jeudi 25 octobre 2012

The Importance Of The Music Producer

By John Phenom


When you look back on pop throughout the last 100 years you see time and again, a great music producer controlling the recordings of a great artist. It might be Phil Spector's innovative "Wall of Sound" technique with The Ronettes. It might be Quincy Jones' guiding hand ushering Michael Jackson to the heights of the "Thriller" album. It might be George Martin's pioneering 4 track recordings with The Beatles. Whoever you pick their role is undeniably crucial.

Yet, for many people, the actual role of producer is unclear. This might be because the job they do will vary from artist to artist and album to album. In some cases they will be the guy in the control room with the headset, making sure everything is happening as it should, when it should and, later, mixing it all together.

In many cases, however, their role goes deeper. Lots of producers end up credited songwriters on albums, working side by side on the actual composition with the artists. Often, they also become like a self-help guru for a beleaguered band, motivating them to keep going through a hard recording. In other cases they may be a go-between for the record company and the artist.

A great example of how a hands-on production team can change an album's texture can be found on Lou Reed's second solo LP "Transformer", released in 1972. Reed had very basic acoustic guitar arrangements for many of the 11 proposed tracks at the outset. It was the glam rock production combo of David Bowie and Mick Ronson, however, who added the delicate, playful, nuanced arrangements which brought songs like "Perfect Day" and "Satellite of Love" so vividly to life.

Hip Hop has been hugely responsible for pop composition's recent turn into a heavily mechanized process in which the producer is God. Rap music has a traditional setup of a rapper who writes the words and a beat-maker who composes the beats. This gave the producer even more control over the direction of the sound.

Central to this is the process of sampling, taking pre existing recordings and re-arranging them into something new. One of sampling's biggest innovators is LA rap artist Dr. Dre. On his 1992 debut solo album "The Chronic", Dre formed his own band to perform rearranged melodies from 1970's funk tunes, which he would lace with his own heavy drum loops. Dubstep is now the latest trend to hit popular music with its heavy electronic sound.

In the modern era, where pop stars from talent shows rely completely on production for the musical direction they will take, the role of music producer is more crucial than ever. The singers are the ones who get the press. It is those behind the mixing desk, however, who are the true creative force behind their output. Producers are now offering Hip Hop beats for sale online so that singers and rappers have more options when it comes to their music production.




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