How To Become A Record Producer: Part 4

Once the artist, their record company and A&R manager have agreed the balance sheet, there are still artistic questions to be resolved. This month, continuing his look at working as a team, David Mellor explains how producer, arranger, programmer and session musician can live together in perfect harmony...

Last month, I explained how record production is a team effort, with the record producer in the role of team leader, and the record company's A&R manager having the final say. In some types of production, the rest of the team consists of the band, and no‑one else need be involved. But for a solo artist, there has to be a musical backing of some sort, and unless he or she (or the producer) happens to be an extremely talented multi‑instrumentalist, then extra musical input will be necessary.

The Arranger

Before samplers and synthesizers were quite as all‑singing and all‑dancing as they are now, arrangers were commonly employed to put the music together, and work with a number of session musicians to create a musical backing in a style appropriate for the song. Now, many programmers and keyboard players effectively take on the arranger's role themselves, for the simple reason that a few modules, and a few CD‑ROMs perhaps, can supply just about any instrumental sound that could possibly be required — all you have to do is play the notes into a sequencer, and you have an 'instant' arrangement.

Of course, even though an arranger may no longer be necessary, good arrangements for synths and samplers don't create themselves. For certain styles of music, arrangers are still used. For example, it is difficult to get the best out of a string section, brass section or orchestra, unless you have a deep understanding of the instruments, and the way in which they interact. You could bash out a few chords on a keyboard, get your favourite sequencer software to turn them into musical dots, and hand them out to a group of strings. But would it get the best out of the players and the instruments? I think not.

Arrangers seem to come in two types; lone arrangers (I think there's a pun in there somewhere) who work at home with a sharpened pencil and large sheets of music manuscript paper, and arrangers who are themselves string or horn players. I could also put backing vocalists into this category, since a trio of singers can often work out their own vocal arrangements, saving the producer a job.

You know it's time to hire an arranger when someone says, "I think we need an orchestra on this track", or a jazz band, big band or even a choir. Your first port of call will be your CD collection, where you will scan through discs where you remember a song being given the orchestral treatment, and hope that the arranger is credited in the sleeve notes. A call to the Musicians' Union will probably get the two of you in touch. Likewise, you may find that string and horn sections are credited on the CDs on which they appear, and you might even find them in the phone book or Yellow Pages.

Of course, I have to say that London is still the centre of musical activity in the UK, and you will stand a better chance of finding arrangers and musicians you have heard of in the metropolis. If you live elsewhere in the country, you will still be able to find excellent musicians and arrangers, but you might not be able to expect them to have as much experience of recording. String players in particular find studio recording much more difficult than playing live. The reason is that if they have to wear headphones, they won't be able to hear themselves in the way they are used to, and will find tuning more difficult. For a larger group of instruments, the musical director or MD might wear the headphones and conduct the musicians. If the MD doesn't have much recording experience, he may find it difficult getting the musicians to keep pace with a totally inflexible, previously‑recorded backing track.

Session Musicians

Once upon a time, it was every instrumentalist's dream to become a session musician. With the irresistable rise of computerised instruments, the demand for session players has waned, but there is still a keen market at the top of the business. The reason you would hire a specialist session musician rather than your mate who can pick and strum a bit, is simply because a good session musician can inject an wonderful air of confidence into the recording.

As your experience as a producer increases, you will find that there is a world of difference between someone who can play well, and someone who really 'has it'; 'it' being that indefinable something that makes a recording sound terrific rather than just alright. Be warned that there is still a breed of session musician that thinks it is okay to place a copy of Exchange and Mart on the music stand and imagine they are professional enough not to have to give their full attention to what they are doing. I would personally show someone the door if they did this, but I'm afraid it is still considered to be acceptable practice in some circles.

Of course, this won't happen if you get your musicians from a reputable source who is used to dealing with top producers. This source would be what used to be called a 'fixer', nowadays more politely known as a session agent. Whatever instrument or voice you need, you can ring up a session agent and he or she will be able to deliver the goods — at a price. If you want quality, then you can forget about Musicians' Union rates, because these are considered to be a minimum level of remuneration. Of course, when the payment exceeds the MU scale, then you will also get flexibility and a certain amount of freedom from MU conditions on how sessions are conducted. You would need to clarify these points with the contractor and find out precisely what you are agreeing to in terms of the duration of the session, breaks, maximum recording time, and so forth. Be prepared to sign a contract or letter of agreement which will also contain the performers' consent required under the Copyright, Designs and Patents act for the types of use proposed for the recording.

But what if your budget is limited, or you only want to make a demo recording, and can't justify too much expense? If your material is good enough, you might be able to persuade a top session player to work for you for the minimum fee, simply because they like the music. Another strategy is to book a musician on a demo rate, which may be lower than a full session rate. Of course, you won't be able to release the recordings — or if you did, you'd never be able to book a session player again. But you could record your demo, hawk it around the record companies, and if someone does take to it and wants to release it, all you have to do is go back to the session agent and renegotiate the fee — you can't lose! Also, bear in mind that not all the musicians on a session agent's books will have reached the pinnacle of their careers. Some will just be starting out, and although the agent will have taken them on because they have outstanding ability, they may need to build up a track record, and may see your project as a means to an end.

The Programmer

There is a very subtle dividing line between keyboard players and programmers. Typically, a keyboard player will specialise in tinkling the ivories, and only tweak the odd sound here and there if he feels inclined. A programmer, on the other hand, is hired for his collection of instruments, sounds and samples, and is expected to be able to produce exactly the right sound for the occasion, and maybe just do a bit of playing on the side.

As a budding producer, perhaps you have a MIDI setup and are capable of programming yourself, as many established producers can. But you will be aware that programming takes a lot of mental energy and patience. Hiring a programmer to do something that perhaps you could have done yourself will allow you to concentrate fully on the music, which is exactly what a producer needs to do. The programmer will also have a fantastic memory for sounds, and when you need a string sound that is just so, the programmer will be able to call up a few patches and demonstrate them to you, so that you can choose the best.

Equipment‑wise, what should you expect a programmer to bring to the session? Having seen top programmers in action, I can say that you should be expecting three or four keyboards, a couple of racks full of modules, a Macintosh computer equipped with a pair of large monitors running an audio sequencer and Digidesign Pro Tools, and all the interfaces, disks, cables and backup devices that are necessary to make it all work. The time spent setting up such a system is considerable, as is the time spent after each day's work logging all the sounds and making sure that they can be recalled the next day, or at any later time, if necessary.

It is quite common for a producer to regard a programmer as a kind of producer's assistant. The producer will give the programmer an idea of what he wants, then go away for an hour or two, leaving the programmer alone with the equipment, to see what he can come up with. This is where you really need to be working with people who understand your requirements, and who you can trust to come up with something that is likely to suit your taste.