In the first part of MyTalent’s Beyond The Stage conversation with Grammy nominated producer and engineer Richard Brummond, he explained why sounding professional has far less to do with expensive equipment than most artists think.
This time, the conversation moved deeper into something many modern creators struggle with even more:
Knowing when to stop adding.
Because according to Brummond, many artists today are no longer struggling because of lack of talent.
They’re struggling because they never stop building.
More vocal layers.
More plugins.
More synths.
More production tricks.
More ideas competing for attention at the same time.
And somewhere inside all that noise, the actual song disappears.
“If your mix is confusing, the listener leaves,” Brummond explains.
Not necessarily because the production is technically bad.
But because the listener no longer understands where to focus.
That distinction matters more than many creators realize.
Artists hear everything.
Listeners don’t.
The audience is not thinking about plugins, expensive gear, vocal chains, or how many production tricks were used during the session.
They care about something much simpler:
“How does this make me feel?”
That’s it.
And according to Brummond, modern music creation often forgets that.
The Problem With Unlimited Options
Technology has made it possible to endlessly edit music.
Unlimited takes.
Unlimited tracks.
Unlimited revisions.
But while those tools can help creativity, they can also destroy decision making.
“You never finish anything because you think it has to become perfect,” Brummond says. “Instead of focusing on getting one great track, people focus on adding more tracks.”
Eventually, nobody even knows what matters anymore.
A vocal layer sounds good.
Another synth sounds interesting.
Another harmony “might help.”
So creators keep everything.
And when everything stays, nothing truly stands out.
“People think more automatically means bigger,” Brummond explains. “Usually it just makes the song smaller.”
Because when every sound fights for attention, the emotional focus disappears.
The mix becomes crowded.
The listener becomes lost.
And in today’s world, attention disappears fast.
Why Older Records Still Connect
Brummond points toward classic records from the 70s as an example of a completely different creative mindset.
Back then, artists didn’t have endless tracks or infinite editing possibilities.
“You had 24 tracks maximum for entire albums,” he says. “Now people use more than that just for lead vocals.”
The limitation changed the process.
Artists had to prepare harder.
Practice harder.
Commit harder.
You couldn’t endlessly save every version “just in case.”
The performance itself mattered more because artists had fewer safety nets.
“The performance mattered more because you didn’t have infinite options,” Brummond explains. “You had to actually be ready.”
And because creators were more prepared, decisions became easier.
Today, many artists experience the opposite problem.
Too many options.
Too many versions.
Too many unfinished decisions.
And eventually, the emotion gets buried underneath endless editing.
Commitment Creates Better Records
For Brummond, great music rarely comes from perfection.
It comes from commitment.
“You need to practice, commit, and give the best performance you actually have,” he says. “That emotion matters more than recording a hundred vocal tracks.”
That mindset has become increasingly rare in modern creation.
Many artists continue tweaking because they’re afraid to fully commit to a version.
But endless editing rarely creates stronger emotion.
It usually creates hesitation.
“The strongest creators know what to leave out,” Brummond says.
Sometimes the best creative decision is removing something.
Not adding another layer nobody asked for.
Because listeners replay songs that make them feel something.
Not songs that simply sound complicated.
The Listener Always Decides
One of the biggest mistakes artists make, according to Brummond, is listening to music only from the creator’s perspective.
Artists become emotionally attached to sounds because they spent hours building them.
But effort alone does not improve the record.
“A lot of artists are emotionally attached to every sound because they spent hours making it,” Brummond explains. “But effort doesn’t automatically improve the record.”
That’s why he encourages creators to step outside their own process for a moment.
“If you’re struggling with your mix, demo, or songwriting, stop listening like an artist for a second,” he says. “Listen like someone hearing the song for the first time.”
That perspective changes everything.
Because the real question is not:
“Does this sound impressive?”
The real question is:
“Would someone actually stay with this?”
That’s the difference between creating for ego and creating for connection.
And in today’s attention economy, connection always wins.
Don’t Waste Money Recording The Wrong Song
Brummond is equally direct about another mistake many artists make too early:
Spending huge amounts of money recording songs that were never truly ready in the first place.
“Don’t throw away your money on an expensive studio if the song itself isn’t ready yet,” he says.
Before investing heavily into final recordings, he believes artists should first test the music honestly.
Not for perfection.
For truth.
“You want to be able to shop your music around before spending all your money and time in a real studio.”
That means understanding how people genuinely react to the song.
Not fake reactions.
Not polite reactions.
Real ones.
“Do people actually connect with it? Or are they just being nice?”
Because false confidence does not improve records.
Honest feedback does.
“We all want to hear that our songs are amazing,” Brummond says. “But if everybody tells you your music is incredible, and then nobody listens when it comes out, that’s worse.”
Much worse.
For Brummond, great production has never really been about technology.
It’s about communication.
A great mix guides attention.
It tells the listener:
- where the emotion is
- what matters
- when to lean in
- and when to breathe
Because once the emotional connection disappears, nothing else really matters anymore.
“The listener should never feel lost inside your song,” he says.
People don’t replay songs because they were complicated.
They replay songs because they felt something.
And if the listener feels nothing?
Nothing else matters.
Read Part 1 here:
https://www.mytalent.com/news/grammy-nominated-engineer-how-to-sound-professional