SOUND ON SOUND

[The Red Bladder]

A producer is the guy at the back of the control room eating fried chicken and occasionally saying "We need more cowbell!"

[desmond]

Or "That's too much cowbell."

[Arpangel]

No, at worst, he’s the guy that invents jobs for himself, at best he’ll actually make the record for you.
Neither are actually a good thing.

[CS70]

Still too much cowbell.

[ManFromGlass]

There was a famous Canadian engineer/producer years back who liked to help out young bands by recording them in his studio. I did a few sessions for one of those bands once. The guy did record himself playing cowbell on a track. I don’t recall how the mix ended up!

For the OP -
You could call your engineer/mixer a Producer.
You could call yourself Executive Producer and you could use a slightly bigger font!
(Tongue partially in cheek as it doesn’t really matter)

[Sam Spoons]

IIRC in the film world an 'Executive Producer' is just the guy who raises the money :bouncy:

[Mike Stranks]

IIRC in the film world an 'Executive Producer' is just the guy who raises the money :bouncy:

Yup! As recently confirmed to me by a near neighbour who has the letters A.C.E after his name... :)

[ManFromGlass]

He flew in the first war? He must be older . . . . .
Sorry :mrgreen:

[Sam Spoons]

No, "ACE" is just a Manc word for "pretty good really" :smirk:

[DC-Choppah]

Spread the love.

Tip early and tip big.

Make everyone happy to contribute and get credit. The music sounds better that way!

Make more music with the people you like and bend over backwards to give them credit so they keep working with you.

Treat people the way they like and they will come back for more and even pull you from the fire when you need it.

They are not getting paid, so the work itself is the only reason they are doing it. Recognize that, and spread the love. It will benefit you immensely.

[ManFromGlass]

Wise words.
I’d add one thing (applies to those in the music biz) -
If you are paying them try to pay a bit extra over scale. If you are ever in a time crunch they may choose your gig or session first next time.

[John Stafford]

I wouldn't give him a production credit in this case, as everything he did is part of the engineer's job. While I agree that it's important to avoid bad feeling, he shouldn't be allowed to take credit for something he didn't do. That's not healthy for anyone involved IMHO.

[PsykRev]

Dunno. If an engineer purposely makes the volume on the string section a bit lighter that might be deemed producing?

[Sam Spoons]

Not if he's the mix engineer :D

[PsykRev]

Not if he's the mix engineer :D

Ha. I've worked with mixers who I'd say could be deemed producers. Adding a bit here and there. A pause in the composition, or removing the bit of piano entirely.