Producer | Female vox (Louisa)

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I've been involved in music since I was very young (aged 6, as a choirboy! - my dad was choirmaster) and have always loved a wide spectrum of music. I've been producing music for around 30 years. I also have a deep fascination with the 'sound' of music - I love to know the details re which studio was a record made in, what equipment was used etc. I bring this knowledge and experience to all the songs I help create.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: In terms of music - I have eclectic tastes. I grew up in a town close to Liverpool, listening to a lot of classical and choral music, so rich in melody and harmony. In my teens I migrated (of course!) to the Beatles and all kinds of pop and rock music - again particularly attracted to songs with strong melodies. In terms of guitarists - there are so many I love but they include George Harrison, Clapton, many of the jazz guitar greats, and in particular John McLaughlin (I worked on a Nepal Earthquake charity single with John's drummer and keyboardist Gary Husband which was fantastic). In terms of production, I've been fortunate to collaborate closely with Howard Nock, ace sound engineer/designer for many TV productions. My Protools skills were learnt through these collaborations, which included some music made for Channel 4 (actually my work for this was as a keyboardist). In terms of other inspirational producers; George Martin, Daniel Lanois, Phil Ramone amongst many others.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: I will do everything I can to ensure you get you the track that you need for your project.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: I think as a multi-instrumentalist producer clients don't always realise that I can provide pretty much most instrumentation - though my first instruments are guitar and piano, I also play bass, synths etc - as well as doing the recording, mixing and mastering. I offer a 'one-stop shop' service if that's what's required.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Mainly around what they would like the track to sound like, broadly-speaking, for example, which reference track falls into the broad sonic territory.

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Listen to one of the sample showreels and look at the SoundBetter reviews. This should give you a good idea re whether or not a particular Provider will be a good fit for your project.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: As well as Pro ToolsI love to work in Reason - I've not found another DAW which so helpfully enables you to 'map out' a horizontal visual representation of the song - I really miss this feature (it's called 'Block's) when working in other DAWs.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: Pop, rock, beats, jazz, classical, hiphop, trap and EDM. My musical tastes are quite varied!

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Depends on the project - I may write and produce the music from scratch, or alternatively work around for example a vocal performance - adding drums, guitar, bass, piano, strings and synths as required.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a collection of classical guitars (I also play classical guitar at weddings and events in the UK), acoustic and electric guitars and basses, a fender amp, condenser and dynamic microphones, a small midi keyboard as well as a high-spec Yamaha Clavinova, a MacMini and a MacBook pro attached to a 27 inch screen, Genelec monitors and AKG headphones. I use many synths such as Omnisphere 2 and Serum, Kontakt libraries, and a Gazillion production plugins. I work in Pro Tools and Reason DAWs.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: I create all kinds of music: pop, rock, classical, jazz, hip hop, trap, EDM. I love the creative challenge of working on original music; using my experience to think what style and approach will work best. I'm a classical, rock and pop guitarist and also have played/keyboards piano since I was a boy. Most commonly I will use all these skills to build up a track within Pro Tools and/or Reason.

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: 'Do I play the instrument - or just use samples'? (Answer: yes I play different kinds of guitar, bass and piano - I also programme drums and use high quality sample libraries for e.g. strings, brass etc as required by the project).

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: I've been writing songs and recording for over 25 years (and playing guitar and piano longer than that). I learnt so much about recording & producing from my musical colleague Howard Nock who is an ace Recording Engineer/Sound Supervisor on many top shows here in the UK. Whilst I'm mostly studio-based, I'm also a classical guitarist and play at weddings and events around the UK.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: 'Multi-style'! I am curious about all kinds of music. When not in the studio I play classical guitar at weddings and events here in the UK. But in the studio I'm just as likely to be working on an EDM track as I am a guitar-based song.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: In terms of guitars, I play analogue instruments (I'm also a classical guitarist who plays at weddings and events across the UK). Otherwise I pretty much work 'in the box', as they say, these days. Software instruments and production software are absolutely incredible these days!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I really love to create bespoke, individualised tracks for people - I find it really rewarding to be able to apply the skills I've learnt over the years - together with avid listening to so many genres - to help create a bespoke track for the client.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: As well as musical versatility, I would say my strongest skill is the ability to play by ear - and through experience being able to think through ideas regarding a song's structure, harmonies and melodies. However, these ideas may not necessarily accord with the client’s vision of the song/project - so I'm interested ultimately in ensuring that the client is happy!

Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

A: I would highly recommend Howsaudio - a remarkable musician & mixer: https://soundbetter.com/profiles/49620-howsaudio

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: Adele, of course!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Projects include a beautiful song by a client, written for his daughter's wedding. Also a 50's style ballad with Louisa singing the main vocal.

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: I'm really proud of the collaboration between myself and fellow Voysey songwriting/production colleagues on the 'Dreaming of you this Christmas’ single *. I wrote the music, some of the words (with John Garvey), played and recorded the piano and the guitar parts. Howard Nock (sound engineer for many TV productions) played bass guitar and we also worked together to produce choirs and brass bands (courtesy of Omisphere and Native Instruments respectively). I travelled to Wales to record the female vocals (the fantastic Victoria Worthington). Howard mixed and mastered the single. I liaised with ace graphic artist Martin Orme regarding the single’s artwork. I suppose, as well as the musical/lyric input I was the project manager for this single which was a real collaborative effort involving some face to face work together with remote file-sharing. If you get a minute to listen, I think it’s fair to say that all the disparate parts work pretty well together (thanks in no small part to Howard’s excellent mixing and mastering). *https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/dreaming-you-this-christmas/id743204058

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: My Takamine classical guitar; assuming electricity a Sadowsky semi-acoustic electric guitar; a Neumann KM184 condenser microphone (matched pair If permitted!) and my MacBookPro. And a great reverb plugin or hardware (like a lot of musicians I love the 'sound' of music - the acoustics reflecting where it was recorded, and the ability of modern reverb units and plugins to emulate this).