Learn from the music business pros

Today I’m going to go a different direction and do a little book review.

The book is called “Behind The Glass”.  It’s a collection of interviews with music producers that have produced some amazing albums over the years.  Technically the book  isn’t exactly about creating music in the truest sense, but it definitely includes some talk about the song writing process.  I think it’s relevant to this blog, though, because I’m assuming many of you that come here are your own songwriter, band, engineer, and producer wrapped up into one.

The book is literally just a transcription of the interviews themselves.  Reading it will give you an interesting look on how the “professionals” do things.

Those of us who are searching for new creative ways to make music walk kind of a fine line… on one hand, learning from people who have done it before is essential, but on the other hand we’re trying to pave our own road.  I still think reading books like this can be helpful… you’ll walk away with a ton of ideas.

Here is a link to the book on Amazon.com.  Just so I don’t come across as sneaky or something, I’ll tell you up front that if you order the book from this link, Creative-Music.org will get a portion of the profit.  You can do with that info what you want!    If you’d like to help support this blog, then maybe you want to order from the link.  If not, no big deal.  I do recommend, though, whether you buy the book through this link or through your other favorite source that you do check it out.  I think you’ll be glad you did.

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When creating that link from Amazon, I just noticed that you can get used versions of the book for pretty cheap.  Gotta love Amazon used stuff!

I wanted to quote what one of the reviewers on Amazon had to say about the book as well.

Great resource, but how does it rate for up-and-comings…?, January 5, 2001

By	Scott Woods (Columbus, Ohio United States) -

The other really good reviews tell you what you want to know about the logistics of the book. I want to talk about whether or not an up-and-coming musician/producer/composer can use the book in their daily work and professional lives to any useful extent.My quick answer is absolutely. It’s chockful of great interviews with unquestionable legends in the field. We always hear about the artists and get these clunky, chopped up interviews in magazines with them about what it took to make the record (“I had a dream”, “My contract was about up”, “It’s an homage to field mice”, etc.), but we rarely get such an in-depth look at who REALLY makes these artists SOUND they way they do. There’s a ton of stuff about the gear they use, how they use it and why they use it.

The slant of the book is a little high-end, which is understandable, considering the professional level of the producers we’re talking about here, so the average joe in their bedroom or basement studio may find the discussions about $10,000 microphones a bit overwhelming and useless, but the theories about how they’re used and what environments (an aspect of recording SADLY bypassed by big and small name studios alike) they’re striving to create are invaluable, and can be applied everywhere.

If you’re an aspiring artist, get it because it will tell you where the lines are in your working relationships with these people, and help you help yourself instead of looking at the studio clock with 6 more tracks you’d like to lay. If you’re a session musician, you’ll probably find it useful when the discussions turn to getting good sounds out of your instruments in various environments. And if you’re an aspiring producer, you HAVE to get it. It’s your guide through ego, business and the nature of what you wish to do.

As you can see, it’s an old review, because the book has been out for a while  (There is a part 2, but I haven’t read it, though), but the information in the book is still relevant and useful.

Check out the book and let me know what you think.  Or if you’ve read it already, leave a comment (positive or negative).  I’d love to know your thoughts.