How much does production REALLY matter to you?

abstractsound · Post by **abstractsound** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:54 pm

art vs craft is such a fine line to toe. id have to agree wholeheartedly with decklyn. they are equal parts to the whole for me. like many people on here, my whole life ive walked around with music playing in my head, and no clue where it came from and no idea how to convey it to other people. i was never musical as a youth and it always bummed me out.

but first and foremost i always knew id only be happy around music, so i went to school for sound engineering. before i even started learning all this technical stuff that sparked this thread, i wanted to make music. beat oriented music. i could never afford the gear. so i learned the ropes of audio engineering, came out of the program a "certified audio engineer" for whatever its worth, and started working in live sound. but that school really taught me much about this very topic. nearly all my classmates were there to learn how to make beats yo. although i too wanted to learn how to make beats, i knew that was something inside of me i had to tap on my own, no one could show me. the beats were already in my head, i just didnt know how to put them in someone elses. i wanted to learn why this kick drum makes you feel like you are shitting your pants while that kick drum sounds like someone is punching a cardboard box. i wanted to learn how to take a bright and brittle sounding guitar and turn it into a massive face shredder. learning the technical stuff got me one step closer because i was able to help make other's music sound better, which is definitely an art and its own creative outlet, but it still wasnt enough for me.

then i heard dubstep for the first time, and it put a name to all the sounds that had been floating around in my head for years. massive bass, trance inducing spaced out rhythms, faint almost unrecognizable noises in the distance that can create an atmosphere...

hearing dubstep made me get a credit card, stop feeling sorry for myself, and set up shop. now im at one of the happiest points in my life i can remember. i finally have a way to release everything that is creative inside of me, and my technical education only helps that everyday. like someone else mentioned, it can be a very large deterrent when you dont know how to create the sound in your head, and thats why understanding engineering techniques can be essential to efficient workflow when you start to produce.

i may be a noob to this forum, but i feel like im here for the right reasons, so i hope someday i can be accepted like those whos names i see in mixes and on every thread in here.

thanks two oh one for the post. everyone who thinks they want to start producing music should have that discussion with themselves first. if you arent in it for the right reasons, find something that you can get into for the right reasons.

im here on dubstep forum because i love the sounds ive been told are dubstep, but when i sit down at my MPC, im not thinking how wobbly i can get my bass, im thinking about the art of moving butts.

decklyn · Post by **decklyn** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:35 pm

large up abstract.
get at me!

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:12 am

What I've found recently is that using very simple building blocks for your tunes (sub, drum kits, percussion) can often make for far more interesting music as self-imposed limits can help you work on more interesting grooves, and concentrate more on melodies and arrangement more.

I'm thinking that a musical equivalent to the Dogma school of thought in film might not be such a bad thing. Hearing a lot of one note basslines with slightly different modulation/morphing does not interesting music make.

I've got a different opinion on this though, I don't really see my stuff so much about expression of emotion, more a way of organizing sounds that interests me intellectually. It's more about going on a journey but not really knowing the destination. Tensions and releases whether rhythmically, harmonically or melodically are the things I'm most interested in. Finding those combinations which make me think that I'm in new territory are of the utmost importance.

slim · Post by **slim** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:01 am

Abstract, large ups, that's pretty much what i was going to say about music in my head. Only problem is i'm not studying audio engineering, so i'm having to learn about music in my spare time (not got a lot of that, not going to lie) while also filling my head with medical jargon and techniques. Granted, There are some cool track names to be had there.

My main problem is that while i know exactly what i want to say with a tune, and the emotion i want to express, generally planning most of it out in my head, then on paper beforehand (this is what starting out working on a demo DAW and not being able to save does to you), i feel let down by my crappy engineering knowledge. Well... non-existent knowledge really.

This means that while i can usually write a tune without turning the computer on, it becomes compromised and doesn't do the emotional or intellectual content justice. I don't want to start some of the more important projects yet, because i don't want to screw them up. So while i am all good with the art (i think anyhow, i'm far from a musical genius, but i think i have a few good ideas), i need to learn the craft to do justice to it. Can't paint the mona lisa when you are drawing for the crayolas.

And large up producers like Two Oh One and Shonky, you two among others kinda inspired me to start trying to record the music in my head, instead of sitting there nodding along to it like a nutter.

djake · Post by **djake** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:09 am

production means too much to me

z.u.bee · Post by **z.u.bee** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:23 am

i bring it on myself..
it seems like can only ever EAT SLEEP THINK SPEAK music thats what it is for me,
MY LIFE
to me everything else is second place because i dont express myself as much with other things,
i use to graff, botched that for music,
girlfriends run cos they say i dont express my feelings to them as i do with my music,
my family think i'm a nut job cos when i lived at my parents house i was constantly in my room making music!
(no not wanking, well, ok sometimes

)

i enjoy making cheap and cheery tracks to pass the time,
but i appreciate working hard on some tracks to try and make them as original and as expressive as possible,
others might not agree or say i make shit tunes fair enough,
but to me my music is timeless always was and always will be.

abstractsound · Post by **abstractsound** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:59 am

shonky i feel you on the self imposed limit idea.. when i work on the MPC i usually try to do as much as possible with the original batch of samples i create my program with, because initially they were plucked from the thousands because there was some cohesive nature to them.

then when those sounds either get boring or feel like they lack the character im looking for, then i put on the producer hat and start looking for ways to shape the sounds to make them bigger, wider and more colorful

jesus christ · Post by **jesus christ** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 5:07 am

why the fuck
why the fuck

why the fuck, fuck... is it when I goto the production section of niche dance music forums, shit like this pops up?

Are any of you happy with dubstep? no.

You all get enough sleep at night? no.

You all have bad skin? yes.

there lies your answer;

Clear up your skin.

shane · Post by **shane** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 5:08 am

ahahaa

shane · Post by **shane** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 5:08 am

i make music because there is no other way to get this shit out of my head.

ikeaboy · Post by **ikeaboy** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:02 pm

jesus christ wrote:why the fuck
why the fuck

why the fuck, fuck... is it when I goto the production section of niche dance music forums, shit like this pops up?

Are any of you happy with dubstep? no.

You all get enough sleep at night? no.

You all have bad skin? yes.

there lies your answer;

Clear up your skin.

Actually I get 8+ hours every night and have skin that would make a baby's arse look like Gordon Ramseys face. So There.

shakeyjake · Post by **shakeyjake** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:30 am

At the end of the day, in my opinion Production of music should be a passion and statement, you should be producing something you want to hear and share not what you think the masses would want to listen to (thats when music losses its drive and crappy and commercial) Dubstep is thankfully not like that, it still has that raw emotion and huge Pressence on a big system, its what makes it so special and at the same time keeps it from the masses for the simple reason it's crap to listen to on a shitty system. May it keep its passion and presence no matter how popular it gets and may it forever be fresh. love

wil blaze · Post by **wil blaze** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 11:25 pm

foodstampz · Post by **foodstampz** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:35 am

theese are the questions my mom always asks me when i fight back from getting kicked out of the apartment. No time sorry , a hit of acid might solve your questions.

haha. respect.

How much does production REALLY matter to you?

dont have tiem for this.

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