Tech Sessions #20
The Ear
Sometimes you might hear somebody say 'that brother has an ear for music' or his mixes are hot because he has great ears.'
That doesn't necessarily mean that dude was born with aural tubes that are any better than mine or yours, that just means that this particular person has a predisposed ability to hone in on music and make it shine.
Some of the best in the business pick this up naturally while others struggle to develop it. Regardless of where you sit within this area, know that this is among the five most important things that you can develop as a producer.
When creating a track, the knack for having a good ear can help you key in on when something is right, needs a little more seasoning, or is just not worth dealing with. Again, some people are just pre-disposed to just 'know' and this all comes easily to them.
Others have to fight with it a little and even still some have to really get their center of gravity tight mentally to make it happen. Speaking solely for myself, I've always felt music from the crib on up into the world, however I had to take time to develop my ear so that I could make music that I could love and simply not just like.
Focus and concentration were the two main things that brought it home for me. They sound like they would be the same thing but nope… they are not. It took much focus to sit in front of a keyboard for hours and play all seven notes in a variety of octaves while I repeated the name of the note as I played it.
The concentration came in to apply the shit to a new track as I wrote melodies. The ability to sing to a melody without words just by rattling off notes mentally has helped me to enter that space where you can just get lost in the music. And there for me at least was a major closing point in leaving stuff I like behind and bumping tracks out that I love.
Of course, all of this helps too if you're doing vocal production as well but for today let's keep it musically speaking.
Think about that new Snoop track that The Neptunes produced "Drop It Like It's Hot." It's simplicity tends to make you want to think it's not that musical. But the reality is that the joint is so creative that you can hear their respective ears for the rhythm of the beat, the little vocal nuisances that became part of the instrumental and the left field chords that set up each transition. You can hear how they got lost in it.
So if your tracks are not coming out just the way you want them to, then work on really checking your ears. This way what you hear on the inside has the best possible chance to make it outside.
Message Glover having "ears" for music or what you've done to develop this skill. Or just hip him to songs that you think are sonically different.
« Raquel's Corner: Tim "Timbaland" Mosley The Herbert Hollar »
The 2-Way
Replies: 0
Archives:
Crusade galleries
