What do record producers do?
Record producers are hired (often through an agent or manager if they are particularly successful) by A & R departments of record companies (see Chapter 3) for projects (i.e. to record a single, or all or some of an album). Projects can last anything from one day to months and even years. Sometimes producers are also hired directly by unsigned artists and/or their managers for the purposes of making a demo. In the case of an album, the first thing a producer will do is sit down and talk ideas through with the artists, listen to existing demos, pick out good bits and weak bits and what needs to be worked on. The producer will also select a sound engineer to work with (see below). There may then be a rehearsal period known as ‘pre-production’ in which songs to be recorded are thoroughly practised, fiddled about with, and any problems ironed out. When the producer is ready to begin the recording sessions, each member of the band usually records their part separately. During the recording
