About The Authors

Warren Huart

Warren Huart is a British musician, producer, engineer and mixer best-known for his work on chart-topping and platinum-selling albums by The Fray, Aerosmith, James Blunt, Korn, and many others, as well as for his Produce Like A Pro YouTube channel and Pro Mix Academy audio education portal.

My Story

Warren was born in 1969 in Crookham Village, southwest of London to a father who was an artist and a sculptor and where he grew up in poverty. Only classical and jazz music was played in the Huart household, which led to a deep appreciation of classical composers from Bach to Beethoven to the big Russian composers, and jazz from Django Reinhardt to Wes Montgomery.

At 7-years of age he received Queen’s legendary album A Night At The Opera for Christmas and his life was changed forever, turning him into a huge fan of rock and progressive rock. His love of incredible songwriting and production led him to other artists like Electric Light Orchestra, John Lennon, Supertramp, Genesis, Caravan, and Van Der Graaf Generator, as well as various punk and New Wave artists of the era.

Eventually, Warren’s love of music led to him playing the guitar. In an echo of Brian May’s story, his father built him his first guitar when he was 15, with a body made from a Chinese restaurant chopping board. He became known as the “kid with the breadboard guitar.”

He also began his own journey as a self-taught engineer, starting with two home cassette recorders, overdubbing with the sound-on-sound process using two tape decks. His self-taught ethic, covering all aspects of music and recording, continue to inform his approach to this day.

Having played in local bands during his teens, Warren joined the band Star 69 in his early twenties and relocated to Los Angeles in 1996. The band cut a record called Eating February that was released in 1997 to a lukewarm reception. In 1999, he started another band called Disappointment Incorporated that also met with a tempered response.

However, Warren’s activities as an engineer and producer did gather increasing attention. Having established himself in Los Angeles, he worked with acts like The Hangmen, El Ten Eleven, and The Muffs, before hitting the big time with The Fray in 2005. Numerous engineering, mixing and production credits followed, with acts like Orange, Better Than Ezra, Augustana, Howie Day, Daniel Powter, Korn, Aerosmith, and more recently Rick Springfield and Disturbed. Warren has also extensively written and produced music for film and television.

Recognizing that the music industry was moving in a different direction, in 2014 Warren launched the educational YouTube channel Produce Like A Pro. Since then, it has amassed well over half a million enthusiastic subscribers, attained a stellar reputation in the music industry, and led to the channel winning the 2019 NAMM TEC Award for Audio Education Technology.

In 2016, Warren launched the accompanying Pro Mix Academy, where subscribers learn from established mixers and producers as they expose production and mixing methods and philosophies behind well-known tracks. More recently, he extended his influence to include the DJ and electronic producer community with the launch of the Academy of Modern Music Production in Mesa, Arizona. Warren owns and runs Spitfire Studios, in Los Angeles.

Everything Warren does is based on the no-nonsense, music-loving, DIY mentality that came from growing up poor and needing to teach himself to play, produce, engineer and mix. It’s this hands-on mentality, and a sincere desire to share what he has learned with others that inspired Warren to start his online educational ventures, and that is at the heart of the book Home Studio Recording – The Complete Guide.

JERRY HAMMACK

Jerry Hammack is a Canadian American producer, mixer, recording artist and author of the critically acclaimed best-selling series, The Beatles Recording Reference Manuals. He is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist and audio engineer who has been involved in making music since the age of 16.

My Story

As a teenager, Jerry began making his own music, recording on rented gear in borrowed rooms and churches, heavily influenced by The Beatles, Elton John and the DIY ethic of 70s artists like Todd Rundgren. No one was talking about home studio recording back then. Eventually he found his way into recording at professional studios in his hometown Seattle area, including Bear Creek Studios, Michael Lord Productions and Triangle Recording, learning production and engineering by observing dayto-day professionals. Despite some major label interest, his music was eventually released locally and independently to a negligible reception.

While continuing to make his own and others’ music, in 1994 at the dawn of the internet era, Jerry co-founded MusicScene International, the first Internet-based music site in the world for consumers to see, hear and buy music from emerging independent global talent. The site served as a prototype not only for labels seeking to promote their artists online, but also for merchants seeking to facilitate online purchasing.

In 2009, Jerry began work on The Beatles Recording Reference Manuals. He spent over a decade on the monumental work, chronicling the people, places, tools and techniques used in the creation of every Beatles release from 1961 through 1970. The five volumes are global best sellers and are considered among a handful of foundational research books on The Beatles’ work in the studio. The books are prestigious two-time nominees for excellence in the area of historic recording from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) and have been acquired as a part of the permanent collection of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Library and Archives.

He has presented his multi-media breakdowns of classic Beatles songs at academic conferences and events all over North America and is a favourite guest on numerous Beatlesrelated podcasts and audio-related YouTube channels. He is known for his advanced understanding of vintage recording techniques and their application in the digital domain.

Jerry has produced, engineered and mixed and wide range of independent artists in the US and Canada. His original music with Throttle Body M/C is currently released by Green Monkey Records.

Jerry lives and works (primarily from his own home studio) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. You can learn more about him and his work at www.jerryhammack.com