How do I produce

I have long experience in producing different musical styles, both as a composer and arranger as instrumentalist. I can play guitar, bass and piano and I have countless software to compose rhythmic bases, and virtual instruments sufficient to achieve almost anything.

When a client sends me a work that he wants to produce, usually a couple of tracks (vocals and guitar or voice and piano), the first thing I do after listening a few times the theme is to propose what kind of arrangement would suit the song , giving a budget based on the number of tracks to record. It may also be that the client has very clear what he wants and I'll just give shape to their ideas about how it should be the arrangements.

Having decided which instruments will be recorded, first thing I do is find the key and tempo of the piece. If there are slight tempo problems they can be fixed, but the ideal is that the takes have been recorded following metronome. After learning the structure and harmony of the song, I proceed to compose and record the main instruments, which can take me about an hour per instrument.

After recording these main tracks, I send a rudimentary mix to the client to listen how the work progresses and determine if he likes it or wants to change anything. Once the client approves the direction it is taking the music, I continue with complementary tracks recording and the final mix preparation (see "How do I mix").

The entire process for a song can last about a week, depending on the number of recording instruments and the number of corrections that must be done.

The instruments I'm currently using when recording are:

  • Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar
  • Epiphone Semi Hollow Electric Guitar
  • Martin Acoustic Guitar
  • Spanish Guitar
  • Kort Electric Bass
  • Keyboard Controller PC-180A RolandED
  • Korg X5DR Module
  • Countless virtual instruments
  • Lots of real high quality drum loops (sequential and prerecorded) for real drum sound
  • All kinds of casiotones and analog sound effects