...before I get to how I got here (read about my career in the blog From the Earth to the Moon), I thought I should tell you what I'm doing now. After concentrating only on studio engineering, I decided it would be a good thing to learn about the rest of the business and pull my head out of the studio for 5 minutes. I've ended up peeking in and out for 5 years now, in the guise of Lemon Lady Records:
The name came from an old nickname of mine, which came from my favorite band, The Strawbs. I used to play one of their albums over and over, competing with my house mate's favorite artist, Todd Rundgren. She ended up calling me "Lovely Lemon Lady", after a song called "Lemon Pie". I sort of chopped off the Lovely part (I'll leave that up to you!) and kept the rest. And yes, I do have permission from the band to use it for the name of my label. Permission is everything in this business!
Wow, did I have a lot to learn! Music law, music publishing, album production, even graphics (besides wanting to do it all myself, it is way cheaper!). Now I can take an artist from song to a manufactured and widely distributed album, provide A&R (Artists & Repertoire or, simplified, promotion and advice, in plain English), publishing advice (advice because I believe an artist should keep their music close to the vest, their vest, not mine!), even more promotion, and oh yeah, tea and good conversation, if we're lucky..
The best thing about having a label is the long term relationships you develop with some of your artists. Instead of engineering their album, in a studio, maybe in a time slot, and each going your own ways, you find a great friend with mutual interests and a long and happy friendship filled with music and fun. On the other hand, there are those that we won't talk about toooo much, who have been to several engineers or producers, unhappy with all, and eventually, wind up on my doorstep. The results are usually not good, as usually nothing is going to make them happy. Took me a while to catch onto that. As soon as their list of complaints gets to 3 or 4 previous engineers/producers, I tend to back off, I know what is likely to come...a lot of headaches and drama. Every now and then, you are THE ONE who makes them happy, but that is all too rare. Very satisfying, though, to make someone like that happy! But I'll take the satisfaction of the talented, respectful, future teammate, thank you very much! I find the less talent the harder it is to make them happy. So, uh...read between the lines. :)
I do my labor of love from home, with my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), so I primarily mix and master, or remaster songs (from old and/or damaged, tape, usually). Note, remastering is NOT remixing, but more about that later... Anyway, the artist sends me a music project via Skype or YouSentIt (the files are pretty big if many tracks are involved!), with no processing added or everything that makes a final mix added, each instrument (usually) recorded on separate tracks. Then I mix to combine all the separate tracks that have been recorded; applying effects, setting relative levels so the drums aren't louder than the vocal (I dunno, I laughed when I wrote that, your mileage may vary :) ), then I create a stereo file that will be mastered (or not). Mastering is the last step before creating a stereo, 2 track mix, when you have one more chance to fix something, apply mastering effects to make sure you are getting the first impression you want (blasting or relaxing?) or buying into the latest production fad, and setting the final level so that the CD is consistent in volume throughout and not 'clipping' (distorting). That is the file that will go on the CD.
Note that I'm describing digital engineering here. I started life in the analog days of tape and huge amounts of hardware, which I'll go into later, but I figured it would be easier and less confusing to begin with current recording technology. Wow, has it changed over the years! Very much like computers have.
And that is what I do, in a nutshell. Some of my posts (well, many), will be much more technical, and some will be like this one, kind of entry level so I don't scare people away. And maybe you'll learn something along the way or just find out what this fascinating world is like!
Thanks for reading and may your day be artistic!
S.
Wow, did I have a lot to learn! Music law, music publishing, album production, even graphics (besides wanting to do it all myself, it is way cheaper!). Now I can take an artist from song to a manufactured and widely distributed album, provide A&R (Artists & Repertoire or, simplified, promotion and advice, in plain English), publishing advice (advice because I believe an artist should keep their music close to the vest, their vest, not mine!), even more promotion, and oh yeah, tea and good conversation, if we're lucky..
The best thing about having a label is the long term relationships you develop with some of your artists. Instead of engineering their album, in a studio, maybe in a time slot, and each going your own ways, you find a great friend with mutual interests and a long and happy friendship filled with music and fun. On the other hand, there are those that we won't talk about toooo much, who have been to several engineers or producers, unhappy with all, and eventually, wind up on my doorstep. The results are usually not good, as usually nothing is going to make them happy. Took me a while to catch onto that. As soon as their list of complaints gets to 3 or 4 previous engineers/producers, I tend to back off, I know what is likely to come...a lot of headaches and drama. Every now and then, you are THE ONE who makes them happy, but that is all too rare. Very satisfying, though, to make someone like that happy! But I'll take the satisfaction of the talented, respectful, future teammate, thank you very much! I find the less talent the harder it is to make them happy. So, uh...read between the lines. :)
I do my labor of love from home, with my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), so I primarily mix and master, or remaster songs (from old and/or damaged, tape, usually). Note, remastering is NOT remixing, but more about that later... Anyway, the artist sends me a music project via Skype or YouSentIt (the files are pretty big if many tracks are involved!), with no processing added or everything that makes a final mix added, each instrument (usually) recorded on separate tracks. Then I mix to combine all the separate tracks that have been recorded; applying effects, setting relative levels so the drums aren't louder than the vocal (I dunno, I laughed when I wrote that, your mileage may vary :) ), then I create a stereo file that will be mastered (or not). Mastering is the last step before creating a stereo, 2 track mix, when you have one more chance to fix something, apply mastering effects to make sure you are getting the first impression you want (blasting or relaxing?) or buying into the latest production fad, and setting the final level so that the CD is consistent in volume throughout and not 'clipping' (distorting). That is the file that will go on the CD.
Note that I'm describing digital engineering here. I started life in the analog days of tape and huge amounts of hardware, which I'll go into later, but I figured it would be easier and less confusing to begin with current recording technology. Wow, has it changed over the years! Very much like computers have.
And that is what I do, in a nutshell. Some of my posts (well, many), will be much more technical, and some will be like this one, kind of entry level so I don't scare people away. And maybe you'll learn something along the way or just find out what this fascinating world is like!
Thanks for reading and may your day be artistic!
S.
