William Jenks writes:

>As I thought about it, the closest parallel I could make to a pop/rock
>producer in CM is to a conductor...
>
>What do those of you who know much more than me about this think? Am I
>out of line?

I think you are right on the mark.  I have done a fair amount of "amateur"
producing and engineering, and while my style has been rather more
collaborative than dictatorial, the overall sound and feel was largely my
doing within the general desires of the musicians I was working with (and
as I am a drummer, they almost always deferred to me completely when it
came to the drum track, which plays a very significant role in pop).  I was
largely responsible for the layout of instruments and voices on the stereo
stage, the choice of specific synthesizer "patches", the choice of effects,
details of tempo, etc..

len.