Pstudio Psychology: When to hit “Reset” on a Session

Houston, we have a problem…

When do you hit that switch?

If you’ve been playing along at home, we’ve talked a lot about keeping the flow and having successful sessions.

Well there are many paths to the summit my friends. Sometimes the path is blocked and going around is more prudent than lobbing dynamite at the boulder across your path.

I always look for the pressure valve in my surroundings. 99% of the time I work in an environment where one can relax and or have fun. I like studios with a view whether it be Times Square, a lake, or the woods.

I also like vibe in the work space as well. But then comes that boulder. Now we all are going to be annoyed by any disturbance of the groove, but don’t let the client know.

But wait, sometimes that boulder is the client!! And it’s up to you to know the best way to deal with the problem that’s rolling right at you.

Escaping the Session of Doom

Recently, I had a vocal session with a client who is usually very cheerful and bright. She always arrives with food and a hug. We always have fun and laugh on our sessions.

The last time out, she was under a huge amount of pressure in her life. She pushed the start time back 3 times and a 10 AM became a 3 PM. We hugged it out and decided to “lunch” as we worked.

Only problem was the client was there…but the artist side of her wasn’t.

This artist is a professional and she had always delivered at the mic but I sensed this was possibly going to be a scrub. Just after that she realized the situation too, and I could see that look of panic and frustration that comes when you can’t express yourself the way you want to, spread across her usually smiling face.

I knew exactly what was wrong here: All day long she had been talking about outside commitments pressing on her. Houston, we may have to abort launch! Nah, we can work this out. What we need is a reset. Take her out of both situations.

Take a walk along the lake, head upstairs and visit with the owner and his girlfriend before heading off to the kitchen to tell jokes and eat giant-sized chocolate chip cookies! All along the tensions are easing and before you know it, we slide into the studio and start laying down some really emotionally charged vocal performances.

Now it seems vocalists feel the pressure more than most, after all they are the “main event” in this circus. At a different session, one such vocalist was bringing herself to tears trying to reproduce that feeling she had when she first wrote the song. (Hint: that’s the stuff you need to capture.) She was becoming obsessed with not getting it.

Fortunately at the little studio in the woods they had a potato gun!! This young woman got her hands on it, and was soon giggling like a kid as she launched a few spuds into the air. The vocal she recorded that day would go on to win her the Independent Music World Series competition, as well as number two pop tune in the Billboard International Songwriting Competition..

So you see, getting the balance between pushing on and hitting reset, is critical for any artist. It’s up to you as the producer to find a way to help them get to that space where they can deliver that emotional performance, the one that grabs the listener by the soul and says “hear me, know me.”

Make the Right Call

The Big Lesson here: Know when you need to push on, but also recognize when you need to guide the artist away from the session and into some activity which lets them unwind enough to return to the microphone refreshed and focused.

I’ve been asked, “How does a producer know when to push on, and when to take a break?”

It’s a tricky call when an artist wants to keep trying to get it down. You don’t want to discourage them. I’ve always gone with my gut and looking back I can honestly say that in each case, the artist lacked a consistent quality in the performance or sometimes they lacked a consistent approach to the part. (A little experimentation is encouraged but you need to know when the artist has lost their connection to the song.)

In every case whether the artist was conscious of the fact or not, they were discouraged. In all these scenarios you will not capture a truly engaging performance.

Time is certainly money in the studio — but lost time wearing down a performer and not getting a usable track is an even bigger waste. When you’ve hit the wall, don’t be afraid to hit reset.

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