How Our Music Affects the EarthSuperstars flying private jets are in the spotlight thanks to those who closely monitor environmental footprints, but less time is devoted to considering how the music industry as a whole plays a role in impacting the environment.

ARTIST TO ARTIST: THE BIG STUDIO DIFFERENCEBy Kevin Flournoy

Pictured (L-R) in Studio B at United Recording are producer, pianist, songwriter Kevin Flournoy; recording engineer David Rideau; steel drummer and percussionist Leon Alexander, Jr.; and singer/songwriter Amanda Cole. Photo by David Goggin.

Young emerging artists who grew up in the era of GarageBand, Ableton and all manner of home studio rigs probably can’t fathom a time when every commercially released recording was produced in a professional studio with all the attendant bells and whistles. Guess what? The best and most polished tracks in most genres still are! Veteran composer, keyboardist, producer and artist Kevin Flournoy says that no matter one’s budget, every budding indie artist should experience the difference between recording at home and tracking live in a pro studio.  

As a pop, R&B and contemporary jazz producer, I work with a lot of talented indie vocalists who are always looking for an edge to stand out from other artists. I’m reminded of a conversation I had over lunch in Beverly Hills a few years back with a Toronto based female artist I was about to record with and her friend Kevin Teasley, Owner of TONIC who’s a multi-talented producer, , audio mixer and music director for top artists like J Lo. The subject of the best type of recording environments came up and I mentioned something that I always tell the up-and-coming singers and producers I work with. Just because they can go to Guitar Center, buy a relatively inexpensive rig and software and become their own producer doesn’t mean they should. Some tell me that they’re on a budget – but even if they had the money, they wouldn’t opt for or need to work in a big studio.

I consider that limited thinking on their part. I tell them, “You owe it to yourself to learn something about recording in a real studio.” I’ll ask them who their musical heroes are, and they’ll invariably mention superstars like Beyonce whose magic working with many producers happens in one of those facilities. When they respond that they have limited funds compared to  top selling artists, I challenge them: “Okay, then just record part of a single song at a big studio to learn what it actually sounds like.”  

As someone who has recorded in hundreds of different environments on budgets of every size, I can attest to the great difference in quality and sound when we’re recording in a real studio. I’ll admit that some artists in the rap/hip-hop arena can be successful with good sounding tracks done in a home studio, but I can assure you that none of the great country songs coming out of Nashville – whether from legendary artists or newcomers – are doing it in the garage, so to speak. Because the lunch conversation was with a vocalist who had been successful as a club performer but was just starting to record her own music, I told her she should compare how her vocals come out in a home recording environment vs. a bigger studio.

I told her that there were some high-end studios here in Hollywood like East West Studios and Westlake Recording Studio who understand limited finances and will let new artists work a few hours at a discount. If you’re up for the comparison challenge, you should find a way to develop a relationship with the person running the studio you have in mind. Enquire about what day the studio might have open in the future and allow your schedule to be flexible for that session time. See what kind of deal you can arrange based on your willingness to be flexible. Pick the tune you love the best. Make a decision on what tracks you’d like to overdub in the big studio environment. I would recommend recording your vocal tracks or add a live drummer to the mix. If you are successful in getting those few hours, you will notice an immediate upgrade from anything you can achieve at home. Singing in your bedroom or bathroom studio is fine, but you won’t have the power that can come from using a $20K vintage mic – or a veteran engineer whose experience and keen ears can make a huge difference.   

Once you’ve recorded your vocals at the studio, go home and do some toggling. The lingo I use for this process of comparison is “AB,” i.e. comparing version A to version B. So please AB what you tracked earlier using your private setup and the new high-end recordings. You will hear the difference.

While the original conversation I had about this process was with a vocalist, the AB test works just as well with different instruments because of the array of mics generally available at a studio. One of the best examples is capturing live drums. It’s difficult to get a premium sound in an untreated or halfway treated home setting. Many of the commercial studios I work in have a lot of mics to choose from that can collectively capture the perfect sound. What’s the point of investing thousands of dollars on a high-end drum set when you’re just going to record them at home with cheaper microphones? I call this simple education - please educate yourself about the difference in sonic quality. High-end and some mid-grade studios have both vintage and new mics like the Telefunken ELA M 251 and the Neumann U 87 Ai. If you decide to work at a smaller studio that doesn’t have that kind of selection, you can always rent a mic and bring it to your session.

As a keyboardist, I’ve done the AB test between track recordings of the acoustic piano sound I can create on my Yamaha keyboard at home vs. a well miked grand piano at the high-end studio. The difference is quite clear and I’ll always choose the grand piano when I can, but with a caveat. While it’s ideal for pop, R&B and especially jazz, you can’t use a grand piano with nice mics for a genre like reggae, which is defined by its charming raggedy keyboard sound. That aside, I always prefer real keyboards like the Fender Rhodes if they’re available over, an electric keyboard sound from a synthesizer. Using a high-end mic to track a real Rhodes as opposed to creating it on a keyboard will help the sound sit in the mix better.

For a lot of indie artists working on a small budget, my advice here may be a bit overwhelming. So I suggest you take some small steps. Just pick one part of the song, a certain segment or maybe one of the vocal or instrument tracks and book a few hours at a major studio at a reasonable negotiated rate. That’s all you need to do AB and learn the difference. Believe me, you will thank yourself!

About Kevin Flournoy: For over 30 years, the multi-talented keyboardist, composer and producer has been a powerhouse behind the scenes force for some of pop, R&B and contemporary jazz’s most iconic performers. Starting with saxophonist Ronnie Laws, The Emotions and Teena Marie in the 90s, he has written, performed or recorded with Chaka Khan, Babyface, The Pointer Sisters, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Jeffrey Osborne, Jennifer Hudson, Howard Hewitt, Jamie Foxx, The Jazz Crusaders and contemporary jazz greats Boney James, Norman Brown, Kirk Whalum and Harvey Mason. In the 2000s, Flournoy toured with Donny Osmond for six years. His latest release as an artist, the urban jazz single “Smooth It Over” is a collaboration with Ronnie Laws.

Website: www.KevinFlournoy.com

Instagram www.instagram.com/kevin.flo 

YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/c/KevinFlournoy100 

TikTok www.tiktok.com/@kevin.flournoy 

Facebook www.facebook.com/kevin.flournoy1 

Warner has 13 days to launch a bid for Believe, as French company agrees to let WMG peruse its ‘data room’This is the latest twist in an ongoing corporate saga
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Tencent Music users are ‘willing to pay’ for music produced with the company’s AI tools… and 3 other things we learned on TME’s latest earnings callKey takeaways from Tencent Music Entertainment's latest earnings call
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Challenges for musicians are abundant, but so are the opportunities [MIDiA’s Hanna Kahlert]Anyone can release music thanks to technology, but getting anyone to hear it seems increasingly difficult. Hanna Kahlert of MIDiA Research explores the challenges and the opportunities for change.....
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Tracy Chan exits SoundCloud, joins AI music platform Splash as CEOVeteran music tech executive Tracy Chan has exited his role as COO of SoundCloud after less than two years to become the CEO of red-hot AI music creation platform Splash.....
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12 Impressive Women Who Give Back to the Music Industry [Ariel Hyatt]International Women's Month was the perfect time for Cyber PR's Ariel Hyatt to ask twelve impressive women three questions about how they support others in the music industry.....
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TiaCorine and Friends at the EchoplexIt's a solid fact that all of the best hip-hop shows this writer has been to over the past year have featured all-female bills. "Female rap" isn't a genre, and we're not going to patronize anyone. But this is indeed a golden period, and the women are killing it.

From Doja Cat and Baby Tate to Flo Milli and Bia, with openers including Doechii, Maya the Don and Lakeyah -- every single show has felt like an event, and on Saturday night TiaCorinne, A.R. The Mermaid and BbyAfricka continued the trend with another gig that was gold from start to finish.

The pride of Inglewood, BbyAfricka, opened the show and didn't stop moving throughout. "He loves me 'cos I'm model-skinny and I'm bad and rude," she purrs on the freaking magnificent "Baton Rouge," while proving all of those things to be true. BbyAfricka takes no shit.

Memphis' A.R. The Mermaid is next -- a blur of fine rhymes delivered with her trademark drawl. A.R. is a phenomenon and one of the hottest rappers on the scene right now. She is as close to a magical figure as we have in real-life hip-hop. She’s entering the scene on a wave of positivity, joy and color. She might stick out her tongue and flip the bird, but she’s doing it with a wink and a smile, and it’s easy to get on board with that air of gleeful anarchy. At the Echoplex, we got all that and "Watt We Doingg" was a standout.

North Carolina's TiaCorine headlined, as she celebrates the release of her latest EP Almost There, her first major release since her full length I Can't Wait in 2022. In between guest appearances by a few friends including influencer Aliyah's Interlude, TiaCorinne thrilled the Echoplex crowd with a set of razor sharp tunes including "Pancakes" and a handful from the new extended play.

The crowd was well up for it, the DJs popping, and the Echoplex essentially exploded in a tornado of hip-hop joy. Three strong, talented, female rappers, one awesome evening.

French regulators step in to remove roadblock for possible Warner Music Group bid for BelieveBelieve's board turned to the AMF to adjudicate whether a particular move by a consortium led by Believe founder/CEO, Denis Ladegaillerie, was lawful
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Getting It Done – The Week in D.I.Y & Indie MusicThis week, our tips and advice for all the independent, do-it-yourselfers covered how to cure imposter syndrome, a quick Spotify profile refresh, how songwriters get paid, and much more......
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Nelson at the Canyon, MontclairHaving never attended a show at the Canyon, Montclair before, this writer wasn't quite prepared for how surreal an experience it would be. First of all, it's located inside of a mall. Not a strip mall, but a full-on mall with a Macy's, Victoria's Secret, etc. At least that means there's plenty of parking, but it still feels weird when you take an escalator by Macy's and make a turn into a music venue.

Once in the venue, you're faced with a choice between being seated at a table and ordering a compulsory, expensive meal or taking your chances with general access. It's all a bit "dinner theater," and isn't particularly conducive for rock & roll.

That said, Nelson's crowd isn't particularly rowdy. The twin sibling rockers, the children of Ricky Nelson and Kristin Nelson, put on a great show that weighed heavily on their 1990 smash debut After the Rain.

The entire band was in fine form as they blasted through gems like "Fill You Up," and "After the Rain." Guitarist Neil Zaza soloed himself into a frenzy and, despite the seated crowd offering little in the way of energy, Matthew and Gunnar Nelson overcame the odd surroundings and allowed us to recall the days when their flowing blonde locks were all over MTV.

They have a sense of humor about their image; they were selling t-shirts that parody a classic Nirvana shirt -- the iconic smiley face blessed with Nelson's hair. Between songs, they talk about their early days, performing new wave at Madam Wong's club and attracting the attention of punk bands such as the Germs.

But ultimately, we wanted to hear the classics and Nelson delivered. "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" sounded immense, even on this stage. Nelson, it seems, can overcome just about anything.

Album Review: "Young Love & Saturday Nights" by Chris Young (9/10)A generous 18 track, straight-to-the-point Contemporary Country album with just the right amount of Pop and nostalgia to invoke personal memories. A “play-all-the-way-through” experience, as long as you can resist repeating party track 7 “Double Down.”

From movie-ready “All Dogs go to Heaven” to “Gettin Older”, a coming of age trip through familiar yet creative songwriting. Despite the heavy use of auto-tune and strict quantization, Chris Young is a singer/songwriter's singer with contagious hooks and rhythmic lyrics.

A solid 9 out of 10 for Young Love & Saturday Nights

From the ‘secret’ composer behind 650 fake artists to BandLab’s 100m users… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThis week's biggest stories...
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