Producing - Blog

Who hasn’t experienced this? The artist is well prepared, knows the arrangement inside out, and can play or sing everything perfectly - until the red recording light comes on.

Suddenly, mistakes creep in, the artist gets tense, tries to stay calm, but the pressure builds.
Two takes later, another slip-up, and the whole circus starts again.

You can literally see the stress rising - not just for the artist, but sometimes for the engineer as well (which, in my opinion, is the worst scenario).
The rest of the band, watching from the control room, might shoot frustrated looks that say, “Seriously? You nailed this a thousand times in rehearsal!”

This only ramps up the pressure for whoever’s in the recording booth.
If this cycle repeats and - worst of all - a negative comment slips out, like
“Come on, get it together!” or “We don’t have all day!”
it’s almost guaranteed the artist will become not just unsure about what to play or sing, but also lose confidence in how to perform with feeling and vibe.
Suddenly, it’s not just about executing the notes and timing correctly, the song’s emotion and intention are at risk.

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When Studio Stress Takes Over

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I’ve seen (and experienced) this scenario in 90% of studio sessions:
The whole recording day turns into a stressful gauntlet.
For the person in the booth, every take becomes a battle between “I have to deliver or I’ll get roasted again” and “I need to stay relaxed or it won’t work.”
In the control room, everyone is on edge, listening to the same part over and over, feeling like nothing is coming together.
 

Sound familiar? Most of us have been on both sides of the glass at some point.

But are we stuck in this loop, doomed to either give up or just keep grinding until something works? Absolutely not.
The solution is often simple and starts with a few key steps to make the recording process smoother for everyone.

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Preparation Is Everything​

First and foremost, the session must be 100% ready before the artist even enters the recording room.

That means:
 

• All backing tracks are set up

• Tracks and channels are clearly named (avoid “Vocal 1–14”—use “Vocal [Artist] Main,” “Vocal [Artist] Harmony,” etc.)

• FX channels, aux sends, and routing are organized

• The session is tidy and logical
   

This level of preparation avoids confusion—especially when comping takes from multiple singers or musicians. It keeps the workflow fast and prevents mistakes that can ruin a great take or make mixing a nightmare later.

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Communication Is Key

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Before recording, talk with the artist about how they want to work:
 

• Do they want feedback after every take, or would they rather record a few passes and review together later?

• Do they prefer longer takes, or should you focus on tricky sections and drop in as needed?

• For singers: do they want to record full sections, single phrases, or even individual words?

Set up simple shortcuts so you can:
 

• Instantly jump to any part of the song

• Start and stop recording on command

• Move quickly between sections

If you’re fumbling around in the DAW, searching for the right spot, while the artist stands alone in the booth, it kills the vibe and increases anxiety.

Make sure the artist has water, lyrics on hand, and feels looked after. This sense of care has a huge impact on performance.

Ideally, the only thing left to do once the artist is ready is hit record—no waiting, no technical delays.

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Positive Vibes Only

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As soon as a take finishes, hit the talkback mic and speak to the artist - always positively, no matter what happened.

If the take had great feeling but some missed notes, say:
“That was a great vibe! Let’s try it again when you’re ready.”
No mention of mistakes—just encouragement and readiness to keep going.

If the artist asks for specific feedback, be honest but gentle:
“We can definitely try that part again and compare. I really love the tone and expression you’re bringing—let’s capture that!”
 

Singers, especially, hear themselves differently than others do. Find something you genuinely like about their voice and mention it. This builds confidence and helps them relax, leading to better takes.
 

The same applies to instrumentalists: Compliment the guitarist’s sound, the bassist’s groove, or the drummer’s precision. You’ll notice how much this helps. Just reading this probably feels better than the stressful scenario at the start.

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It’s Not About Saying Yes to Everything

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But let’s be clear: Your job isn’t to simply approve everything the artist does.
You’re also responsible for ensuring quality. Sometimes, you’ll need to go over a part several times to really get it right - even if the artist thinks it’s “good enough.”
 

It’s your job to deliver the best the artist is capable of, which sometimes means having honest discussions and guiding them toward their strongest performance.
Of course, as I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, your own personality should always take a back seat to the project’s vision.
 

This is where communication and sensitivity are crucial.
Artists are deeply connected to their art and usually have a clear vision of how they want to sound and be perceived. If you feel a change is necessary, explain your reasoning and approach it with care.
 

One method I’ve found effective is recording both the artist’s original idea and my own suggestion, then doing an A/B comparison together.
This gives the artist confidence that you respect their vision, while also allowing them to try something new without feeling pressured.
 

Used skillfully, this approach opens up creative possibilities while giving the artist the safety and trust they need.
As you can see, this is just like every other part of audio production:
It’s about making the right compromise at the right time, with the right intention, and communicating clearly.

Ultimately, the goal is always authenticity—the unique voice of the artist. Only then will others connect with the music and become true fans. Authenticity is what draws people in, and it’s your job as the engineer to help the artist shine.

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The Performer’s Confidence: The Most Overlooked Factor

There’s another crucial point that often gets overlooked:
the performer’s self-confidence.

The person standing in the live room is under enormous pressure. It doesnt matter if beginner, semi-pro or major-label artist, even the most experienced, highly skilled musicians feel it.
In that moment, the engineer becomes the deciding factor between a frustrating session and a successful one.
This ties directly back to what I said above about not just saying “yes” to everything.
Your role is a mix of support and guidance.

Let me share a personal story.
Years ago, I was in a beautifully equipped studio owned by a colleague of my keyboard player: great hardware, sweet preamps, a big analog Amek console,
tape machines, a real Rhodes, a fantastic live room - the kind of place that makes every gear lover smile.
 

I was there to record vocals and guitar for my band. I was the singer more out of necessity than design - we never found a dedicated vocalist.
I was solid and in tune, good enough to front a rock band. To get one thing out of the way, I was by far not an Axl Rose, Freddy Mercury or Chris Cornell, but definitely capable of delivering emotion and intention.

I was standing in the live room, ready to go - but nothing happened. And I literally mean nothing

In the control room, the engineer and my keyboard player were still trying to put the session together.
They were figuring out how to even record in this DAW they’d barely used before. Then they had to define song sections, set up busses, route signals… all while I just stood there, with no idea what was happening.
 

No one hit the talkback to explain.
Occasionally I’d get a half-annoyed, half-desperate look through the glass.
When I spoke into the mic, no one heard me because the channel
wasn’t even armed yet.
My hand signals were mostly ignored - they were too busy fighting the DAW
and the console.

After about 30 minutes of this, I walked into the control room and asked
what´s going on?
When they explained, I was honestly shocked!

My first sentence was:
"You’re really lucky it’s me and not another paying client who doesn’t know you. If you started a session like this with a real customer, they’d pack their things and never come back. This is completely unprofessional and shocking."

… you need to understand this: the studio owner was charging my band, and that’s fine, everyone has bills to pay.
But charging money for a service that wasn’t even provided is extremely frustrating. Especially considering the amount we paid compared to what we got. 
 

And I meant it! They could easily have spent another two hours reading the manual while I stood there, getting more frustrated by the minute.

That was just day one.
 

On day two, I finally wanted to record my vocals and asked if I could please have some delay, reverb, a bit of EQ and compression on my voice in the headphones because singing completely dry feels awful. Their answer shocked me so much that I cancelled the complete recording and went home.

They said:
“No, we can’t do that. If we put effects on the vocals, singers perform worse.”

That was it for me.

Here’s the thing:
We were recording through analog gear, sure but everything ended up in the DAW as on most modern production these days. They could easily have set up an FX channel with reverb and delay just for my headphone mix. The recording path would have stayed clean, and I would have had the sound I needed to vibe and perform.
 

And that’s the point:
Notes can be corrected later with no close to no effort at all.
In modern productions, tuning is almost always used in some form a lot of the time. But you can’t “fix” a lack of feeling or a weak performance. It impossible, not with any gear or plugin! A bad performance stays a bad performance.
A slightly off note, on the other hand, can be corrected so well that even the singer won’t notice.
 

The same is true for drummers, bass players, guitarists, keys - ... for everyone. Performance is what carries the feeling and authenticity.

So:

• Understand your artists, their mindset, and their needs.

• Be aware that they might be nervous and need your support—no matter if they’re indie, semi-pro, or major label.

• Include them in what’s happening in the control room. Explain what you’re doing.

• Know your tools well enough to keep the session flowing smoothly.

And especially for vocalists:
Make sure you have an FX channel ready with reverb, delay, or whatever
sound they like in their headphones.
That instantly creates a sense of space, size, and emotion. It helps them lean into the performance.
Some singers love to “play” with the reverb tails and delays, shaping their phrasing around them. That’s mind blowing - and it turns the recording into a creative experience for both artist and engineer.

The result will become a masterpiece, maybe not the “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “Whole Lotta Love” or an instant Grammy nomination - but something truly great:
a performance you can listen back to years later and still feel proud of.
A take where the artist can say, “That’s me! That’s exactly how I felt back then!”

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The Two Studio Realities

In the end, most recording days fall in one of these two categories

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Studio Reality 1: Stress, pressure, and negativity

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In the first scenario, the energy in the room slowly turns toxic.
The artist feels watched and judged, every mistake is commented on, people in the control room roll their eyes or whisper to each other, and the engineer is more focused on what’s going wrong than on how to make it better.

What happens then?
 

• The performer starts overthinking every note and every word

• Timing gets stiff, pitch gets shaky, and the vibe disappears

• The band or producer gets impatient and frustrated

• The engineer starts “chasing” a good take instead of creating the conditions for one

On paper, you might still end up with something “usable,” but the magic is gone.
The recording becomes a document of stress, not a snapshot of emotion.
and no matter how good you are at editing, tuning, or mixing,
if the performance is tense and lifeless, the final result will never feel truly great.
 

Sadly, this scenario is still very common, especially in low-budget or poorly prepared sessions.

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Studio Reality 2: Preparation, positivity, and real support

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In the second scenario, the studio becomes a safe space for performance.
 

• The session is fully prepared before the artist arrives

• The engineer knows the DAW and routing inside out

• Communication is clear, calm, and respectful

• The performer feels heard, supported, and never left alone in confusion

Here, mistakes are treated as part of the process, not as failures. The artist gets a headphone mix that inspires them, not just a dry technical feed.
The engineer gives honest feedback - but always in a way that builds confidence.

The result?
 

• The artist relaxes and starts to trust the room, the engineer and the process

• Takes get better and better, not worse

• Emotion, dynamics, and intention become stronger with each pass

• You end up with recordings that are not only “correct,” but alive

These are the sessions where later you sit in front of your mix and think:
“Wow. This already feels like a record before I’ve even touched any gear or plugin.”

That’s the difference between an Producer/Engineer/Studio that just “captures sound” and one that captures performances.

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Conclusion:
Recording Is the Foundation of Everything

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Recording is the most fundamental step in the entire audio production process.
This is where the song leaves the world of ideas and
becomes something real - something you can play back, shape,
and eventually share with the world.
 

Our goal at this stage is simple, but not easy:
To capture exactly what the artist imagines and to do it in a way that actually works in the real world of speakers, playlists, and listeners.

As always, it’s about the right compromises:
Between perfection and feel, between speed and patience, between guidance and freedom.

But here, at the recording stage, one thing is non‑negotiable:
You must take the time to get the absolute best performance the artist is capable of in that moment. No shortcuts, no “it’s fine, we’ll fix it later.”

Because:
 

• A great recording makes mixing and mastering a joy

• A weak recording forces you into damage control for the rest of the production

• Emotion and authenticity can’t be added later - they have to be captured at the source

If you treat recording as the true foundation it is, prepare well, support your artists, and aim relentlessly for their best possible performance, everything that comes after editing, mixing, mastering, will be easier, more musical, and far more powerful.

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