Recording - October 2016 - 71

Pro Tools and you kind of geek out about it. I
think you have to have something that draws
you to that side of it to get good at it, because
there is a hell of a learning curve there.
Continued from page 68
famous tomorrow, but I'm used to knowing that it's
a journey that you have to travel and be patient and
do good work and try to get better at it and try to
make more contacts and try to write great songs.
You know, you have to be in it for the long hall, and
just strive to really be great, because every time you

"The minute you heard 'I Kissed a
Girl,' you knew that was a #1 song.
The minute you hear certain songs,
you just know from hearing it, or
there's something in the track, or
there's a hook. And that's what you
guys have to strive to do."
-Allan Rich

But I also think that everybody who is a songwriter should dip their hand into it, to look at it.
They are so cheap. I mean, Logic is like $200
now, which is not a huge investment in your
career. Garageband is free. So you can really
start to play around with these things.
And also, if you're an artist, there is absolutely
the biggest death knell of your career would be
if you go into a producer and say, "Please produce my music," because they'll produce it the
way they want to produce it and the way they
want to hear it. If you understand what it is

you're trying to get at in terms of what you want
your music to sound like, the elements you want
in there, you should have some idea of the elements and how it's going to sound, and maybe
have some fix on some of the production. So at
least you can present your ideas with maybe
some bells and whistles and some weird shit
going on in the track. And you go, "I know it
sounds like rubbish, but this is kind of what I'm
trying to do with the song." And also, if you can
produce to a certain level, then you might start
making some money off of the TV and film sync
side, which obviously, I know, is a whole other
discussion. So that adds a little bit extra to the
question you asked in the beginning.
Don't miss Part 3 of this panel in next month's TAXI
Insider.

do pitch a song-even the few times you can pitch
a song-you are pitching it with the best songwriters in the world.
You may not even be in the batch that they are in,
so you're going to have to draw some attention to
the A&R person by having a great title, by having a
great track-because you have about 30 seconds
and he's on the phone while he's listening anyway.
So you have to do something within a title, why he's
going to listen to your song above somebody else's.
You just have to come from a unique viewpoint and
write something that is different, something that is
left-of-center, something that's not generic to try to

"I think you have to have a desire to
want to produce. You have to have
that thing when you look at Garageband or Logic or Pro Tools and you
kind of geek out about it. I think you
have to have something that draws
you to that side of it to get good at it,
because there is a hell of a learning
curve there."
-Richard Harris
get attention. Listen, the minute you heard "I
Kissed a Girl," you knew that was a #1 song. The
minute you hear certain songs, you just know from
hearing it, or there's something in the track, or
there's a hook. And that's what you guys have to
strive to do, because you have to come from a
higher level just to get in the game.
Richard: Can I just add one little point? Getting
back to your original question, actually, about do
you have to be able to produce? I think you have to
have a desire to want to produce. You have to have
that thing when you look at Garageband or Logic or
71

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