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Music Producers Institute Newsletter Number I
Music Producers Institute
Newsletter Number I
August 10, 2008
Upcoming MPI Sessions:
September 11-14 | October 23-26 | November 20-23
Welcome to the first MPI newsletter!
Hi, I’m Steve Fishell, the founder of Music Producers
Institute. Thank you for choosing to receive our
newsletter. I hope you enjoyed the 7 free videos I sent you
and that the tips were helpful to you in the studio.
My goal at MPI is to de-mystify the recording process and
show you what I’ve learned over twenty years as a producer
and studio musician to help you make the best-sounding
tracks possible. I’ve been very fortunate throughout my
career; I’ve made number one records with Pam Tillis,
Radney Foster, Jann Browne, Charlie Major (six Canadian
number ones) and Prairie Oyster (Canada). I won a Grammy
Award in 2005 for “Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs Of Stephen
Foster,” a compilation album featuring a long list of great
artists like Raul Malo, John Prine, Mavis Staples, Roger
McGuinn, Alison Krauss, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Ron
Sexsmith. I also play the pedal steel guitar and the
acoustic slide guitar and have guested on sessions for
Emmylou Harris (eight albums), Linda Ronstadt, Dolly
Parton, The Mavericks, The Dixie Chicks, Reba McEntire,
Radney Foster, Rodney Crowell, The Chieftains, John Prine,
Albert Lee and many others.
All of this time in the studio has lead me to where I am
today. One of my main interests has always been education;
both my father and my brother are educators, and they have
helped inspired me to open this one-of-a-kind studio clinic
devoted exclusively to “producers.” This is not so much
about audio-engineering, although we do spend at least 25%
of our time talking about great sonics and high fidelity.
And while producers do sometimes have significant
engineering experience, their role has more to do with
overall creative direction than technical details. MPI
shows you the producer’s side of the creative process, from
start to finish: from pre-production to mastering. And
these producing techniques will apply to all musical
genres, from popular to fringe, indie to mainstream.
MPI shows you what to say to an artist in the studio, how
to choose and arrange good songs, how to pull the best
takes out of the musicians, how to recognize a truly great
vocal performance, how to dial up a great mix for your
tracks and pull everything together before, during and
after the recording sessions to make a superb recording.
Competition has never been heavier than it is today with
iTunes, myspace and other websites promoting thousands and
thousands of bands. Your tracks have to stand out above a
crowded field. We’ll show you how in a world-class studio,
the Sound Emporium in Nashville, TN, with Grammy-winning
producers and engineers showing you the techniques and
methods they’ve learned. We will shave years off of your
“experience curve.” Let MPI help you hone your studio skill
set, develop your critical listening ears and save you
years of studio trial and error.
So her we go.
Helpful Studio Tips, Shortcuts and Random Notes
As noted Nashville recording engineer Mike Poole says
dryly, “Options are different.”
Today you can have too many choices when using the latest
recording software.
When working in Pro Tools or other recording formats, too
many “playlists” or tracks means too many “options” later
on in the project. Don’t defer your decision-making process
until later. Develop the mindset that the next take is your
last shot. Work like your back is against the wall. Sing or
play like your musical life depends on the results. Stand
and deliver. Play as if there is no technology around to
help you. Nail it right now!
Producer/engineer/audio wunderkind George Massenburg once
gave me some very important advice in the studio (which he
actually credits to movie producer George Lucas). George
told me, “choice is the enemy of commitment.” I take these
words to heart each and every time I work in the studio.
With singers, there are a thousand ways to sing the song
passionately, but they only have to do it one time. Sixty
takes on a song is overkill. Have your artist sing the song
two or three times to warm up, then put down two or three
takes until they hit the “magic” performance level. Use
that track as your performance track and make any needed
repairs to that vocal. Then you’re done; you can move on to
the other two hundred challenges on your project’s “to do”
list.
WIN A FREE SCHOLARSHIP to MPI
Music Producers Institute Celebrates “Music Business
Radio’s 100th Show”
My friend David Hooper has a great radio show here in
Nashville on WRLT-FM Lightning 100 called “Music Business
Radio.” You can stream it anytime can also be streamed
anytime from his website at www.musicbusinessradio.com.
If you live in the Nashville area, Music Business Radio is
throwing a free party to celebrate their 100th MBR
broadcast, and you’re invited. Music Producers Institute
will be there as a co-sponsor AND at the party we’re giving
away two FREE scholarships to Music Producers Institute.
Just come on down to BMI on August 13th at 5:30pm and
register for the drawing later that evening, and PARTY!
Meet industry producers, managers, musicians and executives
and help MBR celebrate their landmark 100th show. The
drawing will take place at the party, so you could take
home free admission to our four-day studio clinic.
Date and Time:
Wednesday, August 13? 5:30 - 7:30 PM
Location:
BMI 10 Music Sq E
Nashville, TN 37203 Get directions
To learn more about the party, go to
http://blog.musicbusinessradio.com/2008/08/100th-episode-p.html
Music Producers Institute Celebrates it’s Grand Opening!
School is now in session at MPI. Our first two sessions at
MPI were a smashing success:
In June, Monroe, Louisiana’s “The Levees” were with us at
the Sound Emporium blasting out their unique brand of
soulful swamp-rock. Reece Wynans, keyboardist for the late
Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Double Trouble” joined in the fun and
played amazing Wurlitzer and B-3 organ on the track. Our
guest lecturers included Tracy Gershon, A&R VP at Warner
Brothers Nashville, Grammy-winning engineering wizard David
Leonard (Prince, Mellencamp, Dwight Yoakam,Bare Naked
Ladies, Toto) and noted music author Howard Massey (Geoff
Emericks autobiography Here, There, Everywhere and Behind
the Glass). Howard was mesmerizing as he described his five
years with Beatles engineer Geoff Emericka s they
collaborated on Emerick’s autobiography.
Later, David Leonard dialed in an amazing mix for us then
Andrew Mendelson invited the class over to Georgetown
Mastering to demonstrate the final stage of record
production called “mastering.” One of the students turned
to me on the way out the door and said, “They don’t have
anything like this back at the university.” It was a very
rewarding way to end our debut MPI session.
To hear the track we recorded this session, go to our
homepage at www.musicpi.com and watch the youtube video
posted there filmed at the session.
Our July class featured a great singer-songwriter and
former Sony Nashville recording artist named Jace Everett.
Jace brought in his killer band to record a couple tracks
for us, with engineer Dave Sinko (Delbert McClinton, Trisha
Yearwood, Mavis Staples, Edgar Meyer) at the board.
During a break on tracking day the class was stunned to see
T-Bone Burnett, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss wandering
the hallways of the Sound Emporium; they were all working
across the hall over in studio “A” that afternoon.
The next day, Dave Sinko mixed the track while producer
Nathan Chapman dropped by to speak to the class. Nathan is
the producing wiz behind triple-platinum selling country
sensation Taylor Swift. He was candid with the class,
describing how his ascent through the Nashville producing
ranks as a demo engineer musician/engineer/producer was not
an over-night success, but required years of hard work and
consistency.
Later, the class finished up the session over at Dave
Sinko’s mastering lab at Sound Stage on Music Row to hear
and see what Dave adds to the sonic equation when he
masters a track.
Upcoming MPI Sessions:
September 11-14, October 23-26, November 20-23, 2008
We have some very cool sessions planned in September for
the 11th through the 14th. As of press time we are
finalizing arrangements for September’s band; I can’t
mention their name yet but I will say they’ve just signed a
record deal with a major country label on Music Row. It’s
going to be an amazing four-day session.
Special VIP Session with Radney Foster: October 23-26, 2008
October promises to be a very special event. MPI will host
a one-of-a-kind VIP tracking session in Studio “A” at the
Sound Emporium (where in the past six months Bob Dylan,
Alison Krauss, Robert Plant, Trisha Yearwood and Emmylou
Harris have recorded) with renowned singer-songwriter
Radney Foster. Radney has had numerous number one singles
on the Country charts, both as a solo artist (Just Call Me
Lonesome, Nobody Wins), as a member of the hit duo Foster
and Lloyd (Crazy Over You), and as a songwriter for artists
like The Dixie Chicks and Dierks Bentley.
MPI’s students will be able to see and hear Radney track
songs for his upcoming album with producer Darrel Brown and
engineer Nico Bolas. This will be a once-in-a-lifetime
experience, as Radney has never before offered this kind of
access to one of his master recording sessions.
We also have sessions in the works for November 20-23 at
Sound Emporium so stay tuned and we’ll send you details as
they develop.
Future Guest Lecturers:
Here’s a partial list of talented producers and engineers
and songwriters who have agreed to be special guest
lecturers in the near future: Chuck Ainlay, Ray Kennedy,
Jay Joyce, Frank Rogers, Jason Lehning, Trina Shoemaker,
Jeff Hanna, Buddy Miller, Raul Malo, The Warren Brothers,
Bob Bullock, Eddie Schwartz, Alan Shacklock and Tracy
Gershon.
That’s it for now. Thanks again for signing up for the MPI
newsletter, and best of luck to you in the studio.
Steve Fishell
Music Producers Institute
www.musicpi.com
sessions@musicpi.com
4117 Hillsboro Pike
Suite 103-108
Nashville, TN 37203
615-337-0092
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