An Interview with Producer and Engineer Carter W. Humphrey

If diversity is a virtue of a great producer and recording engineer, then Carter W. Humphrey has a resume to be very proud of. Over the years, he's worked with big name stars and bands just getting their feet wet. In fact, I met Carter in the early 2000s when my band, Saturday's Child, was looking to record a new album under our new manager at the time. We were impressed with how broad a range of projects he'd worked on, and his knowledge of music, musical production and the history therein left us speechless.

Carter has worked as an engineer with Dr. Dre on his groundbreaking album "The Chronic" and he's worked with Rod Stewart on his smash-hit standards albums. Carter has worked along side everyone from Suge Night to legendary record producer Richard Perry.

Carter was gracious enough to give me some time to answer a few questions about his career, his philosophies on recording in general, and whatever else was on his mind.

James Schlarmann: What was your background in music before deciding to get involved in recording engineering and producing?

Carter W. Humphrey: I mainly played bass-classical, jazz and rock. The last band is was in, I faked my way playing guitar. Also, I have a degree in Music Recording from USC, which included a lot of music instruction.

JS: Do you think having some kind of background as a musician is necessary to be a great engineer?

CWH: I don't think it's necessary, though it does give you an advantage if you're going to engineer music. Musicians seem to react quite favorably when they see I can read music and can communicate to them as a musician.

JS: Which role do you like playing most in the studio, producer, engineer, performer?

CWH: These days I enjoy engineering a lot (mixing specifically). Occasionally, it's nice to "run the show" as producer, but despite wanting to be a producer in my younger days, I'm happy to let someone else wear that hat. Once in a great while, I even play something on a track, though that doesn't really interest me much any more.

JS: You've worked with many "big" artists in almost every style or genre imaginable. Is there an artist on your "Bucket List" that you just have to work with before it's all over?

CWH: Of course there are tons of artists I'd love to work with, but really one name comes to mind: Paul McCartney. At the age of 13, I wanted to BE Paul McCartney. He played bass in The Beatles, I played bass. He's left handed, I'm left handed. The funny thing is, if I ever did work with him, I'd probably quit the business after that.

JS: What advice would you give to an unknown, unsigned band who's about to head into the studio for the first time?

CWH: Hmm...the best advice I could give is practice. It sounds simple, but you'd be shocked at how many young bands walk into the studio for the first time, and are terribly under rehearsed.

Also, I personally think that a first time band in the studio is going to get more out of the experience and end up with a better final product if they have an outside producer (outside of the band) whose qualified to give them instruction.

If for nothing else, have a plan as to what you want to do before you walk into the studio. Start to work on backing vocals BEFORE coming into the studio, work on solo parts BEFORE you come into the studio. Don't try to do too much the first time out, and for Heaven's sake, think ahead of time about what you'd like to do with the material after you've finished recording it. Recording is just one piece of the bigger puzzle.

JS: Are there any fundamental differences between engineering a hip-hop record for Dr. Dre as opposed to a record of standards for Rod Stewart? Are there any similarities that you might find surprising?

CWH: Dr. Dre specifically is a person who handles his own engineering mainly. Rod Stewart, on the other hand, knows the process but is content to let others handle the engineering and producing. However, Rod did produce his breakout hit "Maggie May" which launched him as a solo act. Dre has produced his solo albums, so they have that in common.

JS: You have a unique perspective on the record industry, having been on "the inside' for awhile now. What impact do you think the Internet had and is continuing to have on the business of music production, sales and distribution?

CWH: The internet has put a unique spin on the music biz. The good news is anybody can record and then release their own music on the internet. The bad news is anybody can record and then release their own music on the internet. How this will affect the future is anyone's guess. Distribution is clearly heading toward purely internet (away from physical media). Music still has plenty of value, but selling records for a living is getting tougher and tougher.

JS: In your opinion, is it easier or harder for a band to breakthrough and find an audience now as opposed to when you started?

CWH: I'm going to go with harder these days. There's just so many people who are in it today, and less people are going to shows and buying music. I think that may change, but maybe it won't.

JS: I know you got to meet the legendary Les Paul. What did you say to him? Did he give you any pearls of wisdom?

CWH: I saw him play at the Iridium Club in Manhattan. He was gracious enough to meet the audience after the show and I shook his hand and said, "Because of you, I have a career!" I even got a picture with him. His time was precious, so I didn't really get a chance to interact with him beyond that. That's a legend among legends!

JS: When you're working with a band or artists for the first time, what's your priority? What do you have to know about an artist or band in order to successfully capture their sound?

CWH: If we get to talk before getting into the studio, then I might have heard them live, and hopefully I've attended a rehearsal or more than one. My priority is then to hopefully catch their essence, musically. Personally, I'd love to get a lot of rehearsal and live performance in with the band as is practical. However, when only engineering, I may meet the band in the studio. This means sometimes that the band and I are getting to know each other on a personal and professional level as we're working. Sometimes its good, but sometimes it isn't.

JS: What's your favorite or most versatile guitar amp you've used in recording?

CWH: I'll let you in on a little secret: I hate versatile amps! If amp the sounds great dirty, I want to use it for that. If the amp is great clean, I want to use it for that. The amps that seem to try to do to much, in my experience, they've usually sucked.

JS: What's your favorite "trick" in the studio? Is there an effect or a process you like to use that is uniquely yours?

CWH: Well, I've pinched a million ideas from other people and then claimed them as my own, but honestly, I can't of any truly unique processes or effects. I do try to stay open to anything new, so who knows? Maybe I'll come up with something.

JS: What are one or two of your favorite recordings done by someone else?

CWH: So many recordings...William Shatner's "Has Been" produced by Ben Folds was royally clever on many levels and had some serious people playing on it. The obvious answer is The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" produced by George Martin (as if you didn't know). I listened to that album as a kid and I marveled at what I heard, both musically and the production of the music. White Zombie's "Astro Creep 2000" produced by Terry Date. I was floating around in the same building while that was being mixed and my good friend, Ulrich Wild engineered a lot of the tracks (along with Terry) so I'm biased, sue me.

JS: What's your secret to capturing great sounding drum tracks?

CWH: First, start with a great drummer, put the drummer on an appropriate drum set for the song and finally, put the drummer and the kit in a great sounding room. No joke, you're definitely on your way to great drum tracks. Also, make sure the drums are tuned well, so many people have no idea how to accomplish that!

JS: Do you have any new projects on the horizon that you're excited about?

I have a band in Dallas that I'm flying out the last weekend of the month to record with. We're doing 5 songs or so, and the producer is an old student of mine. There's not a lot of time (is there ever?) in the studio so we're getting done as much as we can in a weekend. I'll be mixing it all when it's done.

I swear Rod is not doing another "American Songbook" album, really, I swear.