What characteristics if any form a successful producer?

[acrap]

Hey guys just for a fun discussion i wanted to express some of my opinions and questions about successful producers. I was wondering if there are certain type of people who are more successful at producing. For example, i know people who cant open up a textbook and absorb any knowledge for the life of them but they can produce beautiful tunes, i have a bunch of friends who are into heavy drugs, have dropped out of high school yet are wonderful eletronic music producers. I feel like producing electronic music takes more than just an ear or a head with musical ideas but an ability to absorb knowledge on synthesis, how your daw works and atleast basic theory. I dont really know exactly how to put what i'm thinking into words but i'll give it a shot because i wanna know for myself. Are there any specific personality traits that make someone more prone to succeeding in electronic music production than others?

[Turnipish_Thoughts]

same question can be asked for anyone in any profession. How can you describe the millions of events that transpire to make you who you are with the innate abilities you posses as an individual?

I don't think you can pin it down to a list of things per-say. Some people have a collection of traits that enable them to do things better more naturally than others.

A musical background, a good balance of technical thinking and creativity, an ear for music and melody, passion and dedication, practice... I don't know.

how long is a piece of string?

[wub]

how long is a piece of string?

Twice as long as half it's length

[VirtualMark]

One thing i've noticed from reading interviews, is that all top producers seem to be massive fans of music in general, and have a lot of praise for other successful producers.

[invictus]

Probably the most determined ones make it big.
But most importantly it's the music that speaks for the producer, isn't it?

[knotoo]

all top producers seem to be massive fans of music in general

To this I would add: as huge fans of music, they don't fall into the trap of listening to only whatever genre they produce/have been categorized in.

[hutyluty]

>being naturally talented
>being lucky

[Today]

>being naturally talented
>busting their ass

fixed

[hutyluty]

"busting their ass"? lol what a horrible americanism

true working hard is important but i think luck is vital too, quote some guy who's done really well off a radio interview i heard recently, can't remenber who it is

"It really annoys me when I see producers talking in interviews that its just about being good at what you do, or that if your tunes are good enough then youll get noticed because in practice I don't think that thats honest. More or less everyone that I can think of who is doing well at the moment at some stage or other, they were extremely lucky, whether it was the fact that there weren't many producers doing what they were doing or whether it was because the scene was new and people were actively looking for new producers, pretty much everyone who is successful that I know, had a big stroke of luck, and without that stroke of luck it may come to nothing. It's important to be good at what you do to have a succesful career but in order to get that start luck and circumstance are extremely important."

edit: i think it was ramadanman

[Today]

oww, i forget that we have different meanings for stuff like that
i probably just suggested that successful producers all take dick in their arse



Well then again it worked for danny

[jaimelee]

Being a nice person always willing to share ideals and tips?

Most big names are generally easy to get along with!

[Earjax]

Its not really about personality I'd say but there are certain qualities to a person that help. You definitely need good social skills so that people are willing to help you. You definitely need a passion for music, and composing it. You need patience and a good work ethic (though personally my work ethic is bad for everything but music). You also need to be creative, and intelligent, (thats not creative as in like good at art, its more imagination and thinking outside the box, also intelligence is not just being good at maths, but being able to look at a problem, and know how to solve it, you also need to be smart in the way you market youself and what you do with your music). It also helps if your naturally talented, though I think if you are passionate enough about it, talent can be reached through hard work. And once you've made it, you need to be able to withstand lots of time without sleep, you need a lot of energy, more patience, and a lot more creativity and intelligence. This is just what I figure from research I've done into the industry :p

[render]

There are 2 things you need to know to be successful.

1. Don't tell everything you know

[Kochari]

^

HA

[sunny_b_uk]

having the ability to make good tunes

[dbaxx]

same question can be asked for anyone in any profession. How can you describe the millions of events that transpire to make you who you are with the innate abilities you posses as an individual?

I don't think you can pin it down to a list of things per-say. Some people have a collection of traits that enable them to do things better more naturally than others.

A musical background, a good balance of technical thinking and creativity, an ear for music and melody, passion and dedication, practice... I don't know.

how long is a piece of string?

a couple other posts were really spot on imo but i dont know how to multi-quote

i think it really comes down to hard work and determination. you can have all the skills in the world and be a musical genious but if you dont 'bust your ass' in your studio/bedroom/whatever every day pumping out massive amounts of tunes and constantly learning more and more then your not gonna get anywhere.

also i think one of the most overlooked qualities, that has been mentioned, is to listen to alllll kinds of music. i recently saw an interview with skism and he doesnt even listen to dubstep outside of his shows or the studio. countless other producers have stressed the importance of having a wide range of musical influences.

thats how great music is made, and thats also how you avoid becoming another 1 of 10 million faceless drones stuck in neutral making sub-mediocre bullshit repetitive uninteresting nonsense tracks to post on facebook in a desperate cry for recognition as a "producer".

[mtl6]

2 parts creativity
1 part intelligence
1 part time and effort

...and 1 grain of salt

[dj2slo]

1 of 3 ways, or a combination of any three...

You're really talented
You know the right people
Good at imitating the current "hot sound"

[GhostMutt]

Based on my deductions the correct answer is rokits, massive and the waves plug ins. And a virus.
Get them all at once for best results.

[Atac]

Ask Wanka