Taking a song from a voice memo to a final master is something we love to do with artists. We've worked on around 50 songs with artists in this fashion to create final, release-ready masters that artists are happy with. I (Luke O'Kelley) usually function as the general contractor in these projects offering up my strengths, and pulling in other musicians in the Athens, Georgia area and beyond to build amazing songs that fit the artist's vision.

I usually end up working with solo singer/songwriter artists, but have worked with bands before. My production style lends itself to genres that use: real drums, real acoustic and/or electric guitars, bass, and keys. While I do throw in programmed/midi sounds, genres that rely heavily on midi instruments (hip hop, electronic music, electronic pop, etc.) usually aren't the best fit for my production style.

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If you're curious what gear we have available to use for productions at Red House Studio, you can check out our Gear page. 

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My Process

 

1) Let's talk

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I like to hop on a phone call with an artist to hear their story, and get to know them before we book a recording session and start trying to create something together. Production is highly relational and emotional, so I want to make sure I'm going to be on the same page as an artist and know where they are coming from. I try and communicate as much information as I can in that phone call in order for the artist to understand what they are getting into, and what to expect when they work with me, and I try and get as much information about the artist, their past experiences, and vision for their music as possible. This helps me to determine if I'm the right person to work on their music, and what kinds of other musicians and audio professionals I might need to pull into the project to make it happen. 

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2) Listening

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I try and listen to artists' music before I commit to working with them on a production. If they have music out, I want to hear it. If they don't, I love to hear voice memos of the song(s) they want to work on. This also helps me figure out if I'm a good fit for the project, and what we can do to arrange and produce the song.

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3) Scheduling the first session

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If we decide to work together, I like to schedule a first session to get a scratch track recorded. I usually start with piano or guitar and vocals. We'll sit down and make sure we find a bpm that feels great for the song, and try the song in some different keys if the artist hasn't already. The goal for the session is to have an accurate map of the song that is at the right tempo and key. We'll see how long the song is and if there are any sections we want to add, shorten, or cut to make the song flow better.

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4) Drum tracking

 

If the song is going to have any drums, percussion, or drum sampels, I'll usually then track or program drums to the scratch take. I like to do this in the room with the artist if time allows to get feedback and make sure they like the tones and drum parts. The drums are a great guide for the dynamics of the song, and other instruments can fill in around the drums easily.

I don't always play drums on songs I produce. If an artist has a drummer they'd like to use on their song, I am always open to that! 

5) Building out the song

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Once we've got a solid final drum track, we can then add all the other instruments that the song needs. I love to pull in musicians from the local Athens area that can take the song to the next level. I'll usually have the musician come in to my studio and record with me to get great takes.

If the artist can be there while all the instruments are there that's great, but they don't have to be. 

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I also know a lot of great musicians around the world that I can reach out to for less common instruments like: string sections, pedal steel, upright bass, and pretty much whatever instrument an artist could want on their song.

6) Final Vocal Session 

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Once the song is finished recording all the instruments, I like to give the artist the opportunity to have a dedicated final vocal recording session to get an amazing vocal peformance, harmonies, and vocal layers that the song needs.

7) Final Editing and Mixing

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I try and make as many editing and sonic decisions as we produce out the song as possible. This helps us make sure every decision we make is a good one. If something's not right, let's fix it now, because the farther down the road we go, the harder it is to fix problems, know what's good and bad, and keep the train on the rails.

Once everything is tracked, the song should sound pretty finished. But now is the time to make any final edits, and dial in the mix.

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I do mix songs that I didn't record, but I've found that when I record a song, the mix process usually is extremely fast and painless.

8) Mastering

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Once we're finished, or close to finished with the mix, I start to make sure that the song is clocking in at an appropriate loudness level (LUFS). These days, I do master a lot of the songs I record for streaming, but I always encourage artists to reach out to a dedicated mastering engineer if they feel like the song isn't sounding as finished, polished, and professionally mastered as they want it to. I don't offer vinyl mastering.