Dave Brons Guitar Lessons

email: info@davebrons.com
tel: 07815099913

home band workshops lessons resources production testimonials contact

Music Production is the art of turning musical ideas into a finished product.

Below are Audio examples of "before and after" to see how artists songs are transformed from simple songs to full arrangements. Also included is a short showreel of songs starting at easy listening through to full on orchestrated rock music.

Its easier to hear what I do when I produce an album by listening to the music clip below. A songwriter brought some songs on acoustic guitar that he wanted to turn into an album in the style of Heavy Rock band "Linkin' Park. As you will hear my arrangements retain the main elements of the original but with full band and orchestration. You will hear 3 songs with the original verse and chorus followed by my arrangement.

You must have Flash installed and Javascript enabled to view this video. Get Firefox to receive the best experience of this site.

I have been playing and recording my own music since 1991. After hearing some of my recordings I started receiving requests from others to take their songs and turn them into polished albums.

There are four stages that I use to produce an Album.

Preproduction
This is for me the key stage. Usually people will come to my home studio to make a recording of them singing their songs, usually over some acoustic guitar chords and occasionally just a vocal melody. Usually the artist will bring some example CD's of some songs or bands that they like to provide an idea of the direction they want to go in. Picture of home studio
After this is done, I do a skeleton version of each song in my home studio. This involves recording a basic arrangement with a guide vocal melody with drums, bass, guitars and keys. At this point I meet again with the artist to make sure that the project is on the right track, then I make the necessary tweaks. Once all the basic tracks are approved we get into the Production stage.

Home Studio

"This is my home studio, where I do all the preproduction."

Production
To keep the costs down I record as many of the instruments as I can myself. As well as having an array of microphones and studio equipment (link) I play Guitar, Bass, Mandolin, Keyboards and Drums. However, I do like to use session players where I can especially for Drums and Keys. Having had the privilege of playing with a number of world class musicians down the years gives me the opportunity to add something really special to your recordings. Once all the instruments and the vocals are recorded I go onto the mixing stage. I often work with my production partner Mark Swift to mix down the recordings ready for Post production. Pictures of Different Studios


"The TLG Studio, this is good for bigger jobs e.g. drums, choirs and ensembles."

Post production
Once the tracks are mixed the final stage is reached where the music is prepared for reproduction on CD. This is where the audio is mastered. Mastering is where really expensive equipment is used to give a polished sound to the recording. This means bringing up the levels of all the tracks to the same volume to make sure that all the songs sound good together. This means that they will sound good whether you play it on your hi-fi, in your car or through a PA.
I often use mastering engineers that have mastered hundreds of commercial recordings that have appeared in the charts and in the mainstream.
For artists on a Budget myself and my production partner Mark Swift can master the recordings with excellent results.

Post Production
"The DH studio, used for post production, mixing and mastering"

Reproduction
This is where the artwork is done, any necessary copyright clearances are sorted, barcode and product codes are arranged and the CD is mass produced.

I usually take care of all the above including commissioning the artwork for a very reasonable fee. However artists are free to produce their own artwork if they wish.

<examples being sourced>

CD runs can be as few as 10 CDs as gifts upto several thousand for a major release.

Below are Audio examples of “before and after” to see how artists songs are transformed from simple songs to full arrangements. Also included is a short showreel of songs starting at easy listening through to full on orchestrated rock music.

<examples being sourced>

Quotes for album production vary according to each artists needs but I produce albums at budgets to fit both the amateur and the professional songwriter/ musicians.

Please feel free to contact Dave for his rates or with any questions dave@davebrons.co.uk.

© 2024 davebrons.com