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On Wednesday 30th November, students at ACM Guildford were treated to a masterclass with legendary producer Jake Gosling! Held in the Academy’s ‘Teaching Control’ studio, the session covered the background to Jake’s career, the gear and software he likes to use, and his advice on getting into the industry.
During the class, Jake spoke about working with ACM alumnus Ed Sheeran, telling students that Ed doesn’t take long to record and often gets it done in a couple of takes. Jake also spoke about how he got his dad to play piano on ‘Thinking Out Loud’. A student asked how he approaches recording with Ed, to which Jake replied that he records the guitar and vocals separately. Jake also shared that to record the guitars he has one mic on the sound hole and one on the 12th fret; he then pans these hard left and right, then in post-production he uses a waves compressor and PSP Vintage Warmer.
When asked about his production style, Jake said he uses Cubase and Ableton and that he prefers guitarists to use their own amps so he can capture their sound. He told students that when working with musicians, before any writing or recording takes place, he listens to music with them so he can get an idea about the music they’d like to create together. When they do get into the studio, he revealed that he likes to do as much of the production as possible whilst recording, and that he enjoys limiting the options and making decisions about the sound in the moment. He added that he thinks it’s often what you leave out of a song that makes it. He said lots of people like to sing their own harmonies when in the car and if you leave space for them to do that, they can be more involved with the music.
Throughout the class, it was clear that Jake remains thoroughly passionate about his field of work, and he even revealed during the session that his favourite music to work on is that of unsigned artists because he loves the excitement of the journey with them.
One student asked what kit he never goes without, and Jake shared that he loves tambourines, stating that there’s been one on pretty much every record he’s ever made. He also revealed that he hates cymbals and tries to avoid them whenever possible.
During the Q & A part of the session, a student asked how long it takes to make an album, and Jake replied that for him it can take anything from six to eight months from start to finish.
When giving his advice on how to get ahead in the music business, Jake told students they should make a plan for the year and be realistic with it because success doesn’t happen overnight. He also reminded them that every fan counts; even if you only get one Like on Facebook, that’s still one person that likes your music enough to say so. He told them that you can then build on that the next time. He also shared that self-releasing is a great idea and collaboration can really help to cure writer’s block.
Students were completely engaged throughout the masterclass and it was clear that Jake got a lot of enjoyment from sharing his advice with the students. We’d like to say a huge thank you to Jake for coming in to talk to our students and we can’t wait to hear about his future production work.
If you’d like to study at ACM and learn the tricks of the trade from some of the world’s best producers like Jake, please call our Admissions Team on 01483 500 841 or visit www.acm.ac.uk/open-days/ to book a place on an ACM Open Day today.
But don’t forget – in order to receive equal consideration, please ensure your UCAS application is submitted before 6pm Sunday 15th January!
