What is a music producer? This is a recurring topic of discussion among music creators of different stripes. While there is no official, set in stone, description, I can definitely say the a producer needs a diverse skill set. In my own ongoing quest to improve my production abilities I have been working to explicitly improve and expand my psychological took kit. This essay focusses on one main psychological roles a producer needs to play: that of advice giver. In it I identify and articulate what I think makes for effective advice.
Ultimately, the producer is responsible for creating a recording that meets the needs of the client. (For this discussion I will focus on a recording artist as the client, keeping in mind that there are many other types of clients who enlist the services of a music producer.) Recording artists are people first and foremost, and are often complicated people at that. In addition to possessing the requisite technical skills, a producer needs skills of communication, empathy, intuition, and logic to bring forth a recording that powerfully communicates the musical "vision" of the artist.
Generally there is a fair amount of problem solving involved in production, and as part of the process the producer oftens need to give guidance to a client as part of a solution. Whether this guidance is in the form of a suggestion, a subtle hint, or vehement lecture, I consider it to be "advice" of some type.
If you have been hired as a producer, you have already been implicitly engaged to give advice. This is "solicited" advice. If you are working strictly in the role of "engineer" you may or may not be in the position to give such suggestions. Venture an "unsolicited" opinion about about the next step in a difficult session at your own peril!
So solicited vs. unsolicited advice is an important distinction to keep in mind when you are working on a recording project. I have found through experience that even my solicited advice is often not taken to heart by the recipient. This is has led to a further examination of what makes for truly helpful advice, that will actually be acted upon. The most effective advice is what l think of as “conditional” advice. It takes the form:
“If you want X, you should do Y.”
In a music project conditional advice looks like: “If you want a recording that doesn’t speed up, you should play with a click.
“If you want to increase your chances of selling a record, you should craft your music in a genre that is currently popular.”
“If you want your vocals to sound good to an everyday listener, you should let me Autotune them.”
Such advice is tightly focussed, and leads to concrete action. It starts with an “If.”
In contrast, what I suppose could be called non-conditional advice looks like: “you should do Y...” How often do I catch myself thinking along these lines, crafting all sorts of (unsolicited) advice for the world at large? A lot. Usually I just think it, but it can actually leak into an utterance, and before I realize it, I’ve told someone what they should do!
The root of this behavior is that I substitute my own “condition” for another’s and used to it generate advice for them. In music production this happens more than one might think. An easily imagined scenario of this type is a frustrated producer telling a band : “You should get a better drummer.”
There is an unstated condition behind this advice, that reflects the agenda of the producer. It might be along the lines of:
“If you want a killer recording so that I can achieve the fame I so richly deserve, you should...”
But suppose the band is made up of family members, and the drummer is a beloved cousin. The family bond is what gives the band is strength and reason for existing. Maintaining these bonds might the trump the desire for commercial success for the band members.
Ideally, there is a strong overlap between the agendas of a recording artist and a producer. For example, if the artist is working in a commercial genre, and both artist and producer have as general goals the production of music that sells, the consonance of the their larger agendas makes for an effective collaboration. While there might be disagreement on a specific tactic, the objective is not under dispute.
It’s not uncommon that this ideal scenario does not exist. There are all sorts of reasons an artist’s larger goals might not be in line with the producer’s. For example, some artists are only interested in expressing their unique musical style. If this means screaming in an out of tune voice over an otherwise catchy pop song, then that’s their thing. The producer though, hearing the commercial potential, can try to push the artist towards a more commercial vocal style, leading to conflict. If there other stakeholders on the project, for example a label, the opportunities for conflict increase. In this case, finessing the issue of how to align the various agendas becomes part of the producers gig!
The way to minimize these (potential) tensions is for the producer to make sure they understand a client’s larger goals, and how the recording will serve the purpose of meeting those goals. The producer is in a support role. Careful listening to the music in its present form (maybe a rough demo) which will usually communicate a lot about the intention of the artist. But its important to listen what the client actually says about their goals.
An all too common scenario that can make this process more difficult is working with a client who doesn’t understand their own goals. In this case, the most fruitful course of action is to for the producer is to bring his or her skills to bear on the this problem directly. Help the client move towards a better understanding of what they want to achieve.
By keeping the vision of the client as a primary as the focus, a producer can tailor their advice to make sure that the specific smaller actions that make up a recording process are in alignment with the overall goal of the recording, which itself is in alignment of the larger agenda of the client.
Finally, note that this essay is in the form of advice, and I have not given a condition! The condition is:
"If you want to be a better producer, you should take this advice." No charge:)
Happy recording!