Thursday, May 8, 2014

My Producer/Writer Dilemma

(Trevor Horn, music producer)


Ok boys and girls, this time I want to share something that is really kind of a dilemma for me as a writer and producer. First and foremost, as a musician and writer, you want just to put your music out there right?, communicate with your songs, play them live, you work hard writing them right?, well, for me is more harder than that, I’ve found certain “styles” of music more difficult to produce and even compose. This is the thing, metal songs, or proggy ones in general, tend to have just few instruments, few dynamics too, think of it, lots of heavy riffs, panned guitars left and right, bass in center, a good sounding and loud drum set, and a well suited vocals, yeah that’s it! even though with dynamics, a metal record this days just stays in the same volume from song to song, that’s why they’re so easily introduced in this “Loudness War” thing, yes, is easy just to pop up lots of compression and limiting in this kind of music, for me, is really easy to do, great energy and all that, but the production is dull, lifeless, and even boring. 


Aside from all that, is obvious for me to apply this thinking, but I like the energy and the hype that produce that kind of sound, easy to produce, yes, but that’s the goal right? produce and make it real and get it out there fast right? Well, I think for me is more interesting as a producer now to play with dynamics, instrumentation, and chords structures, creative sounds and ambient things. It is also more difficult to write a song with lots of dynamic movements and a creative production, so to speak, for example there are even more easy to produce styles of music, nowadays the music on the radio is just sample rhythms and a pumping compressor sounding. 

In my life and experience as a musician I have experiment all, metal hyped music, complex music, songwriter stuff, Chords, Riffs, Ambient, instrumentation, easy music, dumb music, jazzy stuff, I mean kind of a Jack of all trades, I had acquired experience in seeing this by becoming a producer myself and be able to approach the music from every other perspectives and corners, and interested more in creative sounds than riffs or chords, which, at the end makes you pop-out of other bands and music. A metal band with a Sax player doing all those riff in a bassy octave?? that’s pop! 

But, as I say, I try to go with the flow in this, but you rather came with a complex production, which is exhausting. So why not go for an easy production styles? something easy to produce and write? well, maybe, but what about your whole musicality? and chops with your instruments and creative ideas? gone? it is really a dilemma don’t you think?. Tell me, what do you think of all this?

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