In a recent article in Mother Jones, super producer Daniel Lanois gave some of the best recording advice I have read in a long time. While we like to think of Lanois for all the deep and esoteric perspectives on music, as a true veteran he drops some of the most important advice about working with live musicians that you may ever read:

Preparation, for me, is about not wanting to waste people’s time. I imagine the needs we’re going to have on that day, and I just try to have that all organized. Some of it is not very glamorous: checking power sources, making sure we don’t have any loud fans where we’re going to record quiet things.

It’s a lesson that I learned in Toronto when I was a kid and played guitar on sessions. The studio people were forever rummaging through closets, fishing out equipment. Hours would go by, people would be in the game room playing pinball while some other guy hit the snare for hours on end. I said to myself, “Is this what rock ‘n’ roll is about? The Ramones walk in the door and they’re going to play pinball? No way! I want the Ramones walking in and rocking out!” There will always be problems, but let’s not have plumbing be the problem. Emergencies are one thing, but certain things are not emergencies—they are fundamentals.

Preparation, for me, is about not wanting to waste people’s time. I imagine the needs we’re going to have on that day, and I just try to have that all organized. Some of it is not very glamorous: checking power sources, making sure we don’t have any loud fans where we’re going to record quiet things. It’s a lesson that I learned in Toronto when I was a kid and played guitar on sessions. The studio people were forever rummaging through closets, fishing out equipment. Hours would go by, people would be in the game room playing pinball while some other guy hit the snare for hours on end. I said to myself, “Is this what rock ‘n’ roll is about? The Ramones walk in the door and they’re going to play pinball? No way! I want the Ramones walking in and rocking out!” There will always be problems, but let’s not have plumbing be the problem. Emergencies are one thing, but certain things are not emergencies—they are fundamentals.

Read the full article at MotherJones.com