Kuk Harrell - Harrell's Vocal Production Philosophy

Harrell's Vocal Production Philosophy

Harrell is a rarity in that he is a vocal producer who engineers all his own sessions. He is quoted as saying "...I engineer all of my own stuff. I create the pace that the artist wants. To have someone in the middle – another engineer – would slow down my process."

Regarding vocal processors, Harrell says "it's the sound of today in pop music. But I use it as an enhancement and not to create the sound. My role is to capture the artist's personality. To trick them out with Auto-Tune would defeat that purpose, but consumers are used to hearing things pitch perfect so I use pitch correction to ensure that I have a flawless performance."

Kuk cites the three most important things he has learned in his career as
1. "Always be professional."
2. "Be patient at all times."
3. "It's not about you. A producer has the opportunity to put his image onto a project before getting the best sound from the artist. Remember that the artist is what it's all about."