What does Produced, Arranged and Engineered Really Mean??
Enrique Gonzalez Muller very kindly shared his work with me as I was curious about the inner workings of projects produced, arranged and engineered by him. Enjoy this... and meet him in person at the conference.
Today I was talking to a young singer/songwriter who is interested in working with me and after chatting for a while she asked "...but exactly what does 'produced, arranged and engineered by Enrique Gonzalez Muller' mean?”... I told her that unfortunately there isn't a stock answer for that question but the best way to illustrate it was for her to check out projects that I've produced. The problem there, is that there is no before and after. The audience seldom hears what the original demo sounded like, they just get to listen to the final finished product. Fortunately I just completed a project where the artist has given me permission to share his demos and final album tracks even before they are officially released! So... I thought it would be interesting, for anybody out there who is curious, to hear what does the "before andafter" sound like on a project I've produced, arranged and engineered.
The artist's name is Arron Dean and the name of the song is HAPPY HOUR. As a first step, you should check out theoriginal demo recording that Arron Dean sent me so you can hear where we started at and then, I will walk you through every step of the process. My job for this specific project was to take his demo and then suggest musical changes to improve the structure and mood of the song, the chords, the melodies and then dream up an arrangement for it (ie. create and write all the musical accompaniment that goes beyond his original acoustic guitar and lead vocal, select and hire all the musicians, getting them well rehearsed, record them individually in the studio, coaching everybody's performance, drawing out 110% of their talents and finally mixing the multitrack recording).
So listen to the ORIGINAL DEMO RECORDING and takes notes on your personal impressions on it… "Is the message that it wants to convey intelligible and coming through? Does the song keep you engaged? Is it repetitive? Is it all over the place? How would YOU improve it?…" On the second installment I will share my initial impressions and specific notes on how to approach the production on HAPPY HOUR. (NOTE: If you are having trouble accessing this - right click on the link and hit "Save As"...then you're able to open it in your browser)
I hope this gives you a small peek onto what I do and keep in mind that every project is completely different and every music genre has its different challenges and demands. That's what's fun about it... it's different every single time.
So... listen carefully to the original HAPPY HOUR and check back in for the second chapter of What does Produced, Arranged and Engineered Really Mean?
And Remember, if you're interested in doing this - come to the WCS 30th Annual Music Conference and join Enrique's workshops! Hope to see you there.
