Production Advice

There is a myth that in order to stand out on the radio, your song needs to be louder than anyone else’s.

Bollocks.

Maybe this was true during the first Loudness Wars, back when every Motown release was louder than the previous one, but not any more – not for a long time.

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Close the curtains, switch off the ‘phone and prepare to lose several hours of your life.

Legendary Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich has launched a new website and it’s awesome. I tried to finding an equivalent British superlative, but I couldn’t ! “Awesome” is the only word for it.

The site is called From The Basement and features exclusive live performances (all shot in gorgeous HD) of artists like Beck, Fleet Foxes, Eels, Gnarls Barkley, Iggy And The Stooges, Jarvis Cocker, Jose Gonzalez, P J Harvey, Queens of The Stone Age, Sonic Youth, Sparks, Super Furry Animals, The White Stripes and Radiohead themselves, all produced by the inimitable Mr. Godrich himself.

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I love this video – it sums up so many things that are true and important about music to me.

But how does it work ? How do we know exactly what notes Bobby wants us to sing, even though the only clue we have is which way he’s jumping – and how far ?

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – if you’re not using Twitter yet, you need to be.

Today @popsong3_0 sent me a link to the fantastic video above. Links like this are what Twitter is all about, for me, and I thought some of you would love to see it, too.

Watching the video reminded me of some of my own favourite Chapman Stick moments – but before that, in case you’re new to this particular instrument, here’s the one and only Tony Levin (surely the world’s coolest bass player ?) introducing it himself:

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This post ended up as a bit of a mess – if you read on you’ll see what I mean ! To find out why, read the next one.

I’m leaving it here because there are some sites linking in, and some people will find it useful, but if you really want to know what I think about Spotify and the Loudness Wars, please read my guest post on RecordProduction.com instead:

How Spotify will end the Loudness Wars

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