Tips for Working with Vocalists and the Audience Adds to Some of the Doctor's Past Advice

This is a great thing because diversifying and working with more people can lead to new opportunities, both financially and creatively. I think the most understated, but most obvious advice is get to know who you work with. Find out what influences them—music, life, fashion, photos. What makes them feel things? What are their fears? What are they great at? What sounds make them feel good/bad? More importantly, find out how to use all those things to eventually make a great product. Whenever I work with someone new, I make them send me a folder of things that "made them them." Some people love square waves, some people love sawtooth. Finding all that out quickly will lead to good results and combat the "slowness" of laptop music. Beyond being a music maker or a producer, which is the easy part, the hardest job in all of this is making someone feel 100% comfortable around you when you are tracking. If they forget you are there and go outside of themselves, then you are doing your job. Singing is hard because it's the ultimate vulnerability. We know that if we hit a C on a keyboard, it's gonna make a C sound. Singers don't. Their trust in you is going to lead to better takes and more experimentation. Be encouraging and very aware of how you speak to people. "You can do it better" sounds better than "I didn't like that," or try "I liked this part, but I think you could do that part better." Remember, we are leading someone to water, and them believing they can do it is the first part of the battle. Also, NEVER look at people while they are recording. Have her bring her guitar. If she can have a musical utensil that helps her communicate, it will help everyone. She can explain what she means and you can move it to synths, or you could just record guitar in and make it fit in the mix. To me, the human element will always help music stand out. Ableton's new audio-to-MIDI function is really cool as well. Have you tried that? Take your time. One of the things about this process of music, especially if you are heavily reliant on the computer, is that it DOES take time. Don't be afraid of that. I am a heavy proponent of trying to create projects from scratch with the person you are working with. It will very much reflect the energy you guys are creating together versus a track where you're just bringing beats in and she's singing over them. I hate that. Another thing—unless it's obvious from the second you meet, don't try and fuck the girl you are working with and make that clear. Your job as a producer is to be the ultimate teammate, and if a girl thinks you are trying to fuck her, or slow play it out to ultimately do that, it's gonna be bad. I could elaborate on this, but just clear that air. Every creative beautiful girl has seen every trick in the book from dudes trying to get in her pants. That's pretty much it. The main thing is HAVE FUN. If you guys are sucking and it's not coming, go get a margarita or listen to some music together. As long as you are building a dynamic, it'll all come. Cool. I'm going to get back to learning some shit… and playing guitar. xooxoxoxoxoxo. *Column 36*