BRING YOUR SONG TO LIFE
MY JOB AS A PRODUCER IS TO GET THE MUSIC IN YOUR HEAD TO COME OUT OF THE SPEAKERS. ITS IMPORTANT TO FIND SOMEONE WITH THE RIGHT SKILLS AND EQUIPMENT FOR YOUR SPECIFIC PROJECT. BELOW ARE LINKS TO SOME OF MY PAST WORK.
Sydney came to me with a voice memo of her and a guitar. I love it when Ideas start like this. Together we carefully picked and placed instruments. I think the most important parts of this production are the vocals and the drums. I wanted the drums to punch through and feel programed but have a little natural flavor. There are three things I focus on during drum production. They are impact, motion and drama. Impact are the things you can latch onto to really feel the beat. In this case the kicks and snares. Motion can be things such as shakers or hi hats. Drama can be things like cymbals and swells. Theres a lot of drama here for sure. Texture and background vocals were an important part of this production. It was great working with an artist as creative as Sydney. She had so many ideas for the vocal production and we went with most of them. It was my job to sand down and fine tune her ideas. The overall project went so well and so fast!
This production was a fun and crazy process. When a song or artist is good enough I’ve been know to go to great lengths to make it the best it can be. Long story short I ended up packing my studio in my car and driving up to Miami university in Ohio to record in Sam’s college dorm room. She’s also a full time college student as well as a talented and successful artist. This past year her manager called me again and I headed up heading back to Ohio to record Sam’s five song EP. It’ll be coming out later this year. Stay tuned.
This is one of my favorites that I’ve produced. I blended a Wurlitzer with a grand piano sound for the main instrument. they move back and forth to make way for different parts of the song. There are lots of great ambient effects that give space and life to the heartbreaking lyrics. It’s important to make sure even the saddest of ballads have motion and energy. The drums and bass really lock that all in tightly. If you listen closely there’s a bit of delay on the drum buss. I kind of love doing that sometimes.
Suitcase came about in less than a day. the arrangement is simple but powerful. The bones of the songs are some guitars bass and brushes but there is so much more that helps those elements pop. Layered in the mix are some awesome reversed guitar effects, an actual suitcase used as a kickdrum, brushes run through reverb delay pitch shifted and sequenced to give a feeling of movement, and much more. Give it a listen and see what else you can hear.
Can’t see the road was a blast to produce. The kick is punchy, the melody is catchy, the guitars are driving, and it all ties together perfectly. One of my favorite parts of this one is the guitar riff in the chorus. Not only did I have to play the riff but I had to record it four separate times and then an octave up in order to get the effect I was going for. Give it a listen.
I had so much fun experimenting with sounds for this one. For the opening riff layered an array of acoustic and electric guitars around the stereo spectrum and sent them to some reverb and delay. In the verse you can hear a muted acoustic guitar. I actually used a mask weaved into the strings of my Martin to get that plucked sound. Delay was my friend on the piano and snare drum. And last but definitely not least we can’t forget about Derrick’s vocals. We spent a good amount of time playing with different harmony ideas and loved the finished product.
When it comes to producing music my first rule is “serve the song.” This song is a prime example of that. It starts off stripped with Becca’s voice and her 1950s Gibson acoustic guitar which keeps the essence of her image as a folk songwriter. Throughout the track you can hear it slowly build to a climax at the bridge and then fade out to the original vocal and guitar.
Derrick came in with some lyrics and a melody. We worked on finishing up writing it and getting some chords down. For this one we tracked most of the vocals before we did any work on the track. This was a different way of looking at it, and I’m really happy we did it that way. Shaping the track around the vocals was the perfect fit for this song.
This is a song that I worked closely on from its beginning. Rachel and I wrote this together. Originally it was on guitar and a bit faster, but we quickly decided it needed to be piano driven. All together this is a heartbreaking and beautiful track.
WORDS FROM PAST CLIENTS
I worked with Daniel on my single “What Other Drugs” and I liked working with him so much that he is currently recording and producing the rest of my EP as well. I really enjoy studio time with him because he is an excellent collaborator as well as a great musician himself. Even if you can’t quite articulate what you want in a specific sound, he’ll help you find it and produce the song you have in your head.
— Becca Lipshultz
Working with Daniel is an incredible experience and privilege. He is not only highly professional, but extremely personable, and makes making music feel fun an authentic. When I first got to his studio he made me feel right at home and made making music feel easy. When anyone asks who made my songs it always brings me extreme delight in saying it’s my friend Daniel.
-Derrick Pough Jr.
