Song writing Vs Producing

[Basic A]

Soninaut exploring the auditory universe currently stationed in tempo ranges 135-140 however on routine intelligence missions to ranges 70-100, as we are gathering intelligence on this squadron and planning to invade. Recently the galaxies are experience a barrage of strange weather patterns (reversed strings, atonal basslines, tube saturation) and forecast from central command says its looking like things are only going to further detach from the work of the rest of the squadrons through the soniverse.

Also, I think the left, creative side of my brain is angry at the right, logical side these days. Everytime I attempt to explore the soniverse, or even if Im only working here on the station, I hear them arguing constantly. I fear, the creative side is considering foul play, and Im not sure if this could get detrimental to my health...

And thats the left side of your brain that is logical, and the right that is creative. Seems like there has already been some foul play.

That bastard.

Imma report him to central command.

[serox]

What's up peeps,

I don't know if i have put this in the right content but, are you a song writer first, so you focus more on the music composition and the melodies and harmonics in the song. Or, do you focus on the production aspect, so getting the sound selections right, sound design etc ?

Of course if you are a electronic producer (almost all of us) you have to do both things, but what do you focus more on when making a song.

Too many people spend more time on the production than they do on making a good track with a hook.

I like to think I personally have a nice balance and my mix is generally ok. I only do that after I have make a hook tho.

[JFK]

definitely the production side tbh! i tend to find arranging etc a real chore. It might be because i make too many short loops that when it comes to make a flowing progressive tune i find it very difficult to keep that flow going through out the tune without getting boring! also i think i prefer the production side cos im a fucking geek

This.

Although I always try and strike a balance between the two...

[daft cunt]

Too many people spend more time on the production than they do on making a good track with a hook.

Agreed. The mixdown/compression/EQ thing completely killed my creativity for a long time. That part of production should come last.

Now sound design's a completely different matter...

[Wrigzilla]

I learned to play keyboard/piano from an early age, when I was 13 I started learning guitar. I went on to play in a couple of bands, by this point I'd discovered recording (my dad had an eight track digital recording thingy, you could record, mix and master on it). I then started making these really badly produced electronic pieces (I recorded the sounds of my gm keyboard and ran them through mental processing) and combined it with my guitar playing. As I started studying music tech at A level I started to lose interest in rock music and started taking more of an interest in the sonic possibilities of electronic music.

To answer the question of the thread I started out as a songwriter who then discovered that you could make weird noises and that the kick drum didn't need to be drowned out by the bass. Over the last couple of years I've learned to produce to a good standard and sometimes I let the production side of things get the better of my songwriting side.

Although I think sound design/choice of timbre is very important to songwriting/arranging. One of the reasons I like electronic music so much is that you have a far greater choice of timbre so I try to make sure that the ones I use are right in the context of the current song I'm making.

[tripwire22]

First and foremost I'm a songwriter. The production just helps me express whatever I write in an effective way.

There's no point having amazing production tech if you can't write a song with it. The production tech is just a tool to me. Sounds pretty cold; I do enjoy producing and tweaking pads and getting all the nuances of a sound just right, but I'll always consider myself a song writer first.

kinda took my words kai

[kaiori breathe]

First and foremost I'm a songwriter. The production just helps me express whatever I write in an effective way.

There's no point having amazing production tech if you can't write a song with it. The production tech is just a tool to me. Sounds pretty cold; I do enjoy producing and tweaking pads and getting all the nuances of a sound just right, but I'll always consider myself a song writer first.

kinda took my words kai

Great minds and all that

[FSTZ]

Really torn on this one. Tbh i'm prolly halfway between each.

same

[nitz]

Really torn on this one. Tbh i'm prolly halfway between each.

same

Good, that was the whole point

[Plasticsun]

Im also halfway between i think. But i would almost always start with the composing, i discovered that if i started by doing patches and getting my drum samples sorted out, i would always sit and just mix and mix and mix, without writing music. I figure that it's a lot easier to mix when you know which role the sound you are mixing plays in the tune. But i probably spend equal time on the two, i just do the composing first.

[Genevieve]

Songwriter. I'm allll about the tunes. I don't use presets and strive for my own synth sounds and shit and the only time I use samples from packs is when it comes to drumsounds, but if anything, I'm about pretty melodies with brutal drums.

[jameshk]

Im a songwriter first, and a producer second. If anyone asks what I do I say im a 'creative producer'

[hurlingdervish]

if i spend to long writing hooks and progressions i can never get hunkered down on the production side, but if i start with the production side i can usually warp my melodies into it during the process of discovery and sound design

the guitarist in me just wants to make that hook and keep jamming over it though, it keeps me from finishing shit but it sure is a lot of fun

[nowaysj]

the guitarist in me just wants to make that hook and keep jamming over it though, it keeps me from finishing shit but it sure is a lot of fun

Ha ha ha, when music tech or my facility with music tech reaches the point where I can jam out a song, I'll start writing songs, otherwise, jamming is just too much fun and life is too short.