼𝗼𝗼 much for this. I really needed some guidance about this. I've been a producer for over 5 years now and I always thought I was doing something wrong. There were a couple of these 11 things I didn't do and did. Example: When I started my producing gig, I'd always give the band a written agreement before working on their project. For some reason I stopped doing it and it changed dramatically.... I mean, in very 𝙗𝙖𝙙 way. You just hit me where it hurts man, and I thank you for it. I'll definitely do this again.
Thanks Warren, my friend. It is amazing when so often you bring out new videos and topics that correspond to my actual topics. :-) This time the same. On Friday I will start with my own new band to record our first 2 songs of our first album in my studio, I am excited now bringing in all what I learned at the academy for my own projects now ! This video focus again on what is important. Thank you so much. Some of your 11 ones I did too in the beginning years ago, but it is not a big deal getting better and don´t fault again. Greetz from RPO Soundhouse Germany
Some brilliant points as always, but #11 (spoiler alert -- it's "Stay Away From Perfection") is a beauty. I was doing some printing in one of those big office stores recently, and they were playing Culture Club's 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me' on the house sound system. Now I was in my mid-teens when this song came out and at the time I was into mod/punk music like the Jam, Clash and 60s bands like the Kinks and the Who -- just basically guitar stuff that had a total raw edge to it, and while I appreciated the Culture Club for their pop brilliance (I"ve always liked well-crafted pop music of all forms, and still do) I found the sound of the 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me' backing track to be completely slick, bland and way too perfect for my ears at the time. Almost robotic and cold. Well the other day when I was listening to it in the store, it was the compression or the speaker I was standing under, but the drums were ridiculously prominent, and I could hear that reggae beat and was thinking how well played it was, and obviously human, but then at a certain point about 2/3rds in, when the snare comes in, you can hear a real lapse in the beat where it starts to lag behind the track before picking up again. And I thought, 'Cool, that's great! I once thought this was a cold, sterile track (always loved it as a song though), but now I could totally hear the humanity and warmth in the playing (and the bass is friggin' awesome too). Well, the next song that came on in the store was a modern dance song with a reggae-style beat that was gridded to within an inch of its life and I found myself yearning for the imperfections of a song that I once dismissed as being "cold" and "robotic". Nothing beats real human beings when it comes to making music, and lining everything up with a bunch of map-lines on a computer is not doing anyone any good.
A wonderful and insightful video Warren. Love hearing your personal experiences working in our field. Always flying by the seat of our pants. Paraphraising, Roger Waters said "at some point you have to say it's done, otherwise, no song will ever be written"
So you mentioned that Paul Gilbert credited you as a producer on one of his albums, so I had to check through my CD collection to check it out. Just saying, I absolutely LOVE Gilbert Hotel as an album, and it's really cool that you worked on it!
@@Producelikeapro He seems like it! I've been following him for like 7 or 8 years now, and he seems like a genuinely nice person. Even though I don't play at his level, he's still my biggest influence on guitar and music in general. Man listens to everything lol
No.11 is my big problem too. After years of editing and mixing dialogue, I hear (almost?) everything, especially in solo. So I sometimes don't solo when mixing or even editing. It's difficult to leave things in though.
Warren, great video, as always. A QUESTION FOR FAQ FRIDAY: Does it matter if you position your mixing monitors on their sides, and if so should woofers be on the inside or outside? I have no speaker stands and the only way to find the sweet spot is to have them on their sides. Thanks for any info and keep up the good work!
Hello Warren, could you talk a little bit about compressing piano and giving it more punch? I'm trying to record jazz piano and I feel like the low end could come out stronger.
Warren, This is great! Good topical content which actually applies far beyond producing. Many of your points are larger business and life lessons in and of themselves. Enjoyable and valuable. I'm not a producer nor an engineer and despite playing *at* guitar since 1976 I'm loathe to even label myself as a musician. But all my life I've found the overall topic of recording / engineering very interesting. Despite not working in the industry, I still find myself watching your content on a regular basis, even some of the more technical topics. That's because your professionalism, generosity, humility, humanity and honesty come through -- Like others on YT sharing the same strata of integrity (e.g., Rick Beato and David Bruce). Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your content. Even though I'm usually over my head, it's always worth my time.
This is just amazing, maybe the best advices I'd ever listen about music production, thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge Warren!! I'm sure as hell everyone appreciate it
Thank you Warren for this one. All of your experience and generosity of sharing. I have a mistake of not reaching out for help and not letting others in for advice and maybe Co-working on a project. (I am getting better at it though🙏🏼🤗) Best regards from Denmark 🇩🇰
Great tips, thanks. The last one really hit home with me. I've been in the unfortunate position of having to mix my own ep and had I come to this conclusion earlier it would have been a whole lot easier!!
