Artist & Album Production

In 2007, LaDeDa Productions were commissioned to co-write and produce an independent album for Robert Ruddock, singer/songwriter based in the North of England. The initial few months were spent researching and familiarising ourselves with the artist’s previous work and understanding his future ambitions. In that time we explored new ideas about lyrical content and themes, musical styles and influences, and challenging Robert about moving beyond his comfort zone.

The song writing process commenced and the next few months were occupied with melodic, lyrical exploration and the overall concept of the album production. When the basis of the songs were complete, we then began sourcing and auditioning the musicians that would be needed to complete the project, with a view to touring the material live at select venues throughout the UK.

Once the musicians were found, we structured our rehearsal time to allow people to familiarise themselves with each other and see if they were compatible. After a few jamming sessions, we realised we had “hit the jackpot”. Everyone worked really well together and were very understanding of the music and the overall objectives of the project.

Full rehearsals commenced where the songs and musical arrangements developed and solidified. After a few months of intensive work, we started planning the overall production and sourcing a studio with an engineer that would suit this project musically and financially. Pre-production recordings were completed to offer the chance to develop additional vocal and instrumental parts, providing an overview of the production’s targets. This included:

	Extensive backing vocal arrangements
	Guitar arrangements and overdubs using acoustic and electric
	Additional drum and percussion parts
	Any other additional instrumentation and midi programming including strings, brass, special effects and keyboards

This exercise also offered the opportunity to analyse the material and arrangements further and to decide the track order for the album. This is a very wise thing to do as it saves a lot of expensive time in a studio and allows the freedom for more constructive and creative moments to shine.

We had a number of meetings with the studio engineer to discuss the objectives of the recordings and to plan in advance the kind of acoustic space and equipment that would be needed to achieve this. We also provided copies of the pre-production demos and some tracks from established artists similar to Robert. This helped to provide the engineer and the studios with a greater insight and clarity as to the desired sonic qualities of the overall production. The tracks were recorded and mixed over a three month period and were mastered in three weeks.

Sample Tracks

Robert and LaDeDa Productions are currently in negotiations about future publishing and general distribution.

Vocals: Robert Ruddock
Keyboards: Gerry Ryan
Guitars: John McMillan
Bass Guitar: Sean Gregory
Drums: Fran Watson

Additional Programming and Arrangements Gerry Ryan
Recorded and Engineered at Soundstation by Mark Sturgess
Mixed, Edited and Produced at LaDeDa Productions by Gerry Ryan
Mastered at MOTTOsound by Russell Hepworth-Sawyer

All songs Written and Arranged by Robert Ruddock and Gerry Ryan