Tiny Sun // Music Production
Struggling to write songs at all?
After
Before
and
Lee Dyer has been writing, performing, and recording music for the last 20 years. He studied trumpet and theory at Interlochen Arts Academy, and piano at Northern Michigan University.
Don't be shy, say hi.
photos by: GEDDI MONROE
How It Works
1~Pick A Song
Send me one or more songs that you would like to hear arranged.
Make sure it’s something you’re proud of, a song you like or can see potential in.
I would prefer to hear just the bare song
(vocals/guitar or vocals/piano etc...)
It does not have to be perfect.
In fact the more rough it is
the easier it is to work with.
It does not need to be hi-def or hi-quality.
We’ll get that later.
It does not need to be to a metronome, in fact it’s better if it isn’t.
If you are having trouble picking what song, send me a few and I can help you choose. In fact, having multiple songs will definitely help us find something that's a good fit for both of us. Ultimately it's your choice, but it won't hurt if we both love the song!
2~Arrangement
Let me know any direction you have for the song.
For example, you may know that you want piano, organ, trumpet, or tremolo guitar, or the chorus to have a ton of reverb while the verses are dry.
I will play along with your demo recording, generally adding bass, drums, and one other sound for color. This may be very rough sounding, depending on the quality of the recording you sent me.
Tell me what you like and don’t like about it: what other instrumentation you imagine... whether the drums are the right groove... if the time feels right... too busy not busy enough... is it overly complex/too simple?
Go to town!
This is the best time to go back and forth about what you like, because all of those tracks are just scratch tracks and will be replaced in the recording phase.
It would also help to have reference tracks of similar artists, or recordings you'd like your track to sound like.
Once we settle on an arrangement, we move to the actual recording!
3~Recording
Once you're happy with the arrangement, I'll ask for a %40 non-refundable deposit.
I'll then book studio time to record the drums in a controlled professional environment.
I'll perfect the click track to keep the soul of the song intact while giving it structure.
I'll begin to re-record all of the main tracks of the song (bass/guitar/keyboard/etc).
Before I go to the drum studio, I’ll record a scratch version of the drum part in my own studio and send you a rough mix to make sure we are ready to commit.
***This is the last chance to change drums before the real tracks are laid down***
After the final drums are recorded I will send you a rough mix of the whole song.
You record your vocals*
Then we move on to the mixing phase.
*If you're in the Asheville, NC area or are able to come do your vocals in person that would be ideal, but there are many ways to get your vocals recorded from afar and have the files sent to me. I'll work with you to find a way to record yourself. Some of my clients have their own home studio, some book an hour at a local studio or have a friend who can help them, and as a last resort some of them even record their vocals on their phones and send those over. I'm going to talk you out of recording on your phone, but no matter what you choose I'll help walk you through the process.
4~Mixing
Once I have your vocals, I mix the song around them, making sure to highlight the appropriate parts, and adding appropriate effects to all instruments as needed.
This is where the song comes alive!
A lot of this is actually editing work, polishing every aspect of the song - tightening rhythms, tasteful vocal correction, cutting unnecessary parts, finding the right tones for any synths/keys/etc...
When it's ready I'll do a rough mix highlighting the appropriate sounds at the appropriate times, adding any effects/panning to the tracks and getting an overview for how it will sound.
After I send you the first mix, tell me what you like and don’t like. Are the vocals too loud? Too quiet? Do you not like the reverb on the snare drum? Etc..
I will do as many revisions as it takes (Within 3 months of the first revision) to get the song sounding how you imagined it.
I keep each mix as we go, so if you like the guitars from mix one, but the keyboards in mix 3 we can make that happen easily.
When you’re happy, I’m happy, leaving only the last step.
5~Post Production
Once we've run out of things to tweak and the song is sounding great, we move on to mastering.
Mastering is the final step on a song's journey into the world. It's defined differently depending on who you talk to, but the main idea now days is to make a song sound good whether it's in your car, on headphones, on the radio, or even on your iPhone speaker.
I work with professional mastering engineers to ensure your track is at the right volume and can be enjoyed on any device.
Whether you opt for mastering or not, I will create a shared folder for you to download your premaster files.
Once the remainder of the payment is made I'll send you a link to download mp3s and wavs
I can also help walk you through how to get your music distributed to amazon/spotify/etc.