I am known as a producer of the practical type – My first production basically fell to me because I was the only member of the Scofflaws with studio experience. When it came time for us to make our first CD, I was the one who found the engineer (Bob Stander) who in turn helped me to find a studio, choose the tape, schedule the sessions – all because no one else had ever gone about it. And the main objective was to get from start to finish with our budget of about $5000. In that sense I was a producer in the old use of the term, the liaison between the technical and musical teams. I took charge of scheduling and rehearsing the band in sections, made sure the engineer knew what was wanted, made sure the musicians knew what was possible.

Rob “Bucket” Hingley was satisfied with the result, and hired me to produce “Ooolooloo” for the Pietasters. Up to this point, Moon Ska NYC had only accepted finished projects for release, but was ready to invest directly in this record. Again, the main objective was to keep the production within budget, I was not hired to impart some kind of artistic vision. To this day, my main contribution to record-making is more practical than anything else. It’s in that spirit that I hope people find this chapter useful!

1- Pre-Production

Preparing for a recording is very different from rehearsing for a show.

Choose the Songs

I learned the hard way that more than 12 songs per full-length record yields diminishing returns, artistically and technically. The average listener will enjoy 15+ songs, but it will be difficult to remember any one of them in particular. Also, the time spent producing so many songs will inevitably result in less time and energy spent on each song. For best results, choose 15 songs to prepare for the sessions – somewhere during the recording stage (hopefully sooner than later) the band should look to cut 3 songs that aren’t quite as stellar as the rest. There are some songs that will work better onstage than on a CD, which brings me to an important point: tempo changes, groove changes, dramatic pauses etc. are best left for the stage; what works well at the show may be cumbersome and stale on record, without the visual element and audience participation to complete the event. I’m not speaking of a ‘live’ record here, where the band plays all at once in the studio and is going for a live sound. I’m talking about making a dance record. Ska Music is Dance Music – continuity and pacing within as well as between songs are crucial. Choose songs with different key signatures, choose songs that either showcase the singer or the horns/soloists – you’ll find that some songs are better for soloing than others, try not to fit everything into each song. If the song is more than 4:00 long, there had better be a definite motive.

Deal With the Click Track (Metronome)

The click can be a friend, it can be an enemy. Either way, it’s best to get to know it before going near a studio. I prefer to record without a click track, I believe it can hinder the musician in the studio, already a strange environment. That said, I know some great musicians that can play along to a metronome and it sounds fresh, unhindered, breathing and groovy… you can hire them for about $1000 per day if you like! What is most important, I believe, is to Rehearse with a click track if you’re planning on recording. Find the tempo that seems to work best – Oftentimes it is not that fast tempo that really comes off at the show and gets the people going. Save the faster tempos for the stage, the difference will be well appreciated. It is harder to play a song at a slower tempo than faster, because there is a greater need for accuracy. Find a tempo that everyone in the band finds comfortable (check with the drummer and guitarist), and then set the click track to something even slower and try to get used to that. Once you allow yourself to return to the preferred tempo it will feel almost as comfortable and exciting as most animals’ favorite pastime.

Rehearse in Sections

If the recording space permits, the whole band will be able to record at once – but the focus at the beginning will be on the rhythm section, particularly the drums. Once the drums are all captured, all other instruments can be re-recorded, provided there is enough isolation between instruments (more on that in the third installment). Oftentimes there is only space for the rhythm section to record during Basic Tracking, with the lead vocalist/soloist guiding the group from the control room. It’s important that the band rehearse in separate sections, to become more aware of the focus in the studio. The rhythm section should have a couple of separate rehearsals, with the lead vocalist/instrumentalist present for reference. The horn section should also rehearse separately, with the bass player in attendance for reference. Use the ‘reference folks’ sparingly, try to get through the tune with only your section!

2- Scheduling

Of course, booking the studio time involves the budget directly. But the budget should be able to allow at least the minimum of time required for even the best-prepared group. The following is what I believe to to be the basic amount of needed time:

Recording Basic Tracks – 4 Days

Day 1 in the studio is mostly spent getting sounds. Give the engineer about 45 minutes for every microphone set up. So, with a typical drum setup of 8 mic’s, you’re already looking at about 4-6 hours before the bass player even needs to be at the studio. Always try to keep the studio free of people who aren’t needed at the time, they will benefit from this as much as the engineer! Allow another few hours for the rest of the rhythm section (while Drummie takes a well-deserved break). The evening should be spent getting some tracks recorded, getting used to the process as much as getting used to the sound of the band on playback. Make sure your headphone mix is helping you to play. As a bassist, I like to hear the kick drum and hi hat more than snare, for example.

Day 2 and 3 are spent recording as many songs as possible. The objective is to get the best performance of the drums, the rest of the rhythm section is not a priority as they can fix their tracks later. Go for as many as 3 takes of any song. If none of the drum takes are satisfactory, leave that song for the next day. Move on to the next one. When the drummer needs a break, the bassist, guitarist, keyboardist should take that time to go over the tracks that you know you’ll be using, make notes of where mistakes are, try to fix them on the spot if possible. Keep up this rate for two days, and you’ll have 12 out of 15 songs that please.

Day 4 is to make sure there are 12 ‘keepers’, and to fix parts in the rhythm section.

During this whole time the vocalist will have been recording a guide track from a separate room. Sometimes these vocal tracks prove to be the best takes, so if possible, record them well. However, don’t be afraid to use a vocal take from a simple hand mic in the control room if it’s a moving performance and especially if the rhythm section was responding to it.

Recording Overdubs and Horns – 4 days

Once the drums are all recorded, the kit should be taken down and removed to make space for overdubs and/or the horn section. At the very least, some of the drum mic’s could be useful for other instruments later.

Overdubs should be taken care of before horns – percussion, final fixes and solos from the rhythm section. That way, the horn section has as complete a sound as possible, making it easier for them to play in tune and in time. Solos should be recorded by the horns during section recording with the option to overdub afterward.

Recording Vocals/Solos – 3 Days

3 days may not seem like a lot of time to record vocals for an entire album. But the idea is that hopefully the vocalist has been finding time since day 1 to sneak in a performance here and there while everyone else is looking at the Chinese food menu or taking a break in the lounge. The vocalist and/or backing vocalists will certainly find time to record during breaks in the horn section recordings!

Editing (The New Stage of Production) XX Days

Editing is an auspicious subject. When I began recording, there were no computers in the studio. Yes I’m rather old – but still, it wasn’t that long ago. All performances were commitments; that which was recorded to tape was mixed. Now with computers, we have another stage of production – one with virtually limitless options in pitch and time processing as well as complete sound replacement for individual instruments. The amount of options can be paralyzing, many projects do not see the end of this stage!

I personally am grateful for a number of these options and now regularly make edits on the computer, whether the project was recorded to tape or not. It can be done before mix time, during mix time and in my case, both. The practical aspect is that a lot of this can be done outside a professional studio. An engineer can do it most likely from a home studio at reduced cost.

Mixing    5-6 Days

Schedule 1 day at the studio. Don’t be surprised when it takes half the day to simply set up the gear and signal paths, whether hardware or computer plug-ins. But once the first song is mixed (which normally takes longest), the engineer will have a template – whether hardware or software – for the rest of the record and all succeeding mixes will take less time. Try to get 1 to 2 mixes on that day and take them home. Spend a week listening to these mixes before returning to the studio. Everyone in the band should listen to them in as many places as possible – in your car, on your ipod, computer speakers, wherever you listen to music. Get some general comments together with the other band members and present the consensus to the mix engineer. Try to keep it general, try to think in terms of the entire record: Are the vocals loud enough/too loud? More kick drum in general? Guitars can be dirtier/cleaner? Where to put the horns? Also bear in mind you are listening to un-mastered mixes, which are normally quieter, less brilliant and more dynamic than commercial CDs.

With all of this discussed, the remaining mix days will go more smoothly. 2 to 3 songs per day average should be the goal. It can go faster, especially with ‘live’ recordings; a well-arranged and recorded song can go a long way to mixing itself.

Mastering – 1 Day + revisions

Decidedly the black art of music production, mastering can be both undervalued and overrated. This has a lot to do with the fact that, hour for hour it is the most expensive part of the production. Some feel it is imperative that the record be mastered by one of a handful of engineers responsible for most music heard on the radio today. Some feel that mastering engineers are overpriced and it is a process that can be done just as well by the mix engineer.

My opinion lies in between: I think it is absolutely crucial that there is a mastering engineer involved. And to me, more important than who is that mastering engineer, is that said engineer is NOT the mix engineer. Objectivity is the critical element in mastering a record, and I believe the project is best left in the hands and ears of an outside party.

Finding a reputable mastering engineer is as easy as finding an expensive one – But, it isn’t always that way. Try to find out who mastered your favorite records, if they are still alive/working and if so, how much they cost. When choosing your favorite records, don’t listen for cool-sounding mixes (that was the work of the mix engineer). Listen for mixes that sound great to you from any source – ipod, car stereo, dancehall, etc.

It is the mastering engineer’s responsibility to see that the sound of the record will translate consistently from system to system, environment to environment. Mastering engineers are dedicated to listening to the music as a sonic whole and to make tonal and volume adjustments to insure that the song will be clearly heard in any situation and that one song goes to the next with sonic consistency. The mastering engineer will also see that the perceived volume of the music is consistent with other commercial CDs and if possible, louder. Some engineers will go to the point of degrading the sound itself. When a song is excellent and well-performed, such sonic degradation can be overlooked. Johnny Cash’s last records serve as an example.

To prepare for the mastering session, the band must decide on the song sequence.

I prefer to save the best song for Track #2; Track #1 serves as an introduction to the record and sets up the listeners’ ears for what is to come. Think of an overture to an opera, or more commonly, the opening title sequence to a movie where the audience is still in the process of settling in. After Track #1, we have our first pause in the program, and that first pause should be followed with a strong offering.

Try to create a song list with variety in key signature, tempo and groove. Look to create an overall pace that holds the listener’s attention to the very end.

Song list in hand, the mastering engineer will set about building the record from start to finish. Once that is done, the band will again want to take the product home and listen on a variety of systems. Listen to the sound of each song, listen to the sound of the record as a whole, and listen to the spaces between the songs. With any adjustments in mind, have the engineer revise mixes, amount of time between mixes, fades and even the track sequence. It is customary for the mastering engineer to make one round of revisions included in the original price, so have all requests ready. After that, you are subject to the terms of that engineer.

And then you’re done, congratulations! You can expect two copies from the mastering session: one is for the band to copy and give out to the band members, the other is to give to the pressing plant directly, without ANY direct human contact along the way to avoid contamination. I’m only half-kidding.

To conclude with this installment, I want to briefly mention two subjects:

Drugs

In general, if one is a regular user of drugs, it may be the first inclination to stop doing these things before recording. There are two schools of thought on that; one is to do what you always do always, regardless of surroundings. The other is that, as the studio is already an unfamiliar environment, there is an opportunity here to put these things aside.

1. Tobacco – If the singer smokes tobacco regularly, there may be a thought to stop before and during the recording. Unfortunately this will usually affect the voice negatively, as a physically addicted body will be unpredictable without it’s vice. Cutting down is a good idea, but not stopping completely.

2. Marijuana – Known to relax the mental reflexes, it can either be helpful or not. Although not physically addictive, if one smokes Ganja regularly, see #1.

3. Alcohol – Known to relax the physical reflexes, I have never witnessed that as being in any way helpful in the recording studio.

If one is physically addicted to alcohol, see #1.

The Engineers

Try to make the engineers’ work as comfortable and enjoyable as possible, for your own sake!

1 – Don’t Ask Questions – walking into the control room and saying, “what are you doing?” has the same effect on an engineer as firing a starter pistol. Wait until they are in the lounge or obviously available.

2 – Don’t Gather/Chat in the Control Room. The lounge is not a convenience; it is a necessity – for the engineer! Use it.

3 – See that they get a break before 2 hours go by, plan your breaks around theirs.

4 – See that they have fresh coffee.

5 – Include their meals in the band budget.

6 – Do whatever it takes to keep them from having to get out of their chair.

7 – Do not bring plastic wrappers into the control room. If you don’t understand why, maybe it’s best you just never go into the control room.

8 – See that they have fresh coffee.

9 – Thank them for being so patient with you, whether they are or not. In the end, they will be.

10 – See that they have fresh coffee.

VR

But I write to share a sublime musical experience I had in the Kingston working-class neighborhood of Rae Town. As you may know, Sound System-style street parties (with massive banks of loudspeakers that are more comfortingly bassy than ear-splittingly treble) happen pretty much every night of the week around Kingston, starting with Uptown Mondays at a shopping plaza in New Kingston with current dancehall hits, and going right through the week.

The neighborhood of Rae Town has, for the past 20 plus years there, thrown a Sunday night dance and party. The local paper the Gleaner describes it as an oldies night, and the people reflect that, sort of. There are 70 year-olds, all the way down to much younger people. Classes mix: doctors and lawyers from uptown mingle with an array of characters out of Fellini. The crowd shows up around midnight. The people slowly line up along both sides of the main street running through Rae Town, almost like a dance showdown, and everyone begins a slow groove to the music. Grillers with jerk chicken, fish and pork are common, as are sellers of ganja who wander around with small bouquets of the herb still on the stem. As the crowd builds, so does the music.

It’s the music that really drew me in that night: mostly old school reggae and dub and anything ska: “Fiddler on the Roof” ska by the Soul Brothers, “Norwegian Wood” ska by Jackie Mittoo, you name it. There was also a seductive selection of oldies like Dionne Warwick’s “Wishin and Hopin,” Sam Cooke’s “Cupid” and “A Change Is Gonna Come” (a kind of plea to the hood that crime and poverty can be licked), Dionne Warwick’s et al “That’s What Friends Are For” (a neighborhood anthem, in which the DJ dropped the sound right before the chorus, leaving the entire block singing out loud), Maxine Brown’s “Oh No Not My Baby.” And the walls of speakers sent all this great music vibrating through my bones and making me feel inspired and happy, and isn’t that what music’s supposed to do? It was the best party I’ve ever been to. I find dancehall monotonous with a capital M. And maybe Rae Town put me in a time warp, a flashback to the great old days of this music that is disconnected in many ways to the fast and furious business of dancehall. But what a great scene and sound that was last Sunday in Rae Town. It’s wonderful to be reminded that the Loudest Island in the World isn’t just about the size of the sound system. It’s also about some of the coolest music ever made and the whole world of sound that boomeranged into it.

-Marco Werman, Music Editor, PRI’s The World

Editor’s note:  I’m a big fan of all things NPR- and for world news from your NPR affiliate, there’s none better than PRI’s The World.  It is an honor to include Marco’s piece (written a few months back) in our new Guest Blogger series.  Here’s an older post I did, linking you to several of the stories Marco did from the above mentioned trip to Jamaica. Ska Online: The World Loves JA Music

-JJ

The first of these is Victor Rice.  He was my first phone interview for the Conversations on a Revivalist Movement (even though Chris Murray got the first episode), and now he’s the first to submit for the Guest Blogging series.

Rice is going to be lending his sage-like wisdom to all the new bands that want to play ska- and they want to do it right, in a series he calls, So You’re Starting a Ska Band.  The first installment can be found in the post immediately preceding this one or by clicking here.

Keep coming back for more advice from the one, Victor Rice- and look forward to more Guest Bloggers in the very near future.  And, as always, your comments are more than welcome.

This may sound as if I believe that the only way to make Ska music is to sound like the Skatalites. I don’t think it’s quite as simple as that – however, there are a number of guidelines that should be considered.

For one thing, tempo is all-important. Ska as a dance is very reminiscent of a popular soul dance from the same era, sometimes called the Monkey or Climb. Names and other words don’t suffice to describe the dance, so I urge anyone interested in this music to find a clip online with Jamaicans dancing the Ska in the early ’60s. It’s not essential to learn the dance, but if you’re interested in playing Ska music you’ll do well to perform at a tempo that would allow this dance to be possible. There is nothing quite like playing the Ska, in front of people dancing the Ska. For me personally, it is an invigorating feedback loop, physically and otherwise!

I realize I’m opening up a popular argument here: Is the British interpretation from the ’70s and ’80s not Ska? I prefer to make the distinction one song at a time. If the tempo is too fast to actually dance the Ska, I call it ‘Ska-influenced’ at most. The drum beat is of course important, as is the presence of upbeats in the guitar and keyboard instruments. All of these elements conspire to get the body moving in a particular way. One thing is certain, the Ska cannot be danced very quickly with any of the swing and grace originally intended.

The bass lines of Lloyd Brevett draw from two different sources, namely syncopation typical to Cuban Salsa and ‘walking’ bass lines typical to American Jazz. The bassist may be listening to the kick drum or the hi hat when making the decision where to drop the note.

Pianists should be playing the upbeat in at least one hand. Remember, if one is not contributing to the rhythm of the dance, one might be detracting from it. As with any musical situation, the actual range and voicing of chords are dependent largely on what is happening in the rest of the band. A good rule of thumb is to leave some space in the spectrum for the other players and to compliment the range and voicing of the guitar and organ – that is, go where they are not.

The organist can follow the same idea, though there are other options available. A half-time ‘bubble’ between the left and right hands- commonly heard in slower Rocksteady, ‘Skinhead Reggae’ and One Drop beats – can be just the thing to glue the piano and guitar to the drums.
The organist can reach most easily into the areas normally occupied by the horn section – melodically and supportively. However, leaving one’s hand down on the keyboard to sustain notes and chords can easily clutter the arrangement and get into the singer’s space. Proceed with care.

Guitarists should bear in mind: the most important function for the guitarist is to support the upbeat. And the most common misinterpretation is to play the upbeat with an upstroke, the result being the chord sounds from the top down. Jah Jerry, Ernest Ranglin and Lyn Taitt all played the upbeats from the lowest note to the highest – and the result is an upward motion in the chord. I believe this is crucial to keeping the beat light and uplifting.

The three things that make this a challenge for the guitarist are:

1- It’s less comfortable to play upbeats with a downstroke.
It’s a matter of physical sense. But if you have a chance to watch Devon James play with the Skatalites, for example, you will notice that he marks the downbeat with a ‘ghost downstroke’ between each upbeat, making the task twice as active and incredibly solid.

2- The top of the chord, at the end of the downstroke, is the part of the chord that cuts through the overall sound to the listener’s ear. To arrive at that part of the chord on time, the guitarist must begin the downstroke earlier than if played upstroke. Getting used to this  can be daunting but is possible with practice.

3- It is difficult to play this way at fast tempos. Therefore, if the guitarist finds it near impossible to play the Ska this way, the beat is probably too fast to dance the Ska as well. Using this technique, the guitarist will most likely be the first musician in the band to know when the tempo is too fast.

There’s another function for a second guitarist, what I call the Stick Bass. Stick Bass refers to a function, not an instrument. It refers simply to a second guitar doubling the bass line to create a transient attack that combines with the roundness of the bass. The combined sound is large but defined. The guitar can also pick a different line, contrapuntal to the bass for an added layer of percussive and melodic action.

To speak of the horn section is to speak to the arrangement of the song. The horns are literally the life breath of the beat as well as the most potentially expressive part of the band, overridden only by the singer. The function of the horns in relation to the vocal melody can be broken into two different styles- I call them the Continental and the African American Styles:

In the Continental Style(I exclude the UK since they are something of an anomaly when it comes to horns in general), the horn section uses polyphony, playing melodic arrangements in tandem with the singer, playing with or against the vocal line with supportive and counter-melodies respectively.

In the African American Style, horns exchange melodic function with the singer in a call-and-response fashion. When the singer has the tune, the horn section folds into the rhythm section by playing upbeats to support the beat.

In either case, there are two interesting areas available to the horn section – Voicing and Tuning:

The Voicing refers to the choice and spacing of notes to each player from the chord in the song.

The objective, ideally, is to get two horns to sound like three, three horns to sound like four and so on. A knowledge of the overtone series is crucial to an effective horn arrangement. A surprisingly full sound can be achieved, for example, from two horns if
(1) a reed instrument is combined with a brass instrument,
(2) an upper-range instrument is combined with a lower-range instrument i.e:
Alto Sax/Trombone, Trumpet/Tenor Sax and
(3) one horn plays the 3rd of the chord while the other plays the 7th of the chord. Interval distances of a 6th or 10th are helpful in getting a full, balanced sound with overtones that can allude to a third part.

Congratulations, you have just been given a formula to the Stax and Studio One horn sound.

Four situations should be generally avoided in horn arrangements:

1- Doubling of notes, especially in the same octave. The result is diminishing at best, three horns may sound like two, four horns like three and so on. At worst, it is not pleasing to hear because the two horns rarely if ever play exactly the same pitch. Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard would be one example of an exception. An arrangement with all horns playing the melody in unison is another exception, but that one can easily be overused.

2- Playing in the extremes of the instrument’s range. Trumpets do not need to live at the top of their range, nor trombones at the bottom of theirs. Horn instruments should be played inside their comfortable ranges. They sound better there because they were built to sound better there. Why fight it? Do not feel the need to make extra work for yourself or display technical prowess at the expense of a pleasing section sound.

3 – Playing songs in ‘natural’ key signatures. If the song was written by the guitarist or keyboardist, it may often be written in a natural key for those instruments such as C,G,D,A or E. Experiment with moving the key to Db, Ab, Eb or Bb. A general compromise will have to be found in the set between songs that favor the rhythm section or the horn section.

4 – Parallel motion. Horn instruments should avoid moving in the same direction from one chord to another, and even at the same beat. Instruments also don’t need to play the same function of each chord, the combined sound will be much more interesting if the instruments are written in the path of least resistance, providing a variety of color to each chord as the 3rd, for example, travels between horns.

For all of these reasons, horns arrangements should be created at the piano as opposed to the guitar.

The Tuning refers specifically to the horn’s ability to play truly in tune. The rhythm section is made up of tempered instruments(string bass an exception here), but the horn can make subtle adjustments in pitch at the mouthpiece – and as is done with ‘fretless’ instruments like the violin or voice, one can play the 5th of a chord slightly sharper, the major 3rd slightly flatter as actually occurs in the natural world of acoustics. This gives the horn section the chance to make a harmony sweeter and more resonant than is possible on the guitar or keyboard. When rehearsing the band, some time should be set aside – preferably separate rehearsals – for the horn section to explore the fine tuning of an arrangement. It can be helpful to have the bass player around for this.

As for vocals – the main concern should be that the key of the song is comfortable for the singer. This concern completely overrides any consideration to the horn or rhythm section, as the band must support the singer in every way possible. All musicians(including the singer) should be listening to the drummer for the rhythm and time – but at the same time, all instrumentalists should be listening to the singer for the song. As with horn arrangements, songs written on the guitar or piano should be transposed to the singer’s range in order to get the most of it.

To conclude with my first installment: these are general guidelines – rules if you will – based on historical practices. Some are decades-old, particular to the original style. Some are centuries-old. And all are artistic rules, meant to be broken!

But if one doesn’t first understand that there are always rules, there can be no conviction or pleasure in breaking them. One who breaks the rules without knowing is not doing themselves any favors.

I hope you found this interesting if not useful! Please look for my next installment, covering  technical aspects of recording…

VR