In this article engineer/producer Ashea shares her thoughts on the role of psychology in the studio and how looking after the people in the session is at least as important as looking after the gear.
Last week I was at dinner at Hawksmoor in London with some of the guys and girls from the Experts. Towards the end of dessert Dom Morley struck up an interesting conversation about being a producer and how you are often given the role of `psychologist’ when working with artists. I then came across a similar point about collaboration and the psychology behind it while at Gearfest, so I took it as a sign to write up my thoughts on the psychological aspects of music production.
Creating A Vibe
During the week with the Experts we visited some fantastic studios, Strongroom in particular stood out to me. Its psychedelic 90s vibe, as well as being incredibly eye catching and memorable, serves a greater purpose of capturing and keeping a type of clientele. It definitely gives off chill, creative family vibes, albeit slightly out there (most notably studio 3) and it’s most definitely a deliberate choice with a lot of thought put into it, which serves its purpose of fostering the intended environment.
As well as a marketing tactic for studios, creating the right environment is extremely important as a producer, if you want to get the best from the artists you work with.
Putting People At Ease
Depending on who I’m working with, I aim to adapt my attitude to the situation, but more often than not, I sense that the artist needs putting at ease when they first walk in the door, so we usually chat a little bit about life before we begin recording. Although I’m always conscious of time, I feel this step shouldn’t be missed during a session.
We recently chatted with William Wittman on the podcast where we spoke about ‘Fixing It In the mix’. The one thing we all agreed that snazzy plugins or engineering tricks cannot fix is expression, and to capture the rawness and most moving performance you need to coax it out of the artist, which first and foremost means making them feel comfortable.
For artists, writing and expressing themselves musically can be a vulnerable place to be in, which is why creating a non-judgemental vibe, being real with people and being able to laugh off the occasional awkward take is equally if not more important than adjusting pre-amp settings. Comfort and feeling in a safe environment in which to mess up is crucial, it’s best not to take ourselves too seriously if you hit a bum note, we’ll just laugh it off.
Limiting Distractions
Another topic we’ve touched on previously on the podcast is limiting the amount of distractions during a session. Gear and technical issues tend to be a big culprit for getting you out of the zone, not to mention annoying a client if it’s an attended session. A producer’s focus should be on getting the best sounding record, that can’t happen if you’re having to solve technical issues on your Mac or dealing with routing problems. Although it’s not always an option, considering hiring an assistant to take care of these jobs so that you can focus purely on the music.
Constructive Feedback
Even if you’re ‘just engineering the session’ and not necessarily the producer, you should probably try to look like you’re into the track. I’ve been on both ends of this, in front of the mic and engineering the sessions, so I guess I’m particularly sensitive to how it feels being on the artist’s side of things. The key here is knowing how to give praise and suggesting things in a way that will help the artist and not hinder their performance or create self-consciousness. If your feedback comes from a place of genuinely enjoying the track and wanting to help improve, it’s usually easier to deliver feedback that sits well with the receiver.
Authenticity
More so than ever, especially in our advanced social media age the authenticity of an artist is paramount. There are many ways of sounding real, even the most heavily processed vocal and track can connect on a deep level with the listener, it’s about the sonic layers you create, and how you use them to create a certain vibe. Lyrics and delivery, mic placement, vocal layering tricks, can give you goosebumps, but you need that raw authentic expression from the artist.
Go Beyond Formulaic
The killer of authenticity is trying to write a hit song. In 90% of cases, formulaic hooks should not be the sole focus of a track. For me, the ideal combination is when the message you want to deliver falls melodically into place and the rest is built from there. If an artist is comfortable being themselves around you, the difference can be night and day. This is where the psychologist aspect becomes most apparent, because most producers and writers will end up discussing life, heartbreak and deep feelings with an artist and still being aware of the professional dynamic that is taking place. It’s not a get-together with friends, you are usually in a position of authority and that needs to be considered at all times, but you want the artist to open up, and maybe suggest things that will help them understand or express themselves better.
Delivering The Message
There’s nothing more satisfying than getting goosebumps from a raw, completely dry take because of the work done to capture a solid performance at the recording stage. It’s the ideal place to be in for a producer, because everything from then on becomes an exercise in pure artistic joy. You can really have fun, playing around with processing choices, panning choices and using production to amplify the message of the artist. Considering we listen to a track again and again, it’s important to not lose sight of how you felt when you first heard it and keep that in the forefront of your mind. The focus should be in creating that first experience, delivering the message in the best possible way to the listener and not distracting from the intention of the song.
Working Alone And Dealing With The Stresses Of The Industry
As rewarding as it can be, being a producer/mixer can often be tough. From the worries of freelancing, spending long unsociable hours in the studio, often alone. Years of studying, self doubt, potential imposter syndrome. Dealing with criticism, rejection and non supportive family members who at least to begin with, tell you to ‘get a real job’. We are lucky that these topics are becoming less taboo and people are feeling more comfortable discussing these issues with each other . Check out Russ’ article on the topic here.
In Summary
Almost every producer that I’ve spoken with is well aware of their additional role of Psychologist, Counsellor and agony Aunt. Dealing with artists and being one yourself involves managing a lot of vulnerability, being in tune with yours and others emotions is just as important, (if not more) as getting the right compression settings.