Just finished the mix for a beautiful song by Beth Sarah (unreleased). I used a low pass filter on the guitars. This keeps the focus on the vocal and gives the song a warm and welcoming feel.
Blog
production walkthrough – country urban dance pop (?)
First time for everything! Had a blast co-writing, arranging, producing, recording and mixing a Country tinged, urban dance pop track for a client whose references included the recent #beyoncé album. 12k streams so far (Spotify) but we still don’t know what genre it is. Never heard or made anything like it! Here’s a short edit of my production walk-through for those with short attention spans (so everyone!). Comment if you know the genre too.
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Track: Hazel Jean. Commissioned to launch fashion brand Hazel Jean
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.
uPDATED YOUTUBE PLAYLIST OF MY PRODUCTION, RECORDING AND MIXING WORK
I have updated and re-ordered the playlist of songs. I recorded, produced, arranged, and mixed them for independent singer-songwriters and artists. It’s also featured on the ‘Hear my work’ page of this site. Hope you enjoy the songs!
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.
Steve Baker 