Production Gym

Recent Sessions

• Tue, Aug 11, 2026 Nathan 2 attended

  Worked through a reference-track deconstruction and production rebuild exercise, identifying the key sonic elements of a moody, low-register chord-based track and then reconstructing an approximation in Logic Pro. Covered chord voicing for low-register "growl," bass sound design using electric piano and synthesis, drum processing with compression and reverb, and vintage EQ (Pultec-style) for tonal shaping. Also touched on session organization, gain staging, and routing strategy during the build.

• Thu, Aug 06, 2026 Jam Phelps 2 attended

  We spent this morning's Production Gym on an active listening session dedicated to Björk, prompted by a recent encounter with a music professional who had never heard of her. We worked through three songs — "Pagan Poetry," and "Unravel," and a recent Björk/Rosalía collaboration — analyzing mixing decisions, vocal production, drum programming, reverb use, no pitch correction, automation, and stereo field placement as they appeared in each track. The session also opened into a group discussion about music history literacy as a foundational skill for producers.

• Wed, Jul 29, 2026 Jon Mattox 3 attended

  We did a deep-dive stem analysis of Steve Miller Band's "Fly Like an Eagle," isolating individual tracks — drums and bass, organ, guitar, synthesizers, and vocals — to examine how each element contributes to the song's overall sound. Key discussion points included the role of the Hammond B3 organ with Leslie speaker in creating the song's harmonic movement, the use of a tape-loop echo unit on arpeggiated synth passages, and the production history behind the track's "happy accident" ending. We also looked at the song's unconventional structure, which grew out of years of live jamming rather than composed arrangement.

• Thu, Jul 16, 2026 Shane Mickelsen 2 attended

  Covered the full import, routing, editing, and initial mix workflow for a live string orchestra session recorded onto a solo piano track. Walked through grouping stereo room mics and spot mics onto separate buses, applying reverb via a post-fader send using 7th Heaven Professional, timing edits across three string passes, and basic piano EQ. Discussed mic placement strategy for the recording session itself, including ORTF pairs, a Decca tree, and a wide room pair, along with the cost breakdown and logistical considerations of hiring a string octet versus a quartet.