JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Female Producers??

Hi All

I was talking to my producer Rodney the other day about this, I have not met a female producer yet, I'm curious, does anyone know of any???? It seems that men out way us on this in a big way, how come hah????

Curious Aussie

Michele

Carole King?

Hi Ben

Who is Carole King? Is that the only one you know? Golly gosh, do we have any female producers here on JPF hah??

Hugs
Michele

Here's some for ya, Aussie Girl:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2006-04-11-female-producers-sidebar_x.htm

We need more!

When I saw "female producers" I thought you were talking about women having a lot of babies! JK!

Don't know of many...just like I don't know many female lead guitar players *sigh*

Hi Ben

I know who Carole King is, just found her on the net, so thanks.

Hi Mark

YIPEE, now I feel better, we do have a few female producers around hah. Go Girl's! Thanks for finding them for me.

Hi Polly

You are so funny Polly, we need to encourage other females to get into producing hah, and playing those lead guitars, it would work out really well for Mums if they got into producing, cause they can work from home, I just think it's strange that there isn't a lot of females doing it hey.

Hugs Michele

I get it Michele, you are a sweet lady, need someone to take care of you.
Carole King is very famous in the US, and a powerful person.

Never underestimate the power of women. Especially in the US.

They run the show here.

Sheryl Crow, if I'm not mistaken.

Thats cuz they're back in the kitchen where they belong!
KIDDING!!!

Hi Ben

You are so funny, I went and listened to Carole King, I remember some of her songs hey. She has a beautiful voice doesn't she, very talented lady.

Hi Sergio

Thanks, there is hope for the girls hah, I will have to google her name and see what comes up.

Hi Bob

Now listen here Bob, us girl's are pretty well MULTI TASKED, I'm pretty sure we could produce songs, sing, write songs, cook, wash dishes, wash cloths, sweep the floors, mop, look after the kids, etc, don't you think hah. Told you we were MULTI TASKED, YAY! WE ARE JUST TOO GOOD. GO THE GIRL'S!

Hugs Michele

Hi Michele

A very interesting question.

I can't think of any but I'm sure there must be some. Sure there are a few female artists that also produce, but I'm not aware of any that you would say they are first and foremost producers. i.e. someone an artist would seek out to produce a cd.

Nige

Hi Nigel

It is a very interesting topic hey. I don't understand 'WHY' there isn't many female producers, we are well and truly out voted on this. It got me curious when talking to Rodney about it.

But I have to admit, the guys are very talented when it comes to producing, and maybe Bob is right about us girl's in the Kitchen,LOL, I bet you guys couldn't make a LAMINGTON as good as this Aussie girl hah.

Thanks Nigel, here is some that Mark found for me, YIPEE, they are out there, but not many.

Notable women spin hits as producers
Updated 4/27/2006 2:05 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print |

Enlarge By Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Missy Elliott has won Grammys and produced extensively, including for Mary J. Blige, Tweet, TLC, Ciara and Whitney Houston.
It's not a lengthy list, but the last half-century has seen some prominent female producers. Among them: Alison Krauss, Mary J. Blige and Linda Perry.
PROFILE: Lari White first female producer for major male country star

Bonnie Guitar: The Fleetwoods' late-'50s hits Come Softly to Me, Mr. Blue.

Ellie Greenwich: Co-produced, with husband Jeff Barry (although he often got the sole credit), Neil Diamond's early 1966-67 hits, including Cherry Cherry, plus 1964 hits by The Shangri-Las and Dixie Cups.

Sylvia Moy: As Motown's first female record producer, she worked on '60s songs by Marvin Gaye, The Velvelettes and Chris Clark.

Valerie Simpson: Another Motowner, she worked with husband Nick Ashford on Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's late-'60s duets and songs by other Motown stars.

Sylvia Robinson: Label owner produced '70s hits Love on a Two-Way Street by The Moments and Rapper's Delight by the Sugarhill Gang.

Angela Winbush: Recording artist produced '80s songs by Janet Jackson, the Isley Brothers, Stephanie Mills and Sheena Easton.

Bernadette Cooper: Ex-Klymaxx singer worked with '80s/early '90s artists Nia Peeples, Mazarati, Salt-n-Pepa and Paula Abdul.

Joyce 'Fenderella' Irby: Fellow Klymaxx member worked with The System and Sammie.

Wendy Waldman: Singer/songwriter became an '80s/'90s country producer on albums by the Forester Sisters, Suzy Bogguss and New Grass Revival.

Sylvia Massy Shivy: Modern-rock specialist, including two Tool albums and records by Powerman 5000 and Green Jelly.

Trina Shoemaker: Alternative and folkie credits include records by Throwing Muses, Victoria Willliams and Catie Curtis.

Alison Krauss: Artist recently has branched out into bluegrass and country production, including Nickel Creek, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain and the Cox Family.

Missy Elliott: Rapper has produced extensively, including Mary J. Blige, Tweet, Fantasia, TLC, MC Lyte, Ciara and Whitney Houston.

Linda Perry: Singer turned songwriter- for-hire also produces: Get the Party Started by Pink, Beautiful by Christina Aguilera, Kelly Osbourne and Cheap Trick.

GO GIRL'S!


Hugs Michele

If you have a hard time finding a female producer, try to find a female recording engineer!

If you look beyond singers, publishers and a&r, music business is a heavily male dominated world.

Female recording engineer? Now there is an oxymoron. Women and technology just do not go together......(he says ducking for cover)

Hi Magne

Now listen here, at the moment it is heavily male dominated world in this area, but it is changing, as above, Mark found me some female producers hah, so watch out boys, things are changing.

Mark, do you think you can find me any female recording engineers hah????

Hugs Michele

It is changing, huh? That list probably covers it worldwide, so try to calculate the percentage of female producers.

I think for a change to happen, females will have to make themselves interested in doing something for OTHER people, as producing is about

Hi Jim

Golly gosh, thats a big word "OXYMORON". What is that?? ARE YOU DUCKING FOR COVER JIM, LOL, what do you mean WOMEN AND TECHNOLOGY JUST DO NOT GO TOGETHER. US GIRLS ARE MULTI TASKED!

You guys are funny, Okay girl's I'm out voted here, HELP!

Hugs Michele

Went looking for FEMALE ENGINEERS, this is what I found, hmm, still looking.

April 28-29, 2003 -- In the recently released film Laurel Canyon, actress Frances McDormand plays a hard-living, hard-loving record producer who spins out hits from her studio in the Hollywood Hills. But no such woman actually exists in the record industry.

In an industry where many male record producers are household names -- from George Martin to Timbaland, from Phil Spector to Dr. Dre -- women have yet to smash this glass ceiling. In a two-part series, NPR’s Neda Ulaby examines the secret history of female rock 'n' roll record producers.

A talented record producer can often be the crucial link for an artist or band looking for a hit. The producer is hired to help develop the "sound" of the music -- the cadence, the key, the tempo, the vibe, the emotion. And except for a select handful of women, the producer behind the sound board is almost exclusively male.

Producer Trina Shoemaker was once the apprentice of record "super producer" Daniel Lanois, who helped to shape the sound of U2 and Peter Gabriel. She is also the only woman to win a Grammy for sound engineering. She tells Ulaby that some women are turned off by the grubby, technical side of producing. "This is a trade skill -- this has nothing to do with tight pants and hairdos and makeup," Shoemaker says.

"You have to give everything -- I don't care if you're a man or a woman, it's still this huge commitment of time to learn the trade," she says.

In the 1950s, a woman named Cordell Jackson blazed a trail for female engineers and producers by founding Moon Records in Memphis, Tenn. Jackson was one of a handful of women accepted as equals in the recording studio. "It's a lost history," says Gillian Gaar, a historian of women in rock. "I wonder how many women there were... putting out small records that we don't know about."

Following Jackson's lead, the list of women producers began to grow: Ellie Greenwich, Sylvia Moy, Linda Creed and Sylvia Robinson. Robinson would go on to run the Sugar Hill record label, which in 1979 introduced hip-hop to mainstream America with the hit "Rapper’s Delight."

"The nascent genre of women’s music created its own producers," Ulaby says. "Singer and guitarist June Millington fronted Fanny, a feminist band from the '70s, at pains to distinguish itself from girl groups." Millington herself went on to produce other artists, but was literally locked out of the studio when her own albums were being mixed.

Even women producers who should be household names have difficulty naming other female producers. "It's horrifying," says Vicki Wickham, who once managed blue-eyed soul star Dusty Springfield, alternative rock icon Morrissey, and has produced and managed many other acts over the past four decades. "It's so weird, because in the back of my mind I keep trying to think of the women who are out there -- but there just aren't."

Leslie Ann Jones is director of music recording and scoring at George Lucas' Skywalker Sound. She started her career with dreams of becoming a record producer, but now produces jazz and classical albums, because she feels those genres are more welcoming than rock 'n' roll. For her, the reason for the lack of women producers is simple: "There seems to be a lot of typecasting in our industry."

For her part, Trina Shoemaker plays with some of those gender expectations to get results. "I can rock out like a dude," she tells Ulaby. "I can turn a guitar up as well as any guy... If you want me to turn up the drums, I will turn them up so loud they will melt your face. I'll flirt when I need to get what I want on tape -- from men or women, it makes no difference."


OKAY I FOUND SOME, IN NASHVILLE-

YAY, their is a group of women on a site called, Nashville Music Pros, YIPEE, so their is hope.

Now I'm going to bed. FEW!

Hi Michele

I have no doubt that there are female producers (as Mark’s list shows) however there are no names that trip off the tongue. The ones on the list I did recognise are not renowned for their production skills. For example, if I said “What is Alison Krauss famous for?” no one would give ‘Production’ as their first answer (btw that comment is in no way a reflection on AK's production ability which I'm sure is excellent)

However, if I said “What are Trevor Horn/George Martin/Bill Szymczyk famous for?” the answer would be first and foremost ‘producer’.

As I said before it is an interesting question. There are many areas in life and professions where I feel women are not adequately represented, but hopefully the tide will turn.

And yes, there is always hope

Nige

HiDee Mz Michele!

Maybe there aren't LOTS of Lady Producers in the Music Biz... There are an ever-growing-share in Movie & TV Production.

As for the Music Field, plenty of Gals in the Publishing End...& one of the TOP-Earning SongWRITERS is Dianne Warren...check out HER Bio...(dunno of any Men who earn more Annually at-it than She Does.)

Check out Barbara Streisand's latest contribution to the Music World...she's now the "ONLY Entertainer in History to have a #1 Album in each of 5 consecutive decades".."She's now had a #1 Charted album 45 years Apart...a World's Record".."Just tied the Beatles for Top-10 Billboard Charted Albums"...and her "sales are surpassed in Album Sales only by Elvis Presley." Not too shabby for a now-67 year old Woman, eh? ;-)> (I'll add that The Rolling Stones & Frank Sinatra surpassed the Beatles & Barbara for #1-Charted Albums..to maintain Credibility.) But..Streisand is One Incredible Woman in The Music World..(& I know she's directed Motion Pics...maybe she's produced a few Albums, too?)

Hey..get your Hits a-goin'..then go bust up that Glass Soundbooth, Gal! It's for sure Do-Able!

Continued Best Wishes & Big Hugs,
Stan

I don't think this is a glass ceiling so much as a lack of interest.

My daughters are very interested in music, in singing, in writing, in being involved...but they really aren't much interested in pushing the buttons and twiddling the knobs. I keep trying to open the door for them, and let them know they can do this for fun whenever they want to record themselves...but they just don't seem to want to embrace that part.

When I was a teenager, I would have committed a crime just to get a chance to do it.

Anyway, I really do hope to see more women get involved in that side of things...even if the whole industry does seem to be collapsing on itself.

I think it is a lack of interest thing....I went to hospital today where my son was having a routine ECG.....ALL the staff in the department were predominantly women and ALL the complicated hi-tec electronic scanners etc were operated by women. These machines are as, if not more, technically involved and complicated than sound engineering eqipment.
There are no reasons why more women cannot get on the tech side of the music industry.
When it comes to theatre, the film industry, TV and radio women are pretty well represented behind the production scene using cameras, sound equipment, and in control rooms.

Michelle,

As many are noting here, there are actually quite a few. But Mark's assumptoin of not being interested in turning knobs is quite correct. It is just not something they normally do. There are quite a few reasons for this.

The carreer path of a producer is very illustrative by Carol King. She wrote in the Brill Building in the 50's and 60's in New York. She had cuts like "Heatwave", "Up on the Roof" and dozens of others in the late 50's and 60's with Motown and other places. That was back when there were writers and artists, and rarely did they intersect. But she was the back ground of much of the world in that era. Well known but unknown, because the writers did not recieve as much attention as the stars.

That changed around 1970 with the explosion of the singer/songwriter in the California era. Carly Simon, James Taylor, Crosby Stills Nash, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Brown, the Eagles, etc. all were singer/songwriters, and exploded the "inside cut" phenomenon that we still hear today. Carol became a HUGE recording artist with an album called "Tapestry" and reset the bar for what was expected of writer/artists.

As she progressed both financially and renown, she got into producing, mostly herself at first, then asked by record labels to produce others. That is where she is today.

You don't hear as much from female producers for the same reason you don't have quite as many female songwriters. Women tend to come to the writing world later than men because they are usually concerned with being the stars. So the learning and professional curve is longer. But it takes earning credits in other areas, writing, to earn your way to being a producer.

Then there is the other nasty side. A producer not only has to be the creative director for people that tend to be self absorbed spoiled children who are the artists, so they become baby sitters, and also they are the lightning rod for anything bad that can happen with the business side on the label. So if a project turns out bad through no fault of their own, they are fired. Their reputation is in tatters and they have to re-earn it over again. It happens with men also. Everyone's butt is on the line on every project they are involved in and record companies don't tend to like throwing away millions of dollars on projects that don't sell or are sabatoged by the artists themselves, competeing forces within their own labels or outside business interests. So it is much easier not to take on that role, and a lot more sane.

The latest example that I know of personally is a writer named Victoria Shaw, who is a well known writer here in town. I work out of the studio next door to hers on Music Row. This past year she come out with a group she produced known as "Lady Antebellum." It is two guys and a girl, who is the daughter of a very well known artist from the 80's, Linda Davis. They did very well this year, with several hit songs and awards.

Inevitably, as soon as their album was a success, they fired Victoria as producer. Why? No one knows, but I am sure people at the label tell them "the NEXT one can be even bigger if we change the entire team you work with." And that is probably because someone further up the food chain has some producer they want them to work with because they are in some kind of business arrangement with that producer where they will financially benefit if the changes are made. Everyone is paranoid their jobs are going, so it is very dog eat dog.

Overall the music business is like an iceberg. Very little of what goes on is seen from the general public. Everyone tends to think that you write a few songs, record them, get them out there and things take off. Everyonce in a while that happens and it always has to have elements of that in it, but most of it happen behind the scenes. That is the frustrating part of the real music business. 85% of a career are things you have no control over.

That is why you can't get too caught up in anything, expect anything, and worry about anything other than that 15% you can have something to do with. Writing, performing and recording. The rest is like a relay race. you start it off and it is up to others to carry the baton to the next level.

MAB

Hi again Nigel

I do get what your saying, and as I am finding, their is a few women doing it. I do think male producers working with female artists, does make a good mix though, hey. :)The guys are very talented in producing.

Yeah I am amazed that we do equal in a lot of other areas, but not as female producers or engineers, thats what I found strange.

There are many areas in life and professions where I feel women are not adequately represented, but hopefully the tide will turn.

I hope they turn too.

Thanks Michele

Hi Mark

That's really good that you try to encourage your girl's to have a go at pushing the buttons. Maybe thats the way it will always be, girls are just not interested, other wise I think their would be a lot more female producers, and engineers in the Music Bus today.

Your girls sound like a lot of fun, my little girl gets singing on the microphone, it's cute listening to her singing Country Roads.

I haven't done much singing now for a few months, and I sang yesterday, "The Heart Of a Storm", Elliza loves me singing it, and she sang along with me, so cute.

Thanks Mark

Hugs Michele

Hi Stan, Jim, and Marc

Wow, I will be back later to reply, gotta clean the house, great subject this is, very educational.

Hugs
Michele

Most of the new entrepeneurs are women. Most of new businesses are women. They excel in many areas. In Nashville all three PRO's (performance Rights Organizations) are run by women. There have been women record label executives, some of the biggest publishers have been women, NSAI was founded by a woman.
The Bluebird cafe' Nashville's top songwriter's club was founded by a woman, Amy Kurland.

Women have been VERY well represented for many years. Most of the entertainment business is done behind the scenes. You don't see it. It is designed that way. These are people who don't go for the spotlight. They go primarily for the money. It may not be where they started out but it is where many of them end up.

MAB

Hi Marc, how are you??

Entrepreneurs, golly gosh, that's a big word hah. I have to get the dictionary out. Marc I believe whats meant to be, is meant to be, men do out way the girls on producing & engineering in the Music Industry. It's good to know there is some, and I'm sure that it will gradually grow in the future, but I think the men will always out do us in this area.

We do have lots of intelligent women, I watched a documentary once of this female doctor who invented a spray on skin, for burnt patients, that's really smart hey. Yes I agree, we have lots of talented women, and men.

I watch my producer in action, and I'm amazed at how he plays those instruments, one track at a time, over & over, until he gets each track spot on, it's really hard work.

It looks too complicated for this Aussie girl, and a little too late for me to learn how to do it. I don't think I would have the patience, I find writing the lyrics a challenge, let alone all that technical stuff. Producers are very SMART hah.

Marc can you explain, what does an Audio engineer do differently then a producer??

Hugs Michele

Hi Jim

That's true hey, their is lots of women who operate hi-tech equipment in hospitals, TV, theatre, Film Industry, etc, so their is no real reason that more women aren't producing or engineering music today. That's what has me curious!

Hugs Michele

Is it something to do with turning knobs.
Seriously though, I used to in a past life be a locksmith, and so many times I would get called out to open a broken padlock and find that the female shop assistant just coudnt open it.
I never figured out why. A guy would just do it.

Of course there are exceptions to the rule.

Now I wait for the flack hehe.

Roy

Michelle,

The higher level you go, the more segmented things get. Most musicians who are interested in studio work, get very profficent at it by doing it over and over and over. They play all the tracks and do things. As they get more experienced and making more money, some times they tend to hire more players so they can concentrate on one thing.

An audio engineer usually is specifically involved with the technical aspect of the recording process. The dials, bells whistles, effects, anything that has to do with the sound and collection of information to finished project.

Sometimes producers have different functions. Last night I was exectutive producer for a woman from Canada who is a regular client of mine. She comes in about twice a year to work with me and does my "tours". But she is different in that she comes in for a week at a time and we just write. Then we record at the end of the week.

This trip is a little more focused in that she is putting together songs for her own CD. She is 47 so a little old for a mainstream record deal. But she and I write some really good songs and last year I got her a song pluggers. So she is writing for herself and for the industry.

Her job is she is the owner (there you go, strong woman again) of a Sauce company. They make hot sauces, dessert sauces, etc. for several large grocery stores in Canada. But she is originally from Mississippi and lived in Nashville 12 years ago. She and My Father were good friends. She moved to Canada, got married and started working with me again about two years ago. She is a motorcycle rider with a bunch of women in Canada. She and her group, Women in the Wind" are comprised of judges, business owners, lawyers, all women who are successful and like to ride those big motorcycles. They do charity things like riding for breast cancer, and we have written many songs for them. Including their theme song, "Women in the Wind."

This time she had some emotional songs that she had written for her kids years ago, and on Monday we had to musically arrange those. Then on Tues.-Thus. We wrote 4 songs and then decided to record three of those so she will have new songs to pitch next year with her song plugger.

We recorded all seven over the last two nights. We got the basic tracks (guitar, bass, keyboards, scratch vocals) Thus. night and finished her vocals last night. This is going to be part of her new CD she is doing for herself next year. The songs really turn out pretty well and she actually did a good job as far as singing goes. I am very proud of her. But there are some songs that we pitch that I will get a professional singer on for the industry. There are voices the industry likes to hear and I use them in some instances.

In my recording activities, the recording process and my involvement come in four stages. My involvement is in two of those. This is all part of the roles of a "producer" and each person approaches it in a different way.

#1 Pre-production
#2 Tracking and musical recording
#3 Backing or production of vocals
#4 Mixing

We work with four musicians playing at the same time. The drums are in an isolation booth. Keyboards in another, guitar, and bass are all at the same time in different booths.

Now, earlier in the week I have done guitar vocal arrangements on her songs on my computer. These, I MP3 to my partner and arranger, Jay Verne, who is a GREAT keyboard player, (played with the Memphis horns, band leader for country star Lorre Morgan and many others.) Jay and I have been working together so long we are really in tune. he does the "Charts" which are the numbered arrangements. They are done in numbers so that if you have to change key you can do it easily. The numbers correspond with the notes to be played and it is very fast.
Jay and I actually sit down two days before the session and go over every part. This time we had very limited time because of some repairs to the studio. But we do our best.
That is pre-production.

Recording.
Since I do not play an instrument on the session, I leave that to the pros. We have a great guitar player and they don't need me. He is far better and I only accompany myself. These four guys play together all the time so I stay out of the way. My job on the recording is to take notes of what needs to be done, overdubs, vocals, lyric changes, etc. And keep an eye on the clock. Money is time so I have to deliver the product intact an on budget. I also have to pull the plug and move it on when we have spent too much time on any one thing. I am veiwing the overall project, while everyone else is concentrating on their own job. We have a audio engineer who watches the levels, makes notes, and does number markings for location if there are needs to fix parts or add something.
The actual tracking is amazing. These guys here it once or part of it then play it almost perfectly. It takes about 5 minutes a song and it is like on the radio. Of course we have overdubbing and small things to work out, but because everyone is so good and focused there is very little disscussion and NO arguing.

I have worked with bands that spend two hours arguing between the drummer and bass player of who is playing one wrong beat. Drives me nuts. A few months ago I produced a project on a guy who insisted on having his band guitar player, fiddle player, and female singer, record on his project. It was a disaster, with the guitar player freaking out, wasting three hours to get one solo on one song. The female singer sang flat as hell, and the fiddle player was decent. Not great, but decent. I had to move them along, hence the baby sitting part. In the end it turned out well, but we couldn't use some of their parts. When they got back to the big gig they were playing, a giant flood rained them out so he never even got to use what he did. And putting his players in cost him around $850 extra in wasted time. THEN the members he was working so hard to please, quit his band. So it was a waste of time. But it sounds good.

Vocals.
After the instruments go down, we do vocals. That was last night. She is a little slow because she is not used to it. But she did just fine. I sang the background parts and will finish those next week. I also will bring in a demo singer (Jay's wife is great! Sings with Reba McCentire, Barry Gibb and others) and
she will do duplicate "pitchable" version of each song.

Mix.
The mix is adding all the parts and I don't do that. I wear out easily and there are people who have more patience than I do. That is Jay. In this town there are actual "Mix engineers" that do the finish work. They have fresh ears and you can get burned out VERY easily. Actually, I don't know how anyone can sit there through ten hours of bass drum parts alone and not get worn out. One of the guys I work with is a rap and hip hop producer out of San Fransisco/LA areas and he spends hours mixing small isolated parts that we record in Nashville. He works out of his own studio as well as getting the tracks recorded with us.
He is here this week so I wrote one song with him in the middle of all this. Two days this week I was writing between two and three songs a day, doing recording in the evenings, and actually two hour shows at night. That is what a producer does. Everything.

When the mix is done, I review them. Make sure it is all ready to go, then get them to the clients. If something comes back unsatisfactorily, have to fix lines, add parts, need remixes, etc. that is my ass. I have to make sure it is all done before turning it to the final product. I will get some of these to the song plugger and some will be taken to other sources. Since I am working with two song pluggers now, both will get the songs I have written on.

So that is the process. I am more of an executive producer, like they do in the movies. I make sure everything is done from inception, arranging, recording, finished product.

If you would like to see this in action, if you go to my web site, www.marcalanbarnette.com, you will see me doing it on a song called "Less is More." It is a pretty cool thing, about five minutes. It was recorded by a film crew to document our process. It shows me literally walking into Jay;s studio with my guitar, sitting down, charting the song out, working arrangements, then adding the players. A cool thing is we used Bob Babbit, the legendary bass player from Motown, who played on hundreds of number one records, from Stevie Wonder's Signed Sealed Delivered, to the Bee Gees, and Spinners. Amazing guy. He plays on our song and just recieved a letter from Phil Collins thanking him for inspiring Phil. Phil is flying him to England next month to record 40 songs. He is a legend. I'm not worthy! LOL!

Then it shows us recording the track, me singing and the back up singers we use, who are also in the songwriter's band I have. It is pretty cool. The song, Less is More" is from one of my teaching lessons with a guy named Allen Shervelle. We had written the song a month before the session. The video won a "Telly Award" which is voted on by a film commission. That is like an Oscar and I have it sitting on my mantle.

So Michelle, this may be more info than you asked for, but I am thorough. If you are interested in the recording process, there it is.
But some women are not interested in that much technical procedure, which is why they don't gravitate to it as much, and that is why you don't have as many female producers. It is faceless, sometimes thank less and a LOT of energy used. And you have to remember that many women have children, families, other responsibilities, so they don't have the ability to take all that time away from other areas.

Hope this helps.

MAB

I recently came in late on a Biography (or something) on pop artist Pink. I enjoy her songs very much. I can hear and understand the words, which is not common in much of what that genre is selling, and they make sense in the context of the song. The songs have good structures too for maintaining interest. Her videos are part of what's selling me, but they're cleverly done too.

In the piece, her female producer (I think) was cited as telling her something like "...sing about whatever you want. Sing from your heart about whatever's going on in your life." And from that advice came this young artist enjoying a very successful career.

Hi Marc

Golly gosh, I'll let you keep doing all that recording stuff, it's way over this Aussie girls head.

Us girls do have lots of responsibilities, that's the reason I gotta go, back later, busy day today.

Hugs Michele

Hi Mark,

Back later, to talk about PINK, she Rocks hah.

Hugs Michele

Michelle,

That is exactly my point. Most of the music business has to do more with baby sitting, technical issues, administration, dealing with idiots all the time, and being dead tired and on call about 18 hours a day. Women tend to have kids, and other responsibilities that take their priorities. That is why you don't see as many female producers as male ones.

MAB