Producer's Checklist For Basic Tracks

When you're the producer, it's pretty easy to get overwhelmed with the details and demands of the session and forget some of the things that can really help the musicians and the session along. Here's a checklist from my upcoming book, "The Music Producer's Handbook":

• Do the drums sound great acoustically in the room? If they don’t, rent a new kit or hire a drum tuner.

• Are the drums tuned properly? They should have new heads and have no buzzes or sympathetic vibrations before recording begins.

• Do you have a variety of instruments available? The more different instruments you have, the better the parts will fit together and the more interesting the recording will sound.

• Are all the instruments in tip-top condition? Is the intonation set correctly? Is the instrument clean of any buzzes, hums or intermitents?

• Is everyone happy with their headphone mix? Can you give each musician their own mix? Is a personal headphone mixer available for each player?

• Does the click the have the right sound? Does it cut through the mix? Is it musical enough that the drummer can play along? Is it too musical that the drummer can’t groove to it?

• Does the click groove? Does it work better as ¼ or 1/8th notes? Is there a different sound for the downbeat?

• Is the click bleeding in the microphones? Can the drummer use isolating headphones? Can you roll the high end off so that it doesn’t leak as much?

• Do you have the studio talkback mic on? Can you hear the musicians in the studio at all times between takes?

• Do you have the control room talkback mic always on? Can the musicians hear you at all times in between takes?