On this blog post, Alejandro Segovia, our friend and audio producer, member of the Latin Grammy Academy, will tell us about:
- What record production is
- The role the producer plays while making a record
Music or Audio Production
"Music or audio production has several areas, such as:
- Publicity
- Producing audio for videos
- Producing audio for events
- Making records
Record Production
This time we will focus on record production. Creativity plays a major role here since although we should also look for the best:
- Sound designs
- Recording studios on hand
- Production processes
We really have nothing if we don't understand that making a record involves lots of creativity, a great mastery of arrangements and musicalization, and above all, a great knowledge of what the artist is looking for.
We are no longer working for a company here. It may be the case that a company asks to make a record for a specific purpose, a record production, of course, but generally, we do it for artists, singers, other musicians, composers, etc.
The Producer's Job
The producer is the one who directs the artist regarding his/her interpretation. He also makes arrangements and composition/writing. I've even had the opportunity to add music to texts that were written by songwriters; those texts were later added to the record production, because that's what this is all about: Making songs! And making songs is also putting them all together in a compilation, in an album, and broadcast them to the world.
All of this involves carrying out a process that begins with learning all about the artist's work (background, career) to getting 100% involved with the production and with fully understanding the material to be recorded.
They first present the material to me from scratch, sometimes by singing the song while playing a guitar or maybe while playing a piano. Sometimes I've even listened to songs without using any instrument at all! They just sing it to me, words or tune.
We then must create a whole sound atmosphere for it, we must create an orchestral arrangement, we must start from scratch to build it all: piano, bass, drums, violins, all the instruments that will be a part of it! Synthesizers, acoustic or electronic atmospheres -depending on the case … We make a whole production design so that it has its own sound, a sound linked to the genesis of the artist, to the artist's DNA, to his/her work. That sound will result in a production that will eventually become an album that can be:
- Produced as an physical record
- Destined directly to a digital music market
Regardless of the format that the artist chooses, it'll be broadcasted to the world.
But we must first create it all from scratch:
- Arrangements
- Recordings
- Hiring musicians (when necessary)
- Recording these musicians
- Make all the final mixing process
- Do the mastering of the material
It's an exciting world, fantastic, because it allows the producer to get to know great works done by extremely talented composers or even go to record in other countries. I've had the opportunity to record in Europe, to record in other cities of the Mexican Republic ... It's very exciting work!
Producing Records for Companies
It may be the case that a company asks for a specific production of an album, for a record production. There are cases in which companies hire prestigious artists to sing for them, to record for them, to do a specific marketing campaign. It's not very common, but it has happened.
When it happens, we make a very interesting combination between designing the artist's album and making it match the company's marketing goals. It can happen, of course it can! It all depends on the needs and goals that the investor has for the production.
Alejandro Segovia's Record Production
I've had the chance to work with:
- Alejandra Tafich
- Paco Padilla
- Marcela de María y Campos
- Daniel Santoy
- Gerardo Ochoa
- Oskar Oropeza
- Alejandro Filio
- David Filio
- Fernando Delgadillo
- Carlos Díaz, who we called “Caíto”
- Alberto Escobar
- Fernando Escobar
- David San José, famous Spaniard musician, son of Ana Belén and Víctor Manuel
- I've recorded with musicians that work with Joaquín Sabina
- Guadalupe Pineda
- Rostros Ocultos
- Gonzalo Vega (yet his work was never published due to the success of his show “La Señora Presidenta”)
- Paty Cantú
- Antonio De Carlo
- Sara Valenzuela
- Sheila Ríos
Spotify Link to the productions of some of these artists made by Segovia.
Member of the Latin Grammy Academy
Now that I'm a part of the Latin Grammy Academy, all the record productions that I make will apply to be nominated for a Grammy. Whenever someone records an album with me, his/her production will be liable to be nominated for a Grammy.
Contact us if you'd like to work with Alejandro Segovia. We want your audio productions to be made by a professional, with the quality that your project or brand deserve.
