Studio System

''Every week we're called by record companies,'' says vice president David Conrad, who combines a Southern-gentleman friendliness with no-nonsense business instincts. ''They say, 'We're recording so-and-so in a month, and I want to come by and listen to songs.''' Depending on the artist's image or style, Conrad draws up a list of songs and plays tapes of them for the producer (and sometimes the artist). ''Most producers only listen to a verse or chorus,'' he says. ''So in an hour, I can get through 25, 30 songs.''

The work pays off: There are four Almo/Irving copyrights on Wynonna Judd's first solo album, Wynonna, three on Tanya Tucker's latest, What Do I Do With Me, and one — the hit ''Straight Tequila Night'' — on John Anderson's comeback album. ''All we do is see to it that new songs are born and try to get 'em cut,'' Conrad says. ''We don't live and die by any of them. We'll just make a hundred more.''

February 1992
''Okay, let's get to work,'' announces producer Tony Brown, dressed in crisp jeans and work shirt and looking like the young rural professional he is. It's noon on the third day of the Gill sessions at Masterfonics. On the first two days of recording, five songs have been finished; another five will be done today and tomorrow. Gee, it takes Michael Jackson four days to decide what he's going to wear to a session.

The first track to be cut today is ''Pretty Words,'' an uptempo, bluegrass- flavored tune cowritten by Gill and Schlitz. Gill — a tall, mild-mannered guy dressed in jeans and a ''Feed the Children'' T-shirt-plays a demo tape of the song (his voice and guitar). The band listens intently while staring at the song's chord changes. Within minutes, the ideas start flying — Scruggs plays a speedy guitar lick for the intro, Jarvis suggests playing organ on the track — and away they go.

At 12:15, Gill settles in front of a microphone and the band members start doodling with the chords. By 12:45, they have, incredibly, worked out a rough arrangement, and the song springs to life. Brown affably makes a few suggestions — for Smith to switch to electric guitar, for Vega to hit the snare a little harder on the choruses. To pianist Jarvis, he says, ''John, a little more Charlie Rich in there.'' Gill gives a bland nod of approval to each change. ''Make it sound good, you double-scale sons o' bitches!'' Brown kids them in an exaggerated good-ol'-boy tone.

At 1:15, the group takes a break and, with Brown and Gill, discusses a few ) minor changes. Five minutes later, Brown announces, ''Okay, we're gonna put it down — here we go,'' and the musicians take their places once again. As Gill sings along (but only as a guide — a polished vocal will be added later), they play the song three more times, and by 2:30 — a little over two hours after the band heard the song for the first time-Brown has the take he wants. Gill's finished lead vocal and an instrumental solo (be it a pedal steel guitar, fiddle, or Gill's own guitar) will be added later. There are smiles all around, and everyone takes a break for a catered lunch of chicken pot pie.

After chow, the band records two more songs — a barroom weeper, ''No Future in the Past,'' and ''I Still Believe in You (and Me),'' a song Brown half-jokingly calls the "power ballad" — and wraps it up at 10:30 p.m. Two more songs are cut the next day, and the album's 10 instrumental tracks are done; all that's left are lead and harmony vocals and a few weeks of mixing. The still-untitled album should be out this summer.

Gill seems content. The album, he says during a break in the sessions, is ''pretty much the same stuff. Hopefully, the songs are the best batch we've done.'' There's not much time to relax, though. After more touring, he's scheduled to record a duet album with Patty Loveless in the fall, for which MCA's Noble is already lining up the musicians. ''Nothing's too far down the line,'' she says with a laugh.