production breakdown – hazel jean by de’jon.

Only the real music production nerds will be interested in this 9 minute production breakdown. If that’s you, stick around for some inspiration. There is no bait or clever engagement tricks. It’s just me showing what I’ve made for the artist and fashion brand owner, De’Jon from @hazeljeanhq. Comment if you know what genre this song is! Want to work with me on your music? HMU:

I HAVE COMPOSED A LOT OF MUSIC

There’s a LOT of music that I’ve written and recorded over the years which has nowhere to go. I’d love to create music for TV, film and ads. So, I’ve started to sync my tracks to footage found on Archive.org. This motorik Krautrock inspired track made me think of exciting car chases or racing, hence the video game footage from MotorStorm.

Does it fit?

the artist and songwriter’s goals for their music frames the entire production & mixing process

When I’m producing for an artist, it’s important to find out their goals, listen to their reference tracks and have a good pre-production session – all of this before I start building the initial track. I’m setting things up for success & staying on track. What are your goals for your next song or album? Work with me on your songs. I help solo artists, singer-songwriters and bands to sound better than they imagined.

Creativity vs. Expertise: Finding Balance in Music Creation

When it comes to creativity and making music sound great, does it help or hinder if you’re an expert? Might be limit your creative process if you always know the right thing to do? Or is it more interesting not always know the ‘correct’ way to do things?

I’m sure it’s a balance between the two. I’ve developed some good knowledge in the fundamentals of recording and producing music. My main skill and strength lie in listening and interpreting musical ideas and I believe that not always knowing the correct method can lead to experimentation and ultimately, something more interesting.

MIXING & PRODUCTION FOR ‘MATCHES’ BY MADE ESCAPE – BEFORE AND AFTER

Headphones on for this one. A joy to produce & mix this gorgeous, clever and poignant ballad by Made Escape. Adding soft & ethereal synths, trip hop inspired drums, vocal plate reverb & using filters to control the emotional dynamics. . Matches by Made Escape is out now as part of her brilliant debut album Good As It Gets.

Whoops! Wrong plugin (but a great mixing trick!)

One little mixing ‘trick’ for ya drums using Logic Pro stock clip distortion plugin.

One little goal of mine is to share useful, simple and not too ‘textbook’ production & mixing ideas. I want to inspire & exchange ideas with self-recording, self-producing artists & songwriters.

I’m self taught and always enjoy those little nuggets that I can adapt to my needs. In what other ways could you use this plugin? Comment below.

GUITAR MIXING TECHNIQUE – REVERB A TONE SHAPING TOOL

So it turns out you can shape the tone of an instrument in a mix – in this case electric guitars – by processing the reverb. Room reverb is one of my favourite things to use in a mix to unify it and create a sense of depth and realness. This technique was partly inspired by the band The Walkmen who’s guitar sound is heavily dosed in bright reverb. Let me know if you have any feedback or ideas about how to use reverb as a tone shaping tool.