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Want to be a Producer Arranger
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Want to be a Producer, Arranger? by Jude Charles Want to be a producer, arranger? After playing in many venues all over the globe, there came a point where I was seeking new challenges. I found the answer in music production. There were many obstacles encountered. The first obstacle is that I found out that I didn’t know my gear. I had all that gear but couldn’t maximise time and effectiveness with it. Another one was that I noticed that I had no experience in the production field. It was causing me to make poor decisions. The third obstacle was that I had no contacts. So therefore I couldn’t advance with my products. Another obstacle encountered was that my musical arrangements had no life: Which I will explain later.
Let’s start by defining the words record producer and arranger: In the music industry "record producer" designates a person responsible for completing a master recording so that it is fit for release. The arranger’s job is to put into a proper or systematic order the chords, rhythms and instruments in a musical piece. Lots of people think that being a producer is putting samples and bits of samples here and there. There is a whole science behind it. It helps to have a little knowledge about music. But nowadays it is not a must. The ear is of great importance when we talk about producing and arranging, no matter the style you are into.
One aspect some tend to forget is: knowing your gear. There is nothing more frustrating then not been able to do a simple task because of the lack of knowledge. This, first of all, is a major source of stress and could also be the cause of a lot of time wasted… And we all know that time is money. When I say know your gear, I mean read books(your gear manual included of course), magazines, internet sites, forums, go talk to the clerks in the music stores near you, talk to other people in your field, go to seminars where there are other people who have more experience then you.
The next aspect is getting the experience by doing little gigs here and there. In those little gigs you will be encountering little details like recording techniques, the hiss noises in your wiring, the different personalities of the people you work with (Artists, musicians), the time it takes to make an album, etc... You will also be perfecting your ears as to, listening to the notes sung by the singer. You will realize that you need a great deal of patience. This is what I think is the most pre-eminent quality for a producer. By the way, there is no end to acquiring experience. It is a lifetime process.
The next thing will be making the contacts. Only God knows how important that aspect is. As a musician it was easier for me to make contacts. Because of the fact that: after shows, people came and spoke to me. I didn’t really have to go to them. When they came to me, this is when I advertised myself, not simply as a guitar player but also as a producer. People can tell how hard you have been practicing your instrument. They know you are a hard worker. Therefore they become very curious on what else you have to offer.
Another important thing when arranging music is: giving life to your musical arrangement. Because I am into pop music, I will speak in this topic according to the pop music world. Sometimes we get a tendency as a musician to think that we have to be fancy when arranging. It is not the case for me. I tend to think that the average person doesn’t know anything about major 7th sharp nines. So what I do: I try to give life to the arrangement by trying to go back to childhood when I didn’t know anything about music. The funny thing is that people don’t listen to music the same way musicians do. Music to them has to raise an emotion. Whatever the emotion: happiness, party, sadness, love, anger, etc. I tend to choose an emotion, and compose accordingly. The funny thing is that I play guitar the same way. I put myself in the mood of the music I am playing.
I cannot find a better way to become the best at whatever you do. The only way I know is that practice makes perfect. And enormous amount of time is needed to achieve excellence. I still do practice my guitar, and still do a lot of producing and arranging. All of that with a great deal of passion. My album is coming out soon. I’ve arranged and produced most of the songs, and I played a great deal of guitar.
Jude Charles
Updated: 3/14/07 |