Posted on Dec 10, 2008
Guerrilla Production - The empowerment of the indie producer and the decline of method.
By James Pew
The spectrum of guerrilla production quality runs from inspired and brilliant, to almost funny if it wasn't so annoying to listen too. What can the indie artist do to ensure they are getting the good stuff? And what does the indie producer need to ensure they are giving the good stuff? How does Ed Wood fit into this picture?
In the realm of traditional professional music production, technical protocol terms like Stand by, and Cue, along with technical musical terms like rubato, ostinato, and staccato are common. These terms, along with many others, have been used by the biggest, and the smallest, production institutions since the beginning. They offer evidence that traditional production employed method, technique, and protocol. These institutional production methods, developed through extensive experience, resulted in consistently high production value. Engineers were experts of complicated sound recording and reinforcing systems. Study and discipline was involved, and someone eager enough to work in the music production business had few choices but the institutional option. Compare that to the present: Music production can be accomplished with a computer and various other affordable devices that empower absolutely anyone with a few extra pesos and the interest to open up a production business. Don't get me wrong - I prefer the empowerment of people to the monopoly of an institution - but indies must aim high when it comes to the production value of their recordings - that is, if they want their music to have an audience. This often means employing some of the doctrines of the institutional era - specifically the ones that deal with methods of sound engineering. Of course rules can often be broken, but in the absence of an inspired idea to employ a specific engineering technique - default to traditional protocols and common practices. If you don't know them - learn them. The following links are recording forums found on Harmony Central.
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forumdisplay.php?f=57
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14
Our current culture is about making things cheap, fast, and easy to use - providing instant gratification of our every whim. If that whim happens to be "record my brother's band on my computer" - then it is pretty easy to make that happen, and as long as the brothers band is aware that the engineer is not an experienced professional, but a curious adventurer, then it's all good. Perhaps the brothers band themselves are curious adventurers... in which case the results may be surprising and interesting. Most indie recording artists would prefer to make a recording on a fair and affordable budget with a talented indie producer, than a free or low budget recording with a curious adventuring novice - or maybe even the audio version of the archetypical Ed Wood. Decide for yourself what's best for you.
Remember that if you are a "recording artist" it is in your best interest to learn as much as you can about the music production process. Whether you decide to setup a home studio or work with a studio, a little background and studio etiquette can help you get the most out of every recording session you do. Please leave a comment and share any experiences you may have had with studio or Guerrilla style production.
Guerrilla Production - The Empowerment Of The Indie Producer, And The Decline Of Method by James Pew is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License
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