Music Production Talks
By Chris Jacobie and JP Ruggieri
Interview with Ben Alleman and Parker McAnnaly
This week we sit down with Ben Alleman and Parker McAnnaly to discuss Ben's beautiful instrumental album "A Study In Unknowing." Parker produced, engineered and mixed the album.
Interview With Collins McLaughlin of Chester
This week JP and I sit down and chat with Collins McLaughlin about his band's new album, songwriting, and more.
Interview With Ken Perkerwicz of Tennessee Rhythm Company
Today we interview Ken Perkerwicz of Tennessee Rhythm Company. JP played and mixed on Ken's record and so we get into all the nitty gritty of how it was made.
Interview With Chris Kasper
We chat with artist, Chris Kasper, about the recording of his 2024 release Sunlight In An Empty Room.
Creating Motion and Emotion In A Mix
This week we discuss automation and other methods for creating movement, motion, and emotion in a mix.
Motown Drum Tones!!
In this episode, our good friend, John Wood comes over to help us recreate some 60s drum tones a la Motown. John is a tasteful drummer with a studio that features a great selection of drums and gear.
Hit him up for remote drum recording!
johnwoodmusic@gmail.com
Interview with Mitch Webb aka mihtmo
Joel Arnow Interview - Part 2
Joel Arnow Interview - Part 1
Interview With Brook Sutton
This week we interviewed the great bass player and engineer, Brook Sutton. We talk about Brooks' approach to recording drums with SM57s, his work as an engineer with The Wood Brothers on their last three records, and his recent work on Chris Kasper’s upcoming album. This episode was recorded at The Studio Nashville.
Train Your Ears: Ear Training For Musicians*
*Contains our affiliate link
Madison Cunningham Track Analysis - "Hospital"
1/13/23
Freaking Out About Hardware EQs!
Production Analysis: Wilco's "Pot Kettle Black"
After two weeks off, here's a new episode of the show! To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, we’re doing a production analysis of “Pot Kettle Black.” We had a great time listening deeply to this song and then chatting about it. Thanks for listening!
Resources (May Contain Affiliate Links)
Live Gig Prep aka How To Not Sound Like Crap Live
JP is on a gig in London and hasn't had a chance to set up his recording equipment. We had to record this one on Zoom. Apologies for the sad sound quality.
We get into how to prep for a gig both musically and sonically. We also discuss soloing and musical minimalism. Enjoy!
Music Production Process Overview
Instead of focusing on just one aspect of recordings, such as recording or mixing, we're taking a look at the whole process. This episode was inspired by a question that one of our listeners, Felix Picolet, asked us. Thanks, Felix! If you want to have your question answered on the show, hit us up on Instagram.
Resources:
Production Analysis: Daniel Lanois "As Tears Go By"
[Show Notes]
Proper Audio Recording Levels a.k.a. How To Not Overcook Your Audio
This week Chris is going solo (JP is couldn't make the show this week) and getting nerdy, dry, and detailed. This topic is what separates the pros from the noobs. Take notes, apply to your recordings and you'll be cooking your audio at a nice medium rare and making better-sounding music.
We get into...
- Gain-staging throughout the entire recording chain.
- Why DAWS and peak meters will lead you astray.
- Peak vs. RMS levels
- What the "sweet spot" is and how to hit it
- Digital reference levels
- The difference between 16, 24, and 32-bit.
- How to set levels when recording.
- How to gain-stage your mix
- Calibrating buss compression
- And calibrating your monitors
--
Resources (May Contain Affiliate Links)
EQ Shootouts With Examples (API, Neve, and SSL-style)
This week we go a little deeper into the topic of EQ. We do a shootout of Neve, SSL, and API-style EQs and discuss what we like and don't like about them. We give examples of what certain EQ moves sound like so you can start to get your ear around different frequencies.
And we even get into why having massive brain surgery makes you tired AF ...who knew?!?
As always, thanks for listening!
--
Resources (May Contain Affiliate Links)
Download the EQ shootout files here.
EQ 101
This week we’re talking about EQ. If you’re new to EQ and wanting to get an understanding of the basics, this is a great episode for you. We get into terminology, the differences between some common classic EQ’s, and some examples of why in some cases common EQ moves are great and why in others they will completely kill the vibe of your recording.
--
Resources (May Contain Affiliate Links)
Music Production Talks Trailer
Hello and Welcome!
Each week on Music Production Talks join Chris Jacobie and me, JP Ruggieri, as we skip over teaching you how to make PHAT beats and record screaming electric guitars …not that there’s anything wrong with that.
And instead, we’re going to jump straight into having nuanced conversations about producing music that actually says something.
If you’re a musician that wants to discover how to actually record your songs in a way that you want them to sound, or you’re a producer that’s looking to hone your skills.
Or maybe you just want to hear interesting stories from the other side of the glass, so to speak you are in the right place.
--
Resources (May Contain Affiliate Links)
Production Analysis: Feist "The Bad In Each Other"
This week we take a break from talking about recording engineering and instead get more into music production.
We analyze the production of Feist's The Bad In Each Other and take a look at the songwriting, instrumentation, arrangement, recording, and mixing in this song.
Listen To The Song
Resources Mentioned In This Episode (May Contain Affiliate Links)
- Pro Studio Masters - Premium Download Music Service
- The Words and Music Of Paul Simon by James Bennighof
- Understanding and Crafting The Mix by William Moylan
- Brainworx bx_solo - Plugin For Monitoring M/S & Adding Stereo Width
- Making Of Metals
- Metals EPK Videos
Other Cool Stuff (May Contain Affiliate Links)
Follow Us On Instagram
Microphones Part 2: Multi-Miking Strategies
Don your white lab coats and your pen protector. We're getting even geekier this week.
What is phase and what is polarity? If you don't understand these two audio concepts, you're in for a painful recording experience as soon as you add in a 2nd mic or more.
Have no fear though. This week we'll walk you through all the things you need to think about to make multi-mic recordings that sound great! And we'll show you a few audio examples to help tune your ears to potential polarity and phase issues you could run into.
If you haven't listened to last week's episode, start there.
--
Resources (May Contain Affiliate Links)
Microphones Part 1: Microphone Basics
This week we're talking about microphone basics! We get into terminology and specs, microphone types and their applications. We also shootout 4 different microphones so you can hear the sound. Lastly, we answer listener questions and make mic recommendations.
--
Resources (May Contain Affiliate Links)