The Art of Music Production

At first, I had no idea what I planned on writing about. What creative field struck my interest the most? In general, I am an avid music listener. It is rare to see me without headphones during my free time. So in turn, I knew I wanted to do something that included music. In specific, I wanted to focus on indie music. As a result, I started to wonder about the people that actually produce some of my favorite songs instead of the ones that just sing it.

Almost all of us have a favorite music producer, whether we know it or not. From Timbaland to Steve Albini who has worked with indie rock artists such as Nirvana. Music production is largely composed of the ability of the producer's creative mind. The music producer basically creates the music from scratch with nothing but their own ideas and inspiration from other music. It is the music producer's responsibility to bring new ideas to the artist and executive producer. They can either produce one song or an entire album. They also can make adjustments to the songwriting and arrangement. Phil Ek, a noted music producer, described his role as "the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, like a director would a movie. The engineer would be more the cameraman of the movie."

With all the technology, there are not only professional music producers, but there are what is referred to as "bedroom producers". They are usually inspired by their favorite producers and artists. They buy all the necessary equipment for production, which is usually on the pricey side. The bedroom producers share their music on social networks in hopes of making it big in the industry.

Back in the day, music production was simple. It didn't require fancy, expensive equipment. And for the most part, they only needed a handful of people to complete a project. But now, a crew has to include a few technicians, engineers, and of course, the executive producer who handles the finances of creating a project. Thomas Edison's invention of the phonograph in 1877 was the first step in the creation of audio technology. (Shrum).

A few of the major contributors to this field, and a few of my favorites include Steve Albini who has worked with bands like Nirvana and The Stooges, John Leckie who has worked with Radiohead, and Dave Fridmann who has worked with MGMT. Of course, the amount of music producers that has contributed is a list that could not possibly fit this blog. I just chose a few that worked with someone of my favorite artists.

Music production has been around for a while. However, as time moves on technology advances and the art of music production is becoming more popular and more costly. Music production is a great example of what creativity can produce when put to good use. It takes talent and music knowledge to be able to produce some of the great projects that are around today. Without music producers, we wouldn't have those songs that stay in our heads for days or makes us tap our foots or go out on the dancefloor and move to the wonderfully interwoven sounds.

Sources Cited

Shrum, Barry N. "Producing Music: Its History and the Process | Law on the Row." Law on the Row. Law on the Row, 23 June 11. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. <http://lawontherow.com/2011/06/23/producing-music-its-history-and-the-process/>

"Record Producer." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 June 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_producer>.