Production is a pretty objective discipline; you ask people to describe what good music producers look like, and people will give you a ton of different answers based on their opinions. Some producers will have strengths and weaknesses, and there will be skills that one producer doesn’t have, but another would. Some skills are more important, and some skills can help you build a solid foundation on your production journey. So, let’s round up a handful of skills that you should work on if you want better productions.
How to Listen
Listening to something sounds, at face value, a pretty easy task. But in terms of production, there is a distinct difference between listening and critically listening. Critically listening looks past it just being music, and allows you to more easily identify all the instruments within a piece of music, how it’s structured, what frequencies are prominent, and which are maybe lacking. Eventually, it allows you to more easily identify problems, as well as features.
It also allows you with enough training, how to identify frequencies by ear, which has plenty of useful applications while recording, mixing, and mastering.
There are a number of good ways to train your ear, a favourite of mine is SoundGym, which is a website that has about 20 different games and quizzes to help you with different aspects, including games to improve; frequency identification, balance, delay, peak identification, panning and a whole load more.
Music Theory Fundamentals
To be a good producer you don’t need to know the difference between your Phrygian and you Hypolydian modes, but a little basic knowledge in note and chord identification, being able to deduce the key or time signature to a song, or to know what scale a solo is in, can be incredibly useful. Not only can it help you when you are producing solo, but music is a universal language, and being able to communicate properly when working with other musicians and producers. There are plenty of books, videos, and resources for learning music theory. A personal favourite of mine is musictheory.net, which features interactive exercises to help you learn from the most basic theory to more complex theory.
Arrangement and Song Structure
Following on closely from Music Theory is arrangement and song structure. Basic song structures definitely can and do work, but learning to structure and arrange more complex tracks can really add extra layers to the production as a whole. Learn how to build tension, how to place a good drop, changes in instrumentation, and key changes, etc. All of these things, and a whole load more, can be used to change the feel, the power, and the success of a song.
In terms of resources for learning more about this, all I would recommend is listening to music, and I mean really listen. Try to identify structures, and how they change and evolve throughout, what they specifically do to build, and what it does to resolve this tension.
Audio Manipulation and Sampling
Being able to manipulate audio is an incredibly important skill to possess for any genre. Whether that is the basics of straight editing, to chop up audio to remove issues, or cutting up audio to use as samples. We can even push that skill further to include manipulation of pitch, tempo, and more.
Record some audio, say a vocal or some spoken word, and purposefully adds unwanted elements. Maybe a cough or a loud breath between words or lines. And play around with, not only removing the noise, but making it seamless using crossfades, etc. You can even go a little more advanced and mess up a word or two, record that word separately, and use editing and crossfade to seamlessly replace the word with the best take. Practice until you can’t hear that it has been edited. You can push this further by looking are out of out-of-time parts, etc, and use your editing and manipulation skills to fix the error. YouTube is your friend here, as there is plenty of content on editing, sampling, and manipulation.
Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) Mastery
As much as social media tribalism would have you believe, there is no best DAW; each of them has its place, and while some are a little more universal than others, they all can be used to make great music. While it doesn’t matter which you use, what does matter is knowing how to use it properly. It is easy to learn where the record, play, and stop buttons are in Logic Pro X, but to learn and know every single feature, now that’s a different beast entirely. Getting true mastery of your DAW will have you produce tracks quicker, as it can help speed up the recording, editing, and mixing stages of the process.
YouTube is a great resource for mastering your DAW, but there are also multiple courses available for each one, whether that is on a platform such as Udemy.com or an officially accredited course, such as those available for Avid’s Pro Tools.
Collaboration and Communication
No person is truly an island. Yes, you can write, record, mix, produce, and release music completely independently, but you can easily lose perspective and objectivity. Learning to collaborate with other musicians, producers, and engineers can not only give you a sounding board, but also brings fresh ears and fresh ideas to the fold. Find people whose strengths are your weaknesses to get even more out of the collaborations. Even finding musicians who specialise in genres outside of your own can lead to some amazing hybrid genre blending that you never envisaged.
Learning to properly communicate during these collaborations will make them run a whole lot smoother, and this level of communication may be specific music terms (go back to the bonus of knowing music theory), but also could just be general communication skills. Learn how to both give and receive constructive (and constructive is the key word) feedback. Also, learn when it’s time to take 5. Sometimes sessions can get heated, or frustration can start to take over, that’s the best time for that next round of coffees, or a break to pop outside for five, and grab some air.
Project Management
While there is most definitely a ‘go with the flow’ element to the music-making process, having some sort of structure does help things go smoother. If you can develop a system (even a casual one), then upfront planning allows you more time in the moment to let the music flow.
As well as the project as a whole, taking time to set up a process for looking after the DAW Project files will also set you up right in the long haul. Developing a system for organizing sessions, backing up files, naming tracks clearly, etc, can minimise data loss and help keep your file system neat and tidy.
Time management is also a key skill to develop when working on projects, so make sure you are always prepared and ready to go. Flakiness does happen within the industry, but make sure it isn’t coming from you. If you are rocking up to sessions 45 minutes late, without your gear, having not learnt your parts, etc, I doubt they will be calling you back any time soon.
Music Marketing and Branding
If you are a truly independent artist, then you will have to wear many different hats. And even once you have all your music written, recorded, and produced, you still have to sell that finished product to your audience. Luckily, we live in an age where even the entirety of the marketing process can be done DIY, if you can properly learn what goes into it. This is also true with your own personal branding. Understanding the basics of social media, streaming platforms, visual branding, and even email marketing will get you most of the knowledge you need. Look at popular branding and marketing, and cater it to you. What makes you unique as an artist, and how can you put that message across in your branding and marketing?
A Final Word
Becoming a decent producer is a marathon, not a sprint. Taking time to develop some, or all of these skills, definitely puts you on the right path. Use the resources available, learn what you can, and then practice, practice, practice. One of the easiest ways of getting better is to give something a try, maybe it’s a mistake, but every mistake is a learning experience.
One last skill I will implore you to learn is to trust in yourself. Learn what you like, and run with it. Rick Rubin is an extremely well-known producer who, under his own admission, doesn’t know music theory, he can’t operate a mixing console, he doesn’t play an instrument, but you know what he does better than most? He knows what he likes and has the confidence to go with it. Does he make mistakes before trying something else? Of course, everyone does. But trying is always the first step.
