The Sound
of Life
Forty years behind the glass taught me how to make a record. They also taught me how to live. This book is what I learned.
“The first book I’d require my students to read.”
“Early in my career, I taught recording at Belmont College, now Belmont University. If I were teaching those classes today, this would be the first book I’d require my students to read. … It’s a must-read not only for anyone entering the music business, but for anyone passionately pursuing a career.”
“It’s a beautiful work—thoughtfully written, spiritually grounded, insightful and inspiring. … The book reflects a life of experience and wisdom, and I believe anyone who loves music or is interested in the music business will find it both meaningful and rewarding.”
“In my life, whether as an artist, producer, writer, or guitar player, the tools I have to make records are littered with Mike’s touch. It’s easy to see a change in the quality of my work by recognizing, ‘This is me before Clute. This is me after Clute.’ I am better for simply witnessing this master do his thing.”
“If you get a chance to learn straight from the horse’s mouth, as I have, why wouldn’t you?”
Lessons from the other side of the glass.
The Sound of Life isn't a memoir, and it isn't a how-to. It's mentorship: what four decades of sessions taught me about ambition, pressure, patience, faith, family and knowing when to step back.
“There’s more than one way to measure whether you’re doing well.”
Michael D Clute
Grammy-winning producer and engineer behind more than two dozen number-one singles and 25 gold and platinum albums, for Diamond Rio, Faith Hill, BlackHawk, Poco and many more. Inducted into the North Dakota Music Hall of Fame, Class of 2026.