Category: MUSIC PRODUCTION

I’m currently working on two very different projects, “Covering these tracks” which is the first time I have ever recorded material written by other artists and the second Heartache album. This means a huge amount of planning, organisation and time management to create the final products. Carl Rosamond remains my go to producer and I have a terrific ensemble of artists contributing to these projects.

The benefits of a superb home studio setup

In recent years I’ve increasingly appreciated the benefits of having a really great home studio setup and this has become central for all the recent and the forthcoming albums. I’ve invested in buying the best equiptment, including a number of excellent Austrian Audio mics, UAD Apollo interfaces, Synergy preamps and a stack of great tube amps from Supro, Fender, Marshall, Two Rock, Anderson, Egnater, Henriksen, Groove Tubes, Soldano and Mesa Boogie.

All the vocals are done using the Austrian Audio OC 818, which is in my view the best possible vocal mic. I have a permanent set up for recording with a giant 55 inch 4k monitor that is terrific for recording. I’m recording on an almost daily basis and during covid I devoted a great deal of time to using Reaper as a DAW which is perfect for recording.

Once I have locked down the vocals, I send the multi tracks over to Carl Rosamond at RRS Studios. He then sends the stems to other artists from all over the globe inlcuding Michael Ross from Nashville. Laurent Zeller from France and Towse from California. We’ve also recorded percussion and backing vocals live in the studio. Its a brilliant process that is proving highly effective in creating really excellent work.

Planning distribution and marketing

The recording, mixing and mastering is of course only part of the creative process. Next comes the challenge of planning distribution and marketing. This means radio promotion, social media promotion, hard copy magazine advertising, video creation and other mediums. I have a number of excellent professionals on retainers to assist with ensuring that there’s the very best quality for all released material on video and audio. This all requires a serious amount of financial and time investment. To date I’ve avoided crowdfunding and 100% funded everything myself with 100% ownership and control over the creative process.

The music “business” is like any other business

I come from a business background and these skills have been invaluable in figuring out the best ways to get my music to a wider audience. Despite what is taught in music schools and suggested on social media, the music “business” is like any other business and :music marketing” is like any other marketing. I find it hilarious that some aspiring artists complain that social media platforms won’t market their material for no charge and seem to forget that all such entities are business concerns and exist like any other business to make a profit!

I set up Green Eyed Records as a resource to share information about how to reach a wider public and in some instances to directly help fund other artists. Those who understand the concept of “creativity through collaboration” appreciate that in these tougher economic times, this is a better strategy for success. Green Eyed Records also sponsors live events and to date we have hosted Jon Gomm and Martin Simpson, two superb artists. This has allowed me to help showcase great support acts like Towse and my own ensembles to reach new audiences that would not previously been possible.

I’m in the middle of a project which involves 15 other artists from across the globe and it’s been quite enlightening. When we send over files we deliberately allow the artists to use their best judgement and avoid any kind of micro management. This is producing some terrific and often unexpected results and I am absolutely loving working in this way.

I recently had a track where I continued to think “its just not quite right” for some reason, and then I finally figured that my original vocal take was far “too polite” in reflecting the subject matter. I’m super pleased with the lyrics, but it needed something new, if the track was to really work in the way I originally intended.

I sent it over to an excellent songwriter who is part of this project who rather politely made the same observation, which was quite gratifying and perfectly illustrates the power and usefulness of working in a collaborative manner.
“Fantastic”, I said, “I 100% agree. Just go for it and add what feels right.”

I’ve blogged before about the unhelpful excessive use of superlatives in describing work and how a lack of critical thinking is not helpful to the creative process. When everything is described as “awesome” there’s no need to reflect on how to improve existing work. The most talented artists are always pushing forward, seeking out new sonic territory and further developing their own unique creative voice.
The material from “All kinds of crazy” is more musically diverse and different to anything I have been involved with to date. Its an absolute joy to bring together some exceptional talent across the globe. I am grateful to everyone involved in this project either as an artist, or in sound or video production. This material will start to appear later in 2021 both in audio and video formats.

One of the joys of working with so many talented musicians is that the results are quite fascinating and nothing I might have originally envisaged. There is also a parallel remix project Code-E1 which is also turning out to be excellent and I suspect will surprise many folks.

Work on the “All kinds of crazy” collaborations album is going really well. In total twelve tracks are planned with guest artists across the globe, including Towse from the USA, Emily Mercer from the UK, Laurent Zeller from France and Captain of the Lost Waves, Sharon Cannings and Ella Playford from the UK. There will be black and white videos for each track created by Nick Bloomfield, with four videos already “in the vault”

This a very different album, very stripped back and unlike anything else I have done to date. Its a very reflective piece of work and I’m extremely pleased with how its turning out. The instrumentation is also very different with a lot more piano than has appeared in the other albums to date.

The combination of artists is quite fascinating and I am truly grateful to be working with so many talented artists across the globe. Each of them bring something really special to this project. Carl Rosamond is doing sound production and the release date is planned for the end of the year.

After many years of playing mostly acoustic music I now find myself immersed in writing a whole bunch of material on electric guitar. I have amassed a great collection over the years so there’s a lot of choice but I’m defaulting to my Warmoth hardtail strat and Ransom telecaster both equipped with terrific Tom Holmes paf pickups.

An even greater surprise to me is that I am recording totally by DI instead of by miking up amps. I’m using the excellent Acme Motown DI unit and a Zen Drive 2 pedal into the Arrow UAD interface. I’m using a Tom Holmes bridge pickup on all tracks and these of course sound great. I’m also exclusively using the Ear Trumpet Myrtle mic for all vocals.

After recording three albums of acoustic instruments, its a real surprise to be in a new sonic territory of overdriven guitar sounds. The Zen Drive 2 has been a game changer and I am about to receive a rare Black Magic Zen Drive unit, so I have a back up. The combination of the Zen Drive and the Acme is extraordinary and wonderfully simple to use.

Keeping in simple

There’s a good reason why many classic pop and rock songs are written to a formula, verse, chorus. middle eight. I’m rediscovering the joys of working simply with strong melody lines and sharp lyrics. Of course I’ve always been a fan of these two ingredients but usually I have a full band of up to another five members to work with. Now I’m doing everything myself so I’m working faster in my home studio and during the covid 19 lockdown I have more time than usual.

Many of the new songs start with a riff and develop from there. I learned some great songwriting tips from my good friend Tim Booth from James and am putting his advice to good use. This approach is certainly working and I already have a bunch of new material in the vault.

Working on 2 simultaneous projects

I’m working on two simultaneous projects during the lockdown. One of the projects is not directly linked to “Nick Cody” and is totally different to anything else I have done before. The second project is working with stripped back electric tracks with additional input from some of my trusted musical colleagues who always deliver in spades.

Conclusion

The covid pandamic has sparked a great deal of creativity and everything is geared around electric guitar. Last night I played a uke live on zoom for the first time and it was strange after three solid months of distorted electric guitar. I of course love both styles of instrument, but I am having a blast with this electric work.

My own experience of music promoters is hugely varied. The following clips show three excellent music promoters who have for decades gained artist confidence and brought great music to thousands of people. All these individuals have great manners, good humour and excellent organisational skills. Have a listen to these interviews

I have noticed a new trend in recent times of what to my ears sounds like excessive reverb in recordings. I have mentioned this before, but it seems to have reached a new level both metaphorically and literally. The use of reverb can be great in mastering a track, BUT many artists sound like they are singing from the bottom of a well.

I commented about this to a performer who suggested that some artists use reverb to make some limitations in vocal delivery and/or don’t have enough awareness to reign it in a bit. With acoustic instruments and the ukulele its very easy to lose the dynamics of the instruments in a wash of reverb. Similarly, there seems to be a trend especially among female artists for producers to bathe the vocals in reverb and then describe the result as “ethereal” To my ears it really doesn’t sound good at all, but of course some folks love this kind of sonic manipulation.

Twenty years ago, many aspiring artists would have access to reverb through hardware and Alessis Midiverbs were common tools, especially for guitarists. The higher end Lexicon reverbs used in most studios would not be affordable to most individuals. Production in sound has also changed over time, so some 1980s production which sounded great at the time can now sound dated. Trevor Horn’s ZTT label had a very specific sound that would be very out of step these days.
Most aspiring musicians can now easily have access to great mastering and mixing tools, BUT often the DIY efforts sound horrible. In the same way a decade ago, many artists mastered tracks for maximum volume, these days we appear to have an unfortunate outbreak of maximum reverb. I’m not surprised that this happens with hobbyist performers, but it also seems to be the case with some professional studio engineers. I’m not talking about a preference for the overall sound but instead mixes that are literally saturated in reverb.

These days companies like UAD provide terrific options for musicians and often “less is more” when such tools are used. With some careful attention to detail it’s possible to create really fantastic mixes that in days gone by would not be possible. Of course, many people are listening to music on platforms that don’t really reveal the true sonic potential in the mix. Neil Young is one such artist who has railed against really compressed music formats and platforms. Personally, I applaud any initiative to create the best possible sound regardless of how it’s being consumed. My hope is that the era of reverb hell will be short-lived, but then it’s of course just my opinion.  Many artists would benefit from taking more care about their music production regardless of whether they do the mastering and mixes themselves or employing someone to do it for them