A Few Random Thoughts Before We Get Started

Most of the information I plan to share on this blog is related to the production of music and my journey in trying to learn and apply essential production principles. But before we go too far down the road, what is this music production of which we speak?

From my perspective, music production is the process of combining multiple musical ideas and performances into a complete unified work that others may experience. In my particular context, we are recording this work into a medium that the audience may replay on demand. We discuss the phases of the process as preproduction, production and post production. More on those phases in later lessons.

Some experienced producers may chuckle at my proposition that any of their musical creations are ever truly "completed". Maybe, but I want to get my works to a point where others can check out what I'm doing. So however complete it needs to be for that, that's what I'm talking about.

A large component of most modern music production is the complete control and manipulation of sound to achieve an intended experience for the intended audience. While the composers may provide hints at the sound they intended, and performers are able to control the sound at its source (their vocal or instrumental technique), the music producer is able to apply additional control before the sound reaches the ears of the audience. I think of music production as the work that is done around recording that the writing and performing artists are not actually doing. So I expect I will be addressing composition and performance only peripherally, but hey! Who knows what the future will hold. That's why I call it an adventure!

Anyone who aspires to create or produce music will probably benefit from an understanding of some basic principles of sound. Have you ever really thought about sound? What exactly is it? I mean, those of us who can hear spend all day, every day hearing sounds, and maybe even listening and paying attention and responding to the sounds we hear. How is it that what we hear can evoke emotional, even spiritual responses within? This power to transform the atmosphere is part of what motivates me in my musical pursuits. 

Science can really strip away some of the magic from things of beauty. (Do you know why the sky is blue and sunsets are red? Rayleigh Scattering - bye bye mystery!) But if you intend to be an artist, creating something to admire, inspire or provoke, you need to really understand a few scientific things. If you were a painter, Don't you think it could be useful to understand a few things about the eye and how it perceives light and shadows, textures and other things I know absolutely nothing about. Likewise for us music producers, it may be helpful to understand a few things about the ear and how it perceives loud and soft, high and low, near and far, oboe and trombone, drum and cymbal, etc. Or maybe you'd just rather experiment and see what comes out. 

I'm an engineer by trade, so I like to experiment around some well established principles. Currently, I approach my music similarly. So I appreciate knowing a few things about sound, how it behaves, and how we can fool the ear and manipulate the soul in music production. 

The next few lessons will dip into a little bit of the physics around sound. Why? I found that it helped me understand the tools music producers use to manipulate sound (such as delay, compression, reverb, EQ and stuff). But if you're not so keen on science stuff, go make some music for awhile and come back later.