Welcome to the Production Expert podcast. In this edition Julian and Ashea are joined by President of the AES Leslie Gaston Bird & audio engineer Ephie De Angelis, where they discuss their journeys into the world of audio and music production. 

Talking Points:

• Our journey into audio and production
• What we get out of it
• Inspiring others- the importance of representation, (you can’t be what you cant see).
• AES and advocacy. 

Learn more about AES here:
https://aes2.org

In this Podcast Short Julian explains his reasons for nominating 5 skills which he thinks every engineer would benefit from learning, and 3 which, while very worthwhile, don't make the list.

The original article can be found here and the article by Damien Kearns referenced in the podcast can be found here.

Welcome to the Production Expert podcast. In this edition Julian and Ashea are joined by Andy Bensley & Marcel Schechter of Genelec. Where they discuss why a great listening environment is the best time saver, and how to get the best setup for our individual needs.

About Our Guests:
Andy Bensley: joined Genelec as Regional Business Development Manager in 2019. Based in the UK, Andy has huge experience in analysing and tuning the in-room performance of loudspeaker systems in a wide range of studios — from the smallest bedroom to the largest post-production studio.

Marcel Schechter: joined Genelec as Customer Experience Specialist in 2021, before that he already spent seven years as a product specialist for the German distributor Audio Pro. He worked for ten years as a sound engineer and uses his practical experience to advise customers on choosing, optimising and calibrating loudspeaker systems. 

Talking Points:

• Why a great listening environment is the best time saver and other benefits.
• What to do about less than ideal rooms.
• Using referencing to improve our mixes. 

Finds of the week:
Julian: Zennor Sounds
Ashea: Hydraulic Press Channel
Marcel: The YouTube channel Audio University
Andy:  Cory Wong - The Sorcerer

In this edition Julian and Ashea are joined by producer & mega musician Mark Thompson, where they discuss new tips, tricks, and things they generally love (or hate) right now.

Talking Points:

• Good advice or cool production tips you´ve learned that you´d like to share.
• Plugins or hardware that people need to know about.

Finds Of The Week:
Julian: Krotos Ambience generator
Ashea: Waves Center
Mark: Orla Gartland

Russ wonders if all this modern recording technology is actually damaging our creativity rather than enabling us?

Ashea and Julian are joined by Luke Goddard and Luke Stephen Ramsey to break down what actually makes a record memorable, from Kylie Minogue and Madonna to Charlie XCX, Sam Fender and the 1975. The panel digs into signature sounds, vocal timbre, tempo decisions and the production choices that separate songs that fade from songs that stick. A conversation about craft, taste and why some records survive playback systems they were never designed for.

The panel works through a set of records spanning four decades and asks a simple question: what is the thing that makes a song stick? Not the marketing, not the moment, the actual production and songwriting decisions. The conversation moves through signature sounds, sparse arrangements, vocal character and the discipline of leaving space.

In this episode:

• Why Can't Get You Out Of My Head still works on laptop speakers and phone tannoys, and what the offbeat bass and strong fifth do for the arrangement
• The 1975's O Caroline as an 80s-influenced studio record cut in Peter Gabriel's Real World, and what happens when control room and live room are the same space
• Madonna's Vogue as the first record where the song, the video and the visual identity felt designed as one thing, and the role of a single signature sound in making a record identifiable
• Charlie XCX's Sympathy Is A Knife and why deliberately unpleasant production choices, watery digital reverbs and a jagged synth verse, can be the right answer rather than a mistake
• Tears For Fears Sowing The Seeds Of Love as a control room band record, the Beatles comparison, and why this scale of ambition is harder to find in current pop
• Sam Fender's Bit Of You and the case for mid-tempo restraint, immediacy over polish, and a Bonham-style drummer holding the backbone
• Chase & Status Backbone with Stormzy, and why a great voice with timbre and rhythmic control carries a record further than technical singing ability
• Beastie Boys Sabotage as a record where performance and energy outrank prettiness, and the difference between a great song and a great record

Tools and products mentioned:

Kylie Minogue Can't Get You Out Of My Head, Wurlitzer electric piano, The 1975 O Caroline, Real World Studios, Madonna Vogue, Madonna Like A Prayer, Human League Fascination, Charlie XCX Brat, Charlie XCX Sympathy Is A Knife, Finn Keane, PC Music, Tears For Fears Sowing The Seeds Of Love, Sam Fender Bit Of You, Lindisfarne, Chase & Status Backbone, Stormzy, Steflon Don, Ashanti, Halsey, Lizzy McAlpine, Beastie Boys Sabotage, Randy Newman, Undertone Audio Unfair Child plugin, Eric Valentine, Sennheiser MD421, Sennheiser MD41 Compact, The Orville, Seth MacFarlane.

About the panel:

Ashea and Julian host this edition of the Production Expert Podcast. They are joined by Luke Goddard, a regular Production Expert contributor and engineer, and Luke Stephen Ramsey, a producer who brings a younger artist's perspective to the conversation alongside the longer-view takes from Luke G and Julian.

In this podcast short Russ Hughes says; "You are going to come up against all sorts of problems when recording and mixing. Occam’s Razor is an indispensable tool we ignore at our peril."

In this edition Julian and Ashea are joined by Luke Goddard and Paul Maunder, where they discuss tried and tested production rules and ask, does anyone care about that anymore and if so, why?

Talking Points:

• Being in the room with the artist/client, is it still necessary? Does it even matter?
• Have listeners' ears become accustomed to things like Auto tune, heavy compression, would anyone care if we stopped doing these things?
• Loudness Wars- does anyone care anymore?
• Mix Assistants E.g EZ mix, is it cheating?

Finds of the week:

Julian:Using what you already have in the studio (Carbon story, Caldigit Ethernet, audio key on piano)
Ashea: Audio Ease- Speakerphone 3
Paul: BlackMagic UltraStudio Recorder
Luke:  Leaf Audio 

In this podcast short Russ Hughes explores how audio professionals can get ahead in marketing. "I remember being on Zoom call with some of the most respected names in music production some time ago. I was talking about marketing strategies to help them get new clients and to grow their businesses. As we went through the Q&A time and the session drew to a close one of them said; “What we really want is for you to do this for us!” They weren’t joking, they all knew how important marketing is, but all hate the thought of doing it.

If that’s you, then here’s my attempt at helping those of you who want to get ahead in audio when you hate the thought of marketing."

In this edition Julian & Ashea are joined by Miles Fulwider,  Producer, Engineer & Educator working extensively in Immersive formats and CEO of ADK Microphones. where they discuss how to take the simplistic, ‘less is more’ approach by capturing the best sound at source.  

Talking Points:

• You can’t polish a ****, why capturing the best sound in the recording process will make your life easier.
• Mic and recording techniques for a ‘Grammy’ worthy sound. 
• The only gear you’ll ever need. If we could only use a handful of tools for the rest of our careers, what would they be and why
• How might these approaches and philosophies apply to audio education?
• Applications in immersive audio (such as off-axis freq response). 

Finds of the week:
Julian: Airsound
Ashea:Charli XCX Album- Brat
Miles: Maag PreQ2