Today’s featured producer is Marie Sorenson from Texas. She is a wonderful producer and musician and today she weighs in with some strong conversational topics about Pro Tools. You can check out some of her music in her SoundCloud here.
Q: What is it that got you into music?
Marie: I credit my mother and father. I got into music at 5 with classical piano lessons. I kept that up until I was about 13 years old and switched to guitar. I taught myself since I knew how to read and write music and moved to learning popular songs. One I figured out progressions I started writing on my own. The recording world opened up when my dad bought me a Fostex 4 track recorder. He wanted me to record what I wrote.
Q: Who are some of your musical influences?
Marie: I credit my mother and father. I got into music at 5 with classical Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, Joan Jett
Q: What do you see as a problem in the current music industry and what needs changes (if any at all)?
Marie: The problems lie in the production techniques that make people sound better than they really are, The true performance of performing a song from beginning to end is just not done in the studio much these days. To many punches!!
Q: What is it that got you into audio engineering with Pro Tools?
Marie: I liked the interface of Pro Tools when I started with it at V 4.1. It was simple and easy to use. Back then, I used it just for editing because cutting and splicing tape could be a nightmare.
Q: What do you prefer about Pro Tools over other audio engineering software programs of vice versa?
Marie: There are some great DAWs out there. Logic is perfect for the songwriter at home, Ableton Live is a cool and fun, very functional DAW in so many ways. I’ve stuck with Pro Tools because it is a true recording software meant to track audio.
Q: What are some of your favorite Pro Tools plugins?
Marie: Transformer is one of my favorites. It adds texture to songs with loops that is really cool. It also has multiple outputs so you can route the loops to separate tracks to mix separately.
Q: What are some of the qualities you need to have to be successful as a music producer?
Marie: Patience, drive, passion and good communication skills. You have to be able to lead a project through good times and bad ones with everyone on board.
Q: What is your favorite thing to do with Pro Tools?
Marie: Watch the song come together. It’s pure magic!
Q: Describe Your Pro Tools Set Up
Marie: Currently we can get 24 ins through rack mounted Focusrite interfaces without using an AVID interface whatsoever. I have an Avalon 737 Mercenary Audio mic pre.
Q: What are some of your favorite pieces that you’ve worked on?
Marie: My favorite things that I have worked on were with Sunnie Paxson. They were jazz recordings that were just beautiful with some great players.
Q: What are some of your most memorable experiences as a producer or musician?
Marie: Knowing more about Pro Tools that a producer I worked with and really focusing on helping achieve the task at hand. It gives you merit to know that you helped make a recording better.
Q: What advice would you give someone that is trying to get into the audio engineering space?
Marie: Do so if it is your passion, but don’t quit your day job. The industry is constantly changing and so is technology. Learn it to record your own music, but it’s tough to make a living doing it.