Getting the Best Performance From Your ArtistWritten by Richard Dolmat
So now you've decided to record your songs. Good for you, except that you will need people to play instruments for which your music calls for. If you can play all instruments on your own, then all better. You will have less people to argue with! Other wise, you will have to hire (read: bribe with beer/food/hockey tickets) session musicians and vocalists to play and sing for you, putting you in producer's chair. Your songs are only as emotional as performers who play them. It goes without saying that you should hire best performers your budget will allow. But if $100/hour for a professional vocalist is a little steep, here are a few ways to help encourage best from your session players. 1.) Always praise, never criticize. The is THE most important rule in my book. The only way any session musician could ever get comfortable at your studio is if YOU put them at ease. That's one of your jobs as a producer. When trying different versions of a take, tell them how you would like it to sound, instead of what they did wrong ie: "That was great, but let's try to hit high note a little stronger" instead of "you know, you were a little off on high note, it didn't sound that good". Always start with praise, then with a correction. Keep your vocabulary positive. The best producers make artist feel as if they can do nothing wrong. 2) They Can Do Nothing Wrong Remember this rule while you are writing or recording. There is no "wrong way", there is only "a different way". Don't tell people that their way is wrong. Remember that music is an art, and there are no rules in art. When a performer is playing something you don't like, correct them by saying "let's try it this way too". Don't start off my saying "nope, you were wrong, do it right way". 3) Let Them See The Light Ambiance, atmosphere, vibe: whatever you call it, they need it. I guarantee that you will get a much better performance if you have water on table, comfortable chairs, maybe a few candles, a towel, mints, and candy. Have you ever tried recording in an office with harsh florescent lights and hard wood chairs? 4) Take Your Time If you're recording at your own studio, you have all time in world (which is an evil thing in my opinion). Let artist relax, "get into groove", talk a little and get comfortable with other people in control room. A tense artist's performance will always sound 'artificial' in final song. Don't be worried if it takes another 10 minutes to finish take. Each performer works at their own pace, and best thing you can do as producer is to respect that and adjust your pace to theirs. Unless you have a record company breathing down your neck. Then everyone has to work at THEIR pace!
| | Audio Speaker SystemsWritten by Hans Dekker
There are many types of speaker systems for different applications. There are car speakers, stereo speakers, surround speakers, and speaker products for home theater systems. The wireless speaker is becoming very popular for home speakers. It allows you to have a speaker system in every room of house.More and more people are using their computer as their home entertainment center, so computer speakers are a popular consumer item. By connecting your speaker system to your computer, you computer speakers can be used for listening to music and for watching movies. Other popular speaker products include car speakers. A car speaker system often includes a subwoofer for fabulous sound on road. Audio speakers for your car are specially designed for unique characteristics of a car interior, and so are different from audio speakers that are used in house. People who want audio in all parts of house are finding that ceiling speakers are excellent speaker products. These audio speakers are easy to install and are convenient way to have a house wide speaker system. Quality can vary greatly on ceiling audio speakers, so for music, you want a good-quality speaker system.
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