The Value of a Great Producer
“Again” and “Once More” were expressions repeatedly used by Ali Karim when we were recording ‘Moorscape’ in 2015-16. A guitar player since the age of 15, a writer of stories and poetry, a drawer of pictures, and a writer of mainly unrepeatable songs as a student, I had never recorded music before I met him. What he saw in me I still don’t understand, but I guess that is lesson number one: a producer will see and hear things that most musicians won’t.
Not all producers are musicians, not all musicians make good producers. Producing music is a very different skill, requiring technical ability way beyond my own capabilities…for now. Ali was the bass player in a successful Manchester indie band (Fear of Music) and has an ear for sound like nobody else I’ve ever met. His schooling in engineering and production was in the studios of some of the greatest names in the business: John Leckie, Dimitri Tikavoi, Trevor Horn. He’s also a talented musician and it’s a privilege to be collaborating with him in putting together the ‘Breathe’ album
Back when we started, it helped that Ali was looking to record ‘real instruments’ again, and my cittern was something that really caught his curiosity just as it had caught mine a year before. His world for a number of years before I arrived on the scene was rap and urban music, so he was looking for a direction to complement that. He can hear an end product from its very raw beginnings, and over the five years we’ve been working together has quickly come to understand where each of my songs is probably going. These days I play a part in the production of each of my songs, but I could never achieve the quality of output without his extraordinary insight.
“Again” and “Once More” rarely feature in our sessions these days. When I started this journey my vocal range was extremely limited, and the recording for each song was done in sections, with the occasional auto-tune when I’d reached my limit. I wasn’t used to singing, and as well as my vocal cords being tight, I didn’t have the confidence that my range could or would ever expand. By the time we recorded the ‘Dry The Life’ EP in the summer of 2016, the range had already been stretched a little, but it still didn’t feel natural enough. By the time we’d recorded ‘Breeding Ground’ in 2018 there were few remaining issues: I was playing each track right through and I’d expanded the range of my voice. It took three years for me to reach that point. It was hard work, but that could just be me!
The confidence that an improved voice gives is inestimable. It feeds into the writing of the songs, and the expansion of range changes the way in which you use instruments. In my case it has also encouraged me to play different instruments. It also helps enormously when it comes to playing live, either solo or with other musicians. It’s like anything else in life. It’s all about practise. I remember Andy Cole scoring a Championship winning goal at Old Trafford against Spurs. He brought the ball down with his foot from a ridiculous height before lobbing the keeper. Asked later in a TV interview how he’d achieved that and his answer was simple “practise”.
I practise for a minimum 45 minutes every day and it has helped my playing confidence and improved the strength of my voice to the point where, five years on, most of my vocals in our current projects are single takes. Not having to listen to “Again” and “Once More” means that we are doing our jobs more quickly and efficiently, which of course saves me money. Yes money. Just as music must have a value so too must quality production, and that needs to be recognised. I listen to a huge amount of music, mainly from independent artists or the radio stations that support them. The training that Ali has instilled enables me now to identify where better production would significantly enhance the quality of many of the songs I hear.
Just occasionally I am left surprised and sometimes a little shocked that a finished song has actually been released into the world. I have to take a step back and remember that I could so easily have been there once, and that I always expect to have a long way to go. Ali Karim’s care and attention, his intuition, and most of all his standards as a producer gave me my confidence as a musician. If I have learned anything along this wonderful music journey, it is this: that the best people to work with are those who will tell you truthfully how far you have to go, when you need to push your boundaries and how to push them. Music production is not a place for people who say yes all the time, who agree with everything you do, and the way you do it. It is there because it is essential in the development of musicians and their music. Listen, learn, and work at your music with the right producer and you will achieve results beyond your dreams.
So step out of your comfort zone as a musician and put your trust in a professional. The chorus to my song ‘Maker’ is about the trust that I put in Ali to make me better at what I do. He is an extraordinary human being and a great friend. Music is a process of continuous improvement in which none of us will ever reach the highest heights, but we will pass a number of summits along the way and have a lot of fun doing it. “Again”. “Once More”. Remember those words.
Cover photo by @Demzvisuals
