Producers.

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koneguitaristkoneguitarist Frets: 4125
Not not the Scottish twins, but real music producers and their worth. 
Every one knows about George Martin and how he was often the fifth Beatle.
But who is your fave Producer and what do you think he or she brings to the table. 
I have liked most things that Dave Cobb has produced in Nashville, but what has prompted this is I have just read Glyn Johns book and was surprised how many of my albums he has featured on either as Producer or Engineer. It’s a great book. 
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Comments

  • PolarityManPolarityMan Frets: 7273
    Big fan of Joel Wanasek (one of the founders of NTM/URM), not so much for his audio skills (which are great) but more for his attitude to everything. I always feel totally hyped after watching any of his videos and I can only image how awesome it would be to work in that kind of environment. 

    Although I don't like country at all Billy Decker has been on NTM as well and he seems like a pretty awesome guy. 
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • koneguitaristkoneguitarist Frets: 4125
    never heard of Billy Decker. 

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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    The only producer I follow( ish) is Prince Fatty ( or Mike Pelanconi to his mother). He’s quite interesting in interview and has a lovely understanding of balancing quite modern sounding recordings with classic reggae tropes. For example, he produced the eponymous Hollie Cook which is quite a frothy pop reggae album and then remixed it all as Hollie Cook In Dub. He’s done non reggae stuff as well. 
    Not an obvious producer for guitarists maybe, I’d probably choose Brendan O’Brien for my solo guitar album, but Prince Fatty for that surf blues reggae album that people have been asking me to make...

    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    Martin Birch would be on the list for MAchine Head alone, but he's been at the controls for so many classic rock albums there's got to be magic in there somewhere.

    Eddie Kramer - if he's good enough for Hendrix he's good enough for anyone.
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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10357

    The producer is basically the most important person in the studio during recording. He is the guy with the vision who knows what he's aiming for and knows what he has to do to get there.  Sometimes there's a lot of confusion between engineering, producing and mixing but the actual task of producing doesn't really involve any engineering skills or mixing skills .. it's the art of taking a bands music and making it more palatable and successful to the masses. This is why record deals used to insist on bands using certain producers. The guarantee of a sellable product and a chance to recoup the labels investment. 

    Matt Lange is the best example of the art of Producing. He steered a pretty average Sheffield rock band into global USA multi platinum stardom. He took a pretty average country singer from being mediocre to being just about the biggest female country pop singer to date. When AC DC. looked done for he gave them their biggest album ever.  That's just a few examples 

     What he does in terms of attention to detail and perfection is pretty well known but it's a lot more than that. He's basically looking at a rough sketch of a song, rewriting bits of it, coming up with harmonies, counter melodies, layers of extra instrumentation but most importantly he's got the ability to hear it as someone who isn't involved with music at all would hear it. That's the art, that ability to hear it as a punter despite the fact you're closer to the project than the actual band. 

    One thing you notice about successful bands is generally they know the value of a producer and aren't scared of being guided under his direction. When I was running the studio we had a lot of bands who tried to produce themselves ... just didn't see the value in paying for a producer and 9 times out of 10 ended up with a product they kind of liked themselves  but then complained when it did nothing sales wise. 

    Producing is a very difficult job though generally. You need a lot of people skills, the ability to push people beyond what they think they can do without knocking their confidence if it doesn't come off. You need a lot of resolve because  if the band can't see what you're aiming for it they can lose patience and start complaining and the control rooms just filled with tension the whole time. 

    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    Daniel Lanois on several of U2's albums, Peter Gabriel's 'So', and several others.

    Mitchell Froom has done some of my favourite-sounding albums too - including the first three Crowded House albums, although ironically the one I like best is Together Alone, produced by Youth... who apparently (from accounts of the sessions) barely seemed to know what he was doing!

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • ReverendReverend Frets: 4974
    Martin Birch. On so many perfect records. 

    Oddly, Mutt Lange is a big no for me. Took a killer heavy metal band from Sheffield and turned them into a slick but meh pop band. 

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  • AlexCAlexC Frets: 2396
    Brian Eno.
    Don't really have to quantify that, do I?
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    Reverend said:

    Oddly, Mutt Lange is a big no for me. Took a killer heavy metal band from Sheffield and turned them into a slick but meh pop band. 
    But also produced two amazing albums for the Boomtown Rats. (And their first one, although I've actually never heard it so can't comment.)

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    edited May 2021
    I'm a fan of Eno but more for his approach with generative music and his use of non-determinism.

    Also hugely rate Steven Wilson, Steve Albini, Teo Macero, Daniel Lanois and David Torn.
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  • jdgmjdgm Frets: 850
    Teo Macero.
    Ted Templeman.
    Nile Rodgers.

    And another vote for Martin Birch.
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  • Philly_QPhilly_Q Frets: 22516
    The role, or significance, of the producer seems to have changed in recent years.  I listen to rock/metal bands who release stuff on small, independent labels - and it's relatively easy to find because it's out there in the streaming world. It's great that it's available, but on the other hand it's very unlikely in the modern world that any of those bands will ever get signed by "major" labels. 

    The music's great, but it's often fairly obvious that it's been produced on a very limited budget - in many ways I like that, but in years gone by those bands might have had the chance to work with experienced producers, who'd have helped with the sound and the arrangements (which could also be a negative, if the band was pushed in an overly commercial direction).  Now it seems like they miss out on that kind of outside advice and maybe don't achieve their full potential.

    At the other end of the scale you get the big-name R&B artists who no longer make an album with one producer, they use a whole army of them - sometimes several on a single track.

    Anyway, yes, Martin Birch.  Mutt Lange did great work but Def Leppard seemed to become too dependent on him, to the detriment of their later albums, whereas AC/DC were strong enough to keep their own identity.  And back in the '70s, '80s and early '90s I liked a lot of albums produced by Jeff Glixman, Neil Kernon and Max Norman.  I don't really know any modern producers.
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  • mudslide73mudslide73 Frets: 3049
    edited May 2021
    A lot already mentioned but I'll add Joe Boyd, John Leckie, Brendon O'Brien, Hugh Padgham (for XTC not Phil Collins!), Jack Joseph Puig and Chris Thomas. I'm sure I'll remember some more shortly.

    Edit: I'd most probably choose Steve Albini if I could make an album somehow.
    "A city star won’t shine too far"


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  • koneguitaristkoneguitarist Frets: 4125
    Always thought of Martin Birch as an Engineer not producer, good though. 
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    How could I forget Jack Joseph Puig- he engineered the Jellyfish albums.
    Amazing work.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957

    Hugh Padgham (for XTC not Phil Collins!)
    I like his Collins and Genesis work. He invented the gated-reverb drum sound - which admittedly later became so overused it’s now considered a cliché of the 1980s - but was revolutionary at the time.

    There are probably only a handful of producers who have defined an era to that extent.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • ReverendReverend Frets: 4974
    Always thought of Martin Birch as an Engineer not producer, good though. 
    Much more of a producer than an engineer.


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  • ReverendReverend Frets: 4974
    Rick Rubin ahd done some incredible records. 
    Beatsirs, LL Cool J, t la rock, danzig, masters of reality, Trouble, raging slab, cult, cash and neil diamond.

    He has also done rhcp. Swings and roundabouts 
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  • LitterickLitterick Frets: 586
    Nick Lowe.
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  • richardhomerrichardhomer Frets: 24793
    ICBM said:
    Daniel Lanois on several of U2's albums, Peter Gabriel's 'So', and several others.

    Mitchell Froom has done some of my favourite-sounding albums too - including the first three Crowded House albums, although ironically the one I like best is Together Alone, produced by Youth... who apparently (from accounts of the sessions) barely seemed to know what he was doing!
    Lanois also did Gabriel’s ‘Up’ - which was the follow up to ‘So’. I really love that album. He did lots of great work - the Neville Brothers’ ‘Yellow Moon’ was another fantastic sounding record.

    Mitchell Froom produced some Richard Thompson albums - I listened to one the other day - it still sounds really good.
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