Season 2 - Episode 1: Gary Gray - Use Your Ear, Not Your Gear

This week I’m talking with producer and engineer Gary Gray in L.A. Gary was mentored by music legends Quincy Jones, Jermaine Jackson and Phil Collins. He’s also become an in demand producer for Disney and 20th Century Fox. We are discussing the importance of networking and being a professional producer out of your home studio and Gary also shares a some tips and tricks to get your music to sound like the hits you hear on radio from his online teaching course The Lucrative Home Studio.

Sponsors: Edenbrooke Productions - We offer consulting services and are offering listeners a 1-hour introductory special. To request more info on consulting services, email Marty at contact@johnmartinkeith.com. 

In this episode we talk about:

*Being mentored by heavyweight Motown players as a kid.
*Anything you can do to enhance the human factor of your career by dealing with other people face to face is a good thing.
*Playing drums for Motown with Barry Gordy and Suzanne de Passe.
*working for Music Connection Magazine selling advertising.
*Protocol is communication and coordination.
*Don’t open your mouth unless you know what you’re talking about or have researched.
*Believe in people.
*Prepare yourself and know what you’re talking about.
*You’re either networking or not working.
*Go above and beyond for another human being.
*Being mentored by Quincy Jones, Phil Collins, Chick Corea, Jermaine Jackson and more.
*Working with Disney as a one stop shop.
*Producing from a home studio.
*Disney connected me with 20th Century Fox.
*1/3 of the formula is quantity, but 2/3’s of the formula is quality.
*Being a mentor and teacher to.
*The Lucrative Home Studio course - www.newartistmodel.com/lucrative-home-studio/
*https://youtu.be/73XN0jhx6oE  music composed for a commerical.
*Checkerboard A/B ing.
*Use a reference track to compare with from the beginning in your DAW to create radio quality recordings.
*Mix your track while comparing to a mastered track.
*Shave a little bit of the low and the high end and pull the volume of that reference track down to the volume of your mix. Now you’ve reverse engineered that master recording pretty close to what the mix sounded like before it was mastered. Now compare it by ear to your mix.
*You’re comparing, not matching.
*Writing articles for Tune Core.
*The quality of work is the most important thing.
www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com 
*Licensing is a marathon race.
*Use your ear, not your gear when you mix and master.
*Balance your life.
*Styles and genres being asked for by music supervisors.
*www.aboveandbeyondmusic.net for music briefs.

 

BIO:

Gary Gray is an award winning composer, producer and engineer. He’s produced multiple projects for 20th Century Fox, Disney, Hollywood Records, A&E, EMI, CBS and many others all in a home studio that cost him less than $2,000 to build.
Gary grew up in Cleveland, Ohio as a prodigy drummer and was raised on symphonic classical music, R&B, rock and roll and big band jazz. Gary’s first job was playing drums for Berry Gordy at Motown Records in Los Angeles.
Gary himself has been mentored by Phil Ramone, Quincy Jones, Jermaine Jackson and Phil Collins. Gary honed his marketing savvy as the advertising and promotions manager for Music Connection Magazine. He has always enjoyed “both sides of the desk” in the music business.
Having taught music since the age of 16, Gary not only walks the walk, he is also widely regarded as an exceptional mentor for composers, songwriters, musicians, producers, vocalists, and engineers. Gary brings you real solutions to real problems that home studio owners all over the world have benefited from.