Ignore the side conversation on Coyote - has really nothing to do with your question.

Guitarhacker said to go study different producers' work - there's really nothing better you can do.

Someone else early in the thread stated that this role and activity has different meanings for different styles and I would say for different budgets.

Here's some homework:

1. Go to your CD or LP or mp3 file collection and pick out 25 of your favorite songs from those recordings.
2. Find out who the producer is on those songs. Also find out if there are mixing credits and engineer credits and arranging credits.
3. Make a table of all 25 songs and who the arranger, engineer, mixer and producer is for each.
4. Very likely, you are going to find some names repeated across columns; maybe not on the same recording, but you will find some common names very likely.
5. Go obtain as many recordings with that name listed as financially feasible.
6. Find magazine and on-line articles about what they say they do to 'produce'.
7. Try one thing that they do from a recording/mixing/arranging standpoint.
8. When you think you've learned that thing, move on to another. You don't have to get expert at it, just get the concept and then move on to something else.
9. Repeat.
10. This is supposed to be fun, if it's not - maybe do something else.

For me, it started in the 80s, falling in love with U2's The Unforgettable Fire which introduced me to Brian Eno. Eno has been musician, engineer, producer, collaborator, arranger, etc. on a variety of very diverse recordings but all usually involving reverb-y sound, which I love.

Also, go subscribe to TapeOp - it's free and chock full of great articles and interviews with engineers, producers, etc.

http://tapeop.com/subscriptions/

-Scott

My Songs, photos, writing,etc.
My Sound Cloud